On Sunday 5th September it will be 3 years since Susan and I began to lead TLC. It has been a privilege to serve and we have loved it. Undoubtedly, the church has changed but so have we and we are grateful for all God has done and is doing among us. Some of you were here when we arrived and we want to thank you for standing with us and continuing on this journey. You are greatly valued and form a vital part of the TLC heart.

Many of you have joined us in the last 3 years and we believe you are part of the answer to our prayers. Thank you for putting your shoulder to the wheel and helping us push forward. As we begin the next chapter of TLC from a position of rest in ourselves and great confidence in Jesus, let’s continue to Love God and Love People. Let’s believe that His Bride in Leicester will shine and let’s remember that our best days are ahead and God is with us.

On September 5th we begin a new teaching series which is going to impact us and our city. ‘Forty days of blessing’ will be a chance to capture God’s heart and desire to bless us and bless our city. So how will it work? Simply put, TEACH – PRAY – ACT.

TEACH

Say to them “The Lord bless you” – Numbers 6:24.
Each week at Moat we will teach about another area of blessing relevant to us:

• Blessing – The power of blessing – an overview
• Blessing ourselves – living a blessed life
• Blessing our families and relatives – being good news
• Blessing our neighbours and friends – being a good neighbour and friend
• Blessing students, young people and those in education
• Blessing those who serve in our city
• Blessing other churches in the city
• Blessing TLC
• Blessing the cultures of our city

PRAY

We will give out a worksheet after each message, which will direct us to pray over specific areas. We are also asking everyone to pray the prayer below in their devotions as a confession.

Lord God Almighty – thank you for forgiveness from my sin and grace that accepts and loves me as I am. Thank you for an empty cross, a risen Saviour and a hope filled future. Father, I thank you for the certainty that you hold everything together. As a child of God I am blessed. You have blessed me, you are blessing me and you will bless me because you love me.

Father, I ask you to bless my life, my family, my neighbours and those I love.
Father bless the churches of our city that preach your word and bless every man and woman, boy and girl from every nation in Trinity Life Church – TLC be blessed.

Father bless this great city of Leicester, may it bring you joy and renown and may Jesus be lifted up and honoured. Do something so amazing that only you can get the credit.

We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

ACT

We are asking everyone to do a practical act of kindness linked to the message and be a blessing to someone else. We will give different ideas each week. Its an exciting series.

I hope you like the new ‘Life magazine’ – our new picture reveals the truth; Susan is beautiful and I am getting older. On the back of ‘Life’ there is a tear off advert for our next guest service: September 26th, 10.30am, at Moat. Tear it off and invite a friend.

In July/August we sent our condolences to Moira whose mum has passed away and we rejoiced in the birth of 5 babies – God is good.

Coming Up

Play Scheme – August 31st/1st September – 2-4pm at TLC
All our youth and children’s groups begin in September.

Onwards…

We look forward to seeing you this Sunday – August 29th, 10.30am – at our Upper Tichborne Street and then back at Moat on 5th September and every Sunday morning until Christmas day at Moat Community College.

Thank you for the privilege of serving you.

David Hind

There are so many things I can write about today, but I think I will tell you a little story and leave it at that… it’s a true story, but I have changed the name of the main character.

To give you the context, the story takes place one Tuesday morning in our Open Hands Unit session for women only, a few weeks ago.

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful young African princess, Bernadette. She had a lovely little daughter, just old enough to crawl and pick up bits off the floor and eat them. This was a concern to Bernadette, who mentioned this to the project worker talking to her in the Open Hands Unit on this particular morning, asking if there were any vacuum cleaners available. They prayed together. Bernadette enjoyed choosing some items from the store and the worker enjoyed holding her baby girl. After loading her new clothes and items on her buggy and strapping in the baby, Bernadette was about to leave.

And then it happened, a sign of God’s care for one African lady seeking asylum in a new land… a newly married couple came in, with items to give away, including a unit for it… an almost brand new vacuum cleaner (being newly married, they now had two of these).

