Year of Growth 

October 2017 - July 2018

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.              Colossians 1:9-14

Introduction

Welcome to our 'Year of Growth’.  As a leadership team, this is the phrase we have sensed is on the Lord’s heart for us all. It arose from our study of 1 Corinthians 3, and especially v. 6, where St Paul writes I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
 

The Lord has used this text to remind us – as leaders, teachers and church family – what is and what is not our responsibility. God has said he is responsible for our growth. We as leaders and each of us as members of the church family are responsible for creating the optimum environment in which God can grow us.

As you will see from the overview below, we will be teaching under a number of themes over the coming months, each of which falls under one of two broad headings

• Foundations (blue)
• Freedoms (green)

We’re conscious that although our Large Gatherings provide excellent opportunities for ‘planting’, we can’t do much ‘watering’ in them. So we are delighted that our Small Groups will be following this teaching, enabling that ‘watering’ to take place as we all seek to discover what the Lord wants to do with the teaching as the Holy Spirit brings it alive in ways specific to each of us.

We’ll be providing regular resource material on this page – much of it on video by way of Introductions to the various series and Recaps on each talk – to enable us all to take responsibility for setting ourselves in the optimum environment – it’s the Lord himself who promises to grow us! 

Series overview

Latest Resource

5th August 2018 10 Gathering Joseph's Dreams Genesis 37.1-11 (Calling - God has called us with a purpose) Paul Langham, 05/08/2018

2nd September 2018 5 Gathering Joseph in Charge of Egypt Genesis 41.41-57 (Bearing Fruit in Every Season) [The 10 service was not recorded] Neil Shepherd, 02/09/2018

19th August 2018 Joseph in prison - Paul Langham (132.7KB)

All Resources

9. Joseph At the 10 and the 5 we will be looking at the story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50). More ... 8. The Overflow How do we healthily allow God's work within us to overflow and spill out to those around us? More ... 7. Bearing Fruit in Every Season June 2018: Looking at how we can bear Godly fruit in every season, no matter what we are facing. More ... 6. Identity April / May 2018: An extended series focusing on our identity. Looking at how God sees us, what hinders us and how the Holy Spirit empowers us to walk in our identity. More ... 5. Building to Easter March 2018: How do we engage with scripture in such a way that we can identify how God is speaking to us through it? More ... 4. Sin and Salvation February 2018: What is sin and how can understanding it correctly affect our interaction with God and His ongoing salvation in our lives? More ... 3. Setting Yourself Up To Thrive January 2018: At the beginning of the new calendar year, what rhythms, habits and practises will help us to grow and thrive in our walk with God? More ... 2. Fathering and Forgiveness November 2017: Who is God as our Father and how does forgiveness play a central role in seeing Him as He truly is and felathing to Him healthily? More ... 1. Language of Growth October 2017: We kicked off our year of growth by looking at 3 keys to growth: Responsibility, Dependency and Leadability. Remember these words, they'll be important all year! More ...