A Sabbatical for James You will know that James Hatcher is a huge blessing and a gift to Life Church. He has been at my side since before we planted the church, and I thank God for his indescribable gift in James. James is both our Operations Manager and a fellow elder. Between 23rd October and Christmas 2023, James shall be taking a sabbatical. Some of you will be asking...
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In 1 Peter Chapter 5, Peter has a bunch of things to say to the church about how Elders are supposed to lead and serve the church – which is what I explored when I was preaching on those verses last week (catch up here). But something significant is almost invisible in those verses – Peter constantly talks about elders in the plural. In this passage, it is assumed that...
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‘Would you like to come to my church on Sunday?’ ‘No, thanks though.’ ‘Would you like to come to my church on Sunday?’ ‘Yes please!’ No one died. No one fell out with each other. No one was offended. Someone could find life. You will hear contrasting views when you look at the subject of how people come to faith in Jesus. Some will champion ‘Friendship Evangelism’ and ‘Being...
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You may know that God has often and persistently spoken to us about being like a life boat as a church. That means that we’re on a mission to rescue those who are drowning in all sorts of areas of life and primarily to offer them rescue in the person of Jesus Christ. I sensed that God was actually calling us to buy a building more like a boathouse; a marine skills centre; a place to launch all sorts of rescue craft from. Rather than looking for a building to gather everyone to, it was to be a building that we could send many out on mission from.
Fast forward 15 years or so and here we are having our own gift day for the refurbishment of a building; The Boathouse. There have been many gift days in churches and at Commission festival gatherings where God has prodded my heart and my wallet again and again and every time…
Exciting times! It has been so thrilling to see the church re-engaging and many new people joining us on our shared adventure, as well as seeing life begin to happen at The Boathouse. One Church We have an amazing opportunity to celebrate all the progress this Sunday as we all come together for our first One Church Sunday in two years! I really want to encourage members of...
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