Issue 9 • April 2014

LIVING WITH A VISIONLiving with vision is painful. There are times when you wish you didn’t have one. Unfortunately, God has given us a compelling vision for our church. We can’t escape it.

There is a day coming when we will see fires burning throughout the Peak District, and rivers flowing from the barren heights. The fires speak of multitudes of people on fire for God in every village and town across the Peaks. The rivers speak of God’s presence and power flowing freely in surprising and supernatural ways. Imagine the effect that will have on our area. Imagine the help we will be giving to the lost, the lonely, and those trapped in poverty. Imagine our children living a vibrant life of faith along with hundreds of others right across the Peaks. Imagine the churches we will be planting.

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All of which sounds very good. Why is that a pain? The problem is that the vision forces us to face our weakness and limitations. Church plants throughout the Peak District: sorry we are not up to it and that is way beyond us. A church to change a region: sorry – that is way beyond us. Ouch.

Good leaders say that vision has to be something that can’t be done without God. But you beginning to wonder. It’s painful living with a vision. In biblical history, Abraham and Sarah lived with the pain of being unable to have children. Then God gave them a vision of being father and mother to bless the nations. Sounds good, but twenty-five more years go by. What was it like the year or two before their astonishing baby breakthrough? Or from our own recent history, how did Winston Churchill get through his dark days staring down the barrel of a rapidly advancing Nazi army? When he made that famous speech did he have an actual beach in mind that he would stand on and fight? How dark did it get? How weak did he feel?

Breakthroughs from God come, but only after much sweat, toil, perseverance and pain. How can we manage living with vision? How can we cope, dreaming of a church where many gather to extravagantly worship Jesus together, whilst knowing the reality of our own powerlessness?

The Psalmists knew this pain. They had a vision of the earth filled with the glory of God, but their reality fell far, far short. Their world was dominated by people who had no time for God at all. However, they knew what to do. They brought their pain and the promise back to the Lord in an honest but, finally, faith filled way. Standing before God is the place where you can both feel the pain and find faith in the promise. For everyone, the cross of Christ is the place where pain and promise completely combine. The victory of God breaks through from the place of complete weakness. That is where I will stand.

So our first question is: are you living with a vision? You don’t need to have one of your own. Our church vision is enough for

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CONTENTSCatalyst Festival 3

Jigsaw Ripples 3

Finances 2013 & 2014 5

Men’s Work 6

Carols at County 7

News from Afar 8

Encountering God 9

TotZone 10

anyone! But you do need to see it for yourself. Question two is: are you in touch with your own weakness and powerlessness? Don’t be afraid to have a good look at that. It won’t kill you. If in doubt ask someone who knows you. But make sure they love you a bit as well! Question three is: have you got enough inner resources to keep going, because when it comes to vision, keeping going is critical to finally arriving. So you need to fill up regularly on faith, confidence in God, peace in your soul that God will do it, and a certain amount of contentment to enjoy the journey rather than stake all your happiness on arriving.

Onward and upward!

Adapted from an article by Ian Galloway (City Church Newcastle) by kind permission

www.city-church.co.uk/the-pain-of-living-with-a-vision

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JIGSAW RIPPLESIn the year since God spoke clearly about doubling the provision of the Jigsaw Market Garden we have seen a ripple effect spread out from our little church across our local communities. There are some clear biblical principles at work here and it is very exciting and encouraging to be part of it!

Firstly, we feel called to prophetic acts of kindness – acts based on revelation from the Holy Spirit of where he wants to lead us. We provide food parcels every week to families that have been referred to us, at first we don’t know their stories and they might not be very welcoming but over time we start to build relationships. This is our response to the challenge

in Romans 12:15-16 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.

CitP has been giving generously to Jigsaw for a few years now, but as God told us to increase our provision we were suddenly approached by lots of other churches who also wanted to give, all denominations, from all across our area – Bakewell to Wirksworth, not just Matlock. I could understand that; as the Holy Spirit moves on believers He brings unity and generosity All the believers were of one heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their own. They shared everything (Acts 4:32).

C A T A L Y S T FESTIVALLast year saw 120 of us on the last May Bank Holiday heading off to a showground on the

edge of Coventry for 4 days of

C a t a l y s t Festival.

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Then we began to see more and more of this generosity rippling out across the area; individuals turning up with bags of food at Riverside; the County Council, the District Council and other large organisations giving food or money; small businesses wanting to have a tin bin or creating their own collection points; pubs getting their customers involved in donating bags of pasta; the list is endless. It is no longer just believers who are being moved with compassion for the poor, God is moving on the hearts of whole communities.

