Family Church Guildford

Sunday 7th February 2021 is My Sunday in Family Church. Today, after our Praise and Worship, three people give their story of how they came to know Jesus and how he has subsequently changed their lives for ever. Following this Pastor Andy interviews another church member as we discover how Jesus meets people in every walk of life, gives them peace, hope and love in an individual and wonderful way. The meeting today ends with opportunity for us all to resubmit our lives to The Lord and receive His Spirit.

The title for this week’s message is “Pause for Thought”. Pastors Sean & Paula deliver an action packed MUST HEAR message which recaps and rediscovers the messages from January 2021 so far. Personal anecdotes and Godly insight into the gradually building themes of Awakening the Sleeping, Set Apart, All in for God, and Being Used by God bring fresh revelation and challenge to us personally regarding the true nature of our relationship with God. As Paula and Sean speak of Jesus surrendering His life for us in the most demeaning way possible how can our response be other than to wholly be available for Him and for His glory on earth?

Pastor Andy speaks about being used by God as we move out of the 21 days of fasting that began the year 2021. The set of messages so far this year have deliberately linked as God has inspired Andy in thought for this journey. God has awoken us and touched us with His Spirit, we made choices about being set apart for Him, we surrendered and submitted our lives unto Him and naturally now God wants to be able to use us………a wonderful destination to have arrived at in this early 2021 journey. Now our lives have become useable to Him as we belong to Him through the faith we set in Christ. We need to be ready for Gods purposes - Ephesians 2, v8-10 (NIV) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. So God had a clear agenda always to save us, set us apart as we are his workmanship in order to do g

This week Pastor Andy speaks of being “All In” for God. The message begins by recapping on the last weeks of prayer and fasting bringing fresh presence of God to our lives. Scripture tells us if we draw closer to Him, he will draw closer to us. Recent messages have spoken of awakening to God from our slumbers, being consecrated for Him, being set apart and being part of His family. Last week referenced Romans 12 verses 1-2 (NIV) “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God”. The Lord made us holy so He could fill us with His righteousness and Spirit! It says to be transformed by the renewing of our minds allowing the Word to renew what we think not about some things but all things. So having been awoken and consecrated will we live in submission to God, to the leading of His Spirit in our lives? Daily, we must resubmit our lives. Submission is not popular in the world but scripture endorses this for the best experience with God. James 4 verse 7 (NIV) states “Submit yourselves, then, to G

Pastor Andy again speaks of the breakthrough he believes will occur to us all in taking part in the twenty one days of fasting at the start of this New Year 2021. He speaks of the need for us to come before The Lord and rid ourselves of junk, pride and so forth, in bringing ourselves to God. Sometimes we need to rid ourselves of things first before we are able to come before The Lord. When we present ourselves to God, it is not the old but the new creation we present to Him. The blood of Jesus has washed away our past sins. Consecration is an interesting and important word if we live with Jesus. It means to be set apart. During Old Testament times it referred to material things being set aside, set apart for His use. Now it is relevant to us, God wants us he wants us to set our lives apart for His use. Consecration begins by us knowing we now belong to God; we have been set apart and bought at a price, by His own blood. Our lives are not our own. In 1 Corinthians 6 verse 15 (NKJV), scripture says “Do you not

This week Pastor Andy speaks about “Awakening the Sleeping”. He began by restating the invitation to a time of prayer and fasting for the first twenty one days of 2021. Fasting is not just about giving up things but being able to hear God in our spirits. Take moments not to feed our soul but our Spirits. Pray for our nation, our church, our families and ourselves. Laying aside things that get in the way of our pursuit of God will allow God to speak into our lives much more. God is in control! We should not be casual – it is vital we hear Him and see Him in our lives. We need an awakening in ourselves, in our nation, in our churches, so the hearts of men and women are awakened to the reality of God and His love. Isaiah 60 speaks of days of great darkness but these announce days of great light…that break and penetrate darkness. Let us pray prayers of awakening, an awakening that comes from heaven. An awakening in the world must start from an awakening in the church. We long in this New Year 2021 to see mov

The week Pastor Andy looks back at the year 2020 and rather more looks forwards into the year 2021. Covid has stolen much of what we came to know as Christmas but as the 25th December emerged we were left with Jesus. Nothing had affected the fact that The Father has given us His Son to bring us back to Himself. As we stand at the door of 2021 we step out of a very unusual 2020. Although life has been hideous in some ways, elsewhere the church has blossomed for example in the small groups and community work. But we can look into 2021 with hearts full of joy rather than disillusionment because Gods word still stands. His promises remain true. He has plans for us, the church and the nation. We need to be committed to these plans as God rebuilds in 2021. Andy spoke about how we need to be ready to seize the day or even seize the year (Carpe 2021) to make full use and enjoy the new season. In Philippians 3, verse 13, Paul speaks of his life and forgetting what lays behind and reaching forward for what is yet unk

This week Pastor Andy speaks of how even when the most stringent government regulations appear to strip back everything many of us associate with Christmas, that the Kingdom of Heaven is not stripped back, and in many ways the true purpose of Christmas remains…as Jesus for us all to see. Andy goes on to remind us to have a listening ear and a warm heart for those around us, let us make sure no one goes without, no one feels cut off from the world. Stripping back the Christmas allows us to see more clearly the wonderful gift of God’s son given to us for our salvation, to give us eternal life. He is the true gift this Christmas. Jesus is the constant, the usual within these unusual times. Let us celebrate Him.

