Hitchin Christian Centre

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New plans

There’s a passage in the Bible that says "You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail" (Proverbs 19:21). It's a timely reminder that we should never set our plans in stone but always make sure we are in tune with what God is doing. Jesus was pretty clear that he was committed to only do what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19) – and as a church we're passionate about doing the same. We want God’s best and not just our good ideas.

We find ourselves in one of those moments when we thought we were going to do one thing and yet God has made it clear He has other plans – better plans. So, of course, we're going with God.

As you know, earlier in the year we spoke about our plans to run two services in June as an opportunity to invite our friends who weren't Christians and to trial the ideal of running two different types of service. The focus of this was very much about outreach and mission.

Yet, in the last month or so we've been feeling very challenged that God has been calling us into a deeper relationship with Him first – particularly in terms of seeing our prayer life come alive with more passionate, power and persistence. You're hopefully aware that for the last month there has been a real stepping up in prayer before the service with encouraging numbers of the congregation coming together at 9:30am for prayer and inspiration. There's no doubt that we've felt the effects of this prayer time in the main service that has followed at 10:30.

In light of what has been happening, and our belief that God is calling us to a greater level of relationship, we believe that the two service experiment in June should take a slightly different approach than originally planned.

The Flow

The first service will run from 9:30am to 10:30am and will be called "The Flow". There’s a great story in the book of Ezekiel (chapter 47) where the prophet Ezekiel has a vision about being caught up in a river. The river was a symbol of God the Holy Spirit, and in the vision Ezekiel was challenged – invited – to submit himself to the flow of the river of the Spirit. When Ezekiel was caught up in the flow of the Spirit his perspective changed, his vision changed, he experienced refreshing and he witnessed healing. That’s a great picture of what we believe God wants this first service to be about – an opportunity for God’s people to get in the flow of what God wants to do – to have their perspective and vision shaped by God, to experience refreshing and to expect healing and wholeness.

The Party

The second service will run from 11:00 to 12:30pm and will be called "The Party". Jesus told loads of stories about how the Kingdom of God is a party – a celebration. So expect our second service to be loud, exciting, fun, moving, and inspiring. So come and join the party, celebrating the good news of Jesus and discovering more about how He helps and inspires us to live life to the full.

Your choice

Now of course, you are absolutely welcome to come to both services but you’re also welcome to choose. We hope everyone will get to congregate for refreshments between the two services from 10:30 to 11:00am.

We still want to encourage you to think about inviting folks to come to either of these services. You may well be surprised at what God might do.

At the moment we are only planning to run these two services for the month of June and then return to one service whilst we reflect together on the experience. We may in future return to our original plans, shared earlier in the year, for how we might run two services. Right now though, we just sense this is the right thing to do for June – who knows what God will do or what He plans next for us? I know it’s difficult for some of us to live with uncertainty but this is often the way in the adventure of following Jesus. The most important thing is that we’re following God’s plan, step by step.

I hope that you’re excited about this opportunity. I hope it challenges and inspires you in your walk with God. It does me!

Let's pray

As part of our preparation, on Wednesday 5th May we are having a day of prayer and fasting as a church. Fasting means to not do something you would usually do that would involve some kind of sacrifice. Most commonly people would fast from having meals but you can fast other things as well e.g. watching TV. The point is to take a day when you stop doing something that you would normally do and in its place - you pray. Pray that we experience more of God in our lives and in our church. Pray that God will do some amazing stuff in these new services. Pray that God will show you who to invite, and to which service. Pray that you’ll, have the courage to ask them. Pray that people will become followers of Jesus. Pray that people will experience miraculous healing…you get the idea. Give up something on 3rd May – just for a day – and pray instead. Then come together in the evening for Soul Space at HCC.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions – or better still encouragements - then please don’t hesitate to come back to me at .

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