20s & 30s

There'll be another 20s & 30s gathering after the service this Sunday night at Marianne's and Jennifer's. Even if you're not in the age bracket you'd be welcome. Do speak to Andrew or Jess for more info

Tomorrow

This is a bit late but tomorrow morning we'll be looking at Abraham's prayer in Genesis 18 whilst in the evening we'll be back in Mark 14 looking at Jesus before the Sanhedrin.

In the afternoon at 4 we're going to meet for church tea to which everyone is welcome.

Christmas @ IPC

Monday 14 - 6.30pm Carol Service @ The Shaftsbury flats
Tuesday 15 - 1-1.40pm Ealing Lunchtime Talks carol service
Saturday 19 - 6.30 pm Carol Service @ South Ealing Mission, Carlyle Road
Sunday 20 - 10.30am Carol Service @ TVU, 6pm Carol servie @ IPC
Monday 21 - 2pm carol singing at Threen House, Dormers Well Lodge and Downhurst home
Friday 25 - 10am Christmas service

Church Prayer Gathering

Tonight is the Monthly Church Prayer Gathering kicking off at 8 and finishing at 9.30

Sunday

This Sunday we're in the second half of Genesis 18 in the morning and then in the evening we're looking at Mark 14:43-52

Sunday

On Sunday I'll be preaching from Genesis 18:1-15 in the morning and in the evening it'll be Mark 14 still in the garden of Gethsemanee. Andrew Rae is preaching at Dean Hall on Sunday morning.

Gathering of men

On Monday night we will follow in the tradition of Martin Luther who said....

We should preach the Word, but the results must be left solely to God's good pleasure... I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God's Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorg, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything (LW 51:77)

We'll meet at the Drayton Court from 7.30, all the gentlemen connected with IPC are welcome

'God revealed'

Just a reminder that the lunchtime talks kick off a new series today 1.10-1.40 at the Town Hall.

4 talks on John 1 - 'God revealed' @ Ealing Town Hall

Early morning PM tomorrow

We have the monthly early morning prayer meeting tomorrow. Kick off is at 6.30 and we go to 8. Fell free to come for as short of long a time as you can

Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning we'll be in Genesis 17 with Abraham, we'll also celebrate the Lord's Supper together and then in the evening we've reached Mark 14:32 - 42 in the garden of Gethsemanee. After the evening service the 20s & 30s are invited back to Andrew Phelps' place.
Iain is preaching in Chelmsford Presbyterian Church

20s/30s

This Sunday sees the start of something new!!

After the evening service those in their 20s and 30s (to be honest anyone who wants to go along) are invited back to Andrew Phelps' house for chat and food. The plan is to do this monthly in different folks home.

God Revealed

Next Tuesday sees the start of a new 4 week series at ELT on John 1 'God revealed'.

1.10- 1.40 @ Ealing Town Hall every Tuesday.

We'll be flyering outside Ealing Broadway early on Tuesday if you want to join us.

You can change book review

I asked Emmanuelle Michel to write a book review of 'You can change',

Why this book? The author states it: “I have written that book so that you might not sin” (p192). The issue dealt with here is sanctification for the believers, righteous but sinners.

From the first pages, Tim Chester engages in a dialogue with you. He asks you questions, sets you tasks. Ready? Then, ask yourself what you would like to change, why you would like to change, how you will do it. Do not worry, you will be guided in that journey. You will start with refreshing lines about the truth of God’s love, His acceptance, His power, your new identity. But not only that. You will have a chance to examine your heart, to face the lies that so far convinced you that sin was sweeter and had more to offer than God. After having looked at your heart, you will turn to your habits and will be helped to find practical ways to change your routine. You will be reminded that your church should be a place where you can experience grace, encouragement, openness, accountability, prayer, mutual services, all things that will not be a substitute of Christ in your life but will point you to Him and support you in a daily and never ending walk towards sanctification.

This book about the “daily littles” that change you (sic Horatius Bonar p185). You can change will take you a long way so that you might not sin.

Emmanuelle Michel

This Wednesday

Article of the Week #4

Martin Downes is doing an interview (surprise!) with Mike Reeves the author of 'The unquenchable flame - an introduction to the Reformation'

Part one here

Part two

Part three

Sunday

Tomorrow morning we're going to be looking at Genesis 16 and the evening I'm really excited to be looking at the Supper and the Sequel!! from Mark 14. We'll celebrate the Lord's Supper at the evening service, I know it's not the 1st or the 3rd week but it'll be great!!!

Little Stars

This Monday sees the start of little stars, the new baby and toddler group.

