We love to welcome people on Sundays, whatever stage their thinking is at: people with nagging questions about the meaning of life; people wondering about whether there's a God and if so what He's like; people wondering about what Christianity is really all about; people who've never looked into the Bible's claims as an adult; and people who don't think of themselves as 'churchy.' We would love to see you and we think you'd be pleasantly surprised by what you find. And in case you're wondering, we're very relaxed at Church by the Bay - there's no dress code!
Currently we meet at Westgate Primary School, LA4 4XF, at 10am for a 10:30am start. We have a risk assessment that you can read here.
We have Church all together, from the youngest to the oldest, with sheets for the children to help them listen to the sermon. This is followed by Coffee, tea and treats and then Teaching reflecting on and developing the sermon for tots, kids youth and adults: Sunday school for everyone! More information about this can be found here.
At Church by the Bay, we use these 3 'C's to summaries what we're all about:
Cherish Christ by hearing the gospel
We're convinced that ordinary people like us can really know God and all His blessings of forgiveness, security, purpose, life after death and more! God has chosen to speak to us so we can know Him, through His Word, the Bible. The Bible is one book, with one story and one hero: Jesus Christ.
When he hear the Bible preached, we hear the gospel (good news). First we hear some hard home truths about our desperate situation. But we also hear the wonderful news of God's love for undeserving people, when Jesus Christ, the son of God, took upon Himself our wrongdoing against God and faced our punishment in our place. Christians delight in Christ, and hearing more about Him and getting to know Him more, we cherish Christ.
We believe that the Bible preaching in church is Jesus' special way of addressing us as His people, and that the children of believers are a part of that people, the church. And because of these two things, our children stay in for the whole Sunday service, so they can hear Jesus speak in the sermon.
Loving Christ's Church by living the gospel
This gospel changes everything. God gives us His Holy Spirit to change people so we might become the people God designed us to be. And as Christ Jesus brings people to God our Father, we are brought to a brand new family of brothers and sisters. Jesus commands us to love one another - that is what makes the Church so special. A new family united by Jesus and called by Jesus to love one another.
Change Christ's world by preaching the gospel
This world belongs to Christ. He rose from the dead and He is in charge of the universe and will one day judge the living and the dead. The desperate need of our world is to hear the good news that Jesus came to help us. He is the doctor who can cure our heart sickness - He can take away our wrongdoing against God and the punishment it deserves. This message of rescue will change lives, and change the world as it has been doing for centuries.
Children
At Church By The Bay we believe that the Bible preaching in church is Jesus' special way of addressing us as His people, and that the children of believers are a part of that people, the church. And because of these two things, our children stay in for the whole Sunday service, so they can hear Jesus speak in the Bible talk. We provide quiz sheets and colouring for the children to help them listen. Also, during the Bible talk there are items for the kids to spot!
After our church service, there's some time for children to play while everyone enjoys drinks and treats, before they head off to age-specific teaching in C3 Kids (primary school age) and C3 Tots (preschool age).
What happens at a Church by the Bay meeting
We don't do anything complicated or mystical. We try and explain what we are doing. On every Sunday we:
- Read the Bible.
- Listen to a talk on the Bible (sometimes called a sermon).
- Pray to God to say sorry for not living his way, to thank him for all He's done, and to ask for His help.
- Sing together to thank God and to encourage each other.
- Share bread and wine as Jesus commanded the Church. All Christians are welcome to share this with us, If you're not a Christian please feel free to simply watch and listen.
We do all this to bring honour to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The meeting doesn't stop after the last hymn. We carry on meeting together over refreshments, to get to know each other better and chat about what we've just heard from the Bible talk. Finally, after refreshments, we separate into age-specific teaching groups for about 40 minutes; there's a group for pre-school age (C3 Tots), primary school age (C3 Kids), and adults.
We'd love to have the opportunity to get to know you better, so please do stay around afterwards.