They were introduced to Bernadette whose eyes by now were shining with tears of amazement and gratitude. What a joy for the givers and the receivers to be able to talk for a few moments before Bernadette and her baby set off, the vacuum cleaner strapped to the top of the buggy.

And the moral of the story? God cares about vacuum cleaners! Yes, and more than that, he cares deeply for the vulnerable, for the displaced, for the orphans and the widows. And again, more than that, He loves this particular princess and her daughter, He knows them by name, and He wants to meet their needs and show them that He wants to do so much more than give them a vacuum cleaner… and He is sending me (+ you) to be part of it…

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, and you… Read Isaiah 61 to find out why!

As I write I find myself thinking about my dad.

I would love you to have met him. He was a larger than life character, a devotee of books and full of knowledge about most things. Children wanted to be with him; he made people laugh and when he sang with his deep bass voice you would either join in or find yourself smiling.

He could easily… have been a food critic but didn’t really like food, smothering his greens with sugar and eating as little as possible apart from lemon puff biscuits. He would wax lyrically on the joy of a garden but didn’t really like gardening and he was famous in the house for various phrases – “coffee missus, I’m just going for a lie down, I’m off to your grandmothers to grease the step”. There were also times when….he didn’t know how to express his love and affection but all his children knew he was proud of them.

My dad was a Christian, I baptised him when he was in his late 60’s and he died at the age of 77 in 2005. So do I have regrets as I think of him this morning?

I suppose I would have loved him to be at our son Thomas’s wedding this Saturday 24th July. He would have sat there, beaming, the centre of attention, full of pride and gratitude for Gods blessing on his family. He would have told of the many trips out with Thomas and how they always returned with a new addition to Tom’s “Thomas the tank engine collection” or a new Macdonald’s toy.

I suppose I would have loved him to see Samuel studying at University and exceeding all people’s expectations. He would have been the proudest Grandad on earth and would have reminded us “I always knew Samuel would do something great with his life”.

I suppose I would have loved him to see what God is doing in our church and the amazing people that we have met in Leicester that have enriched our lives.  He would have sat among you and told you stories about how he filled a post box with horse manure, shot his brother in the knee with an air rifle and how he always loved his wife.

And I suppose from time to time I would love to talk to him about my life and discuss some of the joys and challenges I face and to tell him how grateful I was and am for the investment he and mum made in my life to help me become the man I am today.

And then I remember sitting in a hospital room, holding his hand as we expressed our love to one another and the privilege of preaching the gospel at his funeral and in my heart I am grateful for my dad. The sadness of loss is overcome by memories of gratitude.

And I write this because it’s easy to miss the one life we have and not make our mark on life the way my dad did. We blink and 30 years have passed and we are still just “might do people” rather than “are doing people”. It’s so important to make the most of the life Jesus has given us, it’s so important to be grateful for the blessings of our lives and not just the challenges we face, and it’s so important to tell those close to us we love and appreciate them.

I can get concerned that some of us could easily miss the chance we have to be a man or women of God and leave our mark in this life. My prayer for you is that you never allow the pursuit of things and success to distract you from fulfilling your God given potential.

The maker of the Universe, your spiritual Father, wants you to walk with him, encounter him and be changed by him. He wants you to know how much you are loved and to decide freely to love back with “all your heart, soul, mind and strength”. He wants you to be filled with the knowledge that your best days are ahead, he is with you and one day you will be with him and everything “will be alright”.

For Susan and I as we welcome the lovely Philippa into our family and celebrate their wedding, we are completely delighted. Thomas is someone we could not be more proud of and they will have a very exciting life. We are thrilled they will remain in Leicester for another year with Thomas as our youth leader before they go to University together in 2011. Susan and I are very blessed.

