LIFE IN POOLE

I hope to get back to proper blogging in the next week or two, but in the meanwhile here is an update of Hosier happenings…

We are loving Alder Road Church and living in Poole. It has only been three weeks but so much has happened it feels like far longer. Living in Dorset is hugely sacrificial, as you can see on this little video clip…

I got hold of the DVD of “The Fellowship of the Ring”, the first of the Lord of the Ring films, a week or two back and the kids watched it over a couple of days. They loved it and the older two are now reading the book. On Sunday afternoon we went for a walk on Studland and they were running through the dunes in very elvish fashion. Yesterday Grace and I watched “The Two Towers” and now we need “The Return of the King.” This week has of course seen the return of another king – Kevin Keegan at Newcastle. I had just graduated from Newcastle University when Keegan did his first managerial stint on Tyneside and well remember the huge excitement of that time, culminating in the ‘95/’96 season when Newcastle gained what looked like an unassailable lead in the Premiership, only to lose it to Manchester United. There is an oddly religious fervour to the “King Kev” and “The Return of the Messiah” headlines. Keegan will be entertaining and Tolkein’s deliberate telling of parables is fascinating but Jesus is more captivating entirely.

It has been great to be back preaching regularly and having that opportunity to lift up the name of Jesus. It is fun getting to know a new church and I have felt very free here. PJ Smyth called the other day to see how we are doing. Godfirst church went to two meetings last Sunday and now has 400 adults attending. PJ only launched the church three years ago so they are making remarkable progress. Talking to someone like PJ inspires me to dream bigger dreams for what God can do at Alder Road.

Daughters 2 & 3 are doing fantastically well at school. There has been barely a wobble since we moved here and they are making loads of friends. Daughter No. 4 started nursery for the first time yesterday and loved it. Daughter No. 1 is still without a school place, and we are just about to enter the appeals process to see if we can move that along.

Life is good!

ACTS 14:23

At a church meeting on November 19th last year the members of Alder Road Church agreed that they wanted me to join them as their pastor. On January 1st I became an employee of Alder Road and on January 3rd actually moved into the area. In the short time I have lived in Poole I have begun my leadership responsibilities – preaching, getting to know people, seeking God’s will for the church…

However, I am not yet an elder.

So far I have preached just five times at Alder Road, and two of those sermons have been about elders – what they should do, and what they must be. Eldership is important and it is important to me that I am properly brought into eldership. This is going to happen on February 23rd, at 3pm, at Alder Road. Guy Millar and David Holden, men with an apostolic ministry across the Newfrontiers family of churches, will be leading the meeting and I am hoping that many of my other friends will take part.

If you are able to come along it would be great to see you!

HOSIER'S LANE

Something that seems both incidental and significant is that by Poole Quay there is a building called Grace House which is on Hosier's Lane. We had a family trip there today and it was fun introducing ourselves to the man running the gift shop in Grace House - he took this picture...

I have also replaced the pic of myself at the top of this blog - after many rude comments! - with one of me at Hosier's Lane.

There being a Grace House on Hosier's Lane is incidental in that it is just a house and a lane that happen to be in Poole; but it feels significant because it is in Poole!

It has been raining a lot this week, but at one moment on Thursday the sun shone through the rain and the most fantastic rainbow appeared behind our house. The rainbow is a sign of God's faithfulness towards his people, and I have been so aware of his faithfulness towards me over the past week. We are beginning to get to know people and get a feel for the area. Daughters 2 & 3 started school on Monday and have been incredibly happy right from the start. If you are someone who prays and would pray for us, the two outstanding items on our list are that Daughter No. 1 has not yet got a school place, and we still haven't sold our house in London - it would be wonderful of both of these could be resolved soon.

In the meanwhile we will keep trusting and enjoying the God of the rainbow.

THE HOSIER'S HAVE LANDED

Still no regular internet connection I'm afraid, so just a quick update from a shared machine.

Tomorrow we will have been in Poole a week and everything is going great so far. We have had a wonderful welcome and are beginning to find our way around. Yesterday we went to Mudeford quay and bought a crab for our supper, so we feel properly seaside now!

I should be back online next week. In the meanwhile I am posting notes of my sermons over on the sermon poole.