It's going to be on Mondays starting at 9.15. more info can be found here

Church Prayer Gathering

Our monthly prayer gathering will take place tomorrow night 8pm at 53 Drayton Green

I could never become a Christian because......

Article of the week #1

I thought Iain and I would stick something up once a week for those of you who spend far too much time surfing the net while in work. Anyway I hope we can point you to a profitable article each week and feel free to discuss, comment etc.

This year as I'm sure you're aware is the Calvin 500 celebrations. Graham even brought me back John Calvin mints from his trip to Geneva

Garry Williams of the John Owen Centre has written this article 'John Calvin in the valley of the shadow of death'. Enjoy!!

West London Ministry Morning

Today was the inaugural West London Ministry morning at Duke Street Richmond for ministers and church staff on our side of town. We had a fantastic morning together with Dick Lucas giving 2 sessions on 'the Gospel at risk' and 'The man of God at risk' both introducing the pastoral epistles. Garry Williams gave a paper on 'Calvin and justification'. Both speakers were terrific.

Around 30 of us were there which is way beyond expectations and there was a real sense of excitement at being together. There were a number of really good men who couldn't be there so do please pray that this would develop and we would have wisdom as we plan for the future.

Dick's last session was particularly helpful. He asked us 7 questions from the pastorals saying that the big call of 2 Timothy was to endure and what would stop Timothy and us from enduring

1. Would sin ever take him?

Drink, money, sex, rage these flaws push people out of ministry. Every generation faces these challenges.

2. Would opposition break him?

3. Would sheer hard work wear him down?

4. Would disgrace destory him?

5. Would the undoubted success of the false teachers shame him?

6. Will weariness in the fight cause him to stop battling?

7. Would the sheer worldliness of the church discourage him?

ELT - Psalm 23

Tomorrow at ELT -1:10 @ the Ealing Town Hall. I'm speaking on Psalm 23. Next week Iain starts a series on I could never be Christian because..........

Tomorrow

Iain is starting a 3 parter on Psalm 51, Andrew Rae is on in the evening on 1 John 3. I'm preaching away all day at Highgate Road Chapel - whose website bears an uncanny resemblance to ours!! and Hristo is at South Ealing mission in the morning.

Not had enough Downes?

His Premier radio interview is available here

This Sunday

This coming Sunday morning I will begin a three part series looking at Psalm 51 examining the seriousness and forgiveness of sin.

Andrew Rae will be preaching in the evening.

Further to Paul's post, Martin Downes' church do put their sermons online here -
https://cid-d4529e969ee3094f.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Sermons%20-%20Christ%20Church%20Deeside

Prayer Meeting tomorrow night

8pm at 53 Drayton Green we'd love to see you

Church Weekend

Thank-you to all who contributed to a fantastic weekend. So many folk worked hard with food, admin and general stuff. It was very encouraging to be there. Martin Downes was terrrific and is worth listening to again.

I found 2 sermons he gave at LCPC in 2007 , you can listen to them here

Church Weekend Seminars

Covenant Theology - Martin Downes
David Brainerd - Iain Clements
Prayer - Graham Weeks

Ealing Lunchtime Talks today

We meet 1.10-1.40 in the Telfer room of Ealing Town Hall.

We're looking at Eph 2:4-6 - Made Alive, Raised, Seated

This Sunday

Tomorrow we're going to be in Genesis 14 in the morning and then the first of a 2 parter on Mark 13 in the evening. Do pray for Iain he is preaching on an Oak Hall holiday somewhere sunny and David Barnes will be taking the service at the Downhurst home.

Church Weekend speaker

The speaker on the church weekend is Martin Downes.

He's just published his first book called 'Risking the truth' which is a collection of interviews basically looking at how we combat error and heresy in the church. He's managed to get lots of friends to write favourable reviews so sales are doing quite well.

Martin blogs prolifically at Against Heresies which is worth keeping an eye on.

In real life he is married to Debbie and has 2 daughters, he's been the minister of Christ Church Deeside since 2003. Before that he worked in student ministry for 5 years.

Martin is going to be speaking to us on the subject of Truth Matters and also doing a seminar on Covenant Theology.

Church Weekend

We have our church weekend at home October 2-4 and the last date for booking in is this Sunday. We've got Martin Downes coming to speak to us. Martin is the minister of ChristChurch Deeside and is a terrific speaker but the church weekend is also a great opportunity to spend more time together, to deepen and build new friendships. My experience with these sorts of things is beforehand we're convinced we haven't got the time to spare but actually by going we find we benefit enormously. We want to encourage as many from the congregation to be there as possible, and if you read this blog and aren't in our church (which admittedly is very unlikely) you would be very welcome too. The price is £25 for an adult (£15 if you're a student and free for kids). We have all our meals together and then sleep in the comfort of our own beds. It's held at 53 Drayton Green, W13 0JE.