After a fantastic year we are deliberately allowing the end of July and August to be a time of relaxation and reflection. September will bring some very exciting new initiatives, and so August gives us time to stop and be thankful and to fix our eyes on Jesus. I believe for many of us Jesus wants us to “go to a quiet place and rest awhile”

TLC continues to be open through the week and pastorally if you need support or prayer let us know and there are people ready to stand with you. If you are in Leicester join us at Moat on Sunday mornings and stay strong.

Coming soon

Next Guest Service – Back To Church Sunday Sept 26^th

Job Opportunity

Hand in Hand Pre School has an exciting opportunity for a Temporary Part Time assistant. Send your CV and children’s experience to denise.wardley@trinitylifechurch.org.uk

Thank you for the privilege of serving you

See you soon on a Sunday morning in July/August

David Hind

So, this Saturday you get married. I felt I didn’t want the occasion to pass without penning a few words to you. I hope you don’t mind a few people reading along…promise I won’t embarrass you!

At the very least, I want to record how very grateful I am to have been given the privilege of bearing, giving birth to and bringing up such a very special person as you.

From the moment we knew that you were on your way, we loved you. And when we saw the ginger head and bright eyes, and heard the foghorn voice, we loved you more.

The prophetic word given at your dedication that you would “ask questions and get God’s answers” was certainly fulfilled as you went through childhood asking SO many questions, you face furrowed with sincerity. “Why mummy?”

Quick to walk, talk, run, read, develop skills…and always sensitive to the feelings needs of others, showing real kindness to those in need of help, even me, on occasion. (Remember, “Mum, we’ll get through these hard times?!”)

Often up to mischief, always chattering, from a young age, a boy whom other children readily followed- a leader in the making.  Even on the Sunday you went forward at church and declared your commitment to Jesus, others of your age came out and did the same.

Always passionate and gifted, you were and are never one to do anything half-heartedly, loving games and sports of all kinds, making everything into a game, loving fun and competition. (Remember reckless skateboarding on Greythorn Drive, making fires with Joseph, a trip to hospital after flying down the hill at Woolly Park on your red bike, wading the stream in Breaston with Sam and the cousins, lots of word games and made up poems with me, and endless throwing of stones at any available target on every holiday and family walk with your dad?)

One moment, you could be fighting to win the next point in a game, the next moment, reading something you had written or playing a piano piece with emotion that brought tears to my eyes.

Tom, I could bore even the most inquisitive of readers here by taking a long time to tell how wonderful you are. It has been a joy and privilege to have you in our lives, and to watch you grow from that unique little boy into the young man of God you are today.

I am so proud of you, and of the great choices you have made with your life so far.

One of those great choices has been Philippa. From the little girl with blonde pigtails I first met when she was four, she has blossomed into a truly beautiful woman, and Dad and I thank God for answering our prayers for the right wife for you.

We are confident as we come to the wedding that this really is a match made in heaven, and that there are many plans for you as a couple in the heart of the Father. Tom, strong, sensitive and supportive: Phil, loving and gentle, and strong enough to hold your ground with him!

I know I speak for both your dad and myself when I say we are looking forward to being a part of your future. Let me just say this as a word of motherly advice…as someone once said over us, always go through doors together!

With lots of love, as always,

Mum xx

p.s.

I am happy!..

Dear child, if you become wise,
I’ll be one happy parent.
My heart will dance and sing
to the tuneful truth you’ll speak. - Proverbs 23:15-16 The MSG

“Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus”.- Galatians 6:17

As we begin our new Sunday series “Marked for Life” I have been thinking about some of the people who have left their mark on my life.

