DECEMBER’S NEWSLETTER

05/12/2023

Below are excerpts from this month’s newsletter including events and activities. If you have any queries, just click on the Contact Us tab on the top menu and fill in our form.

DECEMBER’S NEWSLETTER

Our Services for December

Come and join us!

Sunday, 3rd December (1st Advent Sunday) 10:30 a.m.- Winnie Essel | Hope
Sunday, 10th December (2nd Advent Sunday & Communion) 10:30 a.m.- Will Essel | Peace
Sunday, 17th December (3rd Advent Sunday – Carols Service) 10:30 a.m. – Howard Cole | Joy
Sunday, 24th December – Christmas Eve (Children’s Service for all the family) 4:00 p.m. – Chris & Fran Poole
Monday, 25th December – Christmas Day Service 10:00 a.m. – Ed Brown
Sunday, 31st December 10:30 a.m.- Gary Weithers | All age service

Christmas Offering

Once again, we will be taking our Christmas offering for London City Mission – Webber Street. We will be collecting during our December Services and first Sunday Service in January. You can use envelops for cash offerings please write “Christmas Offering” or if you prefer doing an online money transfer, please reference “Christmas Offering”.

Your offering will help people like Josef. Josef became a regular guest at the Webber Street facility. There he was met with the love of God that completely transformed his life.

Decorators and Christmas enthusiasts needed…

Come and help us to decorate the Church on Saturday 9th December from 3 pm. All are welcome! Hot drinks and cake provided.

Please use the pigeon holes in the entrance hall to deliver your Christmas cards to folk at Church. Please make sure they are under the right alphabetical letter!

Mince Pies Needed!

Calling all seasonal bakers or avid shoppers. We will be offering mince pies at the end of the Carol Service. If you would like to donate some pies, please bring them on the day if they are home baked. If shop-bought, please can bring them by Sunday, 10th December and leave them in the kitchen. Thank you

Weekly Church activities during the month

Knit & Natter Group, meeting on Monday, 4th & 18th of December between 2-4pm in Lounge (Parkgate Road entrance).

Mens Cycling Group. Meets every Tuesday morning for a gentle ride up to Abbey Mill’s. If you would like to join please contact Dave Usher, Ed Brown or Chris Poole.

Meeting at the Pub. Join some of the men at The Whispering Moon, Wetherspoons in Wallington at 6 pm, every Tuesday for an evening meal and a proper catch up!

Paddington’s Toddlers Group. Continues to run every Wednesday Morning, 9:30 to 11:15. If you would like to join please contact Maureen.

Leechcroft Road House Group. Meets every fortnight Wednesday in person or via zoom at 8 p.m. Contact Ben Fabunmi for more information and details on how to access the meeting.

Y-Prayers House Group meets every fortnight Thursday via zoom at 8 p.m. Contact Winnie Essel or Jan Stone for more information.

Books

Are you struggling to find a christmas present for a family member or friend? Here are some ideas of great books which won the CRT23 Awards. Some can be purchase at Oasis, our local Christian bookshop.

Lydia by Paula Gooder

The New Testament tells us very little about Lydia, a seller of purple cloth who was living in Philippi when she met the apostle Paul on his second missionary journey. And yet she is considered the first recorded convert to Christianity in Europe.

In her second work of fiction, Biblical scholar and popular author and speaker Paula Gooder tells Lydia’s story – who she was, the life she lived and her first-century faith – and in doing so opens up Paul’s letter to the Philippians, giving a sense of the cultural and historical pressures that shaped Paul’s thinking, and the faith of the early church.

Winner of Book of the Year 2023.

Brightest and Best by Philippa Wilson

Brightest and Best is a collection of Advent devotions that point to the comfort that God has promised: the coming of Jesus. Philippa Wilson communicates joyful, uplifting, and glorious Christmas truths in fresh ways.

Winner of Christian Life Book of the Year 2023

Your New Playlist by Jon Acuff

When Jon Acuff’s book Soundtracks, came out, one reaction surprised him. Parents across the country all said the same thing: ‘Do you have a version for teenagers? If I knew how to change my mindset when I was that age, my entire life would have been different.’ Why did they say that? Because truth grows like compound interest. Saving money when you’re young has a bigger impact than it does when you save in your 40s. A single new soundtrack–Acuff’s phrase for a repetitive thought–believed when you’re 14 or 18 can change your whole life in the same way. In response, Acuff tagged his two daughters to help him create an honest, actionable guide to mindset for teenagers.

Your thoughts can work for you or against you, but the good news is you get a choice. The even better news is when you’re young, your entire world is made of new. You’re a movie that’s barely started, a notebook with blank pages to fill, a song that hasn’t hit the chorus. You have your whole life ahead of you. When you learn to create new thoughts, those thoughts lead to actions, and those actions lead to new results. Are you ready to tap into the superpower of mindset? Just hit play.

Winner of Youth Book of the Year 2023

Harriet and Emilie by Eleanor Watkins

Harriet and Emilie; a novel by Eleanor Watkins. A first world war drama featuring the story of an upper-class girl and the daughter of a German servant.

Harriet is privileged, wilful and impulsive. Emilie is polite, calm and studious. The two girls – so very different – become ‘forever sisters’ as they grow up. But as the century grows older and they mature with it, events beyond their world profoundly change everything. War, hatred and fear sever their bond and tear them apart. Will the two friends survive the darkness that has engulfed Europe? Will they find new friendships and, perhaps, even love? Will they ever see each other again? They can only persevere and hope that the world they once knew might be restored.

Winner of Christian Novel of the year 2023

A Place at the Table by Miranda Harris and Jo Swinney

A Place at the Table is a profound book, lyrically written, and subversively humorous in its observation of daily life lived in community. Carved around the shape of a meal, the book is written in part by Miranda Harris, whose tragic death in 2019 was a shock to many around the world who found her approach to hospitality and community a life-long inspiration. Miranda’s daughter, Jo Swinney, writes alongside her, and together they explore the transformative way in which sharing food is at the heart of a shared life.
‘The hope for this book is that you will be encouraged to make hospitality a more routine part of your life. That the pot on your stove will always be full enough to feed an extra mouth. That your schedule will have flexibility for an unplanned coffee and a chat. That your door will be often open and that, in all these small acts of welcome, you will see God at work, knitting you into closer, deeper and more life-giving relationships than you could have dreamed possible.’

Winner of Biography/Memoir of the Year 2023

Book signing at Oasis Bookshop

Don’t miss the great opportunity of a book signing at Oasis this Saturday, 2nd of December from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On behalf of the Church leadership, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed 2024!