Have a fruitful 2008
Well hope you all had a great Christmas if I didn't see you at church this morning to ask in person. Exciting as The Xmas Factor in all its various flavours was (I'm not sure I'll ever forget the nativity factor drama for one) it was great to get back to doing 'normal' church again this morning.
For those not in the adult meeting I preached from Luke 13:1-9 on God's expectation that we shouldn't just be faithful but that we should be fruitful, and that sometimes that means us taking tough decisions to either chop out of our lives things that aren't producing fruit, or digging around them and giving them more time but then getting rid of them if they still aren't fruitful. My challenge for us is for 2008 to be a year where we individually and as a church prepare ourselves for fruitfulness, as we look to grow to 2,000. It was also great to have loads of first time visitors with us this morning with people from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Nigeria as well as the UK.
We've now all travelled down to Suffolk to spend New Year with our friends Jason and Tina who lead the NewFrontiers church in Stockport and used to be in Bracknell. We'd love to be at the Hope08 prayer meeting but decided we needed a break before 2008 kicks off - if you're going please make those from the other churches feel incredibly welcome.
Have a great New Year and hope to see you soon.
Simon.
Ps don't forget to get your copy of The Purpose Driven Life ready for the start of the 40 days of purpose on the 13th - cheap from the bookshop!
For those not in the adult meeting I preached from Luke 13:1-9 on God's expectation that we shouldn't just be faithful but that we should be fruitful, and that sometimes that means us taking tough decisions to either chop out of our lives things that aren't producing fruit, or digging around them and giving them more time but then getting rid of them if they still aren't fruitful. My challenge for us is for 2008 to be a year where we individually and as a church prepare ourselves for fruitfulness, as we look to grow to 2,000. It was also great to have loads of first time visitors with us this morning with people from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Nigeria as well as the UK.
We've now all travelled down to Suffolk to spend New Year with our friends Jason and Tina who lead the NewFrontiers church in Stockport and used to be in Bracknell. We'd love to be at the Hope08 prayer meeting but decided we needed a break before 2008 kicks off - if you're going please make those from the other churches feel incredibly welcome.
Have a great New Year and hope to see you soon.
Simon.
Ps don't forget to get your copy of The Purpose Driven Life ready for the start of the 40 days of purpose on the 13th - cheap from the bookshop!