Why is this? Simply because God always keeps his promises Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he

sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:7-9).

Be encouraged, the Kingdom is on the move. Whatever seed you sow, water it with prayer and cling on to God’s promises. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.(1Corinthians: 58)

Deborah Haworth

It was such a good time for community building as a church family, and being able to spend time in worship of Jesus, encountering His presence and being caught up on all that is happening here and in the nations. Don’t miss out on what is a key activity for us as a church family.

This year it takes place Saturday 24 - Tuesday 27 May (delegates depart Wednesday 28 May). For booking questions speak to Justyn or Pamela, or for our church site queries talk to Ian & Marion or Chris Cookman

Full details can be found at catalystnetwork.org/festival

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FINANCES 2013 & 2014God is good & faithful, no matter what the present situation we face is and reflecting on 2013 it’s important to hold on to that truth.

It is clear to say that it was a tough year as a church family. Numerically we shrank, as some of the family moved away and we didn’t grow through new people being added. Financially it was tough as income was around £28,000 less than budgeted. During the year the finance team, elders and trustees kept abreast of the situation, and took the necessary decisions as it was felt appropriate. This involved cutting back on planned expenditure, reducing admin staffing and it was one of the stimuli for our Stewardship series

in the autumn term. Expenditure had been reduced by £15,360 during the course of the year, but we ended the year with a shortfall of £25,937.67. We thank God for every gift received during the year, and for the financial reserves that we dipped into. It’s important to realise that during 2013 we supported the extension of God’s Kingdom locally & in the UK through the work of Jigsaw, and Dave & Justyn’s work with Catalyst and local churches, to name a couple of activities. We also gave to the nations through supporting ten Yalova refugee families, giving to the wider work of Catalyst, and sending Dave & Gill to support churches overseas. In total we gave away 24% (£38,182) of our total income.

STEWARDSHIP

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MEN’S WORKWe started the Men’s events 2 years ago to help the men in church get to know each other better and to draw new men into the church.

We have enjoyed some great times together; flying a Tiger Moth, walking, bowling, orienteering, playing croquet, visiting a brewery, a comedy evening, an evening with a Christian Premiership footballer and we invited the ladies to join us for an evening with a Christian Illusionist!

In December we had a breakfast where we presented our ideas for our 2014 programme and asked the 36 men present to let us have their ideas. Steve Martin from Christian Vision For Men outlined their 2014 events & John Revill brought us up to date with the Development of the ‘Bloke’s playground’ at Bolehill.

We have seen fruit from the men’s work, but please pray that we will see much more this year. The activities still to come this year include a Mens Quiz/Pizza Evening on the 9th May, and some World Cup football!

Men’s Team (Paul, Ian & Chris)

However 2014 is another matter! So far this year we’ve seen regular Sunday numbers and visitor numbers increase and giving has also risen as many have responded in faith to the call to ‘test God’ with their tithes. We’ve worked hard on shaping the budget for 2014, believing God for provision and growth, while also being responsible stewards for the money that you give. We have a budget that is built on the back of the changes made in 2013, and are currently seeing a monthly surplus rather than deficit. Thank you Jesus!

Justyn Pride

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PLACEHOLDERMen’s group photo goes here

CAROLS AT COUNTY‘They won’t be expecting that’ was the popular phrase from the drama video we showed during the carol service. It very much summed up what Dave Watmore, Susie Batsford & myself had felt God stir us about when planning the carol service back in September. We wanted to build on previous carol services, keeping some of the expected carol service content and feel, but also having the ‘wasn’t expecting that’ element. Something that reflected more of who we are as a church. That was achieved from the moment we started with the carol singing flash mob video. It continued through the video testimonies, Kidzone ‘Light of the World’ song, scripture

readings, talk, hosting and the warmth of the community buzz afterwards over drinks and mince pies. Over 180 people attended & I had a number of conversations with guests who were enquiring more about our church, and commenting on the excellence of the carol service. Events like this are largely for those who don’t know Jesus yet, and will be part of their journey to know Jesus. We’re looking forward to 2014’s Carol Service and encourage you to not hold back on inviting your friends, family, neighbours and work mates. They need the ‘wasn’t expecting that’ which is the good news of Jesus and the life of his family, the Church, here on the earth.

