Every year we kick off with a 'Church Day' at Woodgreen where we remind ourselves of what we're about as a Church and celebrate the privileges and responsibilities of church membership.
Part of this is a ' Gift Fair' where each of the ministries in the church showcase what they do and encourage people to pray for them and maybe get involved. Below are some photos from this year...
As some of you will know, I am off to Brazil next Thursday, with Peter Coggins, a friend from church, to see the work one of our church missionaries has been involved in for the past 12 years.
After a journey involving three flights and taking about 24 hours, we will arrive in Manaus - the largest city in northern Brazil - at around 2.30pm on Friday. This will be our base, but the main purpose of the visit is to teach at a Bible College for local pastors in a town called Tefe, 300 miles west (involving another flight), up the Amazon river.
Our itinerary is below, together with our teaching timetable. Wireless internet permitting (I am told our hotel in Tefe will have this!) I will be updating this blog as often as possible while we are away.
We would appreciate prayer:
for safety and good health
that what we teach via translation would be helpful
that the missionary we are going with - Andrew Love - would be encouraged
Tomorrow is a very special day for us as a church and for Hannah, one of our church members. Tomorrow we commission her as a Woodgreen Missionary and send her off to Madagascar to serve with Africa Inland Mission.
Hannah has a calling to work with so called 'Third Culture Kids'. The children of missionaries often feel caught between two cultures: their country of origin (which doesn't feel like home because they're rarely there) and the country their parents have been assigned to (which is 'home' but where they're not nationals). They therefore belong to a 'third culture', which can often be confusing and destabilising.
Hannah's desire is to help, care for and support missionary families by teaching their children and getting alongside them. She will be working in southern Madagascar, as part of a team seeking to reach the Bara people.
If you want to find out more about what she will be doing, and the work amongst the Bara people, the video below was produced by her team leaders recently.
Please pray for Hannah, as she makes some significant and solemn promises at her commissioning service tomorrow, and for us as a church, as we promise to support and uphold her in both prayerful and practical ways.
Many Christians can testify to having been really blessed and challenged by the devotional writings of John Piper.
Recently Desiring God ministries (which he founded) released a FREE 365 day devotional app called 'Solid Joys' for ipad, iphone and android devices.
So, if you got a smart phone or tablet in your stocking for Christmas, this is one to download.
I put it on my phone a few weeks ago and the short devotions in the run up to Christmas were superb. I commend it to you. It's a great way of turning the mind and heart to God during the day when you can snatch a minute or two.
How about Psalm 100:2 as a new years resolution for 2013?
What sort of difference might it make to our community life and witness as a church if every Christian at Woodgreen took this verse as a personal motto text for 2013?
Warning: it's got nothing to do with how we FEEL, this is a verse all about the DISCIPLINE of worship. We belong to God, we have no reason NOT to serve him with gladness!
'Serve the Lord with joy; come before him with singing.'
