Remembrance Sunday Reflection
Today is Remembrance Sunday and at 11:00 am this morning, many of us in the UK will pause, stand still and be silent. Somebody asked me only this week, ‘why…
Overflowing Hope
I wonder ... how much hope do we feel in our hearts at this season of life? Are we walking around feeling hopeful or hopeless?As we return to our…
God’s Dream
Years ago, I found myself fascinated by the Way of the Samurai, where they teach “he who makes the first move is the one to die.” There may be more…
Finding ourselves in the Easter Story
One of my favourite things about the Easter story is reading the stories about Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances and how each one was uniquely suited to the person He was encountering…
My Lighthouse
Over the last two months we have been enjoying singing the Rend Collective song ‘My Lighthouse. It has been a precious part of our corporate family praise.As I’ve reflected…
Seeing Clearly
It seems to me that we live in a world of ever-increasing noise. Social media, the news, more and more TV streams and podcasts to choose from, vociferous political voices,…
Turkey and Syria
We will all have been horrified by the events of this week as we listened to and watched the news stories of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Even more…
Boldness
I wonder how we respond to the call to be bold? Perhaps you have never considered yourself to be a “bold” person. But what if being bold had absolutely nothing…
Joining the Vineyard
Over the past few years Encounter Church has experienced God’s grace and seen significant growth and blessing. It has been an exciting time to be part of our church family,…
Christmas Time
Christmas time is for deep celebration and rich connection with friends and family, but we also know that for some this is a challenging season, where family dynamics can be…
Peace
Merriam-Webster defines the word peace as a ‘state of tranquillity,’ or a state of ‘harmony’ in personal relationships. While these feel like accurate descriptions, the scriptures actually give us a…
Growing in the rain
Today I would like to share a thought about growing in the rain.Last Sunday, in Abbey Terrace, as we gave thanks for all those who gave so much…
Remembrance Sunday Reflection
Mark shares a Remembrance Sunday Refection as there will be no online celebration or celebration in the building but we will meet at Abbey Terrace at 10:30 am to join…
Never Give Up
As we live between Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday, I find myself reflecting on the oratory skills of Sir Winston Churchill. As I think of this extraordinary war time leader…
Practice the Presence
Practice the Presence comes from last weekend's message, as we looked at what it means to love God with our minds, I talked about Practicing the Presence of God and…
Focus
As I have been preparing about our new series ‘Living Well’ I have found myself reflecting that ‘where our focus lies, lies our strength.’We don’t have to look very…
Always at Work
Always at Work
In the midst of all the financial and economic turmoil and uncertainty of this past week, where we set our gaze is of the greatest importance. I…
Kings and Queens
With the recent death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and the succession of King Charles III it has reminded me that there are countless mentions of kings and queens…
The Queen Her Legacy
The Queen, Her Legacy
As we reflect on the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II I took some time out this week to reflect on her legacy and the…
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Dear Friends
As we will all know by now, The Queen has died. Buckingham Palace confirmed that Her Majesty passed away yesterday afternoon at her…
Ambassadorship
Ambassadorship
Whilst we are in August and the middle of the summer holidays, I just wanted to give us some encouragement for the summer, around what it might mean to…
Does God notice me?
Does God notice me?
As I have been preparing for this weekend’s message I have been struck once again by how God fully notices us.
Think about that for a…
Post Pentecost
What an incredible time of encouragement and strengthening from the Holy Spirit we had last weekend. We are so grateful to John and Annie Hughes for coming to be with…
Big Oaks
I have found myself having a few conversations this week about the significance of the Oak Trees spoken about in Isaiah 61. This is a well-known passage and the mandate…
Responding to the Resurrection
My prayer for all of us is that we will have an amazing Easter weekend, as we celebrate the central event in all of history, the resurrection of Jesus from…
Dealing with Doubt
You might remember that recently I was speaking about the account of Jesus travelling towards the disciples, walking on the water, as they were in the middle of a storm,…
The Ukraine
The extraordinary events of this past week have been overwhelming for us all. Despite the build-up of the military around the Ukraine over recent months and the expectation that something…
I AM WHO I AM!
God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14)We will all…
The Caged Bird Sings
It’s worth pausing and recognising where we are at the moment.The truth is that many of us feel constrained, we struggle with having a caged feeling. We wrestle with a…