Graham on getting involved in society

Paul asked me to give you my personal illustration of involvement in and separation from the world, the subject of his Gen.14 sermon.
In 1986 Ealing had a change in local government. The first Friday in May, when the results came in I remember thinking how good it would feel for those elected to govern the borough. I had no idea that I would know exactly how it feels four years later.
The new Council had, hidden away in their election manifest, a commitment to sexual equality. This surface to all when a policy to promote in the schools a policy wich said, among other things, that homosexuality is equally valid with heterosexuality. Christians were very unhappy. Some of us got together and formed a parents action group to challenge this. This was my first involvement in politics. To cut a long story short we found our support also came from the opposition party on the Council. This led me to join that party as a member though our lobby group was not party political and not even explicitly Christian.. It was not Christian because I wanted Muslims and other faiths as co-belligerents. So you could say I became allied with a political party and before long our local MP asked me if I would stand for office on the Council at the 1990 election. I agreed and was accepted as a candidate from a ward we expected to win and did. I was on the Council. What we had not expected was to win the whole council but we did and overnight I was vice chairman of Social Services. I had four years in power then four in opposition before I lost my seat.
Early on John Major started the National Lottery. The government routinely ask local councils the control to put forward motions to the Council meetings in support of their policies. Ealing Conservatives never moved any such motion praising this gambling. I claim some credit for that. They knew I could not be whipped into such a vote to support the party. I was not their ally on gambling.
In 1998 I lost my seat and was disappointed but accepted God's providence for me. But within I year I had left the party completely.
It was the time of the first ever London mayoral election. London Conservatives were asked to choose their candidate. The choice was between a serial adulterer and an openly homosexual candidate. I wrote my letter of resignation. I had joined the because of co-belligerence over homosexuality. I would not be allied with a party departing from my Christian principles in such a way. I joined the small Christian Peoples Alliance instead. There I can be much more than a co-belligerent.
So, out of Christian principle I joined a party then separated from it.
I encourage anyone who can join whatever party to do so. Be a Christian witness there, involved but separate.

Ealing Lunchtime Talks start back next Tuesday

ELT starts up next Tuesday lunchtime 1.10-1.40 in the Telfer Room of the Ealing Town Hall. It's the first room on the right as you go in. We're going to spend 4 weeks looking at Ephesians 2.

There's posters and mountains of flyers available if you'd like them.

The Explorers

Holiday Bible Club starts tomorrow at 9.45 - 12.15 for children in school years 1-9.

Every Day till Saturday.

A picnic lunch on Saturday all are welcome

Wednesday night prayer

We meet on Wednesday for prayer from 8-9

Prayer tomorrow

Early morning prayer meeting tomorrow - do come any time between 6.30-8

Book sale

We're going to sell off loads of books tomorrow at crazy sale prices, so bring your money and buy, buy, buy.

Prayer Meeting tonight

We're meeting tonight at 8 to pray. It would be great to see you there.

CAP @ IPC this September

CAP MONEY MANAGEMENT COURSE

IPC are providing the opportunity for church members to take part in a comprehensive yet astonishingly simple money management course to help you get, and then stay, in control of your finances.

Through taking the course, delegates are helped and encouraged to think more about budgeting and living within their means, while also being shown a cash-based system that allows them to take control of their finances. Confidentiality regarding personal finances will be maintained at all times.

Dates: Tuesdays 8th, 15th and 22nd September 8-10pm in the church lounge at 53 Drayton Green. Refreshments provided.

Spaces are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.Please Note: it is necessary for attendees to be able to attend all the evenings to complete the course.For bookings contact via the church office.

Holiday Bible Club

This years holiday bible club is from Tuesday 25 - Saturday 29 August from 10-12 each morning for kids in years 1-9.

Church Weekend 2-4 October

Our church weekend at home will take place 2-4 October. It's a terrific opportunity to spend more time together as a church family and also to hear great teaching. Our speaker for the weekend is Martin Downes, he's the minister of Christchurch, Deeside and a prolific blogger at Against Heresies. He's also had his first book published by CFP called Risking the Truth - handling error in the church. Martin is married to Debbie and they have 2 daughters.

Please do make this weekend a priority and plan to come along. Pick up a form on Sunday or email Froukje for info.

Nothing in my hand I bring

Over the last year probably the best 2 books I've read are 'You can change' by Tim Chester and 'Nothing in my hand I bring - understanding the differences between Roman Catholic and Protestant beliefs' by Ray Galea, I've asked Nicky Rae to review it....

