Courage on Father's Day

I had a great chat with Major-General Tim Cross this afternoon and I am really looking forward to his visit with us in a couple of weeks on Father's Day.

Tim will be speaking on the subject of courage and as he has served in some of the harshest situations and most difficult conflicts in recent history, he is well positioned to speak on such a subject.

Can I encourage you to consider inviting people to come to church on Father's Day and hear Tim speak?. He has an amazing story and speaks with great authority and integrity. And he is really passionate about following Jesus. It's a great opportunity to introduce someone to our church.

Sunday 16 June, 10.30am at The King's Centre, Burgess Hill. 

Plus, as it's Father's Day, there may even be a Yorkie Bar in it for the blokes!  What more reason do you need to come to church?!

Sundays in June

We have some exciting Sunday's coming up in June.  

Obviously, we value every opportunity to gather on a Sunday and to worship Jesus together. I have been so encouraged recently by the hunger, expectation and engagement in worship; it really feels like God is doing something new amongst us. However, in addition to this there are some other great reasons not to miss our Sunday meetings over the next few weeks.

Sunday 02 June - John Hosier

We are delighted that John Hosier will be preaching at TKC this coming Sunday. John was, for many years, an Elder at CCK, Brighton but is now on the Eldership team at Citygate Church, Bournemouth.

He is widely respected as a Bible teacher and he will be continuing our series from Galatians. He has also authored a number of books including 'Christ's Radiant Church'.

Sunday 09 June - Baptism Celebration

There is nothing more exciting than hearing people's stories of how Jesus has changed their lives.

On Sunday 9 June we are going to celebrate with another three people as they get baptised. It will be another  opportunity to celebrate, thank God and remember that the gospel is still changing lives today. 

Kieran Dunne will be preaching and it will be a great Sunday to invite people to try out church.

Sunday 16 June - Father's Day with Major-General Tim Cross

It is wonderful to welcome back our friend Tim Cross. Tim had a long and distinguised career in the British Military including a very senior role in command of the British Forces in Iraq.

He also follows Jesus and we are so glad he's coming back to TKC to preach. We are also planning some other elements for Father's Day, so this will be another excellent opportunity to invite people to church. 



I hope that you can make these Sundays. Also remember that on Sunday 23 June we start our new 'Sense and Sexuality' series; I will be blogging more about that soon.

Sense & Sexuality: why we are doing a teaching series on Sex at TKC

Sense and Sexuality

On Sunday 23 June this year we are going to start a new teaching series at The King's Church Mid-Sussex called 'Sense and Sexuality'.

For a number of years I have thought about doing a teaching series like this but it has not felt like the right moment, however, I feel God has clearly led me to do the series this year.  So for 5 weeks (maybe more!) I will be teaching Sunday by Sunday on a number of themes relating to this huge and significant issue.

The reality is this; sex and sexuality is one of the driving forces, if not the driving force, in our culture and yet I have rarely heard much teaching about it in the church. This is tragic because sex is God's idea and he created it for good. Many of us grew up in churches that seemed to suggest that sex was bad or wrong. Certainly it was taboo; never spoken about within the walls of the church. But God created sex, God created us as sexual beings, sex was his idea! So why the silence?

The reality is also this; as the church has remained silent on the issue the rest of the world has found it's own view of sex outside of God's original plan and intent.

Why do we need a teaching series on Sex and Sexuality? 

Because $90 billion dollars are spent every year on the porn industry
Because America spends more on porn than it does on foreign aid
Because today 27 million people are bought and sold as slaves - many into the sex industry
Because the number 1 consumer of internet porn is 12-17 year old boys
Because in the UK in 2011 there were nearly 200,000 unwanted pregnancies that led to abortion
Because in the UK in 2009 nearly 500,000 people contracted an STI
Because in the USA 90% of 8-16 year olds have seen pornagraphic images
Because many people are hurt, wounded and damaged because of abusive sexual relationships

And because God has a much higher and more beautiful plan for human sex and sexuality than that which we see around us. And here's the thing, not many people know what it is. He is a God of extravagent love, forgiveness, grace and healing and the Bible says alot about Sex and Sexuality.

So, we are going to spend some time looking at this together at The King's Church Mid-Sussex - identity, relationships, singleness, marriage, sexuality.

Sense and Sexuality starting 23 June.

More info will be coming soon.

Galatians: Authentic Living

Galatians: Authentic Living

On Sunday 05 May we start a new teaching series at The King's Church Mid-Sussex. We are going to spend six weeks delving into the New Testament letter to the Galatians.

Paul reserves some of his fiercest words for this letter and for this church. Having received the gospel of grace the church in Galatia were beginning to add in all kinds of rules, restrictions and laws that prevented people living in genuine freedom. Some of the most powerful statements in the New Testament are found in this amazing letter including the declaration in chapter 5 v 1 that "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free".

We, as a leadership team, are praying that people will find a fresh revelation of freedom as we explore what authentic, gospel centred, spirit filled, Christianity looks like.

As part of this series, we are delighted that John Hosier will be coming to TKC to preach. John is an experienced and well known Bible teacher and author whose wisdom and gift for preaching will serve us brilliantly. He is with us on Sunday June 2. 

I am looking forward to it - and I hope you are to.  Join us every Sunday at The King's Centre, Burgess Hill at 10.30am. For more info email info@tkc.org.uk

From Scaynes Hill to Turkey...Global 2012

GLOBAL 2012

I won't be at The King's Church Mid-Sussex this coming Sunday (14 October). Instead I,  Dominique and Joseph, along with Steve and Carol Cornford will be travelling to Turkey. Yep, Turkey!

