Special Activities:

James will be getting baptised next Sunday

Readings:

• Sunday Alive 11.00am: In the morning Phil Bushby will be speaking on ‘Called to Mission’ Acts 13:1-3
• Evening Service 6.00pm: In the evening Phil will be speaking on ‘Jesus spoke to them in parables’ Matt 21:28 – 22:14

Next Week’s Readings:

• Sunday Alive 11.00am: In the morning Phil will be speaking on ‘In Cyprus’ Acts 13:4-12
• Evening Service 6.00pm: In the evening Steve Brind will be speaking on ‘Tested with questions’ Matt 22:15-46

Dropaccino

Dropaccino is an informal cafe for young people which is going to be set up in the church in the near future. It’ll be a great opportunity to reach out to those in the 16-25 age group. The costs of setting up Dropacino are fairly high, due to the fact it needs to be perceived as a proper cafe (not just a church hall with a few tables and chairs). Therefore it would be greatly appreciated for anyone who feels the are able to give a donation towards the set-up. Marked envelopes are provided at the back/side of the church.

First of all, a very happy New Year to you all.  We hope you all had a really great Christmas.  It has been lovely to have Grace back with us and we have enjoyed lots of family times together over the last few weeks, concluding with a New Year’s party at our house with 26 adults and young people.

Our first week back has been very busy.  Firstly, both of us were involved in the organization of The European Consultation, an event which is held at Redcliffe and seeks to gather church and mission leaders to consider some of the important issues relating to mission in Europe.  Secondly, Jim has been putting the finishing touches to the latest edition of Vista which takes a detailed look at the findings from the European Values Study.  You will recall that Jim went to Holland to attend the Values of Europe Conference back in November and this edition of Vista sets out some of the key findings and considers their implications for Christian mission.  A copy of Vista is attached.

Next week Jim will make another trip out to Spain to work with the pastors of Cordoba on the collaborative church planting project and the week after that both of us will travel out to Spain again to assist in the ECM foundations course, part of a new role which Jim will be developing into.  More on this in our next Postcard.

On the family front, Grace starts back at the University of Sheffield on Saturday and will be co-leader of her student cluster (a group of small groups) and starting to take part in the worship team at St Thomas Crookes.  This will be a great opportunity for Grace but do pray for her as she steps out in faith new areas.  Alex is busy revising for modular GCSEs this month so pray for strength and health for him as he has not been 100% lately.  He is also visiting possible schools for his sixth form studies so we ask your prayers for that too.  Rosie is free from such worries and is thoroughly enjoying developing her new skills as a baker and food photographer!

Our love to you all,

Jim and Christine

See the latest version of Vista: vista-issue-8-jan-2012-final

Special Activities:

• N/A

Christmas Services:

Dropaccino

Dropaccino is an informal cafe for young people which is going to be set up in the church in the near future. It’ll be a great opportunity to reach out to those in the 16-25 age group. The costs of setting up Dropacino are fairly high, due to the fact it needs to be perceived as a proper cafe (not just a church hall with a few tables and chairs). Therefore it would be greatly appreciated for anyone who feels the are able to give a donation towards the set-up. Marked envelopes are provided at the back/side of the church.