I was asked to review this book as, like the Author, I am of Maltese descent and grew up in a practicing Roman Catholic home. I faced similar challenges to Ray Galea, as I came to true salvation through trust in Christ alone at the age of 27 and felt no option but to leave the culture and religion I had grown up in. I face continuing challenges as I seek to share the gospel with my family steeped in the traditions of the Roman Catholic faith and who have not understood true grace in Christ.

Ray has a passion for the person and the work of Christ whom he has come to love, honour and serve, and this has led him to conclude, painfully, that he could not serve Christ and the Roman Catholic church even though it meant rejecting his family and culture.

“Nothing in my hand I bring” is a sensitively and biblically written account of his painful but honest journey to discover the differences between Catholicism and the Protestant faith by taking each aspect of the Roman Catholic faith (i.e. the Mass, Mary, grace, sacraments , e.t.c.) and showing how it fails to acknowledge the gospel - that salvation comes through Christ alone and that it, in fact, undermines the work and sufficiency of Christ.

I would recommend this book to both Roman Catholics to help them to understand their religion more and to understand the differences; and to evangelicals and unbelievers who ask the question “Is there any significant difference and why was the reformation necessary.” The book is a quick and easy read so I would encourage all to take a copy and read it!

This Sunday morning

This Sunday morning Alistair Wilson who is the Principal Dumisani Theological Institute, King Williamstown, South Africa will be preaching. Dumisani does a fantastic job teacher preachers and teachers mainly for the Eastern Cape in South Africa and is worthy of our support. Alistair has been there since 2005, prior to this he was at Highland Theological College near Inverness. It was obviously a terribly difficult move from Inverness to South Africa!!!!

Alistair is married to Jenny and they have 2 teenage daughters and a son.

Club 16 - open night

This Thursday sees the end of Club 16 for this academic year. All are invited to come along and see what they've been learning about

Working without Wilting - the video

A terrible video of the author trying to sell you working without wilting

Working without Wilting

I'm back for a little while until I pass this on to somebody.

This is a practical helpful book which deals with the nitty gritty of work life. It's particularly good at looking at pressures we face in the workplace. Highly Recommended.

Usually £9 but we're selling it for £7.50

Much to the disapointment of the online community and the many readers of this blog, I am going to retire from blogging. Partly because I haven't got the time and forget about it mostly and partly because I'm not very good at it. The blog is read by people who visit the website and quite a few newer folk to the church read it. So I'm looking for someone to take my place and put on here things that are coming up in the church - Any takers?

This Sunday

Abraham - number 3 in the morning, looking at the start of Genesis 12 and in the evening Mark 12:28-34. Iain is also preaching at Dean Hall on Sunday morning.

Ealing Lunchtime Talks starting June 2

Early morning prayer meeting tomorrow

Early morning prayer meeting starts at 6.30 and goes to 8, come for as long or short a time as you can.

Sunday morning

This Sunday morning we will be starting a new series on Abraham.

Church Prayer Meeting

This Wednesday is our Church Family prayer meeting starting 8pm

Dick Lucas @ IPC

Dick Lucas will be preaching at our evening service again this week continuing his introduction to the Pastoral Epistles.

Picnic this Sunday

This Sunday we'll be heading off to Walpole Park after the service on Sunday, do bring a picnic with you. We hope to eat at 1.30.

More Calvin stuff in London

At the John Owen Centre a stellar line up for their conference on 14-15 September - you have to pay for this one though.

Calvin stuff in London

This year you probably know is John Calvin's 500th Birthday and there are various Calvin fest's going on around the world. There are two events in London that might be of interest

One is this Thursday at Grove Chapel, Camberwell where Sinclair Ferguson will speak at 7.30 on 'Calvin for everyone'.

The other event is the Evangelical Library Annual Lecture on June 1st 6pm at Bethesda Baptist Church, Kensington Place, Notting Hill, W8. Derek Thomas will be speaking on 'The Majesty of God in the Preaching of John Calvin'.

Calvin memorabilia will be on sale I expect at both events as publishers are cashing in on the anniversary.

Dick Lucas @ IPC this Sunday night

For the next two Sunday evenings Dick Lucas will be preaching. for over 30 years Dick was the Rector of St Helen's Bishopsgate, a church in the square mile of London with a particular ministry to business people. In 1986 he founded the Proclamation Trust which is an organisation which encourages preachers and runs the Cornhill Training Course.

I would want to really encourage you to come the next 2 Sunday evenings if you possibly can.

Early morning prayer meeting

Tomorrow is early morning prayer meeting 6.30-8 - come for as short or long a time as you can.

