Now that the dust has settled, we wanted to report further on the Gift Days in September 2021.
As Sanjay said in a previous blog, "through September, we spent four weeks looking together at money! We walked with Jesus towards Jerusalem, looking at four stories about money in Luke 19-21. We considered our attitude in giving, the aim of our giving, the amount we give, and what God does when we use our money for His Kingdom. …
From 17 October to 7 November, we're doing a 4 weeks series on Sundays entitled Unforced Rhythms. For the after-series resources, read this blog.
This is a phrase from Jesus’ words in Matthew 11: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”. The Message Bible beautifully paraphrases this as
September is here, a new year has a begun! Perhaps more than usual this year, the autumn can be a time of particular hope, vision, and expectation. As people move to Oxford during Sept-Oct, it’s our habit to take a few weeks looking at our vision as a church. But this autumn, we’re spending four weeks looking at both vision and money. Why would we do that?!
In 21-22 we want to invest in development / growth / breakthrough, especially in our four Future Focus goals.
To do this we want to invest in releasing more time from some members of staff and leadership, in order that they can increase their focus. Ideally, we want to increase capacity (time) for these people. If you're not sure who's who, look here.
In the last year, our church leadership team has begun working as a series of new, smaller teams, each with a more specific focus. There are now four such teams, which are responsible for:
When I was a student, the importance of the daily 'quiet time' was drilled into me by my fellow Evangelical students. As a charismatic student I always struggled with the idea of 'quiet', preferring to be vocal with the Lord, and found the quiet time model I was given slightly stultifying!
Coming into the sabbatical, we already had a hunch that God was speaking not about fresh outward and other-focused activity, but about how He wanted us to relate to Him: our God-ward activity!
As a church, since January 2018 we have been seeking God in a process we are now calling 'Future Focus', to clarify, refine and focus our energies, to ensure that we are doing what - and only what - God is calling us to. As part of that process we have written down 'The Dream' to articulate the sort of church God is calling us to be. This is a long term vision of the future, and a document that will guide our decision-making, praying and leadership.