FAMILY MATTERS

IF YOU HAVE A BABY OR TODDLER come and share with other families on a Tuesday from 12.30pm at our centre, till about 2.30pm. We also have a lunch together. Also on a Thursday from 9.30am till 11am, we also meet and start with a breakfast together. BRIGHT SPARKS is the name, and our centre is the place. For further information contact our group leader, Caroline Marshall.

ADULT MINISTRIES

AS A CHURCH we are committed to serving all generations, and our adult ministries seeks to care, provide for, and support those twenty aged plus. Of course this is a massive age grouping, and a team is currently coming together to be able to serve those within this age grouping in effective ways. We hope to confirm that in the next few weeks. Here are some snaps of our Wednesday Ministry - our home and family programme. Starting at 10am we have prayer and share led by Elsie Willis. At 11am our Coffee and Chat, leading to lunch at 12noon. At 1.30pm we share for about an hour, in our mid week worship and fellowship meeting. Today, we celebrated our spring dinner, and these pictures capture some of the special time we enjoyed.

COMMUNITY FUN EVENT

OUR SENIOR LEADERS were able to share in their last community event with us, for our COMMUNITY FUN EVENT. Building on our previous community events, where we seek to provide something for the people of the community, and gift it to them, we saw about 200 people with us. With nice weather, whilst the hall was full of people enjoying refreshments, craft and more, on the playground people played, others enjoyed the bouncy castle, some played football, and others just lounged around and chatted. It was good to see so many families make their way to share with us, and see regular and new faces. We are grateful to the whole church who served in so many ways, and to new friends who also came and joined the team and helped. We thank God for this opportunity. The pictures just capture a little of the event.

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS

We were thrilled again to be selected as a Salvation Army corps that delegates from the International College for Officers could attend to observe. We are so grateful for the way our friends made themselves at home, and also their comments about the way that they felt so blest sharing with us. It was very special to welcome with them their principal, Commissioner Margaret Sutherland, and to see Major Anne Read, a delegate, and one of the leaders at the Regent Hall Salvation Army Church, with them too. Here they are sharing a meal which we were pleased to prepare for them before they wended their way home.

SUNDAY 27TH APRIL 2008

TODAY was a blessing to so many of us, and we thank God for the way He moved among us. We started our day with Worship, which also included Kingdom Kids and Bright Sparks - a massive thank you to the team who minister there week in, week out. The hall was very full today, and as part of that we welcomed eight delegates from the current session from the International College for Officers who came on an observation Sunday. The meeting featured sung worship, and an all age talk from Heather which fitted in brilliantly with our thoughts throughout the morning, and with our Spring Festival thoughts. Today, being Regotion Sunday, we celebrated Spring and the work especially done through our community garden. Sara Hayward, who with her husband, Kevin, managed our allotment, spoke about the work over the last three years. What a brilliant ministry they have there (and always space for more to be involved). Ian spoke this morning contiuning thoughts from last week on keeping focussed in our Faith, and looked at 2 Corinthians, and chapter five, and what it really means to be a new creation in Christ. God's Spirit spoke in some very calm and still ways, and we thank God for the way He moved. Captain Sue sang: Breathe on me, breath of God. Other songs included:- God we will give You Glory, Light of the world, I believe Jesus saves, I know He rescued my soul, Our God is great, Everyone needs compassion, All my days and all my hours, Down at the cross where my Saviour died.

THIS SUNDAY

THIS SUNDAY WILL BE A VERY SPECIAL DAY. We start at 10.30am with our morning celebration meeting, which will be blessed with the visit of some of the current session of the International College for Officers. We are thrilled they have asked to come and visit us again! Following this, of course is our COMMUNITY FUN EVENT and we hope as many of you as possible will share this with us. It starts at 1pm and concludes at 3pm and open to the whole community. It will be a great time, and we look forward to sharing with as many as possible that can share in this

PRAYERS

This Friday a number of our children will be meeting together to work through their junior soldier preparation. This is when they explore what it means to be a soldier of Jesus Christ - a follower of Him.... and its all very exciting. Please pray for the team as they work alongside the children at this time, and of course the children themselves

DISCIPLE COLLEGE

DESPITE HOLIDAYS AND ILLNESS we still had a really good number of people sharing with us. We spent the evening sharing songs that we valued and found helpful, and then spoke together around the themes looked at in the morning meeting.

