ASHFORD COMMUNITY CHURCH

NEWSLETTER: 7th October 2018

        FROM THE PASTOR’S PEN

Dear family, friends and visitors

Today we are welcoming you all to join with us in giving thanks to God for His wonderful provision in our Harvest Festival. Jesus promised us all that God loves us ALL so much that He will care for us and provide for our needs. Speaking to a huge crowd on a mountainside Jesus told them:

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26)

It might not always “feel” like it, but God knows all that we need, and He also knows what is best for us. Like the best of earthly fathers, our Heavenly Father sometimes gives and sometimes takes away – but always it is done with the greatest of love for us. We don’t always understand why things happen as they do (and we certainly prefer it when we get what we want!) but when you know Father God, you know that you can always trust Him to have our best interests at heart. This is sometimes VERY hard – but the more you get to know Him, the more certain you become of His everlasting care for you as you daily experience His great love for you.

I pray that you begin to experience this truth of Father God’s provision today as you join with us in our celebration. You will find that in this special service we will be doing things slightly differently to usual and will be singing traditional hymns rather than the newer songs that we normally sing – but I hope that you enjoy it. And if you would like to know more then please find me after the service and I will be very happy to talk to you
.
God bless       Peter

TODAY: HARVEST FESTIVAL

Today we celebrate our Harvest Festival and the service is followed by our Harvest Lunch.  All food items given today, and displayed on the stage, will be donated to “Open Arms” and the local Foodbank. Thank you for your generosity.

NEXT SUNDAY: FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – PEACE:

We continue with our series. Don’t forget the notes for these messages can be found on the church website. We are hopeful that it won’t be long before they are available as audio messages on the website too!

CHURCH WEBSITE & APP: Thanks to those who have already signed up for the church app. We hope you are finding it helpful. There are still a good number of you who haven’t yet downloaded it so please consider doing so a.s.a.p. See Gill who will arrange for your user name and password to be created.

For those of you without smartphones, you can also now sign in to the main website to obtain access to the address list and rotas. Again, please see Gill for your user name and password.

MENS EVENTS:

CVM MEN’S TOUR at St Mary Bredin, Canterbury. – Going against the Grain – based on the latest book by Nathan Blackaby.  The event runs from 9:15 – 13:00 and costs £10 which includes refreshments

If you are interested in either of these events please speak to one of the elders.

CHRISTIAN VIEWPOINT FOR MEN; The annual Men’s Conference at Sizewell Hall is from the 15th – 17th March 2019. Please see Dave Proctor for details.

WOMEN’S EVENTS:  Ladies Fellowship: The next meeting will be on Friday 19th October and we will be meeting at Pat’s. All ladies welcome.

ASHFORD CHRISTIAN WOMEN: Breakfast event on 13th October. As usual this will be at the Elwick Club and the guest speaker is Sola Ifekoya.  The cost is £10 and includes a full English breakfast. See the notice board for booking details.

CHURCH CALENDAR: Don’t forget to check the calendar, either on the app or the website, to keep up to date with all events. Please speak to Gill if you want to book the hall at any time.

THANK YOU: A big thank you to everyone who came to the MacMillan Coffee Afternoon on the 28th September. The money raised this year was just over £260!

FOODBANK: Please remember the Food Bank when you go shopping.

WHATS ON THIS WEEK

Tues 9th          10:00 – 14:00   “Open Arms” with Ashford Vineyard

19:00 – 20:30    Worship Practice

Weds 10th      09:30 -10:30      Weightwatchers in the main hall

19:30 – 21:00     Home Groups

Thurs 11th       19::30 – 22:00   East Kent Choir in the main hall

Fri 12th           09:30 – 10:30    Revival Prayer

14:00 – 15:00       U3A Singing for Pleasure

18:00 – 19:30     Pizza & Hot Topics

Sat 13th          09:00 – 10:00    Park run in Victoria Park

Sun 14th          10:30 – 12:00     Celebration Service

(Tea & Coffee served from 10:00)