Sawyers Church News

6th July Sunday Life

2008-06-29T11:04:00+00:00

This coming Sunday (6th July) we're not at Shenfield High School as many of our youth, children and their leaders are away at Solid, a weekend Christian event, hosted by Viz-a-Viz at Stubbers Centre, near Upminster.We will be hosting two different services at Sawyers Hall Lane; our 9am service will include communion and our 10.30am service will see us continue in our Life in The Spirit series with provision for any children not at Solid.We look forward to seeing you at either/both!!

Life changing!

2008-06-08T15:25:00+00:00

As part of Hope 2008, our friends from BADEF at Brentwood Baptist Church organised an evening with Tony Anthony, a former Kung Fu World Champion turned Christian evangelist. St. Peters Church, South Weald was packed to hear Tony's story of how, whilst imprisoned in a Cypriot jail he surrendered his life to Christ. His account of his recognition of his need of Christ was hugely powerful and impacted many as the Holy Sirit was at work. Life in Christ, changes everything..... Share Jesus and connect His life with all around you... !

Youth Alive

2008-06-01T08:02:00+00:00

Sunday evening, June 1st 2008 saw our young people lead a service inspired by the poem 'Footprints in the Sand'. It was a wonderful evening with a great turn-out. The service focused on the fact that God never leaves us; no matter what circumstances or situations we find ourselves in God never leaves! It was hugely humbling to be led in worship by young people and to see their faith shine through their words and drama. There was a real family feel to the evening with all generations within he church family turning being encouraged and challenged! Don't worry if you missed it, there will be another Youth Service in the autumn. More information from Jon Keel

Burma: God’s hurting world

2008-05-12T06:50:00+00:00

In Sunday life we stopped, concerned ourselves with and prayed for the Burmese people. In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis at least 22,000 people have died. As the scale of the disaster grows: with 1.5million people at risk. The storm, which brought winds of 120mph, has left 41,000 others missing and 90,000 homeless. One of the worst hit areas is the town of Bogalay where 10,000 people have perished, according to a government minister. Many died when Nargis unleashed a 12ft high tidal wave which first struck the Irrawaddy Delta region on Saturday and swept from west to east across the southern tip of Myanmar. Here is the Tearfund Powerpoint that we used with other prayer resources here.....and giving is directed through the DEC here.... As if the people of Burma have not suffered enough ...Lord God, have mercy to the people of Burma. Cause your healing and help to come to those most in need - Lord God, be kind and full of mercy we pray......

Picnic and play

2008-04-30T12:58:01+00:00

Picnic and play in the park is this Saturday; Saturday 3rd May. Bring your own picnic and come and share in fellowship and games with others from across the life of the church. We will meet at 12.30pm at the visitors centre car park at Weald Park (directions below). We hope for similar weather to last weekend, but should it be raining the event will be called off. Feel free to bring family and friends for a great day at the park!! If coming from Sawyers Church direction, travel down the High Street and turn right at the end opposite the funeral directors into Weald Road. Continue along this road until you reach St.Peter's Church. The visitors centre is the second entrance to Weald Park on the right after the church. Parking at Weald costs £2 for the whole day and is pay and display. If you get lost or need to contact someone please call Jon Keel on 07706291340 and he will do his best to help!!

Sunday 20th April MORNING SERVICES

2008-04-12T12:56:00+00:00

There are occasional weeks when we cannot use the school facilities for our Sunday worship. Sunday 20th April is one such occasion! We will have two repeat services at 9am and 10.30am at Sawyers Hall Lane with youth and children's provision at 10.30am. Johnny will be continuing our series 'Living in God's Grace' so come join us! Don't hesitate to contact us at the church centre for more information on 210422.

Living in Gods Grace

2008-03-30T08:45:00+00:00

We often speak of grace...... But do we understand it? More importantly, do we truly believe in it ...and do our lives proclaim it as powerfully as our words? If grace is God's love for the undeserving, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a cruel and pain-filled world? If you're willing to leave your comfort zone to embrace a more vigorous, passionate Christianity, then in these five-weeks God will soften, and thrill your heart and life all-over-again by His grace! Paul wrote: 'When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind, when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace - a new life in a new land,' (Romans 6:2, The Message). I wonder if Paul wrote this or I just imagined it?! Many churches seem to live without this truth at the centre of their common life. It is more than accepting and becoming part of a local church, more than embracing church-ianity, so bland and sterile in comparison to the new life Paul describes! As we look at what it means to 'Live in Grace' as individuals and as a church family during April prepare to grapple with grace and "un-grace". Consider how you can contend graciously with all you face today...discover how you can become Christ's answer to a world that desperately wants to know, So ... what's so Amazing About Liberating Grace?Transforming Grace?Compassionate Grace?Empowering Grace?Serving Grace? Understand Grace! Embrace Grace! Live Grace!

Egg-scellent Easter!!

