Don't miss out / I won the iPad2 !!!

What a great Sunday last Sunday was!

Well done to Emma and the crew for leading us in worship and for all of you who took John Wesley’s advice so well to sing with great passion and thanksgiving to God.

It was great to hear from the Sundaes on Mondays cluster as well in the evening.

We are continuing our Lenten series this Sunday exploring the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt. Having thought about how we cope when some of our treasured dreams die last week, this week we are going to think about how to walk straight ahead and not go around and around in increasingly disheartening circles.

Now, whatever you do don’t miss out on the amazing Tuesday nights that are about to start on March 6th. These evenings will kick off with coffee and cake followed by times of worship. Then there are three different streams of courses on offer. The Story of the Bible with Andrew Shamy is going to be fantastic. Andrew is an amazing teacher and has a great knack of opening the bible in our contemporary context. Don’t miss out!

The Leadership Development Course that Richard is running is outstanding. If you want to discover how you are wired and what God is calling you to do whether for the first time or in this season of your life then this is the course for you.

Dino is running the Prayer Ministry Course. If you have never done this before do it! It is vital to the future of St Pauls that we all know how to pray for people. Dino, as you know is very gifted at this.

These are great nights to come to if you are new to the church and want to meet new people.

By the way, don’t worry I have not won the ipad2. If you don’t know what I am taking about we are taking a St Paul’s Census as we have a complete overhaul of the website and everyone who fills out the form ends up in the draw.

Have a great week.

Lenten Wilderness Wanderings

Happy “Shrove Tuesday” or “Pancake Tuesday” or “Mardi Gras” or whatever you call this day that falls the day before “Ash Wednesday”.

With Lent upon us (that 40 day period leading up to Easter not including Sundays) we will as a church be embarking on a series looking at the Israelite's journey out of Egypt and their time in the dessert from the book of Exodus. As you know, Lent is a time of reflection, repentance and preparation. Over the weeks we will be reflecting on who God is and what he has done in Christ with a view to preparing our hearts and minds to more effectively extend His kingdom together this year.

Newt has also prepared some fantastic Lentern resources based on the book of Jonah which I strongly recommend to you. They are available on the website on the home page.

I can’t wait to get home tonight and start munching pancakes with the boys and my lovely wife.

See you on Sunday.

Praise is Rising...

It seems like we’re fully back into the swing of things now that the long weekends are over, and the sun seems like it’s trying to push it’s way through.

Last week, Bex and I went back to Vaughan Park for a couple of days on retreat to pray  and we experienced a real sense of God’s love and a real excitement for the year ahead at St. Pauls.

Our final week of the series “Crouch, Touch and Engage” in which we are exploring worship is this Sunday. We have had some amazing times as we have worshipped together over the last weeks. Andy and the team have been doing a great job.

Don’t forget that Lent is just around the corner and we’ll be studying Exodus and Moses’s and the Israelites journey out of Egypt as we prepare for Easter.

There is so much to get stuck into and we’re only in February!

Looking forward to seeing you Sunday