I remember…  meeting Mark Buntain a missionary who along with his wife Huldah founded Calcutta Mercy Ministries. I met him in 1989 a few months before he died. I saw an older man whose walk with Jesus was so evident and his hunger for justice so compelling. He left me with an excitement about ministry, an example of a heart for the poor and a longing to make a difference with my life: he “marked my life”

I remember sitting in a restaurant with Winkie Pratney – an American preacher who told me he was paying and I could order anything on the menu. I was beginning as a youth leader in Nottingham and I asked him what his advice was for me and my family as we began in Christian ministry. He said, simply “take a day off every week, don’t travel a long way on that day, switch your phone off and if you like lie on the floor and throw your kids in the air”.  I have tried to live out this advice since he told me although I don’t throw Sam and Tom into the air anymore. Winkie “marked my life”

I remember meeting John Mahama in Ghana. A converted Muslim with an amazing testimony he was leading a church in his spare time whilst working as a driver for another Missionary. At night he cared for his people. There were over 80 Northern people living in his church building, a run down shack, many of them were facing persecution because they had converted to Christ.

John and his wife had 5 daughters and an open home with a number of broken people living with them; his only son, Judah had just died. They had almost no money, no food and a simple promise that God would meet their needs.

Nearly 14 years later Susan and I are still part of a group who support John and his family. I dedicated his miracle new son born a year later and he established a training centre for vulnerable people called the Judah Mahama Vocational Training Centre which has impacted 100’s of lives. As I write John is just pioneering another church in Tamale and dreaming of the future. The facts are, John “marked my life”

Finally, I remember meeting Doug, a leader with the Navigators who told about Jesus on Friday 8^th November 1985. The next day I invited Jesus into my life and 7 days later met Susan for the first time and married her 21 months later. Doug “marked my life” and for that I will always be grateful to him and his family that they came to the UK to reach me and others with the message.

We all have people who have “marked our lives”. Of course some have left a negative mark but take some time to thank God for people who through their love, honesty, commitment or inspiration have left their mark on you.

I, like Paul, have the marks of Jesus on me. I am His and he is mine – I have met Him and I will never be the same again. Jesus changed my life, Jesus saved my life, and Jesus marked me for life.

As we work our way through Mark’s gospel in July and August, looking at people who met Jesus and were forever changed, enjoy the series and be impacted.

Your best days are still ahead, you are loved, precious to the Father and he is with you.

Pause and Think

In June we rejoiced with Lori and Florette on the birth of their new baby. We have also sent our condolences to Dave Bennett whose dad has been promoted to heaven and to Rosalind whose sister died in June.

Please Pray for…

• Many of our 6-11’s away this weekend to encounter Jesus July 2^nd-4th
• Holiday at Home – a brilliant 3 days for our over 60,s – July 13th-15th
• Interns graduation –as part of the morning service at Moat – July 18th
• The new TLC 1-1 discipleship courses – More and Stronger, being trialled by 50 people this summer.

Summer Time

From 19^th July – 19^th August we are going to have a smaller church programme. This will give time for some reflection and re charging of batteries as well as some practical jobs that need to be done at the TLC building.  We will continue to meet at Moat on Sunday mornings, but there will be fewer programmes during the week although Open Hands will continue to function in all its ministries. As we head towards September there are many exciting possibilities and developments and our eyes are on Jesus.

Thank you for the privilege of serving you

David Hind

We are going to be looking at Mark’s Gospel over the Summer, focusing on some of the many people who met Jesus and whose lives were forever impacted, “marked” by him.

My heart’s desire in this is that we at TLC will meet him in a new way and ourselves be impacted, changed, marked.

More and more in me, there is a deep yearning to have faith and compassion working together…for Word and Spirit, for inflowing and outgoing.

Our worship leaders, meeting last night, expressing two desires: for times of real God-encouter and for more miracles amongst us as we worship.

A group of women sat at the start of our Unit session this morning, reflecting on the fact that all compassion comes from God’s heart, that all we can give is what we receive from Him. As we sat in his presence and received, there was a sense of how deeply we are loved.

People coming forward with ideas, vision, willing hands at the moment…how great that is, there is a tremendous sense that we have been called here to Leicester for “such a time as this” and that God is putting us where He wants us to be, helping us to get things in place, ready for the fulfilment of his purposes in this great city.