Letter to IPC

Dear all at IPC,

I wanted to write to you before Levy junior arrives and life changes somewhat for our household and let you know some of the things that are going to be happening at IPC over the next few months. I also wanted to thank you as a congregation for the way you've embraced the move on Sunday mornings to TVU. It's been such an encouragement to see so many coming early to set up and help in various ways. THANK-YOU

These are the various things that are coming up in no particular order:

Sundays
Iain is going to be doing a short series in John 4 and hopefully in May I plan to begin a series on the life of Abraham.

April 26 and May 3 evenings - Dick Lucas will be preaching for us, Dick comes each year and for 35 years was the Rector of St Helens Bishopsgate

May 10 - evening - Richard Bewes will be preaching, for 25 years he was the rector of All Souls, Langham Place

June 14, 21, 28 - David Field will be taking 3 evenings to look at the Christian and work, we plan to have a Q & A session after each talk.

June 28 morning - Alistair Wilson is the principle of Dumisani Theological Institute in South Africa and he will be preaching to us on the theme of mission.

July 12 &19 - Alan Foster who is a minister in Atlanta will be preaching for 2 Sunday mornings

Please continue to pray as we adjust to our Sunday morning service being at TVU and also that Sunday nights would continue to grow, if you don't come along on Sunday nights would you maybe consider it now the evenings are brightening up?

Getting to know your Muslim neighbour - Jay Smith is a well known evangelist working with Muslims in London. He will be coming to IPC on Friday 26 June to help us think through how we can reach Muslims in our neighbourhoods. Jay is a terrific communicator and is probably the most well known evangelist to Muslims in the UK. He is certainly worth coming to hear. We hope to invite other local churches to this evening.

CAP - Christians Against Poverty - As a church over the coming months and years we are hoping to get more involved with CAP. Do join us at the CAP Inspire Conference in Bracknell on Saturday afternoon May 16th. It's free! You will have the opportunity to meet clients whose lives have been changed and to hear the vision and future plans of CAP from John Kirkby (Founder and International Director); find out more about the CAP Money course and how you and your house-group can support CAP in practical ways. For more information about transport and signing up contact Nicky Rae

Christianity Explored – We are hoping to run a Christianity Explored course. If you know of anyone who would like to go or you would like to bring along speak to Iain or Andrew Rae. Amir will also be running a Farsi speaking group starting later this month. Do pray that we would see fruit from this course and encouragement for the leaders.

Ealing Lunchtime Talks - In June we will be having 4 Tuesday lunchtime meetings (1.05pm-1.30pm) at Ealing Town Hall to reach out to workers and encourage Christians working in Ealing. Each Monday at 1.10pm a group of us are meeting to pray at Christ the Saviour (opposite HMV). You would be very welcome to come along. If you know of people who work in Ealing or are able to come along yourself do let Iain or myself know.

House-Groups - This term Iain is writing some notes on the Doctrine of God. Iit would be great for all the house-groups to study this. We do realise that some groups may be in the middle of series, but maybe they could take a break and we study this series as a church?

Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 15 June. We hope on this evening to look back with thankfulness to God for this past year and to look forward to the coming year.

Giving the Talk - We are hoping to run a training morning for those who are giving talks with some training and practical workshops, some Saturday in June.

Teams from the US - Two of Chuck and Wyema's supporting churches will be sending teams of young people over to work with us in June and July. We are hoping they may be able to help us do some outreach on the Drayton Bridge Estate working with Notting Hill Housing Trust and the Residents Association there. Chuck and Amir will also give them some training in working with Muslims.

Holiday Bible Club - will be running from 25-29 August and the prayer meetings for it will take place after the evening services 5 July, 9 & 23 August. There will also be a meeting to talk about HBC on Monday 6 July

Church Weekend will take place on October 2-4 and Martin Downes will be our speaker. He is the minister of ChristChurch Deeside and before that he worked for Uccf

The observant among you may have realised that at TVU we are not having flowers like we used to at IPC so now is a good opportunity to thank those who contributed to bringing flowers for the last 25 years. Someone worked out that over 2000 bunches of flowers were brought so thank-you to all those who contributed.

