Family Church Guildford

This week we're pleased to welcome Ps Paul Drodge from Waterside congregation, who brought a message about how God has an amazing heart of grace towards us, looking at what He has done for us & how we outwork it in our lives.

God is the Father of compassion and God of all comfort, but we can't receive comfort unless we're honest about our discomfort. Ps Lisa speaks in our Restoring Relationships series and reminds us that we have to encounter God's love for ourselves & then find healing as restoration starts within ourselves.

By choosing to forgive, we are not only in a position to restore our current relationships but protect our future ones. Continuing the 'Restoring Relationships' series with a detour from the signs of life, Ps Hayley shares her own story of family restoration, describing how unforgiveness can be like gripping on to a cactus, but freedom comes from allowing Jesus into the hurts.

Continuing 'Restoring Relationships' through the fourth sign of life - excretion of waste / by-products. Familiarity is a natural by-product of relationships, but it can lead to disconnection if our assumptions stop us getting close enough to talk / ask questions. Have we become so familiar with the Word of God that we are no longer moved by or even believe it?

Continuing to look at restoring relationships through the signs of life, this week focuses on movement. Ps Charlie takes us through the outworking of salvation in its past, present & future aspects. While God has already set us free, on earth there is a becoming like Christ that can't be done without other people.

This week we're looking at the second biological sign of life - respiration - or in simple terms - breathing! Ps Charlie explains that just as we were created to be physically reliant on breathing oxygen, we were created to be spiritually reliant on breathing the Spirit of God. In order to fulfil our purpose of loving people, we need to breathe more deeply of God.

Ps Charlie introduces this series looking at how our relationship with God restored through Jesus affects how our relationships with other people can be transformed. Over the next few weeks we'll be evaluating the health of our relationships through the seven biological signs of life, as relationships are dynamic, made of living people. The first sign is nutrition - when we read & obey the Word of God, we are nourished by the nutrients & then able to give out to others - where is the Word of God placed in your life?

This Easter, Ps Charlie preaches a short message on the resurrection of Christ and what it means for us.

This Easter Sunday, Ps Lisa uses the example of Thomas encountering the risen Jesus to remind us that despite our stubbornness, God is getting closer, all we have to do is let Him in.

Ps Lisa takes us on a Bible study through 2 Samuel 6:1-15 to remind us of God's holiness and the importance of reverence towards Him. Familiarity can make us forget who He is, but knowing we have His sacred presence inside of us affects everything about our lives & how we treat others.

Christians have a sameness in purpose, which is Jesus Christ, which is expressed differently in each of us as we be who we're called to be. Ps Charlie uses the parable of the Ten Minas to help us explore how we are putting the gospel to work in our lives & encourage us to live out the supernatural potential God sees in us rather than how we see ourselves in the natural.

Concluding the 'Overflow' series with an Encounter worship morning, in this short message, Ps Charlie used the story of Mary & Martha to teach that there is nothing in this world worth being concerned about other than being in the presence of Jesus.

Ps James concludes the 'Overflow' series by looking at what Psalm 133 can teach us about living in overflow with God & others. Although overflow starts with our individual pursuit of God, there is so much more when we live in unity with others.

When you know God has something good for you, but the distracting voices are so loud, and it's really hard to find - Ps Hayley speaks on how we can remain in the overflow, the best place to be!

In week 2 of the Overflow series, Ps Lydia talks about the three things that stop us from staying in the overflow, & the one thing that will keep us there, so that we can learn to live in the freedom of the overflow of God's love.

Ps Matt opens up the March 'Overflow' series by encouraging us to reverse our mindset - what if instead of us trying to do everything in our own strength, we positioned ourselves in God and everything else was an overflow from that? (To view the video that is referred to, go to the FC Guildford Facebook page & find the post from Sunday 3 March.)

In Psalm 42 we see 2 opposing parts within David, knowing God brings hope, yet discouraged - Ps Charlie explains how this war is actually between the spirit & the soul of man. Our soul hungers after the love of God; peace from the internal battle comes when, instead of filling our souls with worldly things, we let the spirit lead us.

Ps Lisa explores how what we feast on determines what we think about & affects the desires of our hearts. God has given us an invitation to feast from the table that leads to life. His heart is to sit and eat with us and the more we make room for Him, the more we desire Him. Which table are you feasting from?

Our guest speaker, Pete Bollon, speaks about his journey to becoming a missionary with Overland Missions. He explains how God worked in him to take the pressure off finding his calling & letting go of a need for certainty - when we can't get our heads around what to do with our lives, God's answer is Jesus - look to Him & copy that.

Christians have been given a new heart, but if it becomes calloused, it's hard to feel those new desires. Ps Charlie encourages us to stop feeding on the junk of our old way, so that there is space to feed our new hearts with pure spiritual milk that truly nourishes, no longer simply knowing about Jesus from afar but truly living with Him.