“Then this city will bring me joy, glory and honour before all the nations of the earth. The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them.” - Jeremiah 33:9

And where do we go? We start at the feet of Jesus. As we open Mark this Summer, let’s also open our hearts as we look at him through the eyes of some of those who met him.

Let’s go after him this Summer…

Your friend

Susan

p.s. as we go through July and August, we will be issuing some personal challenges and giving some supportive materials designed to help us get the most out of this season.

The first challenge is: READ THE GOSPEL OF MARK in its entirety, in a version you find easy to engage with. Read it like a story, in as few sittings as possible.

If you want to, why not email me susan.hind@trinitylifechurch.org.uk and let me know how you were impacted.

I have been very encouraged recently in TLC

• The atmosphere of Gods presence and the passion for Jesus in our Real youth group this week – there is a growing momentum and excitement.
• Our half night of prayer that carried a real sense of faith and breakthrough – it’s a long time since I have heard a group of men and women pray so loudly and faith filled.
• A story from our Planetshakers 5-11’s meeting – Sue writes “after teaching on praise and worship in planetshakers we had challenged the children to sing songs for Jesus and even to begin writing them themselves – one of our 5 year olds went home and asked his mum if he could write a song – they sat together and he began to sing a song that went ‘I love Jesus everyday, I want to praise him, yeah, oh!’ So this week he taught it to the rest of the kids. When I came in Planetshakers were singing it! And using that song and other songs I have never seen the kids so free in dancing and real worship and a sense of breakthrough”.
• When I add that to a really encouraging leaders meeting and many stories from our small groups, compassion work and general church life there is much to be grateful for.

…….A few thoughts for you

The Father wants you to remember
He sees you, and never forgets you

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” – 2 Chron 16:9

The Father wants you stronger
However long you have been a Christian there is more.

“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” - 2 Chron 15:7

The Father wants you closer
You are welcome to draw closer

“We have confidence to enter the most Holy place…so let us draw near to God.” - Heb 12:19-22

Opportunity to get stronger

Throughout July and August we are going to be thinking about ways to become stronger in our faith – as a part of this we are wanting to trial two new 1-1 discipleship courses that Susan has written

• The More course – for those new in the Christian faith
• The Stronger course – for those wanting to go deeper

We are looking for 20 people who would like to meet up with another TLC person and be discipled through one of the courses. You will meet at a time convenient to you both for an hour over 6 weeks that will strengthen you. Simply sign up at our information desk.

Coming Up

Compassion Sunday – 20th June
We are excited about our Compassion Sunday at Moat on 20th June. This will be an opportunity to thank God for the work that takes place in and around the City of Leicester, impacting thousands of people for good. We are thrilled that Rosemary Conley CBE will be with us to present awards to various individuals who serve in Leicester charities.

Baptisms
13th June – do you need to be baptised? – There will be a class this Sunday morning at TLC

Pause and Think
In May we rejoiced with Rob and Rachel on the birth of their son Joseph, and Richard and Evelyn on the birth of their daughter. We have also faced the tragedy of Senzini Moyo’s death and our prayers are with the family.

Coming Soon

• Mens’ and Sons’ (over 10’s) walk, curry, and 1st England match at the world cup – 12th June
• New CAP course 1st, 15th and 29th June – sign up from this Sunday
• Children’s prayer day – 19th June – 3-7
• Prayer for our city – 22nd June at The Kings Centre, Meadows Community Centre, Bull Head Street, Wigston

Thank you for the privilege of serving you – the best is ahead.

David Hind

A church of the Word of God, and a church of the Spirit of God.

Word + Spirit = Power!

Here is something I wrote the other day, whilst preparing for a message in the God is Great series, ”God is All Powerful”:

Our roots are in people who have cried out for the Spirit, who have ached for the anointing so that they can ‘preach good news to the poor’, see communities transformed, with signs and wonders following the preaching of the Word.