2008-03-23T13:18:00+00:00

What are your reflections of Easter 2008?For me Easter at Lee Abbey in North Devon takes some beating! It's an opportunity to be together in community in one of the most beautiful parts of God's earth, sitting at the foot of a cross on Good Friday on a hillside overlooking the sea contemplating what Christ did for me, celebrating communion on the beach at 6am on Easter Day ... so many memories .... Easter 2007 was spent in North Carolina in a huge all singing, all dancing anonymous American church ... Easter 2008 was here in Brentwood ... cold, drab, windy but ...On Maundy Thursday we were reminded that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world was thinking of you and I; that when He chose to be obedient to the Father and go to the cross you and I were on His mind ... On Good Friday morning we thought again about Jesus innocence and our sin; He who had done no wrong, dying in our place ... Together with other Christians in the town we processed behind a carried cross united in our belief that Jesus died for all; theological differences did not matter in that moment in time. It's Friday .. but Sunday's coming!! Sunday came and means I can have confidence in Jesus. I can have new life; a life of passion, purity, purpose and permanence. I can be forgiven. I can have hope.

Our God can!!

2007-11-18T17:39:00+00:00

This is an incomplete sentence,but a most powerful reality.here goes ...!This is the confidence we can have!!We are not fighting FOR a position of victory.If we are in Christ Jesus today,WE ARE FIGHTING FROM a position of victory.This is the power of God:He can make a dead rod bud.He can part the waters at the Red Sea.He can sweeten the waters at Marah. He can trouble the waters at Siloam and heal.He can make an axe head float.He can overcome sin with a great flood.He can bury my sin in baptism.He can set a bush on fire and it not be consumed.He can make a rod turn into a serpent and back again.He can create bedlam in the house of the Pharoah with a few plagues.He can bring water out of a rock.He can give bread to me in a dry place.He can restore my soul.He can start a fire on a mountain called Carmel.He can make a donkey talk.He can translate Enoch and Elijah.He can give a double portion of the Spirit.He can use farmer Gideon to wipe out the Midianites.He can knock down the walls at Jericho.He can make the sun stand still until the battle is won.He can wipe out the Philistines with a jawbone and bring water out of the that same jawbone.He can feed a man with the ravens or with an empty barrel.He can cleans the leprosy of Namaan.He can deliver three men in a furnace.He can create life in a dead man when his body lands on the bones of a dead prophet.He can turn water into wine.He can walk on water. He can calm the storms of life.He can straighten a withered hand.He can cast demons out of a madman. He can fill empty nets with fish.He can cleanse a leper and open a dead man’s eyes.He can feed a multitude with bread and fish.He can heal a woman with an issue of blood.He can put a coin in the mouth of the fish.He can reattach a severed ear. He can love His enemies. He can go to a Cross, yet nails cannot hold Him.He can go to the Grave, yet the stone will not hold Him.He is capable of building a heaven for those who think they have lost.He is the giver of hope to those who doubt,He wants to cast out fear and give life!He can deliver. . . . . .He can save. . . . .He can overcome. .He can provide. . . He can meet the need. . .OUR GOD can…!

Notes from Nehemiah

2007-09-13T17:39:00+00:00

As a church we have journeyed through the Book of Nehemiah recently on Sunday mornings. The Book of Nehemiah is not just about building the walls of a city. It's about restoring a people to live as followers of Jesus doing the mission of God. It gives hope and reminds us that our God is one who brings beauty from ashes; who always beckons us to repent and return. Nehemiah encourages us to rebuild! Nehemiah shows us that whatever is broken down can be built up!Nehemiah models what we can do in God when we work together!Nehemiah reminds us that it's never too late to do what’s right!Nehemiah demonstrates that God uses ordinary men and women like us when we are stirred and our hearts respond to the brokenness around us. The Holy Spirit would say … whatever our struggle, we can overcome … we can know victory in God.Even though God’s people had messed up badly, it didn’t disqualify them from service or ruin their relationship with God. So,... don’t let your past keep you from doing what is right. It really doesn’t matter what you’ve done; what matters is that you seek the grace and forgiveness of God … that you renew your walk with God now. What matters is that we ‘don’t despair’ but begin to repair and rebuild the walls of our own lives so that our community, and ultimately our nation, is affected. Walking daily in the brightness of God’s presence is the invitation that transforms our lives. Principles to ponder from Nehemiah ...Don't play around with sin!Cultivate a lifestyle of praise & persistent prayer. Move out of your comfort zone.Remember God. Build for eternity!Without strong, capable spiritual leadership the people of God are like sheep without a shepherd. and so.....what about you and me? Will I weep about a wall?Will I repair rather than despair?Will I believe God’s Word without compromise and submit to its teaching?Will I move forward not knowing where I am going, or hesitate?Will I stick out my neck for the sake of righteousness?Will I build up rather than back down in the face of opposition and difficulty?Will I stand firm on the truth of who God is or listen to my fears?Will I battle for what is right?Will I build for future revival or be paralyzed by present rubble?Will I do life and work together with others, pray for others and post guards with, and for, others or be separated, isolated and weakened?Will I bow down before God confessing my sinfulness, my failures and shortcomings or shy away?Will I begin again to delight in obeying the commandments God has given?Will I start afresh and step out knowing that ‘my God can’ or cling to what has gone before?Will you build well? – not just for yourself or your family, not just in your home but your workplace, not just for the church family at Sawyers; but for the honour and glory of God in our town and in our nation?