We had around 40 people at our August Family Service, which was chaired by Victor Michael.
Victor’s opening hymn was All things bright and beautiful which was followed by prayer.
Victor welcomed those present and highlighted the next Family Service, on 4th September, as well as our upcoming Friends and Neighbours BBQ on 13th August.
It was then over to some of the children’s favourite choruses from Sunday Club before Alan came up with a general knowledge quiz to form this month’s memory verse –
Jesus said ‘I am the light of the world.’ – John 8: 12
Following Alan’s quiz, we sung For the beauty of the earth before Paul Cogger came up to speak, in his own unique style.
Paul spoke, using various visual aids to enhance his talk, on the healing of the blind man from John 9 and focussed on various ‘Ps’ from story finishing with Jesus’ purpose in carrying out the miracle, before closing in prayer.
Click on the image to view or download Paul’s presentation.
We were able to welcome around 70 people to our latest Family Service, a big increase on numbers last month.
The service was once again chaired by David Hedges who had selected Jesus is Lord as an opening hymn before he opened in prayer.
Alan then ran though this month’s memory verse in the form of a short quiz. The verse is John 6:35 – Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
This was followed by a number of children’s choruses which ended with I’m special before our visiting speaker, John Davies, from Reading came to speak.
John spoke simply and effectively and began by asking two questions:
How much does God think you’re worth?
How much is God worth?
God owns billions of stars and galaxies and has infinite resources available to Him. (Psalm 8) In comparison, we are nothing.
God sold everything He had because He saw each of us as treasure. The Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us. When God gave His son for each of us, he gave everything. God loves each of us more than anybody could love and spent everything that we can have forgiveness. All we have to do is believe and trust Him and we can have eternal life, peace and joy.
The closing chorus was Come and see followed by prayer.
Everyone then ventured out into the summer sunshine to enjoy freshly cooked BBQ food followed by a variety of puddings.
A smoky scene in the car parkSome of those gathered in the park
There was plenty of time to sit and chat in the park and before long a game or three of Kubb was underway.
A game of Kubb in full swingHappy couple, Judith and Brian take a break from the game
It was an excellent afternoon which went on until after 3pm before the final clearing up and dismantling of the marquee. Next time it will be used will be our Friends and Neighbours BBQ which is scheduled for August 13th.
I’m grateful to Lesley’s excellent notes from the Family Service which helped greatly with this post.
With a number of people either on holiday or away playing football in a tournament in Wallingford, attendance at our second Coffee in the Park of the summer was somewhat lower than usual.
It was good, however, to welcome back Jeremy and his wife Rotun as they enjoy a month at home from Hong Kong.
As a result of various people being absent we were unable to use the marquee in the park, as we normally do, and instead just had tables and chairs set out under the trees.
Some of those joining us for Coffee in the Park
It was also a quiet morning in the park, although we did have a number of ‘old friends’ who came to join us for a while, which was good.
With no Coffee in the Park planned during August, our final one for the season is pencilled in for 2nd September.
The polo shirts have been purchased, the invitation cards have arrived, the literature stands have been sourced and the pencils have been sharpened.
Like last year, we’re planning another colouring competition, as well as having a range of Christian literature available and also giving out invitations for our next Family Service on July 3rd.
Parkside's stall at the 2010 Maidenhead Carnival
We hope to make lots of contacts through our activities in the park during the day. If you’re coming along to Maidenhead Carnival on Saturday, please stop by and have a chat – we don’t bite, honest!
This time David Hedges was at the helm chairing and opened with the hymn Be Still for the presence of the Lord and prayer.
This was followed by What kind of love is this before introducing this month’s memory verse Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding – Proverbs 3:5. Audience participation was encouraged with both heart and lean!
We then enjoyed a number of the children’s choruses from Sunday Club before Alan Michael came to speak.
Alan’s subject this month was the Healing at the Pool of Bethesda taken from John 5 and he began with looking at the purpose of different signs before linking this in to Jesus’ miracle of the healing of the lame man and the fact that it was a sign for the Leaders. He finished by summarising the miracle using the six questions ‘What?‘, ‘Who?‘. ‘Where?‘, ‘When?‘, ‘How?‘ and ‘Why?‘, leaving the final question unanswered for those gathered to think about.
We finished with the singing of I stand amazed in the presence and prayer.
After the service, Alan showed a number of amusing photos from the recent TVCC camp in Romsey.
Our next Family Service will be on July 3rd at 11.30am and will be followed by a BBQ.
Parkside Christian Fellowship 