Rend your heart

Dear church family

Key update regarding Children and Families Worker

Hopefully many of you know that we intend to recruit for a full-time children and families worker over the Summer. We plan to get the advert out next month for the role which will be shared internally and advertised extensively externally too...



The key ways we need all church family to be involved at this point are praying for the right person for the role, praying for the finances to make this possible and each one of us deciding how we can be part of this increase. Thank you to those who have either started giving or increased their giving recently in response to this need. We still have a way to go! We appreciate some people will be experiencing anxiety around finances but hope that most people will be able to contribute in some way (however small or large) recognising that sacrificial giving is one of the key ways the Kingdom advances; this is a great opportunity for us to invest in what will be a very key role serving and reaching the next generations in our church and community. In order to fund this role we will need an extra £3350 a month in our general fund. We hope to have made significant progress by the time we advertise next month and as in all things, ultimately we trust in God.

We believe God has been extraordinarily generous to us in so many ways and has already provided all the resources required across our church family. With this in mind, we are asking church family to pray and act now in accordance with what you decide in your heart to give (2 Corinthians 9:8, NIV). This could involve setting up a new standing order (you can usually do this via mobile/telephone banking or in branch), increasing an existing standing order (even a small amount makes a difference), starting to tithe your income (giving 10% of any money you earn/receive as part of your worship), or giving a one-off gift to our general fund. We will remind church family of this need a few times over the coming weeks as this is the key time we need people to respond.

Thank you for your prayers and your part in this as we trust God to establish our steps!



Weekly Update - Rend your heart ❤️
Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God
For he is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in love,
And he relents from sending calamity.
Joel 2:13

When was the last time you did a spiritual audit? Every now and then, it is wise to pause, take some time to come before God and review where our heart is. As we approach mid-year, perhaps as part of the summer break planning, now could be a good time to review spiritual practices and our own spiritual temperature. Are we as fired-up for the Lord and as close to him as we were perhaps at the beginning of the year? Have any of our spiritual practices become stale or even slipped off our busy timetables?

The Lord says in Joel 2:13 that outward appearances count for nothing; the Lord wants our heart. The Pharisees used to fast on Mondays and Wednesdays because those days were market days when the towns were flooded with people buying and selling. The Pharisees would wear sack cloth or tear their clothes and put ashes on their heads to advertise that they were fasting and so, in their minds, spiritually superior to those around them. Jesus is recorded in Matt. 6:16-18 directly addressing this hypocrisy and pride, advising that when we fast, we should behave as we would any other day, so that our fasting is only between us and our Father in heaven. Similarly, we can be dedicated church attendees but the rest of the week is a haze of rushing around with barely a nod to God.

The Lord wants us to know him intimately and this means making time and pulling ourselves back to what we know is good for us – quality time with the one we profess to love. The Lord says, 'Return to me and I will return to you.' (Mal. 3:7). If you are trapped on the hamster wheel of life, perhaps now is the time to step off, make a cuppa, dig out the journal, Bible and reflect on our regular spiritual practices. The rhythm of our lives change in different seasons and so we may need to tweak or completely revamp our spiritual disciplines to reflect those changes. Perhaps the time is ripe for a spiritual refresh!
Have a blessed week

Paula x
 
SUNDAY GATHERING - 10:30AM Join us this Sunday as we continue our sermon series 'Life-changing Encounters'. For those who are unable to attend in person please join us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/O-FmEXS2EUU



PARTNERSHIP PRAYER THIS WEEK Please do come along to join in prayer as we seek God's will for the church partnership.
A couple of weeks ago a group made up from both Brabourne and Willesborough met at Brabourne to pray and hear from God over the next stages of the partnership. We began with thanksgiving for all God is doing across our church family and what he has been doing and showing us.

There was a real sense of God encouraging us to do business with Him ahead of us all being able to embrace change and to change our perspective on "change" to be something which is inherently part of God's character - creativity - and a real expectancy of what God will do next if we are willing to lay things down, wait on Him and see the creative ways in which He wants to continue to show us through this partnership.

We know He has been gentle and kind to us through this process already and we were able to sit in His presence as we acknowledged this. We also felt strongly that this creativity of the Father through our Partnership would include an overflow of life and encouragement into other churches in the area.



LEAD DEVELOPMENT YEAR Do you want to explore your calling but are worried about the costs involved with some church internships? Are you thinking about taking a gap year or a career break but concerned that you can't afford to?

We would love to invite you to join us on our Leadership Development Year from October 2024-July 2025!

Part of our vision as a church is to raise up leaders and release them into all God's called them to be... Our heart for you when you're with us is that you will grow as a disciple, develop as a leader and that we can sow into you and then release you as you gain experience to serve you in your next steps in life!
Now's the time 5020202020Recent