SUNDAY 20TH APRIL 2008

TAKING OUR FAITH SERIOUSLY as our teaching subject at this time, continued this morning. Our meeting saw many family members sharing together in celebration, which again featured Sally the chimp in our all age presentation, and songs including:- Great is Thy Faithfulness, Mighty to Save, Turn your eyes upon Jesus, There is a message for us all to name just some. As part of our teaching subject we looked at the imporance of Keeping Focussed and how the things of the world can so easily take us away from that focus. We looked at the importance of keeping focussed on the mission, on our responsibilities, on God, on why and how. Scripture of course backed this up in many ways....and God spoke and broke into peoples lives, which was really special. We do thank God for the way He worked among us.

PRAYER EVENT - MORE PICTURES

More pictures from the weekends 24:1 Prayer and Worship Event

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

THE COMMISSIONING OF NEW SALVATION ARMY OFFICERS will take place at the Westminster Central Hall on Saturday 5th July 2008. This will be after their two years residential training. This will include our new senior leaders, Cadets Emma and Mark Scott. It would be great if as many as possible from the church could attend. If you wish to be included in the church booking, please let our present senior leaders know. We need to book by the end of this week. Tickets cost £16, which covers the two meetings. We suggest travel up by train, but you are welcome, of course, to make your own arrangements for this.

SUNDAY 13TH APRIL 2008

Morning Worship, with Kingdom Kids and Bright Sparks, was the only joint events today, but despite holidays and sickness, was well supported. Worship was led by our senior leaders, and Flame Youth Group did the all age presentation which was great. Captain Howard Russell, centre manager of Booth House in London, was our guest speaker as part of a new series we are looking at about Living by Faith - taking our faith seriously. The captain explored the aspect of social services within the army and how they seek to support people and bring Light and Life to them. We saw how many within The Salvation Army seek to put their faith into action and take it seriously, and in conclusion Captain Ian challenged everyone to see how seriously we are taking our faith and sharing it, through words and action. We were also challenged to consider how we could help towards the £6000 target of our annual appeal total in September, and that we start to work towards that now. Everyone has been challenged to try and raise £40 each towards the total, which will be collected together in June/July to then work towards the other aspects of raising money towards the appeal in September. Concluding with singing 'All there is of me' we recognised the importance of laying our all before God, without reserve. We then stood together to sing 'Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices - who wondrous things has done!"

TWENTY FOUR HOURS OF PRAYER

24:1 was a great event for the church, and of course a great encouragement for this church community, that our youth not only want to enjoy social time together, but want to invest a whole day to pray and share worship in this way. The youth group asked to arrange this event and wanted to ensure it was in the church diary for this year, and the event was led totally by them and supported brilliantly by church leaders, members and friends. Starting at 9am on the Saturday (although for some it started the day before to set up) we gathered together to work through prayer zones, to find Holy space and just take in the many different ways we could focus in order to pray. Helpful opportunities included making bread, prayer darts, apple bobbing and games, all which were not just enjoyed, but helped us embrace prayer and focus on subjects, many relating to the church community, our new church leaders, and also for the world around us. Bible Studies were also used throughout the day led by Ellie, Clare and Ian, and in the evening were shared in sang worship, also led by Ian. Throughout the day there was real evidence of God's Presence. Discussion on spiritual topics were also helpful throughout the day - as was the food which helped keep many going. Some of those attending went on a prayer walk and trail which took them out of our church community into the wider community. During the later/early hours some laid down before God to pray with their eyes closed and used snooring as a means of uttering prayer to God. However there was always some awake praying and this helped to ensure that the 24:1 aspect of praying together continued. We event concluded by a cooked breakfast but also time to pray for those who do not know Jesus and we uplifted them before God. We must thank Rachel and Ellie for arranging this event - and of course so many of the church that supported at some point throughout this day.

ADVANCE NOTICE

JOIN US TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTHDAY OF THE CHURCH - PENTECOST - AND CELEBRATE FOR OURSELVES THE REALITY THAT GOD'S SPIRIT IS FOR TODAY, FOR ALL PEOPLE.

Sunday 11th May, 10.30am at the school and 6pm at our church centre

A REMINDER

AN IMPORTANT time in the life of this church starts at 9am tomorrow (Saturday) and last for 24 hours until 9am Sunday. Whilst we realise that not everyone can do twenty four hours, we are hoping that leaders, members and friends will give sometime to be part of 24:1 PRAYER AND WORSHIP, at our church centre. This has been organised by our Flame Youth Group, first held two years ago, which had an amazing impact on many. We are believing for greater this time! The team that have arranged wish it to be informed that this is not a social time as such, and is given for prayer and worship. There will also be Bible Studies and a whole range of things to engage in. Food is provided as part of the event, unless of course you are fasting! Then don't forget we meet together for worship at the school at 10.30am - however there will not be an evening meeting that night.