Our roots are with those who were not satisfied and knew that in themselves they could not do it…they needed his power.

They were often simple, uneducated, back street people. Many made mistakes that we can learn from. But they saw great things…

Like the many who received the power of the Spirit in a little converted garage in Azusa Street, Los Angeles:

In late February 1906 William J Seymour was invited to begin meetings amongst those hungry for more of God. The group embarked on a ten day fast. Towards the end of this time, one of the group, Mr Lee was healed instantly when anointed with oil and prayed for. He was also baptised in the Holy Spirit and spoke loudly in other tongues, which led to great rejoicing!

When that evening, they met with the others, Seymour began to tell the story of Mr Lee’s healing and infilling of the Holy Spirit.

As soon as Seymour finished, Lee raised his hands and began to speak in other tongues. The entire group dropped to their knees as they worshipped God and cried out for the baptism. Then, six or seven people lifted their voices and began to speak in another tongue…

Some people rushed outside to the front porch, prophesying and preaching. Others, while speaking in tongues, ran into the streets for all the neighbourhood to hear…

For three days they celebrated what they dubbed “early Pentecost restored.” The news spread quickly bringing crowds that filled the Asbury’s yard and surrounded their home…the front porch collapsed because of the weight of the crowd, but was quickly reinforced so that meetings could continue. - God’s Generals by Roberts Liardon

The group found a bigger building on Azusa Street, where there was some spiritual confusion, but the power of God was felt even outside the building, people “dropped to a prostrate position…many rose, speaking in tongues”…

Thousands gathered.

From there, many went as missionaries all around the world, including to places where many of our church have come from! Many were anointed for service. Places were transformed by the power and the love of God.

What now, for us? Today? Here and now?

The prophet Habakkuk in hard times, cries out to an all powerful God:

Lord, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.
In our time make them known;
In wrath remember mercy. - Habakkuk 3:2

Is the time near when we will see his power in greater measure?

Let’s seek him more fervently than ever before.

Will you join us us as we seek this great God for himself?  On our own, in our families, when we come together in groups or as a whole church.

We must put away all effort to impress and come with the guileless candour of a child. If we do this, God will swiftly respond - A W Tozer

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? - Psalm 85:6

So, we are a pentecostal church.

Stir us again , Lord!

Have a great week. I may see some of you at ten on Friday for our half night of prayer at TLC!

Your friend,

Susan x

In my devotions I have been studying different characters in the Bible. Recently I looked at Samson and was struck by his early days. Judges 13:24+25 says of Samson “He grew and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him….”

“He grew” – Keep growing
God always wants us to continue to grow in our Christian faith. However long we have known Jesus there is more to learn, to see, to experience. We grow in our faith through our own reading of the bible and prayer but also in obedience and good choices. We can grow in our response to challenge and disappointment as well as blessing and we grow through perseverance and serving. The list could go on of other ways to grow but my experience has been that growth happens if we really want it to – make a fresh choice today.

“The Lord blessed him” – Expect blessing
Our eldest son Samuel is coming to the end of his first year at University. He has kept us informed of all his results and achievements and we have rejoiced at every step of this year with him. We love our boys and we expect them to live in God’s blessing. The Lord blessed Samson and he wants to bless you. Through joy and pain, waiting and answers – we can live in His blessing. Whatever we face he is standing with us and has a heart of love for us. Its official, God is passionate about you.

“The Spirit of the Lord began to stir him” – Let God stir you
What is it that stirs you? Perhaps injustice, poverty, loneliness, the tragedy of abuse, the pursuit of excellence, the honour of God’s name, the desire for His presence or the plight of families with a loved one dying of cancer or Alzheimer’s. God moves each of us differently but he is stirring us all and I believe He is stirring again the burdens of His heart in us if we will let him.

So why not keep growing, live in blessing and let his passions stir your heart today.

