River of life Church Blog

facebook etc – do we need to bother?

Patrick — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:21:32 +0000

Just how important are things like Facebook and Twitter? Should we be involved with “social networking?” Take a look at this video – it may change your mind!

Episode 1

denise59 — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:33:56 +0000

As we started our studies in The Big Story I was also watching the programme “The People’s Supermarket” and had been very challenged by the amount of food we as a country waste and also for myself as an individual. It was amazing how the two things seemed to connect because God gave mankind the responsibilty for caring for his creation and it’s very sad to see how we are exploiting it. We throw tonnes of food away because it’s not the right shape or size, yet surely that is part of the wonder of creation, that things come in different shapes and sizes – a curly cucumber doesn’t taste any different than a straight one, and a nobbly potato is just as good as a smooth one!

Looking at Genesis again has reminded me what a wonderful world we live in and we should look after it.

“episode 1″

Patrick — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 19:59:26 +0000

We looked at the first chapter last night. We realised there is a great deal to it! A lot to read and digest, even if you just do the “key passages”. A useful discussion. I was struck by the “completeness” of the whole story – how elements of the creation story crop up at various times though the Bible, and culminate in Revelation, with the Tree of Life appearing once again. We marvelled at the wonder of creation, and the bond created between man and woman due to the fact that Eve was created from a part of Adam. Whether his rib was literally used in the process was unclear, but its clear that Eve’s creation depended upon Adam, whereas God had created Adam from nothing! He could have done the same with Eve but chose not to!

Big Story 1st meeting

Patrick — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 19:23:58 +0000

We had our first meeting last Weds. Rather than launch into the book, we just talked about it, got a feel for how it was structured and how we were going to tackle it over the coming weeks. We then had a good discussion about the Bible, how we read it, what versions we use, what it really means and comparing the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New. Looking forward to starting the first chapter in 2 weeks time. Next week most of the group are at a Link Romania meeting!

The Big Story

Patrick — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:15:12 +0000

The Big Story is taking over the River of Life Church blog for the next few weeks! Use the blog to share your thoughts about the Bible as you meet together in small groups.

Happy Christmas

denise59 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:54:25 +0000

Christmas is upon us and we’ve had the usual flurry of activities; the Ark Christmas party, Messy Church, the Christingle service and Carols by Candlelight.

The children stole the show at the Christingle service as they performed a play called the Advent Puzzle for us which reminded us that Christmas was about more than presents. We made our Christingles and remembered that Jesus came as the Light of the World, bringing light into dark places, hope to the hopeless and freedom to the captives. Then we celebrated Jesus birth in the evening at the Carols by Candlelight where we looked at how God chose to announce the birth of his son to ordinary men, the shepherds on a hillside, who were considered to be at the lower end of the social scale. God didn’t announce the birth of his son to those who considered themselves important, or the religious leaders but to those who were often overlooked. It’s easy at Christmas time to forget the wonder of Jesus birth, the fact that the one who was there at the beginning of time, the creator of the universe, gave up everything to become a helpless baby, dependant on those he created. He became Immanuel – God with us, what amazing love! Take a few moments this Christmas time to think about what this means to you and may you know the joy and peace and presence of Jesus in your homes this Christmas time.

What’s happening now.

denise59 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:33:24 +0000

Here we are, summers nearly over and now the nights are drawing in. It won’t be long before we start thinking about Christmas and all the activities involved with that. But before we do that, here is a recap of what we’ve been up to and what’s happening in October.

I knew summer was going to be busy and I wasn’t wrong. We ran the parenting course again which was fully booked and seemed to be enjoyed by those who attended. Thanks to Gillian for running that and also all those who came to help look after the children. We also ran The Messy Church Holiday club which was great fun. We looked at the story of Joseph and made lots of things – we got very messy at times! The children that came were absolutely fantastic and we really enjoyed getting to know them. I think that the consensus of opinion was that we should definitely do it again next year!

So what next? Well, Stretch has re-started at the new day and time (Weds 10.30) and our Alpha course is starting on Tuesday 6th October at 9.30am. If you haven’t signed up for it yet don’t worry, it’s not too late. why not bring a friend with you as well?

Also starting in October is our basic theology course called Explore. This is starting on Saturday 24th October at 9.30am. It is being taught by Rodney Kingstone who used to lead the church here and he is an excellent teacher.

Messy Church has also restarted and that will continue to meet on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. You can find more details here on this website.

Summer activities

denise59 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:36:00 +0000

Summer is here at last! It usually means that we sit back and take things a little easier – but not this summer. Although The Ark and Stretch will stop for the summer there will still be plenty of things going on. We are running a Parenting Course called 21st Century Parent in place of the Ark on Monday mornings. It will start on 27th July at 10am and finish at 11.30am. We will be running a creche so if you can help please let me know. If you are interested in the course, ring the office and we can give you more information.