LIVING BY FAITH

Our teaching focus for this year is Living by Faith, and for the next few weeks our teaching will focus especially on helping us to understand how it is that we can live, and should live by faith. This Sunday we started by recognising the importance of taking Faith seriously and the statements of Christ in the I AM passages. Next Sunday we welcome Captain Howard Russell, centre manager of The Salvation Army's Booth House in London. He will be helping us to see how The Salvation Army as a movement is living out its faith, putting its belief into action, through its social and community ministry, work, programmes, centres etc. Then over a period of time, we will be exploring the focus topics listed here and helping us all to go deeper in understanding Faith, and ensuring we have faith that move mountains and that pleases and blesses God. We hope you will share with us?

SUNDAY 6TH APRIL 2008

A beautiful spring morning, welcomed snow outside! But inside the school hall today saw a crowded hall of people coming together to enjoy THE EVENT. The great and exciting thing about this being that again new faces were seen!!! Part of the purpose of this event is not to provide yet another worship meeting for our members to come and enjoy, but is to provide space for those who may not usually come to church, to be able to come and enjoy time in an informal setting, exploring matters of faith, and being allowed then to make decisions for themselves, and decide what to do with it all. William Booth himself believed that it was important to feed the soul and the stomach, and we do both that - or at least try. We share THE EVENT, we share a meal together, and we then conclude with a final thought to take home with us. Today we looked at ONLY JOKING, and started with a good laugh! People shared jokes, others took part in juggling, whilst others took part in the gurning competition. A quiz of funny people followed, and then revealed a face of Jesus - recognising that there was a lot of people who found Him funny and laughed a lot at Him - but that actually there is a lot that He said that is worth taking serious and is No Joke! Two speakers helped explore how they take their faith seriously - Elsie and Gavin - and then Ian concluded by looking at the I AM statements made by Jesus - hearing that GOD said them and how they relate to us. Is it not worth taking them seriously? Following this, we enjoyed our family meal, and concluded with THE FINALE. In this, we heard the importance of recognising that we are NO JOKE.....and that God wants us to recognise that our lives can have purpose and meaning. We concluded by recognising that YES, JESUS LOVES ME. It appears from what we heard and saw that God touched some peoples lives....and challenged them too. So, if thats been what happened, today has been more than worth coming together again. Thank you so much to all those involved in someway in today.

ANNUAL APPEAL CHALLENGE

THE ANNUAL APPEAL CHALLENGE IS COMING! We want to make the best of this years appeal, starting officially in Septemnber. For six weeks we will be exploring Living by Faith, and putting into practise. In that looking at ministry through our church, in south ashford, and how the army engages in this through social and community ministry, programmes, centres etc. To get us thinking SUNDAY 13th APRIL, will welcome Captain HOWARD RUSSELL, centre manager from Booth House in London, to help us graps how the army puts belief in action. This will be a special time together, so do come and share in it. PLEASE NOTE there will not be Disciple College this Sunday (mainly due to the fact that a lot of us will be involved in 24:1)

AN EVENT NOT TO BE MISSED

24:1 is an exciting prayer event being arranged by our youth group, but open to all. Its taking place next Saturday from 9am, till 9am on the Sunday....and then we will all get to church together. The last event was held nearly two years ago, and was amazing. Please give what time you can to be a part of what God has planned.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

We have just shared in two special community events over Easter, and we do want to keep building on this. So, we are pleased to announce (if your members this is already in the diary) our community fun event at the end of April. There will be a whole host of activities. This is started at 10.30am by our annual SPRING FESTIVAL, so bring with you some seeds and stuff for our community garden.....further information will follow.

NOT TO BE MISSED

JOIN US THIS SUNDAY FOR THE EVENT.

There are some statements that have been made throughout generations that are life changing - but so many think of them as one big joke. This week we will explore how there are somethings in life that are great to laugh at.....and equally some really important ones to be taking seriously. Join us this Sunday for a really fun, challenging and thought provoking time (hopefully), starting with refreshments at 10am, 10.30am for THE EVENT and then our family celebration to follow.

FEAR NOT.....

On Sunday we reflected on not being fearful, and stepping out with God. The following, also to be found on the Blog of our childrens ministries officer, Clare, is an outline of some of our thoughts, and might help you with further reflection

Are you ready to jump?
Imagine that you are on a diving board. really high up above a swimming pool.God says, 'Jump.'You look down and to your horror you realise that there is no water in the pool.You say to God, 'Fill the pool with water first and then I'll jump.'God replies, 'Jump first and then I'll fill the pool with water.'What do you do? Do you have faith that God will provide and keep His word?or do you feel full of fear and terror?Do not let the ultimate terrorist get in the way of jumping for God. For the devil is the one who strikes fear into our hearts.
Should you be jumping?

