Prepare our Hearts

As we prepare our hearts for REAL, welcome to the first of 10 "Thought for the Day" devotionals all about HOPE.

Thanks to the lovely Susannah Mills for writing these for us - we pray that they will bless you, challenge you, and encourage you to pray and prepare for REAL . He's a faithful God of great love - let's raise our expectations of what He's going to say and do in every one of us!

1 Peter 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

We were born separated from God. We could never do anything to bring ourselves back to God. But because God loves each of us so much, He sent his son Jesus to die on the cross in our place, so that we could be given an opportunity to choose to follow Jesus, to be born again, to have a new life in relationship with Jesus; with the hope of an eternity spent in Heaven with Jesus.

Maybe today you need to be reminded how much God loves you, that He delights in you, that you never need to do anything to earn his love and nothing you have done is too terrible for God to forgive. Nothing can separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). I pray that God would give you a fresh revelation today of his love for you.

This song expresses it well – Reckless Love by Cory Asbury https://youtu.be/Sc6SSHuZvQE

Or maybe you’ve never made the choice to follow Jesus. Today you can make that decision by praying this prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, I need You. I need Your grace to forgive me and Your love to change me.
Thank You for dying on the cross for me. Please forgive me for the sin in my life. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. With Your help, I will live my life for You. Amen.

Guest Blog: Esther in Indonesia

I'm delighted to welcome Esther Ross-Watson to my Blog today! She is a dearly loved member of our Kerith family. She and her late husband Michael served as missionaries for many years. Esther bravely made the decision to travel again, and she has recently returned from Indonesia. Here's her story: Whilst Michael was on his last days on earth in August 2017 he received a request from the Island of Madura, Indonesia asking us to return to the town of Pamekasen, Madura, Indonesia where we had begun our Missions work in July 1973 exactly one year after we were married. They were keen to have us see what God had been doing in the years since we’d moved on and we excitedly said ‘Yes’ we will come! Obviously that had to go on hold for a while because I didn’t feel I could, or even wanted to go alone! Anyway around March/April time 2018, I begun to feel a gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit urging me to think some more about it! It was like a feeling of wanting to know

Our Living Hope

Not sure what happens with my blog...or me writing my blog! Can't believe I've been away from it for almost two months. Oh well, no condemnation! Let's pick it up and start again :) Yesterday was a great day in Church! I was so challenged and encouraged - I love Sundays and all the different ways God shows His love and who he is to us. Natalie Jones preached at both our morning meetings in Bracknell , she gave such a good message on generosity, be sure to catch it when the podcast comes on our website, but for now, watch a summary of Natalie's preach At the 6pm meeting, we had Paul Manwaring sharing about culture : the 4 Gamechangers - again, a really challenging message to check out if you didn't get to hear it live. I wore my HOPE earrings yesterday - sometimes I deliberately choose to wear them as a practical symbol that I am choosing HOPE - that I choose Jesus, I choose trust, I choose hope. I'm so glad I did, as throughout the day I felt God speak

3 Little Bottles

Thought I'd mix it up today and do something lighthearted here. I popped into town this morning (as an aside, anyone else still incredulous that "new Bracknell / The Lexicon is so great and that it's really here to stay?!) Anyhow, I popped into town for a quick wander and bought 3 "essentials" I'd run out of, so I thought I'd share them with you - and of course I'd love to hear about your 3 recent essential purchases. 1 Contact lense solution I've worn glasses since Secondary school, and contact lenses since I left Uni. Gas permeables - great for me - slightly perilous in swimming pools / the sea / other people's sinks (£80 to replace). They work for me - and so a couple of bottles of solution each month keep me going.I ran out a couple of days ago, so it was £4.70 well spent for clean lenses and clear eyesight. 2. "Buffet" by The Ordinary This was a new one for me, a present I received last Christmas. I LOVE it and can

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