To Pray or Not to Pray?
I painted my first wall in our new house this week. It’s black. Just a small section, not much more than a metre wide and up to the ceiling. I’ve been wanting to make a prayer wall for months, inspired by film the War Room and I finally got round to doing it last weekend. I found some old blackboard paint, got my trusty frog tape and blacked it out, now it’s dry I’ve starting adding some chalk to it. The painting has been symbolic of my wrestle with prayer and actually… Read More
Thriving from the inside out
Need a drink? Last week Sam was talking about how Christian thriving doesn’t start and end with good life circumstances; nice house, family, and car, but by wanting Jesus, finding our life in Him. You could say – thriving from the inside out. And that starts by being thirsty, thirsty for Jesus. Once you know your thirsty, the next thing you do is go get a drink and it’s the same here, we go to Jesus, we come to Him in prayer. This week we’re exploring how when we’ve come to Jesus,… Read More
Let’s make it personal – what about you?
On Sunday night we shared our first vision talk (you can catch up here) and now it’s time to ask: what could this mean for you? We shared how, 2 years ago, we committed to leaving our life as we knew it to move to Barking Riverside and start a new worshipping community here. The first thing we did was to spend time listening, getting to know the area and people here, and asking God: what are you doing here? What do you want to see? What came out of that time… Read More
‘Kingdoms’ – get ready for Sunday@6pm
The word ‘Kingdom’ is one we usually hear in epic films set in medieval times or earlier. Today instead we think in terms of nations, even though we live in the United Kingdom, ‘Kingdom’ sounds outdated. Last week Anna wrote about the invitation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to ‘Come in… Join us’. But if we respond to the invite, where are they and what are they doing? In the Bible Jesus gave another invitation which gives us a clue. In fact, this one sentence is the one chosen by… Read More
“Come in…”
Over the last 6 months, ‘come in’ wasn’t something we heard much of, until businesses started slowly reopening in the summer and the government were encouraging us to get back to work and eat out. Now we’re facing a second wave with increasing restrictions and the prospect again of neither being invited in nor being able to invite others to ‘come in’, it’s quite depressing. When I was praying the other day, I felt God saying to me “Come in… join us”. I don’t know what that makes you think of, but… Read More
What do you see?
When you look at my picture, what do you see? Is it a Black man? When you look at our picture as a couple, what do you see? Is it an interracial couple? When you look at someone with a disability, what do you see? Is it his/her disability? (Photo thanks to Maria Oswalt on Unsplash.com) Is there anything beyond what you see? Does what you see define me/my couple/someone with a disability? We all have unconscious biases that we learn or develop based on our life experience. If we do not… Read More
#BlackLivesMatter
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 Following on from last week’s post, I thought it important to share my experiences as a Black British woman but also to share some resources that may provide information or comfort to my peers and resources for all our allies. For those who are unaware, Black children still need to be taught how to behave when they are out in public in the UK,… Read More
An Uncomfortable Conversation…
“Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.’” Acts 10: 34-36 This year would have been crazy enough as it is if Covid-19 was the only thing we had to worry about. Even those who have been lost so tragically this year… Read More
That Back To School Feeling…
I don’t know about you but I left school a good few years ago, but September still signifies a new beginning for me despite knowing that the beginning of the year for adults, is January! Looking back, most of the new jobs I have started have always been around September/October time, I tend to feel like I have new lease of life and I’m also more productive at work and in my personal life. Now, what is with that?! It makes sense for those who have children, as they prep to get… Read More
The Journey To Prayer
With 2020 being such a difficult year, it is no wonder why more than ever, people are Googling things to do with religion and prayer world wide. In such uncertain times and Global unrest, it seems more and more people are looking to religion to help support, guide and make them feel more at ease. (To read more about this, check out this article.) We also know the diverse area we’re in as a church and understand that there will be many who don’t want, haven’t had or don’t have a relationship… Read More