Faith vs Fear- Becoming water walkers
What do you think is the most common instruction in the Bible?
It isn't to be more loving, caring and kind. Although this is God's greatest desire for us. This isn't the most common instruction.
Neither is it warnings of pride, to become more humble, to guard sexual purity or to walk with integrity. Although these are really important qualities, they are not the most common.
The most common instruction in the Bible, actually is:
'Fear not'
'Do not fear', 'Do not be afraid', 'Be strong and courageous', 'you can trust me'- is all instructing us to 'Fear not'.
Why 'Fear not'?
Why is it that God is constantly reminding us that we don't need to fear? Its not as if fear is the biggest of vices, its not in the seven deadly sins (although all sin is the same to God). Fear doesn't seem to be the worst thing in the world. So why 'Fear not'?
Fear tempts us most from not doing God's will. It tempts us most from not jumping when God says 'Jump'. Or as John Ortberg puts it, 'Fear disrupts faith and becomes the biggest obstacle to trusting and obeying God.'
In other words, Fear gets in the way of us and God. Fear becomes the biggest obstacle in our relationship with God. It causes a void between us and God, it stop us trusting in Him- the creator of both Heaven and Earth, who made you from the dust, this mighty powerful God. When we fear we stop God from being all powerful.
FEAR- It gets in the way!
So God is constantly letting us know that we don't need to fear- we don't need to fear Him, we respect God, but we do not need to fear that He will hurt us or throw lighting bolts at us; we don't need to fear that God won't provide, we don't need to fear the situations that we are in.
We don't need to fear- we need to trust, have faith and obey!
There are 366 'Fear not' verses in the Bible. That is one for everyday of the year, including an extra one for leap years. To me that isn't a coincidence. Time is a human creation, yet God still places enough 'Fear not' verses in the Bible for everyday and one left over for a leap year- only God could do that! How great is God's commitment to us, that He doesn't want us to fear, not one day does He want us to live and struggle with fear, so each day He tells us to 'Fear not'. What a promise!
One of my biggest fears, is quite a silly fear and you might all laugh at it, but it is a fear i have to battle with sometimes. I am afraid of stairs. I fine going up stairs, but coming down stairs is more of a problem. I have fallen down stairs quite a few times and I've been up the hospital a couple of times with suspected broken neck and my Dad has finally put up a banister so I don't fall down our stairs so much. The fear of falling down stairs is my bodies natural reaction to the a situation which might possibly be dangerous and might cause me harm. But if I let this stop me, if I let this fear get in the way- I would be quite stuck, i wouldn't be able to get anywhere as there are a lot of stairs about.
There is a place for fear. Fear at its most basic, is our bodies naturally reaction to a possible dangerous situation. Its our body telling us that we need to run away, or hide.
But we mustn't let fear over ride faith and trust.
The 'No' of fear must never triumph the 'yes' of faith.In Matthew 14:22, Jesus walked on water towards the disciples and He didn't say anything. Jesus was waiting for the disciples to recognise who He was. But they were terrified and they cried out in fear, believing Jesus to be a ghost.
Now I don't know a bout you, but if I was in a boat at 3am in the middle of a storm, and someone came walking towards me on the water, I might be a little scared too.
It says that Jesus spoke to the disciples 'at once'. Jesus didn't want His disciples to be afraid, He did not want them to fear Him.
Peter responded- not in a testing way, but in response to faith and when Jesus told Him to 'come', he went. I don't know if Peter hesitated or if he went without thinking, because I wasn't there and it doesn't tell us. But I do know if I was in Peter's situation I might feel just a little afraid. It does tell us that Peter that went over the side of the boat and began to walk towards Jesus on the water. For those few minutes before Peter saw the wind and the waves, Peter walked on water! wow! Peter is probably the only person except for Jesus who has every walked on water.
Peter was the only one who had the faith to even get out of the boat. Yes he lost his focus and began to sink and needed Jesus to save him - but at least he got out of the boat. Yes, Peter failed, but he didn't fail us much as the other disciples in the boat.
Peter learnt a lot from failing- he learnt that Jesus would save him, even when he was failing, he learnt that Jesus would save him first and then he would help him to learn the lesson of faith. Although Jesus told Peter he had 'little faith' and asked why he doubted Jesus. Jesus did this is love and away from the other disciples, he was showing that there is no fear in Jesus- for 'perfect fear casts out all fear.'
With faith we must make sure that we keep our focus and our focus must be Jesus.
What is it that you should be doing to get out of your boat? What is it that God is asking for you to step out in faith?
What are you afraid of?
Lets get out of our boats and start water walking