Zdenko flies in

Today sees Zdenko fly in from Croatia.  Our good friend who is pioneering a church plant in Croatia is here to meet Terry Virgo (preaching both Sunday morning and evening at RFC) and also to be amongst us as a community.  He's a great guy with a huge vision for his nation and what God wants to do there and it's a privilege that we get to walk with Zdenko, Ivana and his team in this.

Unfortunately, Ivana is unable to be around this weekend due to work commitments and i know that she is gutted that she cannot be with us.  As a church we continually work hard at greeting and welcoming and I know that both he and Ivana felt at home last time they came, I have every confidence he'll have the same report when he leaves on Monday.

Cheering on the masses in a party style

Sunday April 1st sees the streets of Reading once more taken over by elite athletes, wannabe elite athletes, fun runners and charity raisers. They are taking on the 13 and a bit miles that makes up the Reading Half Marathon.  It's an event that RFCers get involved in and is something that in this Olympic year will probably once again grab the attention of the public.

As a church  we are going to have a cheering presence on London Street, outside the church offices.  We'll pump some music, hand out some energy inducing goodies of some description to the athletes passing by and generally encourage the many runners who will be taking part.  We want to create an atmosphere that brings the best out of those taking part as well as play 'spot the RFCers' as they go through - we will compile a list!

It would be great to have 30 or so people at the least to have a presence during what has become a significant date in the calendar of our town and in the diaries of friends in our community.

To get involved you'll have to beat the road closures and be ready for a party, let me know if you're up for it!  

Want to be more effective at communicating your faith?

On Saturday 24th March at the church offices, 9am-1pm, we will be hosting a morning called Find Your Voice. The intention is to start a journey of understanding how we as individuals will best communicate 'the reason for the hope that we have' when the opportunity arises.  We'll look at what we find it easy to talk about and why we find it is to talk about it and then apply this to the Gospel.

Put the date in your diary and come and along on the morning to grow in faith for the great mission that Jesus has called us all to: the sharing of the good news of Jesus.

Cardboard Testimonies

We did these at our 10th anniversary  I know Sean has blogged this already but I don't think we can see it enough to inspire us to believe that we are not finished growing yet. There are still many cardboard testimonies to believe for over the next 10 years and you and I have the privilege to be involved!

Cardboard Testimonies from Reading Family Church on Vimeo.

Serving Teams: SUPA

Matt Blake

This is a picture of Matt Blake and he has just taken over from Andy in leading into our SUPA team.  The SUPA team is one of those teams in church life that goes unnoticed as a people but not as a function.  I remember when we started to meet in Reading Girls School, getting there early each morning and setting out chairs quickly became one of the highlights of the week.  It was an integral area of church life to serve in and it all went on behind the scenes and I loved it, the banter, the reality of seeing growth in the number of chairs that were required, setting up paddling pools for baptisms, fabulous!

Beautifully laid out chairs

10 years have passed and we now have a much larger church, more chairs, boxes to be moved around to other ministries, flags to be set, banners put up.  It can feel such a thankless task but is one of those that is highly valued and highly appreciated after all, who wants to sit on the floor.

The reality is that it is the ministry that starts the earliest at 8:30am and they are the last to leave the building at about 1pm for the morning meeting and 5pm - 8:30pm at the evening meeting.

We have had great heroes serve in this area over a long period of time such as Tino Villa, Tim Jablonski, Dan Chard, Andy Twine (sorry if I have forgotten anyone) and more recently, Matt Blake, all ably assisted by others.

Getting it right is an art!

So now we are once again inviting people to serve in this valuable area of church life.  It is a matter of committing and then following through on that commitment.  It's a matter of putting the proverbial towel over your arm and serving, knowing that God is delighted in what you are doing.  There are quite a few opportunities to serve on the team with Matt looking to build at least three teams for the morning meeting meaning that there is less regularity in being on.

Could you be there at 8:30am/5pm on a Sunday morning/evening ready to put out chairs and lug boxes?  Are you available after the meetings to help put things along. if you are and you want to get involved then please let Matt Blake (morning) or Ian Anderson (evening) know on Sunday, or of course you can contact me at churchoffice@readingfamilychurch.org.uk

Turning intentions to reality

We will soon be heading into the 4th week of the new year and already 1/12th of the year is nearly through. Good intentions have stayed just that, intentions and the things we thought we might do haven't quite got into swing yet!  You know what I mean!

Here at RFC one of the things that we are aware of is that we have grown significantly and the people that we are growing with are taking a bit of time to get involved in the joy of serving.  The main reason for this is that there is no means of knowing what areas of church life need help at any given time. Other reasons are, however, that our good intentions to get involved do not materialize into reality and months can go past before we have decided what we will do.

I will therefore periodically, be putting a post up that showcases an area of church life and what there is to do in it, so our good intentions can be made reality.

For now though, why don't you decide today to be someone who will get stuck in to a serving area. The various areas are listed below and you can leave a comment to tell me that you would like to get involved or go via the 'getting involved' page on the website.

• Creche (morning only)
• Kids Church (morning only)
• The Edge (Youth)
• Student Team
• SUPA (Set Up & Pack Away)
• Welcome Team
• Host Team
• Music
• PA / Audio Visual 
• HOPE (ministry for adults with learning difficulties)
• Teas and Coffees (morning only)

What is Foundations and Who is it for?

It's the start of a new year and Christmas is way behind us.  The resolutions have already started to be broken.  However, one of those resolutions might have been to come back to Jesus, or give your life to Him  for the first time, or even just to come back to the basics so that the Christian life doesn't feel quite so complex and hard theologically.  If that is you then this is for you.

On the last Tuesday of this month, Rachel Green and I will be hosting the first evening of our Foundations.  These evenings are called foundations for 2 reasons.

#1 The name of the book we use to stimulate discussion is called Foundations and is written by John Groves
#2 Because these evenings are to build grow and strengthen our foundations in Christ.

The evenings are designed to be open for all, meaning they are an ideal next step after Alpha, they are ideal if you are new in your faith and they are ideal as a refresher of why you believe and do all that you do in teh name of Jesus!

Foundations is a great way to get to know a new bunch of people, and a great place to get to understand why we do certain things as a church.

Each week we will journey through subjects in an easy and open environment:

Week 1: Personal Foundations - looking at faith and baptism in water and the Spirit
Week 2: A New Creation - a fresh reminder of who we are in Christ and all He achieved for us (you can never know this enough!)
Week 3: Kingdom Life - what does it mean to live as a Christian in all areas of our lives?
Week 4: Kingdom Warfare - we have a real enemy, how does he work and how do we live in the victory Christ won?
Week 5: Jesus is Building His Church - What is church and what does it mean to participate?
Week 6: Belonging to Church - As it says on the tin, but aimed at what it means to belong to RFC (you may already be a member but always good to be reminded)
Week 7: Sharing your Faith - These foundations could be the foundations for your friends and family as they come to know Jesus, we are called to invite them to meet Him!

You can book in by leaving a comment on here or by contacting me via the foundations page of the website found on this link.