Catrina Benham's Blog

Hi friends So, what mark out of 10 would you give for Ben's singing in  Kerith last Sunday morning?? I'd say it was a good 7! Thought he did a great job advertising this Saturdays' singalong movie! I'm really looking forward to seeing many of you , in good voice for "The Sound of Music". I've heard many of you say you're coming, so it would really help us with purchasing refreshments if you could buy your tickets before Saturday. You can buy them from the Kerith reception during office hours this week. Bring your friends along too- its' going to be fun! Love Catrina x

Hi Friends, Hope you've had a good week? How are you getting on with this week's memory verse? "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" - Matt 28:19 I've really enjoyed receiving and reading the daily emails  from the textsforlife blog - they are all so encouraging! This Sunday   Michael Ross-Watson will be preaching on the next memory verse in both the 9am and 11am meetings - you're going to want to be there! If you can manage to also come back to Kerith at 7pm, we've got Peter Scazzero speaking. What a great day ahead, and a wonderful opportunity for God to speak to us, changing us from the inside out, as only He can do. Just a reminder that it's The Sound of Music Singalong Movie next Saturday 4th February ! So come and get your tickets from Kerith reception this Sunday - only £2.50 each, to cover the refreshments. Remember, it's purely a fun event for

I woke up with Sunday's hymn going round my mind - that's a good start to the day before I've even got out of bed! Read it, listen to it, declare it - the words are a challenge and a blessing. I reckon "surrendering all" is not a "sing it once" type thing. I reckon it's an "every day, every hour, every situation and thought" type thing.  As we depend on Jesus more and love Him more,  the Holy Spirit will use these words in our lives to change us from the inside out. All to Jesus I surrender , All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.  I surrender all,  I surrender all.  All to Thee, my blessed Saviour,  I surrender all. All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken; Take me, Jesus, take me now. All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Saviour, wholly Thine; Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine. All to Jesus I surrender, Lord,

What a brilliant day in Church yesterday! I just love hearing people's stories of how God saved them and is now changing them from the inside out - it's so inspiring, praise God! And this morning I've been listening on repeat (of course!) to "Let The Redeemed of The Lord Say So" Loved Liam's message to GO and do something this week to share our faith with others. His phrase "We need to be lovers of God , not workers for God " particularly struck a chord with me. Have you signed up to receive daily emails from Texts For Life yet? It's such a great encouragement, as each day a different member of our Kerith community shares some thoughts on this week's Bible verse. This week I am going to try and follow the  JustONE Conference  online. Yes, it's a virtual conference for women. Leading and Loving It is a community that connects, encourages, and supports pastors’ wives and women in ministry.The 20 different speakers look really interes

We've got a new sofa! It came yesterday, looking like this... and Simon (hero) spent the evening constructing it, so that it now looks like this... and that's the end of the story - nice shiny clean new perfect sofa. That's the sofa I want people to see. But what they are seeing right now, as it sits outside our house waiting for the council to pick up is this...!!!! Yes, the old sofa - the 17 year old sofa. The sofa that has tears and rips and stains. The sofa that I have kept covered by draping with Zambian fabrics. I don't want peope to see the "real sofa". I just want them to see my version of it! I opened my bedroom blinds this morning, gasped when I saw the sofa in all its glory; and felt a God whisper. You see, even outside our house I'd have tried to hide the imperfections ; I'd have turned the cushions round. I don't want people to see things how they really are, I want them to see my version of how things really are. I kn

Hi Friends, It was so great to chat to many of you yesterday about our next Simply event   - The Sound of Music Singalong ! I know from our conversations that many of you have already seen it numerous times, you love the songs and are looking forward to watching it on the big screen together -It's a very popular film!                                      Saturday 4th February 4-7pm It's simply a fun event, great for gathering women together to enjoy each others company, watch a DVD, and join in with singing and prop-waving (only if you want to!) Tickets are only £2.50 so why not treat a friend? I'm going to be asking my work colleagues, family and friends. Just a reminder it's a women's event - sorry to all the guys who fancy dressing up ! If you have younger girls who you think would enjoy the film, then they are very welcome too, but we aren't able to accommodate younger children. You can buy tickets on Sundays, and also throughout the week at the Kerith rece

What a  brilliant day in Church yesterday - it's so good to be back and to start 2012 together, worshipping, praying and listening to God's Word preached.  Texts for Life is a 12 week preaching series at Kerith - it's a toolkit of memorable Bible verses which will help us in our walk with Jesus. If you missed it, be sure to listen again to the podcast to hear Simon giving a brilliant preach on our first Bible verse Psalm 119:11 – “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you”. Listen out for the catchy little song to help us remember the verse! Take a look at the website  http://www.textsforlife.org  for the Twitter feed and the Blog. Every day there will be a new entry on the blog, with thoughts on that week's Bible verse, each written by different members of the Kerith community. It's easy to enter your email address on the blog page, so that you can receive daily posts from the site via email.(like many of you do with this blog,

I Know it's a bit late to say Happy New Year" but I'm really only just feeling ready to start a new year! We had a great break - a nice mixture of full-on extended family time, and times when it was "just us". We got a way for a few days over new year to stay with old friends in Norfolk - our dog Nemo loved the waves at Southwold! Then we were all back at school and work last Tuesday - Jacob even had exams poor thing! So this last week has been a bit of a mixture - early starts, work clothes, school uniforms, packed lunches, back in routine. But we've also had the Christmas tree still up, and the outside lights twinkling, the candles and the Christmas drinks and food still in the house  "anyone for a piece of Christmas cake with your cup of coffee?" All of that contributes to me not really feeling like I'm starting the new year with a bang ! But two things have happened - first, I've released myself from the pressure of a "perfect sta