Lastly as I look over this letter it's encouraging to see so many things happening in our local church and growth taking place but there is an enormous danger for us all of pride and self sufficiency, we must remind ourselves of Jesus’' words, 'apart from me you can do nothing' (John 15:5), and for that reason I would want to encourage all of you to make our monthly prayer meeting (6 May, 4 June, 1 July) a priority. There is nothing like prayer to remind us our need for God to work. We'd love to see you with us on these evenings and join with us in praying for the extension of God's kingdom.

yours in the gospel,


Paul

CAP Prayer Meeting

This Thursday IPC will be hosting the CAP (Christians Against Poverty) prayer meeting. As a church we are hoping to get more involved in this work so do come along and here more about what is going on in Ealing. For more info look at their website or contact Nicky Rae.
The prayer meeting will start at 8pm

Good Friday Service

Our Good Friday service will start at 10.30 and we'll celebrate the Lord's Supper together

Stuff for the diary

Over the next few months

April 28th and May 5th on Sunday nights - Dick Lucas formerly rector of St Helens and founder of Proclamation Trust will be preaching on his annual visit.

June 14,21,28 on Sunday nights - David Field will be doing a series on work. The plan is to have a question and answer session after each night and the aim is to equip us to have a Christian view of work.

Friday June 26 - Getting to know your Muslim neighbour - An evening with Jay Smith who is an evangelist to Muslims working in London. Jay will be speaking on the history if Islam and how we can be reaching out to our Muslim neighbours, his talk will be followed by a Q & A session.

Sunday June 28 on Sunday morning - Alistair Wilson who is the Principal of Dumisani Theological Institute in South Africa will be preaching on the theme of Mission.

Holiday Bible Club will take place in August from Tues 25- Sat 29

Oct 3-5 - Church Weekend at home - Martin Downes from ChristChurch Deeside will be the main speaker.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our first morning service at TVU students union bar. I'll be preaching on Matthew 11:28-30 and then in the evening we'll be at Drayton Green and I'll be preaching from 1 Corinthians 16. The plan is to preach the last bit of 1 Cor 15 on Easter Sunday morning.

Graham on the booklets of the term

What Is a True Calvinist? (Basics of the Reformed Faith) by Philip Graham Ryken

Not according to the author, one who holds five particular doctrines. Ryken says the true Calvinist has a God centered mind, a penitent spirit, a grateful heart, a submissive will, a holy life and a glorious purpose. A warm, easy to read booklet.

What Is the Christian Worldview? (Basics of the Reformed Faith) by Philip Graham Ryken

The author tells us a worldview is the way we look at all of life to make sense of the world. His Christian perspective is centered on the God who is there and is not silent. Crearion tells us the way we were. The fall tells us we live in paradise lost. Grace is a work in progress from God. There is glory to come, paradise consummated Gospel good tidings are no matter of mere religion but all of life is lived under God's rule.

What Is a Reformed Church? (Basics of the Reformed Faith) by Stephen Smallman

This booklet gives the historic reformation roots of Protestant churches of the Calvinist tradition. he gives six themes. Scripture, the sovereignty of God, the covenant, the law of God, church government and sacraments and the kingdom of God. It is unashamedly Presbyterian in its understanding of what it means to be reformed so would serve as a good introductory booklet for any such church.

What Is Biblical Preaching? ( Basics of the Reformed Faith) by Eric J. Alexander

The writer sees no more urgent priority than to summon the church to a restoration of the place biblical expository preaching should hold. He teaches that biblical preaching is fundamental in importance, spiritual in essence, didactic in nature, expository, systematic, pastoral, clear in structure and with relevant contemporary application. It was taught at a conference of ministers but is suitable for all Christians to understand what id true preaching.

Pot Luck lunch

Pot luck lunch for April is this Sunday - MARCH 29!!!
Please bring enough food for yourself and for others

Clocks go forward

Clocks go forward this Saturday night 1 hour.

Who will be late for church?

Listen to this

David Robertson who is the minister of St Peter's Dundee and editor of the Monthly Record which is a very good Christian magazine was on Premier Radio recently talking about Challenging Atheist Myths and his stuff is well worth listening to here
It would be great to leave some comments so we can get more good stuff on Premier!!

ELT - Ealing Lunchtime Talks

Ealing Lunchtime Talks - We are hoping to launch a lunchtime service (25 minutes on Tuesdays from 1.10-1.35) later this year. It will have a bible reading, short prayer and 20 minute talk. The aim is to reach out to workers in Ealing Broadway and be an encouragement to Christian workers in Ealing to bring along their friends. The aim is to launch possibly in June but there is a meeting for prayer each Monday lunchtime (1.10 - 1.40) at the moment in Christ the Saviour Church - opposite HMV. If you'd like more info or know someone who might be interested in supporting this please get in touch.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning we're in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, in the evening Mark 11:27-33

Exciting news is that there's a church trip to see TVU after the morning service.

This Sunday

This Sunday Iain will be preaching at both morning and evening services on Micah 4. At our mornign service we will celebrate the Lord's Supper.

In the afternoon David Barnes will be speaking at the Downhurst home and Alan Hosier will be speaking at the Sahftsbury home.

