You may remember that back in the autumn of 2011, as part of our “Autumn Outreach Initiatives” we, as a church, started collecting tins and packets of vegetables, fruit, cereals, soup, beans and other foods, in order to make a donation to the excellent work being undertaken in our local community by the East Bristol Food Bank.

Our pre-Christmas collection finished on Sunday 18th December, and we were able to make a big donation in the week leading up to Christmas.  In fact, here’s a picture of some of the food we collected, being sorted by a couple of glamourous assistants!

I wanted to take a moment to pass on the emails I received recently from Andy Irwin, the local food bank co-ordinator, expressing his thanks to YOU for your generosity and kindness in helping to support struggling single parents and local families feeling the current financial pinch.

Here’s the first email from Andy, on Christmas Eve, the day after we made our donation:

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for the generous gift yesterday from the church.

It weighed in at just over 100Kg – the equivalent of feeding 4 medium sized families for three days = approx. 150 meals

We had a manic day yesterday with 51 folks getting fed – 21 voucher holders coming in.

In the midst of that, our folks got a chance to pray with some of them and a bible was given to someone just coming out of prison.

Thanks again – Have a great Christmas!

Andy

Then on 16th January, I received this second email:

Dear Nathan,

Happy New Year to you and thank you for your contributions in 2011.

I am enclosing a 1 page stats report – part of my report to the Trustees – it gives you a quick idea of what we have achieved in the last two months of 2011 with your help.

It was really fun before Christmas adding some Christmas food and goodie items – some folks got really excited and I recall one young lady with her child being quite overwhelmed – she had to stop work due to Rheumatoid Arthritis and was still waiting to receive benefits money.

The Foodbank has had a large increase in giving Food recently with two record days before Christmas and last Friday that both cleared out the shelves of our café store.

If you are collecting again can you prioritise Tinned Tomatoes, Sugar, Pasta Sauce – Bolognaise, Coffee, Pasta and Tinned Meat – though any of the usual list items are fine.

Thanks again for you excellent support – we really appreciate it.

Andy

If I can echo Andy’s words: Thank you to every one who gave so generously to this project!  We are very grateful to you for your kindness and the tangible difference it has made in the lives of people we don’t know! However, there are still more opportunities to get involved…

How can you get involved?

Beginning in February 2012, Grace Church will be collecting food donations every Sunday morning and will make a bulk donation to the East Bristol Food Bank at the end of each month.

Please bring any donations and drop them in the box/bags available at the back of the meeting hall.

If you are not sure what to donate check out this foodbank shopping list. All food must be in-date and non-perishable.

You can make donations of anything on the above shopping list, but the co-ordinators at the East Bristol Food Bank have told me they are particularly in need of:

• UHT (Long Life) Milk
• Tinned Vegetables – tomatoes, carrots, peas, sweetcorn, potatoes
• Long Life Fruit Juice Cartons
• Tinned Custard
• Instant Mash
• Coffee
• Pasta
• Tinned Meats
• Sugar

Tomorrow (4th October 2011) is the next instalment of our “First Friday Fast” at Grace Church.

It’s one day a month we encourage all the people of Grace Church to set aside, to devote time to fasting and praying for our church and the advance of the gospel in our community and city.

To encourage us all in the importance, necessity and effectiveness of prayer, I thought I’d paste a recent entry in Charles Spurgeon’s “Morning & Evening” that affected me as I read it this week.

Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening, 3rd November, evening reading:
“Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any case, in every plight. When you cannot use your sword you may take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your bow-string may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need never be out of order. Leviathan laughs at the javelin, but he trembles at prayer. Sword and spear need furbishing, but prayer never rusts, and when we think it most blunt it cuts the best. Prayer is an open door which none can shut. Devils may surround you on all sides, but the way upward is always open, and as long as that road is unobstructed, you will not fall into the enemy’s hand. We can never be taken by blockade, escalade, mine, or storm, so long as heavenly succours can come down to us by Jacob’s ladder to relieve us in the time of our necessities. Prayer is never out of season: in summer and in winter its merchandize is precious. Prayer gains audience with heaven in the dead of night, in the midst of business, in the heat of noonday, in the shades of evening. In every condition, whether of poverty, or sickness, or obscurity, or slander, or doubt, your covenant God will welcome your prayer and answer it from His holy place. Nor is prayer ever futile. True prayer is evermore true power. You may not always get what you ask, but you shall always have your real wants supplied. When God does not answer His children according to the letter, He does so according to the spirit. If thou askest for coarse meal, wilt thou be angered because He gives thee the finest flour? If thou seekest bodily health, shouldst thou complain if instead thereof He makes thy sickness turn to the healing of spiritual maladies? Is it not better to have the cross sanctified than removed? This evening, my soul, forget not to offer thy petition and request, for the Lord is ready to grant thee thy desires.”

Here’s a few prayer points to help us guide our praying.

PRAYER POINTS:

• Give thanks to God for his unending grace and mercy towards us as a church.
• Pray for an increase in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our church life.
• Pray for an increase of faith in God, and that God would bring fresh new momentum to the unstoppable mission, and that the gospel might sweep through our community and city bringing many people to salvation for the glory of the risen and exalted Jesus!

