It's always a joy to gather together to pray. It is good to thank God for evidence of God's grace and mercy amongst us as a church. We continue to pray that God, in his mercy, will open the eyes of those who don't yet know him. And we pray that God will increase our love of, and dependence on, Jesus.

This coming week we will be praying for our young people, particularly in relation to social media. And we'll pray for our political leaders in these increasingly challenging times. If you're able, please join us at the church building on Monday 22 June at 7:30pm.

We’re taking a break with Wednesday Warm during the summer.

Our last one will be the 24th June and we will resume on the 9th September.

On the 5th July from 7:30pm, there will be a team meeting for all volunteers with the babies and toddlers at Christchurch.

Come along  to have some cake, encourage each other and support one another in the wonderful privilege of showing Jesus' love to the youngest members of our church family!

Sign up here!

Next Saturday will be our penultimate women's book study through 'Side-by-Side'.

This will be another great opportunity to spend time together and dig deeper into what it means to love each other well.

Sign up here and see you lovely ladies on June 27th!

Come along for a free two session money coaching course run by Linda Richley and Tiff Schmidt, starting next Tuesday, designed to empower you with the knowledge, budgeting skills and confidence to better manage your finances.

Money Coaching has been designed and developed by Christians Against Poverty, who have drawn on their 30 years of experience helping tens of thousands of people take control of their finances. Anyone can benefit from the training – from seasoned budgeting experts to those struggling to get to grips with their spending.
 
This month our course is running on Tuesday 23rd June and Tuesday 30th June from 10am-12pm. It will be an informal setting in the church building with tea and coffee provided.

Sign up here! 

Next week at Legacy, we will be meeting the wonderful Sean Edwards as he shares stories and poetry from Wales.

On Thursday 18th June from 10:30am, we will gather together to enjoy friendship, eating together and hearing a talk. Legacy is our monthly meeting for members of our Christchurch and the wider community who are over the age of 65.

There's double the opportunity next week to do something that saves lives! 

If you have a spare morning or afternoon, would you consider booking a blood donation slot? Each donation saves roughly three lives! There is currently medium availability for Tuesday 16th June and high availability for Wednesday 17th June.

Pop in for a coffee or lunch at Brickworks after you're done to treat yourself!

Sign up here! 

(Note: For health reasons, it is not recommended to book two slots in the same week!)

On Tuesday 23rd June and Tuesday 30th June from 10am-12pm, Linda Richley and Tiff Schmidt will be holding a two week money coaching course.

Money coaching is a free service designed to empower you with the knowledge, skills, tools and confidence to better manage your finances.

Read the thoughts of a recent Christchurch member's experience of taking the course below!

“I’m so glad that I attended the CAP Money Coaching course. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly which made it easy to ask questions. How much I shared about my finances was completely up to me and there was no need to provide figures regarding my income or expenditure. It focused on the principles of budgeting with time given to thinking through my priorities and goals. The CAP budgeting worksheet is particularly helpful and can be customised to fit your personal circumstances. This would be a useful course to attend whatever your season of life.”

Sign up here! 

I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God. It changes me. -C.S. Lewis

Join us next Monday for prayer meeting from 7:30-8:30pm. See you there!

This Sunday, we will be baptising some wonderful people from our church who want to publicly declare their love for Jesus and share how he has saved them!

If you haven't really heard about baptism before and would like to learn more about what it is and why it's something we do at Christchurch, you can listen to a podcast episode with Lewis where he dives into questions on baptism. Just click the button below!

The days are longer and the flowers have started to bloom. June has arrived!

Check out what's happening at Christchurch this month!