Following from last week’s message by Pastor Steve telling us not to shrink back, this week Pastor Steu addresses the subject of rebuilding our Christian lives. In 586BC the Babylonian army ransacked, set on fire and ruined the city of Jerusalem. But behind the scenes of the ensuing period of captivity God was at work. In a way, at this time we have also undergone a period of captivity where some of our freedoms have been removed. Using the Old Testament stories, in the book of Nehemiah and more, Pastor Steu prophecies over an incredible time of rebuilding in our lives just as the Jewish peoples did after their captivity in Babylon. The Temple was rebuilt, the city walls were rebuilt. We shall see renewed worship, renewed commitment to Jesus and that all ground that has been lost will be taken back. God is still at work!

This week Pastor Steve Carey speaks with a title ‘Don't Shrink Back’. His word from God is like a set of antibodies similar to a vaccine to kill off disease in our lives and release back faith. In Hebrews 10 verse 32, we read how the Hebrew believers were starting to ask questions about life as we might do now in 2020. The scripture goes on to tell us not to throw away our confidence which has great reward. We likewise must not shrink back in our lives. In Numbers 13 the Israelites are on the edge of inheriting the Promised Land and send in spies to check things out…Caleb and Joshua come back positively, but the rest came back with reports saying the opposite – that the people inhabiting the land were stronger and not able to be defeated – they felt like grasshoppers among giants. They had shrunk back! - In vision, faith and speech. Do we feel like them in 2020? Are we facing seemingly impossible mountains? Let it not be so. Let us not shrink back and be empowered by the word of God and power of His Spiri

Sunday 29th November is Global Sunday, Pastor Andy Elmes has Ray Mills with him who has recently returned from the mission field in the Philippines with his wife and children. Today we are focusing on the global aspects of what Family Church is doing across the nations, as a local church but with a global vision. A video compiled by Ray showed many of the missionary peoples and their families and gave us wonderful insight into their work, their situation and cultures. After watching the video, Pastor Andy chatted with Ray about his time in the Philippines. Ray spoke of the isolation that many missionaries feel when communications are poor or their lives are distracted. Pastor Andy encouraged all of us to be focused on supporting the world wide activities of God as well as our local tasks with our prayers, our communication and our giving. Our missionaries are an extension of our church family and do not, cannot, operate alone.

Pastor Andy’s message this week begins by recounting the story In Luke Chapter 19, verse 28, and the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. However, the key here is the part where Jesus sent two disciples on ahead to locate and untie a colt that had never been ridden. He told them to say that “The Lord had Need of it”, if anyone should ask why they were taking the colt. Jesus sat on the donkey and people shouted their praises for the miracles he had done as he rode into Jerusalem….a famous bible verse. As Pastor Andy explained, this must have been a pretty amazing time for the disciples – feeling they were about the steal a donkey but apparently Jesus knew the plan for this all along. In effect, Jesus had set the donkey free from being tethered….because he had a plan for the donkeys life…to carry The Messiah. Jesus had sent His messengers on ahead carrying a message of freedom for the donkey; it was to be untied from all the things that had held it, no longer captive, no longer a slave. In the same way, J

This week Pastor Andy speaks about “Keeping it Simple”. He begins by recounting the story in Gospel of Mark, Chapter 7, Verse 1 where Pharisees came asking Jesus questions about religious practices, ceremonial washing, and other traditions. Their question was based on an understanding of the law & religion only. Jesus told them in no uncertain terms that their hearts were not where their lips were, that they were hypocritical! Jesus told them they had let go of the commands of God and were holding onto the traditions of men. There is a dichotomy between the religious do’s and don’ts and a simple relationship between us and The Lord. This simple relationship is what Pastor Andy was reminding us of today. Walking with God is meant to be a heart thing, a relational experience, quite simply. Adding religion to a walk or a desire for God turns the simple into something complex and confusing. We need to purpose in keeping our walk with God as simple as the first followers of Jesus did. Religion leaves us confused

After a particularly poignant live remembrance service today, Pastor Geoff Speaks on the subject of Remembrance. Geoff looks back not only at what our service men and women have done for us but also what Jesus has done for us on the cross. All of us are in daily battles, some we fail to recognise. We often sit and recall events of the past so Remembrance is part of life’s journey. However we need to bring back into that Remembrance some of the things God has done in our lives and the victories overcome. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to bring into our minds such things. We all face physical, mental and spiritual battles….. Then we need to hear the word of God in our lives today. Geoff continues to speak of us having a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit in our lives in order to live the abundant life God intends. The enemy comes to steal and destroy with anxieties, fears and troubling thoughts. The decision is ours though….to look towards our Father and choose to believe Him over our circumstances.