We are also joining with the other churches in Broadwater to man a marquee at the Broadwater Carnival on July 18th. We will be serving refreshments and providing craft activities for the children to do. There will also be face painting and other activities going on throughout the day. Again, helpers are needed.

As if that wasn’t enough, we are also planning to run a holiday club from 11th – 14th August for children aged 5 – 8. This will run from the Tuesday to the Friday from 10am – 12 noon.

One thing that will be a little more relaxed will be our Sunday services during August. Our meetings will be shorter and if the weather is good we’ll arrange to meet up at Goring Gap for a picnic tea. Church around the table will officially stop for the summer but I hope that you’ve been enjoying it so much that you will use the opportunity to invite people to your homes anyway. We will restart in September with a fresh emphasis. (Listen out for more details)

Other things that will be starting in the coming months will be;

The Alpha Course. We will be running a daytime Alpha on Tuesday mornings, starting in October as well as an evening one. We are also very excited to be able to offer a basic theology course called Explore which will be run on Saturday mornings from 24th October for 6 weeks and lasting only 75 minutes. Bible knowledge patchy? This course will help. The subjects covered are – how to study, interpret and apply scripture, Old Testament overview, New Testament overview. Character and doctrine of God, Character and doctrine of God continued, the cross and perspectives on the attonement.

The teaching will be delivered by Rodney Kingstone who founded and led this church (originally Broadwater Christian Fellowship) for 17 years. He is a respected bible teacher with a recognised prophetic ministy.

I hope this has whetted your appetite and that you take the opportunity to be involved with some of the many things going on. Who said being a Christian was boring!

PLEASE NOTE THAT STRETCH WILL BE RESTARTING ON A DIFFERENT DAY AND AT A DIFFERENT TIME. IT WILL RESTART ON WEDNESDAY 9TH SEPT AT 10.30AM.

Church around the table

denise59 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:23:39 +0000

Who would have thought that eating could be such fun! For those of you who don’t know what “Church Around the Table” is, it’s our new way of meeting together. Basically, if you’ve got a dining table or access to a dining table (you can meet in a cafe, restaurant etc) you can invite people to join you around your table and “share life”. I think we all recognise that being “church” is more than just a quick conversation on a Sunday morning and while Home groups have been great, we only get to know a small number of people. CATT (as I will now refer to it!) allows us the flexibility to meet people at a time that is convenient rather than trying to fit in with the usual Thursday night slot. So we have been meeting on different days for breakfasts, lunches, teas (lovely cakes!) dinners and suppers, and in our meeting together we have the chance to get to know each other better and to discuss things and pray together in an informal environment. The lovely thing about CATT is that anyone can be involved, from the youngest to the oldest, from the person with no faith, to those who are long standing Christians. There’s a place for everyone. As we gather around our tables we will be developing friendships with each other that are not just superficial. We need to be honest and open, encouraging each other, building one another up and sharing in the bad as well as the good times. We’ll be praying and learning together and growing in our understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

In a nutshell, it’s all about building deeper relationships, creating a place of encouragement and support, being open to everyone and stimulating growth.

If you haven’t tried it yet, look at the sign up sheet on Sunday and put your name down, or even better, why not host a CATT yourself – can’t cook? no problem, just get people to bring their own food!!

New Year – 24/7 prayer

denise59 — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:17:55 +0000

So much for good intentions! I intended to write here at the beginning of the new year and here we are at the end of January. Christmas seems a long time ago now but I have to say that our services went really well. The Christingle service was a very happy time and all those who took part in the carol service did really well. It was lovely to have so many visitors with us.

I was able to take a couple of days away at the beginning of the month at a lovely place called Penhurst Christian Retreat Centre to spend some time praying and seeking God for this coming year. I came away feeling excited and optimistic about what He was going to do among us this year. We will continue with our various activities like the Ark, Messy Church, Stretch and Liaise but we will be making some changes to our home groups. I’ll give more details about that in a couple of weeks. In the meantime we will continue to meet together on Thursday evenings.

Another thing that I’m excited about is our our 24/7 prayer week which starts on 8th February at 8pm and finishes on 15th February at 8pm. Our prayer weeks have been really special times and can I encourage you all to take time during this week to come to the prayer room. I can guarantee that once you’ve been, you’ll want to come again. You can drop in any time but it would be really helpful if you would put your name on the sign up sheet if you know when you can come. For safety reasons the door will be locked at 10pm and only people who have signed up for the night slots will be able to come in, so get signing! If you want more information you can phone or email me at the church office, 215915.