Sunday and Monday

Now, it's not to say that exciting things don't happen on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday etc...it's just that Sunday tends to be 'church' all day. And Monday nights are normally fairly signifcant as well.

This week with the weather not being in our favour, we returned to trusty O'Neill's for lunch. Greg Haslam, the leader of Westminster Chapel had been visiting us and peached over both the morning services. A fantastic time with Greg, we were very blessed by his message. Last Sunday was also the second Sunday of the Gift Week for the building project. Certainly a challenge to stir us!


Lunch was a fun affair, with around 60 or so people crammed into O'Neill's. In some ways it was rather foruntate they had no draughts! Certainly meant that there wasn't lots of competition for food. With Citygate not finishing until the afternoon was well under way, it was about 4pm when lunch had finally begun to draw to a close and people headed off to work, revise, and relax for the afternoon.

Seemed as if everyone had a great afternoon, and lots of you were out at the pub in the evening too! ...You can see why I said that Sundays are effectively a whole day of being Church together.


Last night, two of our elders Andrew and Russell visited PPP (I reckon they're just jealous we have so much fun on a Monday night!) and gave us some teaching under the heading of 'Angels and Demons'. It was great to see around 45 of you out and about, ready to listen and engage. I hope the night proved interesting, and has challenged the way you live! If you've still got questions, make sure they don't go ignored.

With such a busy couple of days, and a rather late night last night (oops!) you'll be pleased to hear that the week ahead isn't looking so busy.

Next week all ladies are invited to an evening of films and food in Charminster on Tuesday (check Facebook for event info) and on the Saturday we'll be having an open mic night with BCC over in Winton/Moordown area.

Also make sure that you sign yourself up to LOST in the City and buy your ticket by transferring pennies! Again check Facebook for more info.

If you need us, James and I are the only at the other end of the phone/computer etc.

Happy Tuesday Friends
xoxo

Roped Together to Climb a Mountain

Church, when you consider what it is, is in many ways, a strange idea. People from every strata of society, every corner of the earth, and with interests so varied they're almost polar opposites. And yet, that's the Bride of Christ. There's something beautiful about the church, but it requires unity, and love, and a softness of heart, that we would have the grace to get along and run with what God has called us to.

Obviously this is much 'in the headlines' with the Gift Week we are currently in, but I think that the picture of each person roped to another, together climbing a mountain is a very helpful one. We rely on each other, our progress is not about the one, but about the collective. We move together, and climb together.

Students and Twenties are roped together, but we're also roped to the wider church too. And so we should be. It was great to hear of so many attending Why Citygate - get stuck in ASAP! It's vitally important to you, and to the church.

Last night, we gathered together with our friends at Gateway Church in Poole for a prophecy workshop. Pete from Gateway led is in an incredible time of worship, before Rich gave some guidelines and direction for the evening. Gathering in groups we then began to pray and prophecy over each other, for some it was the first time doing anything like this, for others it was a great chance to grow as you didn't know the people you were prophesying over. A really great training evening, which hopefully blessed all that took part, and gave you increased boldness and confidence to move in the prophetic.

Lets keep meeting together, encouraging one another and helping others to climb the mountain with us.

I'm excited to see what's ahead. You should be too!

Vicki x

BBQs and Birthdays

This week saw both Joel turning 18, and me turning 20. Definitely an excuse to have probably our biggest BBQ of the year yet. Out to Mill Lawn, which is rather becoming a bit of a Citygate spot, and with the two big fire pits cooking huge amounts of food, the BBQ was soon well under way.

But let me rewind...the weekend actually began much earlier than at a social. Saturday night was Five Smooth Stones; our big worship evening that we hold every other month. This one was stripped back, and with Tom Bettinson leading worship, the night got off to a good start I understand. Sadly I wasn't there but from what I hear it was a powerful night full of God's grace. Louis Giglio's 'Fruitcake and Icecream' video was watched, and the presence of God was overwhelming.