2nd: Doctrine of God Course
3rd: Board Games Evening  
5th: EPIC & Teens
7th: Baptism Service  
8th: Prayer Meeting
9th: Doctrine of God Course
12th: Senior Teens
16th: Doctrine of God Course
18th: Legacy
19th: EPIC & Teens
22nd: Prayer Meeting
23rd: CAP Money Course
23rd: Doctrine of God Course
26th: Senior Teens
27th: Women's Book Study
30th: CAP Money Course
30th: Doctrine of God Course

After a short break for half term, prayer meeting returns on Monday 8th June.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 8:26

What a comfort it is to know that the Holy Spirit intercedes and perfects our prayers as we come to God. When we don't have the right words, the Spirit turns our groans into prayers!

Whether you've struggled with prayer recently, or it's been something that's come easy to you in this season, we'd love you to join us as a church family to pray together.

Join us on the 3rd June for a free-to-play board games evening. There will be a wide selection of games but you are welcome to bring your own to play with others as well. Brickworks will be serving refreshments throughout the evening too.

Join the Board Games WhatsApp Community to have your say on the games that are played!

All ages are welcome!

On June 7th, it will be our absolute joy to baptise people who have come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

If you'd like to find out more about what baptism is, listen in to our recent Baptism FAQs podcast on the app (linked below)! 

 And, if you'd like to discuss getting baptised yourself, you can get in touch via this form. 

Join us next Wednesday 3rd June for a free-to-play board games event. All ages are welcome to join!

Join the Board Games WhatsApp Community for upcoming dates and to have your say on the games we play!

This Saturday 30th May is the next edition of our 'Side by Side' book study.

We'll be looking at chapters 9, 10 and 11 so please read these beforehand if you can. Whether you've been to every session or none of them, you're more than welcome to join us! And why not stay behind for a refreshing drink at Brickworks and sit in the sun with other women from our church!?

See lots of you lovely ladies there!

Discover Our Newest Christchurch Kids Spotify Summer Playlist! Perfect for road trips and kitchen discos!

On our Christchurch Kids Spotify page, you’ll find a growing collection of playlists designed to keep your family dancing, singing, and looking to Jesus.
 
Music has a powerful way of helping truth stick in our hearts. As children sing along to songs filled with the gospel, they are planting seeds of truth that can stay with them for life.

Not Sure How to Use Spotify?
You don’t need to pay to enjoy these playlists — they’re available to all Spotify users!
Spotify is a free music streaming platform that you can use on your phone, tablet, or computer.
 
Option 1: Free Account
Visit Spotify or download the app and create a free account using your email address.
With a free account, you can:
* Listen to all of our Christchurch Kids playlists
* Shuffle songs
* Stream music using Wi-Fi or mobile data
* Enjoy music at no cost (with occasional adverts)
 
Option 2: Premium Subscription
Spotify Premium is a paid subscription that includes extra features such as:
* No adverts
* Unlimited song skips
* Downloading music for offline listening (perfect for long car journeys!)
* Higher sound quality
 
Spotify also regularly offers free trials and family plans, so it’s easy to try it before committing.
 
We hope you enjoy
Lindsey x
 

The Doctrine Course returns next week!

From Tuesday the 2nd June we will begin a new doctrine course for five weeks.

We will be continuing our study of God and his perfections – this time focusing on God‘s communicable perfections (those attributes of God we were made to resemble).

Whether studying doctrine is a huge passion of yours this would be your first time, everyone is welcome!

Sign up here!

Calling all Crafters!

In Psalm 8, we are reminded that God delights in using even the smallest children to proclaim His greatness. They are treasured, valued, and used for His purposes.
“Through the praise of children and infants
You have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.” Psalm 8:2
 
As a church family, we have the wonderful privilege of sharing the gospel with our youngest children. One creative and engaging way to do this is through story sacks.
 
What Is a Story Sack?

A story sack is a simple storytelling resource, particularly suited to very young children. It is a drawstring bag containing:
- A carefully chosen storybook
- A collection of crafted or bought items that help bring the story to life
 
These items might include: Wooden, felt, crocheted or knitted figures and animals
Small plastic models or objects linked to the story (for example, a boat, a trumpet, or plants)
Swatches of fabric to represent settings such as the sea, a river, or fields
 
Importantly, the sack does not need to contain an item for every single page of the book. A few well-chosen pieces — around five to seven items — are more than enough to help tell the story effectively.
 