We'll be missing a great morning at TKC as Kieran Dunne will be preaching the next installment from Mark's gospel, however, we will be on our way to meet with about 500 other leaders from across the globe.

Recently we have heard a lot about our roots as a church, how we began in someone's home and grew to our current location at The King's Centre. As Terry Virgo travelled from Seaford to meet with a small gathering in Scaynes Hill no-one would have dreamt what God would do over the next 40 years.

Initially Terry served a few church in Sussex but that then grew to the South East of England, then wider in the UK and then internationally.

Newfrontiers, as it is now known, may have begun with a few people in Sussex (our church included) but is now a collection of over 900 churches across more than 60 nations.  Kenya, Ukraine, Brazil, Phillipines, France, South Africa, New Zealand, USA, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany......the list goes on on and on.

For many years there has been an international leaders conference in Brighton. We have been very fortunate to be only a 10 minute train journey away to benefit from this superb global gathering. Many others travelled thousands of miles to be there.

However, Newfrontiers is changing and how we gather as a family of churches is also changing. Rather than one man leading Newfrontiers, we now have many teams leading Newfrontiers across the world. Today, there are far more Newfrontiers churches outside the UK then within it.  In many ways, we are no longer a family of churches, but a family of families.

So Steve and I, with Carol and Dominique, will not be at TKC on Sunday - instead we will be at Global 2012.  A leadership conference that is gathering 500 leaders involved in Newfrontiers from across the world to a hotel in Turkey.  It feels like an immense privilege to have been invited. 

We would value your prayers as this conference comes at a key time for Newfrontiers. We, as a family of churches are changing, it is an exciting season but there are certainly many unworn paths ahead of us.

At Global 2012, we will benefit from apostolic teaching from guys like PJ Smythe, Edward Buria and Dave Devenish as well as having lots of opportunity to catch up with what God is doing across the nations of the earth and celebrate what he has done from small beginnings in a home in Scaynes Hill.

If you are on Twitter look out for daily updates and I will post a full report here when we get back.

Why a prayer meeting is always more than a prayer meeting

Experiencing the 'heating plant'

There is a story that has been told about five young college students who were spending a Sunday in London, so they went to hear the famed C.H. Spurgeon preach. While waiting for the doors to open, the students were greeted by a man who asked, "Gentlemen, let me show you around. Would you like to see the heating plant of this church?" They were not particularly interested, for it was a hot day in July. But they didn't want to offend the stranger, so they consented. The young men were taken down a stairway, a door was quietly opened, and their guide whispered, "This is our heating plant." Surprised, the students saw 700 people bowed in prayer, seeking a blessing on the service that was soon to begin in the auditorium above. Softly closing the door, the gentleman then introduced himself. It was none other than Charles Spurgeon.

Charles Spurgeon was one of the greatest preachers our nation has ever heard. Thousands gathered week after week to hear him preach at The Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. But behind the scenes, in the basement, hundreds were praying for the meetings.

 

Hundreds.

Behind every strong and growing church lies a strong corporate prayer life.

Prayer at TKC

 

Life is exciting at TKC right now, moving into the King's Centre has given us fresh momentum and increased profile. There are lots of people asking about and visiting the church. It is an encouraging time.

However, we must never become reliant on ourselves or on a building. We must always demonstrate our reliance on God by gathering together in prayer.

When we gather to pray we remember again who we are and who God is. When we gather to pray we surrender ourselves again to God's greater plans. When we gather to pray we call in the Kingdom of God. When we gather to pray our hearts are changed for eternity. 

A prayer meeting is never just a prayer meeting.

We are meeting to pray this Sunday (07 October 12) at 6.30pm at The King's Centre. We will pray for God's Kingdom to come in Mid-Sussex, we will pray for other local churches and their leaders and we will pray for the upcoming trips to Bulgaria and Kenya.

I really want to encourage people to come along to pray. If we are to be known for anything as a church, let it not be for the big blue building, but let it be for our passion to gather together and pray.

Why we have a 'Vision Sunday'

After a few weeks out of the office during August it has been great to get back into The King's Centre and start preparations for the term ahead.  Kieran Dunne has joined the staff team this week and I am so excited by the contribution he will make to the leadership team.

VISION SUNDAY

This coming Sunday (9 Sept) at The King's Church Mid-Sussex is what we call Vision Sunday. We have Sundays like this once or twice a year at particularly strategic or significant moments.

Bill Hybels, leader of the Willow Creek Church and Association has written some excellent leadership materials over the years but one of the most helpful things I have learnt from reading his books is about vision and about the importance of regularly casting vision.  We all know that life is busy;  work, family, travel, illness and disappointment all take their toll and it can be easy to lose sight of why we do what we do.


So, this Sunday, as we begin this new term in a new building with a new team, I will be reminding us of what our vision is. To raise our eyes again to what God has called us to as a church. I want to encourage you to be there as we consider all the Kingdom opportunities we have over the coming months and years.

 

PRAYER WEEK

This will then lead us into our week of prayer which we have at the beginning of each term. We will start on Sunday night at 6.30pm. We have decided to run the prayer night in the main audtorium at The King's Centre. We are going to create some space physically and create some space in terms of time to simply worship and enjoy God. Before we bring our long list of prayer requests to him we want to create some space for him to talk to us. I am particularly excited about praying in the main venue and again would love to encourage you to be there.  There is nothing greater or more important that we can do as a church than create time and space to hear from our Father God.

We are on a big adventure together. I look forward to seeing you this weekend.