Saved by grace, and not by what we do? Well we ALL need to be continuously reminded of that fact.

Sunday morning was then the start of our Gift Week. The Citygate Centre, our building project is very much visible over near the Lansdowne Asda and so as we look at financing such a task, God's calling us to sacrifice and to give for His glory. Guy spoke from Romans, continuing our series that began in the New Year, and as we focussed on mountains to climb, there was a wonderful opportunity to respond and get prayer for endurance and grace in trouble and suffering.. The love of God was in the place.

With all of that as a background for the BBQ, it was bound to be a good afternoon. Sprawled across the grass, some wrapped themselves in blankets, others in hoodies... the weather wasn't quite what we were hoping for, but we did have some huge fires to keep us warm. With football, rugby, and then a walk across the forest, it was a great afternoon. Susan and Sarah were rounded up by horses, and possibly chased (has the story become a little more dramatic than we first assumed??) and the guys left by the BBQs fed some of the rather friendly ponies some left over food.

To the pub in the evening to round up another rather wonderful Citygate Sunday.

Tonight, we'll be with our friends over at Gateway Church in Poole for a prophecy workshop. Come along if you want to practice, and to grow, it's definitely going to be a good night!

With much love

Vicki x

The Latest

It's been a few weeks since blogging has been in abundance, but that definitely doesn't mean that social events or time with God has been lacking in the same way my writing has been!

The last month has probably been a little quieter, understandable when you realise that much of the rabble returned home for Easter holidays and other such things. You were very missed by the way. 

We got up to much, from our St George's Day BBQ which left James looking like a football hooligan with the amount of face paint he was wearing, to our Easter celebrations, and several trips to the New Forest for lunch. We also spent some time with our friends at Christchurch Family Church playing volleyball, and picnicking down by the Quay. 

With a week of Passion in the lead up to Easter, there was lots of praying going on, and even last week with Conurbation Prayer at Gateway Church over in Poole we were getting on our knees to seek God. Always a good place to be in!

This weekend we had a busy Sunday, with even more new faces. I don't know where you all appear from but boy do we love meeting you, getting to know you and seeing you grow in God. It always gets me excited when people get added to the church - what better place could there be. After a great morning hearing about the Church Building Project and our dreams for the future, we had a yummy BBQ at St Swithuns. 

The sun came out, and the fires were blazing. Meat was cooked and rather quickly eaten, and the afternoon drifted by in a haze of conversation and laughter. Sunday night saw us filling out the Lynton Court in good Citygate style; taking over their two biggest tables and moving half the furniture to ensure we could all sit together.

We had a great night of PPP last night too. Due to the excessive (but wonderful) number of bank holidays recently we've not been able to run PPP so it was good to get back into the swing of things this week. For those of you that don't know, PPP stand for Prayer, Praise and the Prophetic, and that's the vision for Monday nights. All of Citygate Students and Twenties gathering to give glory to God - a fairly good way to start off the week. Monday's used to be boring...not any more! 

So with all of that in the past lets start looking to the future...

This weekend is guna be a busy one. 

Saturday Night is Five Smooth Stones, one of our favourite events. A night of worship, and teaching, we'll be stripping things back this week, keeping it simple, but expecting God to do some big things. 

Sunday is the Girls' Breakfast, Church and a BBQ Lunch as well as Why Citygate in the evening... Check Facebook for info, or I'll just be repeating myself like an irritating parrot.

AND if we start looking with our telescope into the future we have...

LOST in theCity

Mobilise

Westpoint

So, all in all, you've got plenty to look forward to. 

If you are struggling at the moment and could do with some prayer, don't hesitate to contact me or James and let us know. We're here to support you, so do make us aware of things.

Similarly, if you're feeling on the edges of what can sometimes feel like a rather big group of people, let me or James know. We've got a wonderful system to make sure you cease to feel that way. 

All you've got to do is ask!

Now, with the sun shining, I'll leave you to your Tuesday afternoon. See you soon!!