At the Baptist church I attended when growing up in Bedford, our Pastor, Peter, established a tradition of a Good Friday church walk.  After worship in the morning, everyone would get into their cars and drive in convoy to some woods about ten miles outside Bedford. Peter went at the front of the long procession of cars, and I always thought anyone watching us must have wondered where all these people were going on Good Friday. One of my lasting memories is of sitting in my new car at the back of the queue and seeing if my mates and I could find a quicker route, therefore starting at the back but arriving at the front. It’s amazing what seems important when you are young and have a new car! Peter had created a good tradition and it was enjoyed by many.

The Christian faith is rooted in tradition and history and this weekend we remember and celebrate an event which happened in Jerusalem over 2000 years ago, when a young man claiming to be God was crucified at the hands of the Romans. He died horrifically, yet three days later he rose again, making a way for millions and millions of people to find freedom from sin and death and new life in Christ. This weekend we will join billions of Christians around the world as we remember and celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection. What story! What a Saviour!

I would like to invite you to join us at King’s this weekend for our Easter celebrations. Here is a reminder of what is happening across the weekend:

Good Friday, 19th April
Join us at three of our sites, Catford, Downham and Lee, at 10.30am, as we reflect on Jesus' death and break bread together. (There will be no meeting at our Beckenham site.)

These services will last about an hour. Please note there will be no children's work.

Easter Sunday, 21st April
Join us as we celebrate Easter at King's!

Our Easter Sunday services take place at all four sites at our normal meeting times.

Catford: 9.30am, 11.30am & 1.30pm
Downham: 9.30am & 11.30am
Beckenham: 10.30am
Lee: 10.30am

There is children's work at all our morning meetings this Sunday.

Do come along — and bring a friend!

There will be no blog next week as I will be enjoying a few days holiday, but I’ll be back the week after that.

‘But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’
1 Corinthians 15:57

Easter is central to the Christian faith. It’s a time for us to pause and consider Jesus’ work on the cross, to celebrate and rejoice in his resurrection and victory over sin and death.

As usual, there is a lot happening at King’s this Easter, beginning tomorrow, Friday April 12th: In the morning we have an Easter Family Event taking place at the Catford site, from 9.45am until 12.00pm, for children 10 and under. This promises to be a lot of fun, and if you have friends or family with children under 10, why not invite them along? Then in the evening at 7.30pm, also on the Catford site, we have another Encounter night, when we will come together to worship, receive the Holy Spirit, and pray for the new 1.30pm service and the Easter weekend services.

Services for the Easter weekend itself begin on Good Friday, 19th April. At 10.30am there will be a short, hour-long service taking place on each site except Beckenham. This will be an opportunity to reflect and remember Jesus’ death on the cross and to break bread together. Please note there will be no children’s work at these services. Then please join us again on Easter Sunday, 21st April, when we will be celebrating the risen Jesus Christ. Services will be at the usual times on all sites and children’s work will be running as normal. As this is likely to be a busy day at King’s, why not come to the 1.30pm service at the Catford site to make room for more visitors?

As we come to the end of this spring term and look ahead to the Easter weekend, let’s respond to the provocation of our recent Reach series by inviting our friends, family, neighbours and work colleagues to an Easter event. More details on everything happening over Easter can be found on the King’s website.

I shall look forward to being back at King’s this weekend after my recent travels. This Sunday is Palm Sunday and Andrew Wilson will be preaching.

After a very long overnight flight, I arrived in the beautiful city of Cape Town yesterday morning. (Incidentally, I don’t think I realised just how big the continent of Africa is until I made my first trip here from London several years ago – most of the maps we see don’t reflect its true size!). I am here in South Africa to help host a Newfrontiers conference for next-generation leaders with emerging Ephesians 4 gifts. It is great to have people here from the different spheres that now make up the wider Newfrontiers family.

I love coming to Newfrontiers events such as this. It is a reminder that we are a truly international family — our church community goes way beyond King’s, London and the UK, connecting us with friends around the globe. Newfrontiers continues to expand all over the world and is now serving almost 2000 churches in more than 80 nations. It is a privilege to be involved in this conference, and I am looking forward to spending time with the next generation of this global family.

Following the Cape Town conference, I will be staying on for another few days for a meeting with our international ‘Together Team’ before flying back to London in time for the weekend. The last few months have involved a lot of travelling, and Deb and I were sorry not to be around for the launch of our 1.30pm Catford service last Sunday. However, I have heard that it got off to a fantastic start, with over 180 people in attendance. A massive thank you to our staff and the many volunteers who worked so hard to ensure it went well. I shall look forward to being there myself next week!

This coming weekend at King’s is another big moment in the life of our church.

Following the launch of our Beckenham site last October, the remarkable growth on our Catford site has continued, and once again our 11.30am meeting is full. Therefore, this coming Sunday, 31st March, we will be opening an additional service at 1.30pm, meaning King’s will now have seven meetings across our four sites each Sunday. This is another exciting development for us. Many have already indicated that they will be moving to the 1.30pm service, but there is still room for more!

This Sunday we have dedication services across the church. We also have the pleasure of welcoming guest speaker Krish Kandiah, founding director of the charity Home for Good. Krish is an advocate for fostering and adoption, and a great communicator. Don’t forget this Sunday is Mother’s Day and the clocks will also be going forward one hour – perhaps another good reason to come to the 1.30pm service!