I'm preaching up in Inverness at the Smithton Culloden Free Church.

FAQ's about IPC @ TVU

F.A.Q. ABOUT THE MOVE TO T.V.U FOR MORNING WORSHIP

Is this decision simply a reaction to needing more space or is their a greater purpose behind this decision
It is not a decision based simply on the need for extra space – it is a decision taken because we want more people to hear the gospel. At present in the Drayton Green building there is no room for newcomers in the morning service.

The move to TVU in the mornings will both give us extra room for new people, a location with good public transport, as well as enabling us to reach out to a new area of Ealing with the gospel. It also makes our morning service easier for people to find – as it is in an obvious and well known building, and nearer to Ealing Broadway station. It is very accessible for those who already come as a result of the hospitality scheme.

How will newcomers know that we meet at TVU on Sunday mornings?
We will be flyering the local area around our existing building and TVU with details of our new location for the morning service. It will also be clearly stated on the front page of the website.
The move will be announced at every service leading up to our first service at TVU, and we will also be contacting infrequent attendees for whom we have contact details.
For the first month at least there will be a notice outside the church building on Sunday mornings, and one or two people there to direct or take those who turn up at Drayton Green by accident.

What about the local children who have been coming?
We are very pleased that God is bringing local children to all we are doing as a church. We want to make it as easy as possible for them to come - we will still have Sunday evening worship at the Drayton Green building, as well as Club 16 and 24:7. If our regular local children cannot make their own way to TVU on Sunday mornings then we will transport them (with the consent of their parents), and we are exploring possibilities for this.

Will there be a provision for people to be transported from West Ealing to TVU?
There will be at least one car outside the Drayton Green building to transport newcomers who come to the wrong location, for at least the first month.
If anyone knows that they will have a problem in getting to TVU, please speak to one of the elders.

Is there car parking at TVU?
Yes. We have access to a free, large car park outside the building, which includes bike racks.

What will happen to the evening service?
We will continue to meet in the church building at Drayton Green.

Will we still use the West Ealing IPC building for anything? Are we abandoning West Ealing?
We are not abandoning West Ealing! We will still use the building for everything apart from the Sunday morning service. We will still meet to worship there on Sunday evenings, and all the clubs/English classes etc will be held there, as will the church office. We remain committed to the local community around the church.

Is this a permanent move?
We will be at TVU for Sunday morning worship for a minimum of one year, and during this time all other church activities are planned to continue in the West Ealing Building. We are continuing to explore options regarding the building in West Ealing (which includes rebuilding).

What will the new plans be for Sunday School and where will it be held?
We will have Sunday School at the same time as usual, but at TVU. There is a suitable room that can be used. This will also be clearly posted on the Website in time for the move.

What provision will there be for Creche or for parents of young children to take their children out of the service?
We will have Creche facilities at TVU just as we have in our building in West Ealing. There is a suitable room that we can use, and we will transport toys etc over to make the room child friendly.


Can we see the venue in advance?
Yes. On Sunday 22nd March there will be a trip over there after the morning service for any who are interested.

Have we compared TVU against other venues and if 'yes' why did we choose TVU?
Yes. The elders asked a group from the church to do research into possible locations. They looked into and visited a number of different possibilities. TVU was the best option, taking into account all our needs (which included size, cost, and an accessible location).

Why not just knock out a wall and extend the Chapel to create more room, or how about a balcony?
It is not as simple as that! Building a balcony is a lot of work and is costly, as is knocking out a wall. In addition, order for this idea to work you, would need to add to the general infrastructure (ie increase the number of toilets, storage etc) of the building in order to accommodate the increased size.

The bigger problem is that the building we have is becoming less and less suitable to all we do as a church, so if we are to do some work on the building we want to do it right, rather than in a piecemeal and potentially very costly way.

Why not just plant a church now? Are we preparing to plant?
Planting a church involves much prayer, planning, and resources. It is something we are prayerfully considering and planning towards, however the worst thing we can do is plant a church quickly and badly. The elders do not feel we are yet ready however we are prayerfully and actively discussing this. We will share our plans with the church in the mid to near future.


Why not meet at South Ealing Mission centre?
A number of reasons
- While it is marginally bigger than our existing chapel, there would not be an enormous amount of room for growth. There is an existing church meeting at South Ealing Mission and amalgamating two churches would not be straightforward.
- Parking would be very difficult.
- TVU is well known in Ealing, and so easier to direct people to.

Is it right to spend money on renting a building that could go to more worthy causes?
We will be spending money on renting a building so that more people can come and hear the preaching of the gospel – there are not many more worthy causes than that! In addition it would only require a few more people to come who are committed to tithing for us to recover our costs

What effect will this have on the redevelopment plans?
The redevelopment plans will continue. The move to TVU is not an answer to our needs for redevelopment.