Justyn Pride

‘Light of the World’ by Debra Evans

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NEWS FROM AFARIn Yalova the church is now distributing food to 90 families and individuals. What an expression of the love of God for refugees, mainly from Iran and Iraq but now arriving from Syria. Many are Christians, others are Muslims. “Our Arabic and Persian Sunday services are filled to the brim and we are often praying for a bigger venue. Many are coming to Jesus and there is a big need for basic discipleship training”. The food distribution is now coordinated by two Iranians and two Iraqis and your financial support is enabling so much more to be done. Their leader Michael, Heike & family will be with us on July 20th.

Tajikistan is in Central Asia, mainly Muslim, rich in history and unreached with the gospel. Dave and Gill visited in March to support a family reaching out to Tajiks and establishing a language school there. It’s a challenging place, please pray for this family to hear God clearly about the next step and for all the plans God has for this nation to be fulfilled. Chris and Friederieke and their three children will be with us in July as they take some time out this summer.

Dave & Gill Harper

Overseas pics by Gill Harper

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ENCOUNTERING GODWe started Encounter in November last year, and it was a new venture in stepping out in faith, believing that God would fulfill his promises, as we throw our nets in the shallows.

We have a team of 15, who have the same heart to reach people on the margins, with the love of Christ the Gospel Message, and go the extra mile. We must say it’s a learning curve for us all, bringing with it new challenges, eg. how do we present the gospel message without compromising the gospel in any way?

We would like to thank the team for their input and support, and this

includes the ladies who make our wonderful cakes. God has given us a team that is rich in spiritual gifts, and it’s so amazing to see what God does and how he brings the people with just the right giftings. We are so blessed as a team.

On the evening we sit down and eat together. It’s a time when we get together and get to know each other. A time to share what’s been going on in their lives over the past week. We believe this is very important, as it’s family getting together at the end of the week. During the evening we have testimonies, skits, a talk, worship and a time of prayer and ministry. The people come and experience God’s love and find out who Jesus

ENCOUNTER

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is. We have between 6-10 coming weekly and 15 if they all came together. We have started small, but it’s been prophesied that like a snowball it will grow as we gather momentum. Exciting times ahead. It blew our minds seeing and hearing people singing ‘How great is our God’! It is very emotional to see what God has achieved since we started. We now meet every Friday evening, and looking forward to what God has for us as a group and as a church. Our God is so amazing!

Dave Thomlinson

TOTZONESince September, Totzone baby and Toddler group has moved to a Tuesday morning, which has resulted in a huge increase in numbers! 20 children & 15 adults is fantastic, and raises the question of where to put all the buggies & how to get everyone in! Each week we receive new children and carers, with many making it their regular group.

There’s a lovely atmosphere, with parents & carers mixing & chatting easily with no obvious cliques. Visitors’ comments range from ‘You have such wonderful toys & facilities here’ to ‘this is by far the best baby & toddler group that we have been to’! This is so encouraging and a real answer to prayer!

We finished last year with a great Christmas party, where we attempted a short nativity play with the children. This year we’re hoping for relationships to continue to deepen, linking with church events & a quarterly newsletter for parents.

If anyone who would like to help with setting up, playing with the children, talking to mums or making tea then let us know!

Angela Hay & Josie Pride

IS THIS YOU?Do you have spare time to help?

We’re looking for people eager to get involved with helping with admin tasks in the office. Ability to use a computer a must and also a willingness to learn.

Are you a budding journalist, writer or photographer?

If so, we could do with your help with future news releases, online material and Wildfire articles. Contact the office for more details.

+44 (0)1629 584783 churchinthepeak.org.uk admin@churchinthepeak.org.uk

PRAYER UPDATESPrayer is essential in the life of the church, and we need to stand with one another in prayer. Here are three easy ways to get updates on things that need prayer:

Firstly, the prayer chain; if you’re not on this email contact-list and would like to be, then please email juliagarratt@hotmail.com.

Secondly, you can visit our internal facebook group via the link below to request to be included in the online discussion: fb.com/groups/churchinthepeak

For public updates, visit and like our facebook page, via the link below: fb.com/churchinthepeak

FUTURE DATESPizza, Quiz & Life stories (Mens Event)

Parenting Teenagers Course

Catalyst Festival

News Night

Regional Celebration with David Devenish

Newday

9 May

7, 14 & 21 May, 25 June & 2 July

24 - 27 May

12 June

29 June

28 July - 3 August

Riverside, Matlock

Peter & Pamela’s, Rowsley

Stoneleigh Park

Riverside, Matlock

Lady Manners School, Bakewell

Norfolk Showground