4th July 2010 - A Great Sunday!

We had a fantastic day yesterday. In the morning all 3 of our morning services went really well and we continued our series on Why We Sing. The previous Sunday we had a great day with Nick and Becky Drake leading us in our worship and that momentum was carried through to this Sunday with a really good spirit about our morning meetings. The worship was great and the different styles of our different services really helped people. More on Why We Sing this coming Sunday.

Then on Sunday afternoon we had a very special occassion as we celebrated Steph Littlejohn's ordination as a Baptist Minister. The main hall was packed and we had lots of visitors including church leaders and the mayor of Bracknell Forest Borough Council.

It was great to be able to recognise together the call that God has placed on Steph's life and it was the culmination of lots of hard work for Steph.

Here are some photos of a great occasion.

28th June 2010 - What a Great day!

What a great day we had yesterday. In the morning we were all together for a joint service launching our new series called Why We Sing. In this series we are going to be looking together at the wonder and mystery of worship. Nick and Becky Drake from St Paul's Hammersmith brought a team to lead our worship and Nick preached. It was a great service and the feedback has been great. If you weren't able to be there then do listen to Nick's talk...click here to listen or download it and click here to get a copy of Nick's talk slides.

We really hope that we will go up a level in our worship together as a church, that together we will becoming a singing church and that through that God will unite us even more with each other and with him. This was a great start to our moving on in our worship journey. Do listen to the talk if you haven't yet heard it and plan to be with us this Sunday morning as we continue our series.

Then yesterday afternoon we had a really good Songs of Praise service. The hall was packed again and we talked about the subject of humility. Joy Gratrex did a great interview and then Rob Lea and I talked about our trip to Sierra Leone. Click here to find out more about our trip and to see some photos.

21st June 2010 - Good to be Home

Rob Lea and I got back from Sierra Leone last week and I can safely say it is wonderful to be home. Our trip was fantastic and an amazing experience, but it is always good to come home and see friends and family again.

Rob and I both fell completely in love with Sierra Leone. The country is amazing. The capital - Freetown where we were staying is on a strip on land sandwiched between mountains and the Atlantic ocean. You have to take a ferry across the estuary from the airport to Freetown and then you are confronted by the chaos and colour of the capital. There are people everywhere, cars and motorbikes fight for road space and horns are continually honking! It is also very hot - about 40 degrees during the day and 30 degrees at night. It is also very humid.

Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world and all around are the signs of desperate poverty. But despite all of that, the people are fantastic. They are full of joy and vigour and enthusiasm and their default position seems to be happiness. We have much to learn from them. Here in the UK we have so much and yet are so often very miserable. The people of Sierra Leone have nothing...and yet they are full of joy. There is a very important lesson for us there.

We stayed with Abs Dumbuya who is working in Freetown to establish the work of the Dorothy Springer Trust who are working to help people with disabilities. We met the three students who are currently being supported to gain high level ICT qualifications. They were all great and are working really hard.

Over the next few weeks we will be sharing lots more about our trip - starting on Sunday afternoon at the Songs of Praise service at 4pm. We are also really hoping that we might be able to organise another trip and take a team with us in 2011.

8th June 2010 - Itinerary

Tomorrow, Rob Lea and I leave for Sierra Leone to visit with Abs Dumbuya and to see the work of the Dorothy Springer Trust. I will also be speaking at the 218th anniversary service of Regent Road Baptist Church on Sunday morning. It should be a great trip, please be praying for us that God would use this time powerfullly to inspire us and the church as well help those in need.

Our draft itinerary is given below so that you will know the sorts of things that we are doing and can be praying for us.

See you when we get back!

DRAFT ITENARY FOR THE VISIT OF REV CHRIS PORTER AND ROB LEA FROM 9TH - 15TH JUNE 2010

1 Wednesday 9th June - 7.30PM Collect from Lungi Airport Wilkinson Rd

2 Thursday 10th June - Breakfast
- Visit to Proposed DST Aspire (SL) Ltd Building
- Visit to Educational Centre for Blind & Visual Impaired (ECBVI)
- DPOs Visit - HYDA, Cheshire Home, PVA, PWGA...
- Lunch
- Discussion DST Business Plan and Proposal over Dinner (The Atlantic)

3 Friday 11th June - Breakfast - UN Radio or CTN Radio
- Meeting with DST Scholars and Partners (with Media Press Briefing and signing of MoU between DST & ECBVI
- Lunch (Family Kingdom)
- Meeting - Baptist Convention, Sierra Leone
- Meeting with Dr & Mrs Renner (Landlord - Office)