Guest Service – “Why does God allow suffering?” – May 23rd
Questions about suffering touch every person we know at some points in their lives. I am always enthusiastic about our guest services, and on 23rd May at Moat we have a morning that will impact everyone. Through a look at this deep question we will capture God’s faithfulness even through the silence. This is a day to invite people to church. TLC, WALK ACROSS YOUR ROOM AND BRING PEOPLE WITH YOU ON 23RD MAY. Use the leaflet enclosed and also the May life sheet and expect your family and friends to be impacted.

Compassion Sunday
I am delighted to tell you about our Compassion Sunday at Moat on 20th June. This will be an opportunity to thank God for the work that takes place in and around the City of Leicester, impacting thousands of people for good. As part of this Celebration, we want to honour a few of those who deserve it, those who show real compassion in what they do. We have invited every charity in the city to send a representative and also have encouraged them to recommend individuals for an award. We are thrilled that Rosemary Conley CBE will be with us to give out the awards including the “Rosemary Conley Compassion Award” and other significant awards from other Leicester companies and organisations; all in all it will be a brilliant morning. Pray for us this Thursday as Susan and I spend an hour with Rosemary, talking about Open Hands and showing her the unit and sharing our heart.

Half Night of Prayer at TLC
In May as well as our call to prayer on May 10th in the Moat sports hall, we have a half night of prayer at TLC. On May 21st we will meet at 10.30pm – 1.30 am – join us if you can as we listen, pray and go a bit deeper.

Visitor
On June 2nd it will be 2 years since we moved to Moat for our morning service and I am delighted that we have Jarrod Cooper from Hull New Life Church with us for the morning. Jarrod leads a thriving church and is also the writer of many great worship songs including “King of Kings majesty”. Please aim to join us at Moat on this Sunday.

Pause and think
In April we rejoiced with Andre and Prea on the birth of their son Joshua, and Chikaire and Justina on the birth of their daughter Chimwe, and Jordan and Sarah on their engagement. We have also sent our condolences to Alison whose mum has been promoted to heaven and Andy Upton- the leader of Knighton church whose mum died in April. Katie begins her maternity leave from the beginning of June and we are delighted that Judith Kemp will be our operations manager for the next 10 months.

Job Opportunity
There is a post available in our dynamic pre school for a part time deputy manager. If you have the relevant training and would like more details please email denise.wardley@trinitylifechurch.org.uk

This Sunday
This Sunday we are back at Moat and begin our new teaching series on the greatness of God.

Coming soon
• Playscheme for 5-12′s 1st – 3rd June
• Men’s and sons(over 10’s) walk, curry, and 1st England match at the world cup – 12th June
• New CAP course 1st, 8th, 15th June – sign up from this Sunday

Be encouraged, seize every moment, the best is ahead.

Thank you for the privilege of serving you

David Hind

The wild twinkle in the eyes of the little boys who assured the Head Teacher and myself that they were being “very good”, the atmosphere of tension and slight panic, the restlessness in the children, the evidence of untidy books, items on the floor…and the reason for this? The person in charge was an inexperienced and out of his depth supply teacher. As we went into the room we had seen the poor man running around despereately ushering the children to their seats like a mother hen, rather than just asking them to sit.

It was clear that he was saying the right sort of words, but those words held little power or authority. (The Head Teacher said he would not be invited back!)

I have been thinking and studying a bit about the power that is in the word of God. Just think about creation for a start: from the very beginning of Genesis we read “God spoke…and it was…and He saw that it was very good“…he spoke and light came from nothing, and everything else! His word has amazing creative power.

There is far too much to say about that for me to write here, but whilst we are surrounded by so many words bombarding all our senses, can I challenge you as I challenge myself to get into the Word of God, to be hungry, to “eat” it, to read the Bible, value God’s Word, speak it out to others, declare it in the heavenlies, take it at face value…and see what will happen as the creative authority and power of it is loosed?

The words I speak to you are spirit and life

Jesus in John 6:63

Your friend

Susan x