What will we do about Pot Luck lunch?
We are exploring a number of possibilities for this. It will continue.
The next Pot Luck lunch will be Sunday 29th March – the last Sunday morning in the Drayton Green building. This will be the Pot Luck lunch for April, so it enables us to move to TVU on 5th April (one Sunday before Easter Sunday). The Pot Luck lunches for the summer months of May, June and July hopefully can take place as picnics in a local park (if it rains we will have an alternative solution and a team are looking into this). From September we will have plans for continuing the lunches indoors. Watch this space!

Will we be able to store items at TVU and if 'yes' how much storage room will there be? Will we need to transport a lot of stuff?
We have a large storage area at TVU for what we need, so there will not be a great deal of transporting stuff Sunday by Sunday.
We will not be able to store hundreds of bibles there though, so please get into the habit of bringing your own. There will be some available for visitors.

Will there be extra work involved in worshiping in a hired venue ?
Yes there will be more work involved – setting up, stewarding, tea and coffee etc. A team is already identifying tasks that need to be done and organising the logistics of the move.
Please be prayerfully considering how you can serve in this way.

April's pot luck in March!!!

April's pot luck lunch will be on March 29th because of the move to TVU

IPC @ TVU

As has been announced IPC's morning service will be moving to Thames Valley University Students union off St Mary's Road in Ealing. Our first Sunday there will be Sunday April 5th.

New Series

Tomorrow evening Iain starts with a new series on Micah.

Holiday Bible Club 2009

The proposed dates for this year are Tuesday 2t5h - Saturday 29th August. I am aware that there may be issues with these dates as there are 2 church weddings the Saturday before and the Bank holiday falls on the weekend of HBC hence sending an early e-mail - unfortunately no other week will work. If you can and would be willing to help could you let me know asap so we can see if we have enough leaders to run it this year. I don't want to ask people to prepare if we don't have the manpower to run it as the preparation needed for HBC is quite enormous!

Trip to ethiopia

If anyone is interested in going on the missions trip to Ethiopia from April 4-18, Jennifer needs to know by this Sunday. We will be working in an AIDS project in the capital city, Addis Ababa. Some of the activities include meeting with the support groups and teaching them crafts/skills/health training, etc, leading children’s activities, going on home visits to the beneficiaries’ homes, helping with income generation activities for the support groups, and possibly some practical services like painting houses, etc. In all of these activities there will be opportunities to pray, read from the Bible, and lead Bible studies for support groups or with the beneficiaries individually. There is freedom to speak of Christ through the outreach of the project, and as a result several have become Christians, but there are still a large number of Muslim and Orthodox believers among the beneficiaries. The opportunities for spiritual care and outreach are great. You can check out the project’s website for more information. http://web.mac.com/bevnandy/Site/Home.html The trip will cost roughly £800 per person and there will be an opportunity to raise funds for some of it.

Vote for elders!!

'Decisions get made by those who show up' said CJ Cregg on the West Wing.
For those who are church members get your votes in regarding Iain and Chuck becoming elders.
If you are far away and can't get to the ballot box, you can email your vote. Contact me and I'll get you the address.

Tomorrow

Tomorow I'm preaching from 1 Cor 10 in the morning - women and their hats!!. In the evening we're in Mark 10:32-45 with James and John. There is a mountain of announcements, so we'll probably stick them on here and on the loop.

This weekend

This Sunday morning at 9.45 Paul and Alysia Larson will be speaking to the Sunday School kids about being missionaries. I will be preaching in the morning from 1 Cor 10:23-11:1. Sadly in the evening David Meredith's plane doesn't get in in time for him to preach so it's me again back in Marks gospel Chapter 10. I think David Barnes is speaking at the Downhurst home in the afternoon.

Prayer Meeting Wednesday

Prayer Meeting is this Wednesday 8pm. Paul & Alysia Larson who have been in Kenya for the past 3 years will be joining us and sharing about their work.

What is the Institutes?

JI Packer has written a foreword to a book which explains why read the Institutes, if you scroll down to page 9 it can be found here

Reading the Institutes

Iain and I are going to be reading through Calvins Institutes this year. Reformation 21 have done a reading plan that looks manageable. The more people that do it the more it'll help us keep at it. There's quite a bit online about it - Justin Taylor has pulled together some stuff here and here

Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning I'll be preaching on Isa 42 the first of the Servant Songs and in the evening David Field from Oak Hill College will be preaching. We'll also celebrate the Lords Supper tomorrow night