4 Saturday 12th June - Tourist (Bounce Island or Trip to Lunsar)
- Dinner at The Atlantic

5 Sunday 13th June - Breakfast
- Church Service - Chris Preaching at the 218th RRBC
Celebration + Lunch
- Sunday Dinner at Roy Bar and Restaurant

6 Monday 14th June - Breakfast
- Meeting - Minister of Education
- Meeting - Minister of Social Welfare
- Meeting - Head of Corporate Affairs, Zain)
- Lunch (IMATT)
- Tea Fund Country Director + Leicester Peak
- Dinner, Chinese Restaurant, Lumley

7 Tuesday 15th June - Breakfast
- Big Market Shopping and Depart for Ferry Terminal

4th June 2010 - Holidays

I have just got back to work after a few days off over half term. We had a great time and much of our time off was spent with friends. We went away camping with some good friends of ours over the bank holiday weekend to Wellington Country Park where we are going for our church weekend away in 2011. The weather was kind to us and we had a fantastic few days which were very relaxing. Then we got to spend some time with my sister and her family which was good too.

What I realised was how relaxing the whole thing was. Being with great friends is a terrific way to relieve the busyness and pressure of life. This Sunday we are talking about maintaining a good balance between working and resting. The Bible uses two words that we might think are a bit old fashioned - abounding and abiding. We are created in the image of God and God is at work. We are made to work - to abound. But God also rests, Jesus took time out to spend with his Father, with is friends and to rest. This is the abiding bit.

We need to make sure in our lives that we are keeping the abounding and abiding parts in balance. This Sunday and in the week that follows we need to make sure we are reviewing the balance.

25th May 2010 - Visas

Today I spent most of the day in London with Rob Lea getting our visas sorted out for our trip to Sierra Leone in early June. It made it feel very real and very close. Rob and I are going to visit Abs Dumbaya who is currently living in Freetown, Sierra Leone getting the Dorothy Springer Trust charity up and running.

This amazing work that Abs is doing ensures high quality IT training for young people with disabilities that will mean that these young people will have a hope and a future. Sierra Leone is one of the very poorest countries in the world and the work that Abs is doing is really significant. Click here for a link to the website of the Dorothy Springer Trust to find out more about what Abs is doing.

20th May 2010 - Pentecost

This Sunday at our 3 morning services we are going to be remembering an event called Pentecost. After Jesus had left his first followers and gone back to be with his father the first followers waited in Jerusalem. When they were all gathered together they experienced something extraordinary. The very presence of God (His Holy Spirit) came upon them and they were equipped with power from God to live for Him and to pursue the life that He had called them to.

This Sunday we are finishing our series on The Shack by looking together at the Holy Spirit and how what happened to those first followers can happen to us today. God has given us the opportunity to receive His very presence and power - we just need to ask Him for it.

Don't miss this Sunday - should be a great time and an opportunity to receive the very presence of God!

5th May 2010 - The Power of God

I have been spending some time this morning reflecting on an amazing evening service last night. We gathered together for one of our Revive prayer and praise services and the theme was healing. You could really sense the presence of God and we had an incredible time where we all gathered around various people to pray with them and for them for God's healing. It was so moving and such a priviledge to be a part of God's healing and ministry to people.

The Bible tells us that in heaven there will be no more crying, no more pain, no more suffering and that we will be caught up in the presence of God. When we pray for healing we are praying that we would see God's Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. When we pray like we did last night we are catching a glimpse of heaven and it is an amazing priviledge.

I really hope that we will see a lot more of this kind of thing in our church life and I can't wait to hear the stories coming back of what God did for people last night.

Don't miss the next Revive service (2nd Sundays of the month at 6.30pm) to be a part of God's Kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven!

5th May 2010 - Peggy's Funeral

Just a quick entry to let you know that Peggy Letton's funeral will be at the church building on South Hill Road at 3pm on Monday 17th May 2010. I know Mike and the family would love to see you there if you can come. Please continue to pray for Mike and for all Peggy's family.

5th May 2010 - The Bracknell Half Marathon

Several years ago I ran in the Bracknell Half Marathon and I can testify to how tough it is. Much of it is up hill, particularly the section that lasts for 2 miles up harvest ride!

This Sunday Stephen Nower, Mandy van Jaarsveldt and Ben Temple are running in the half marathon and are raising money for different causes. Mandy and Ben are running for Toybox - an organisation we support who take children who are living on the streets in Latin America and give them a home and an education. Stephen is running for Coeliac UK a great cause and one close to his heart.

Please sponsor them generously - you can sponsor them at www.justgiving.com/stephennower or www.justgiving.com/benjamintemple

Remember too that on Sunday South Hill Road will be closed from around 8.55am to 9.15am so if you are coming to our 9.15am service remember to come early. Why not come at 8.30am and have breakfast and be there to cheer our runners on when they come past the church at just after 9am.