Tag: Church

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A Gentle Reminder

As you may remember – when I (finally) turned back to God, nearly 18 months ago now, the parable of the Prodigals Son was one that really spoke to me and I genuinely felt that moment of the Father welcoming the Prodigal back by running to meet him (me!) and giving him (me again) a great big hug. (Note: If you don’t remember, or don’t know the details, you can catch up on the story here: http://hartleyweb.co.uk/?p=99 )

Last night was a corporate prayer meeting at Kingsgate Community Church in Peterborough. Now these are great times and tend to happen 3-4 times a year and involve everyone descending on Kingsgate for 2 hours of real good Worship and Prayer – and usually with Communion as well. The session last night was packed – I’ve never seen so many people at a prayer meeting – and boy, was it a good time.

During one of the periods of prayer there was a real sense of Gods Love for us all, accompanied by a huge sense of peace, acceptance and belonging. During this I really felt God saying to me that He was still there for me – that He wasn’t just there when I came back, but that His Love for me was NOW and ALWAYS and that His arms of Love were always around me, holding me in a huge bear-hug.

It’s always good to remember that God is interested in us. He cares about our lives and isn’t just there as a doorman or as a ruler on a throne – but He’s there for us every day, every where and in every circumstance.

I’m fortunate to have grown up in a loving family and now have a loving family of my own – but even with all that love in my life, Gods Love still knocks me off my feet (quite literally as you may have noticed if you were there last night!)

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From a Reed to a Rock

Woohoo – it’s time again for more Wallpaper Memory verse fun 🙂

Yup, we’ve just started a new series of teaching at KingsGate called “From a Reed to a Rock – the Making of a Disciple” looking at the life of Peter and how we can learn from him and grow ourselves.

Dropped on us at small group last night was the nice sheet that contained MEMORY VERSES!!!

So, I thought I’d throw together some quick wallpapers – and instead of doing them week by week and getting behind I have done all of them in one fell swoop… so here they are! (click the read more to see them 😉 )

Continue reading “From a Reed to a Rock”

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KingsGate goes National (and even Global!)

WOW!

That about sums it up!

If you’ve been watching my Facebook status updates, or go to/know people who go to KingsGate Community Church in Peterborough, you will be aware that this weekend just gone we had the BBC broadcast LIVE from the Church for one of their 3 annual services. They only broadcast live for Easter, Christmas and Pentecost – with the Pentecost service being this one.

It was a huge blessing, opportunity, opening and challenge for the Church and all involved – with months of organisation, rehearsal, jiggery-pokery and all sorts going on to ensure that it all went smoothly, professionally and still looked like the KingsGate we know and love. The main priority of it all though was to ensure that God was able to be glorified, praised, raised up and that homes would be impacted by the Holy Spirit through what Dave Smith preached, the worship team sang, the testimonies declared and more.

The weekend was crazy – busy didn’t seem to fully express what the weekend was like but it was all good fun. When the rehearsal took place the air tingled with anticipation and excitement as we fully took in what we were doing. When we went LIVE it was even more moving and amazing, I found myself welling up as I took it all in but managed to keep in control 😉

I was involved with the KingsGate Production Department looking after the sound and visuals within the childrens room that got featured during the second song (and you can see our eldest son a few times!!!) and it was such a thrill being involved in it all.

Of course we let loads of people know about it, and our daughter told all her friends etc – but nobody anticipated the response that we got.

BBC crew members were moved, some close to tears, by what they saw, heard and felt. Emails came in (and are still coming in) from people who were challenged, changed, touched and more in the UK. The Church has even had emails from Holland, Belgium, Germany and Spain as it turned out that the broadcast was also sent to the Armed Forces TV channel so was seen as far afield as the Falkland Islands!

Then there was probably the biggest surprise of all – Chris Moyles, Radio 1 Breakfast Show DJ, actually talked for 6 1/2 minutes about the service. 7.7 Million listeners heard Chris saying that he watched the program and it was “the most fascinating thing I’ve seen for a long time” and “I’ve never seen anything like that it Britain” and “it was amazing” and “been to gigs with less atmosphere” and “this is unbelievable” and “very uplifting” and “I want to go”

The ripples from this are still being felt from this and it is so exciting to be a part of.

If you haven’t seen it – or want to watch it again – you can catch it on the BBC iPlayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00kvgmt/Thats_the_Spirit!/

Update: It’s now no longer available on iPlayer but you can find it on YouTube by searching for KingsGate Community Church

Please check it out!

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More…

Brian Doerkson wrote this back in 1994… a simple song of declaration, desperation, adoration, worship, love and more

More than oxygen, I need Your love
More than life-giving food the hungry dream of
More than an eloquent word depends on the tongue
More than a passionate song needs to be sung

More than a word could ever say
More than a song could ever convey
I need You more than all of these things
Father, I need You more

More than magnet and steel are drawn to unite
More than poets love words to rhyme as they write
More than the comforting warmth of sun in the spring
More than the eagle loves wind under its wings

More than a blazing fire on a winter’s night
More than the tall evergreens reach for the light
More than the pounding waves long for the shore
More than these gifts You give, I love You more

Copyright © 1994 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing

It’s a tough time right now – there are a lot of things we/I am struggling with right now and it’s difficult to always find God or to feel His direction, will and purpose. Whilst playing the guitar this evening and having a bit of a personal worship session, this song sprung into my mind once more. I’ve not played it for years on end and not listened to, or sung, it for nearly as long and yet it entered my mind with such a resounding crash it was plain that God was dropping a (not-so-subtle) hint and it also echoed the cries of my soul right now.

On Sunday we had David Ring speak at Kingsgate. David is a mid-50s preacher from Nashville who also happens to have cerebal palsy. Not a minor variant that is barely noticable but a major, life-effecting, variant that has shaped his whole life. Look him up on YouTube, please, and catch some of what we experienced on Sunday. It was a humbling, heart-warming, challenging, encouraging, amazing and blessed testimony that he shared with us including the very simple, but life-challenging, line of “I have cerebal palsy – what’s your problem?”

I’ve tried to hold on to the inspiration that he gave to us – but unfortunately it’s not that easy for too many reasons to list here and so I’ve still found myself struggling a lot and feeling quite down and trapped. This song sums up for me what my heart is crying out now… More than a word could ever say, I need You MORE than all of these things…

Please pray for us at the moment. It’s a time that is proving testing and difficult but we know that God has it all under control – it’s just remembering that when I feel the darkness swamp my mind.

More than oxygen, I need Your love. More than life-giving food the hungry dream of….. Father, I need you MORE!

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My favourite time of year

Easter. A time of rememberance, of meditation, of celebration and rejoicing.

I LOVE Easter so much. For me it’s the best time of the year and the one that stirs my heart more even than Christmas.

I love to spend time focussing on all the Christ has done for me (and for YOU!) and reading the accounts of His last few days and all the He went through – and of course, the joyous resurrection! I love to meditate, to pray, to celebrate communion with others in memory of the last supper. I love waking up on Easter Sunday knowing that nearly 2000 years ago, Christ rose again giving me the chance to know a new life, a new hope and a new eternity. Continue reading “My favourite time of year”