We also want to pray for the upcoming evangelistic outreaches the church is involved with:

• “Single Mums Fayre” in Fishponds Park. (Planning is well under way, and more details will be coming soon!)
• Gospel opportunities as we seek to serve the homeless & needy in our community through our various food/blanket collections.
• OAP Community Outreach: Favour with owners & managers to visit local residential/care homes to carol sing and share gospel.
• Christmas Opportunities (Carol service, etc.)

Tomorrow (1st July 2011) is the next instalment of our “First Friday Fast” at Grace Church.

It’s one day a month we encourage all the people of Grace Church to set aside, to devote time to fasting and praying for our church and the advance of the gospel in our community and city.

To help prepare our hearts, I thought I’d take a few moments to provide some thoughts on fasting.

There is no originality here.  These are not my own thoughts or opinions.  They come from John Piper, and are drawn from his excellent book on the subject, which has really helped shape my understanding of fasting and the means of grace it is for the believer.

The book is entitled, A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting & Prayer.  It is available from Amazon for £8.99, and is well worth the read.

So over to “The Pipe”, as some of us affectionately call him!

The Aim of Fasting?
“The aim of fasting is that we come to rely less on food and more on God himself. That’s the meaning of the words in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Every time we fast, we are saying with Jesus, “Not bread alone. But you, Lord. Not bread alone, but you, Lord.”

The Need for Fasting?
“If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.”

The Reason for Fasting?
“Bread was created for the glory of Christ.  Hunger and thirst were created for the glory of Christ. And fasting was created for the glory of Christ.  Which means that bread magnifies Christ in two ways: by being eaten with gratitude for his goodness, and by being forfeited out of hunger for God himself. When we eat, we taste the emblem of our heavenly food — the Bread of Life. And when we fast we say, “I love the Reality above the emblem.” In the heart of the saint both eating and fasting are worship. Both magnify Christ.”

“The Pipe” continues:

“Fasting is An offering of emptiness to show where fullness can be found. It is a sacrifice of need and hunger.  It says, by its very nature:

“Father, I am empty, but you are full.
I am hungry, but you are the Bread of Heaven.
I am thirsty, but you are the Fountain of Life.
I am weak, but you are strong.
I am poor, but you are rich.
I am foolish, but you are wise.
I am broken, but you are whole.
I am dying, but your steadfast love is better than life (Psalm 63:3).”

The Reward of Fasting?
“The supremacy of God in all things is the great reward we long for in fasting. His supremacy in our own affections and in all our life-choices. His supremacy in the purity of the church. His supremacy in the salvation of the lost. His supremacy in the establishing of righteousness and justice. And his supremacy for the joy of all peoples in the evangelization of the world.”

If you plan on joining us, please use these prayer points to guide you.

1. There would be an increase in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our church life.

• Pray that God would freshly pour out his Holy Spirit upon us and fill us as individuals and as a church.

• Pray that God would revive us as a people, shatter our spiritual complacency and apathy and increase our hunger and passion for him, and deepen our longing for more of his power and presence in our life/church.

• Pray that God would powerfully make himself known to us in our Sunday gatherings.

2. There would be an increase of faith in God, and confidence in the gospel to save sinners in our community and city.

• Pray that God would replace our puny expectations of what He can do, with great expectations and great requests.  That we might, as the old hymn says, “ponder anew what the Almighty can do”.

• Pray that God would fill us with his Holy Spirit, so we might be bold witnesses, overcoming our weaknesses and fear in evangelism, to faithfully proclaim and represent the gospel to our city and reach the lost of our community with the world-shattering, life-transforming truth of Jesus.

• Pray that God would bring fresh new momentum to the unstoppable mission, and that the gospel might sweep through our community and city bringing many people to salvation for the glory of the risen and exalted Jesus!

Day 2 of Holiday Kidz Klub – all going swimmingly!! Thanks to everyone involved!

Here’s a little picture taster…

Hoe Down…

Pat and his “air guitar” party trick (will we see this at “Grace Church has Got Talent“?!?…

Matt & Nathan…

Lunchtime…

What a bunch of cowboys!

This is not deja vu!

After being rained off last Saturday we are going to attempt another Community Carol Singing & Invitation Giveaway. Note the details below…

COMMUNITY CAROL SINGING
Saturday 15th December 2007
11am start (Finish at 1pm)

Meet outside BARCLAYS BANK in Fishponds at 10:50am.

Please, please bring the kids and come and joins us (even if you can only spare an hour!).

Come ready to sing and give out invitations to the Rocking Around the Christmas Tree Carol Service on Sunday 16th December 2007 at 6:30pm

Also…here’s the important info for our Sunday services for December:

Sunday 16th December
Rocking Round the Christmas Tree Carol Service
6:30pm – The Vassall Centre
(NO Sunday morning service)

Sunday 23rd December
Christmas Family Service
11am – The Vassall Centre
(Don’t forget the “Gift Offering”)

Sunday 30th December
Family Service
11am – The Vassall Centre
(Followed by a “Bring Your Own Lunch” and we will all eat together.)

From January 6th we revert to our normal pattern of 10:30am every Sunday at the Vassall Centre