Pastor Andy’s message speaks this week about going into the harvest. Andy speaks today as his new book Soul Winner is launched [soulwinner.co.uk]. This is a crucial time for us to understand the importance of salvation on a person’s life. Pastor Andy has authored his new book to mobilize and equip God’s people to be harvesters in their daily harvest, in their local Jerusalem. In these unprecedented times, God is still God, he is still our shepherd and is still holding our hand. We need to comprehend the times we are in from a biblical lens and then be active in responding to what God needs us to do. This may be ministering to people’s needs as well as ministering to God….the two great commandments! We need to be God’s light in moments of confusion ready to step in and help people navigate through their storms. However, we must not forget that the greatest need anyone may have is salvation, as this impacts them eternally as well as on earth immediately. Mark 8:36-37 instructs us it is no use for man to gain th

Pastor Andy continues speaking about walking with Jesus, this week Jesus the Good Shepherd. Last week we looked at Jesus the Lion of Judah as well as being the Lamb who was slain to take away our sins. The bible has portrayed Jesus in many differing ways each declaring a special part of who He is ….Son of God, Prince of Peace, Lamb of God, Lion of Judah, bread of life, the True Vine and the Good Shepherd. In the Gospel of John Chapter 10, many verses are devoted to Jesus being the Good Shepherd. Verses 1 through 6 speak of us knowing the Shepherd’s voice, how the true sheep know the voice of their shepherd. Further verses speak of Jesus being the gateway to God’s field. We can enter relationship with God, come into his field of safe pasture through Jesus only. Verse 10 also speaks of the enemy, the bad shepherd whose only purpose is to kill, steal and destroy. Jesus, the good shepherd is here to give us life in all its fullness. Verse 11 tells us that the Good Shepherd lays down his life for us. In Verse

Walking with Jesus – The Lion of Judah. Pastor Andy shares today from lessons, experiences and thoughts from his recent missionary trip to Zambia where he walked with lions! Before you walk with lions you need to be a member of their pack. This means going behind them and submitting to their pace. Also, letting them let them know you are there. In Daniel Chapter 6 there was a scary moment for Daniel in the pit with lions - but he knew the greater one the creator who made him was with him. Andy became conscious of the majesty of the lions when walking with them. Jesus is the Lion of Judah but also the Lamb of God. In Revelation 5:5 scripture speaks of “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed….” then in verse 6, reference to the Lamb who was slain. We need to know that Jesus is both the lion and the lamb. Seeing Jesus as a lamb is vitally important but we need to be able to relate to him as the Lion of Judah. Both these descriptions fully relate to Him. Proverbs 30:29 speaks of the

Pastor Andy speaks about Storm Management - Knowing How to Navigate the Storm. Last week Pastor Andy spoke about Jesus being in the boat of our storms. This week carries on reading from Psalm 46. In verse 10 the bible tells us “Be still and know that I am God”. This means let go of our striving and lean back into the Lord to experience stillness in the midst of storms, surrender our anxiety. Pastor Andy carries on from last week with four key things about storms we may all face. Firstly storms come in many forms – health, physical, mental, emotional, relational, financial, and spiritual, but Jesus is in the boat of all of these even if we face many at a time. Secondly, storms may come from different places – ourselves if we acted wrongly, the devil (but we do have authority to rebuke these!), even God might originate a storm as in Jonah Chapter 1 because Jonah was walking in disobedience and God wanted him in his perfect plan for life. Thirdly a storm we experience may have a purpose attached to it. If fro

Pastor Andy speaks this week on “Know Jesus, Know Peace”. There are many storms in our loves right now so knowing Jesus and having His peace in our lives is really important. This is increasingly a time of anxiety and worry and people are experiencing uncertainty and pressure in aspects they used to have security in. The natural response here is fear. Just because we are believers and followers of Jesus does not make us exempt of storms in our lives. Jesus never took us out of the world when we were saved so we're going to experience and encounter things that the world experiences and encounters, but our experience in these storms should be a different experience. We are part of another kingdom, an unshakable Kingdom. Hebrews 12 says that everything that can be shaken will be shaken….this is happening now! We need to be making sure that our feet and lives are grounded in this unshakeable kingdom. God is our refuge and our strength. That's the truth but the truth is being tested in our lives today. God is o

Pastor Andy speaks about us being a Missional Church. Recently back from a trip to African nations, he is keen to impart his experiences. We need to shift our thinking from being church attenders and church members to be missionaries. Right now, the world is crying out for truth. For those of us who are followers of Jesus, we have the answer! As we move forward into whatever this journey we're taking together looks like, we would dare each of us to think more missional. Let's not be caught up in an attendee way of thinking. There's no lock down on us being missional. So let's begin to turn our focus and shift on reaching people. This is a challenge to our hearts today! If you send Pastor Andy who's been unable to travel for six months to Zambia and place him in front of two hundred odd hungry missionary guys, you're going to have an explosion! But that explosion wasn't just for them. It was for all of us. I came back feeling enthused. What if we change the way we see ourselves and become a missional church