The bag itself should be large enough to hold both the book and all the story items. For ease of organisation, the name of the book should be clearly displayed on the front of the bag so that each story sack can be easily located.
 
A Creative Invitation:

We would love to invite the talented crafters in our church to volunteer to create one of these story sacks for use in our toddler crèche and Parent and Toddler groups.
A book will be provided — all you need to do is get busy creating suitable items and a sturdy drawstring bag to store them in. You might choose to work on your own or join forces with another crafter and make it a shared project.

When designing your story sack, please ensure that:
- Items are robust enough for frequent handling
- Materials are safe and suitable for young children
- The story title is clearly labelled on the outside of the bag
 
Looking Ahead:

In four months, we will host a special evening for all our crafters to come together. It will be a chance to: share your creations, celebrate the creativity within our church, and pray for our toddlers, our Mum and Toddler groups, and the families we serve.
 
If you would like to be involved, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact the church office.

Next month, there are four blood donation sessions at Christchurch! That means there are over 400 spaces to fill!
 
If you have a spare morning or afternoon, would you consider booking a slot? From entering the building to leaving again (with your Brickworks beverage!) takes under an hour.

There is currently medium availability for Tuesday 2nd June, and high availability for Thursday 11th, Tuesday 16th June and Wednesday 17th June.
 
Sign up here! 

What are spiritual gifts? How are they used in the gathered church? Should we seek them? How do we practise them?

Come along this Tuesday evening from 7:30pm as we unpack what the gifts of the Spirit are and how they can be used to bless one another.

Sign up here!

As it is a bank holiday next week, we will not be having our regular fortnightly prayer meeting.

May this well-know psalm bless you as you enjoy an extra long weekend!

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

EPIC is our Friday night event filled with games and activities for children years 3-6. But what actually happens at these fun-filled evenings!?

Each EPIC evening is full of energetic games, creative crafts, and lots of noise and excitement. Every week also includes a short, engaging faith-based talk where the gospel is clearly explained and shared. In the middle of the fun and silliness, the aim is to help children understand who Jesus is, what He has done for them, and what it means to follow Him.
 
A Place to Belong — and to Invite
EPIC is loved by our own Christchurch children — but it is also regularly attended by children from non-church homes. One of the main aims of EPIC is to create a space where our Christchurch children feel confident and excited to invite their friends.
 
They are brilliant at doing just that! Because of their invitations, EPIC is regularly attended by several children from non-church families. We have even seen some of these children continue on into Junior Teens once they have outgrown EPIC. What a joy and privilege it is to welcome them, build friendships, and share the good news of Jesus.
 
An Amazing Team
Our EPIC team have boundless energy, brilliantly crazy ideas, and — most importantly — huge hearts for sharing Jesus. They pray, plan, build props, organise crafts, lead games, give talks, clear up glitter (so much glitter!), and still somehow leave smiling.
 
They also beautifully model gospel-hearted serving and intergenerational community to their own children, some of whom arrive early each week to help set up and pray for the evening. These “little helpers” will one day be students, young adults, and parents sharing the gospel and serving in their own local churches.

Join us this 
Sunday 17th May from 7:30pm-9:30pm for an information evening about the Leadership Training Initiative - LEAD.


LEAD is a course designed for men aged 18-50 to grow in servant-leadership, learning to better reflect the heart of Jesus to those they lead and serve.

Click here to sign-up!

Get your magnifying glasses and notebooks at the ready! Next week at Legacy there will be a murder mystery theme!

Legacy is our monthly meeting for members of our Christchurch and the wider community who are over the age of 65. On May 21st from 10:30am, we will gather together again to enjoy each other's company, eat together and maybe even... solve a murder!