Cherish Christ by hearing the gospel

By Gerry Straker, 19 Mar 2020

One of our three aims as a Church is that we might  cherish Christ by hearing the gospel. It really is not the same as meeting up (see our first blog) but it is good that we live in an age when we can make the most of God’s gift of technology and so in some sense gather at the same time to hear, sing, speak and pray God's Word together. 

We think this is so important that a few of us (with due caution and care) at our Church building will, by God’s grace, produce a service which can be livestreamed into your home this Sunday March 22nd at 10:30am. 
 
To watch the livestream of our service you will need:

• Working internet access.
• A laptop or computer, suitable phone or other device which can stream live internet content.
• Working audio (whether a speaker built into your computer, laptop or device; plugged in speakers or headphones; or bluetooth speaker or headphones).
• Be on this webpage before 10:25 on Sunday morning, ready to press play at 10:25.

If you would like to join us, please check you have everything working in your home before Sunday morning, and  soon if you have any problems.

Please note:

• We will be reading and preaching from the NIV 1984. Check now that you have this version/enough versions at home. If you’re local,  if you would like a Church Bible.  
• We will link in this blog to the handouts with the song words and the words that we will say together, along with the youth sheet and children’s sheets. If you’re local  if you need physical copies dropping off because you don’t have a printer or a second screen at home.

Please come ready to listen to God speak to us! You might like to think about: refreshments, what you will wear, what kind of chairs you will sit in, where your family will sit so they can all see the screen, whether you will stand to sing, and having things like pens and Bibles ready, and colouring pens for children. What will best help you and those in your household concentrate and join in? We would love it if you would speak and say amen and sing with gusto as this will help you make the most of it!

And do  afterwards if anything didn’t work or could have been better so that we can improve for next time.

       
The Church meeting on Sunday will have a children’s talk and we are preparing kids sheets for a range of ages to help them listen to the sermon.
 
In addition, we are pleased to announce that Caz, our families worker, is preparing a special C3 kids and tots session with a mix of video and downloadable activities for parents to run in the home. We are hoping the first one will be ready for Sunday. This can be enjoyed straight after the livestream, later on the Sunday or at a time of your choosing, since it won’t be live. We really hope this will help families at this time when we can’t meet together. Watch this Blog for more details!

Prayer points 

• Thank God for technology that means we can still hear God's Word together.
• Please pray for the plans for Sunday and all involved, and pray that God would be pleased to work through our efforts for his glory. 
• Please pray for all who are self-isolating already; those whose workload has increased.