Category Archives: Christ Church

Turning Wine into Water

Turning Wine into Water: Saturday 16th July at Stanlake Park Wine Estate, Twyford, Berkshire, RG10 0BN from 2:00pm-6:00pm.

There will be wine and cheese tasting with a children’s treasure hunt. Free admission but donations welcome to help provide a well  and permanent buildings for Goshen School in Uganda. In August a team will be going from Christ Church, Virginia Water to help with the well construction and extend the school.

For more information (and short videos) about how you can be part of this project see here.

Help Dig a Well for Goshen School, Uganda for $6,000

Help dig a well for Goshen School.

Remember the last time you drank a glass of cool, clean, refreshing water? It tasted good didn’t it? And if you are like me, you probably didn’t even think about it.

For the last three years I have spent two weeks each January based at Kiwoko Hospital in rural Uganda helping to promote Christianity Explored and train local clergy and pastors to use the course. Kiwoko Hospital is situated at the centre of the infamous Luweero Triangle where hundreds of thousands of civilians were massacred in the 1980’s. It has literally brought life and hope to thousands of people.


Shadrach Luwago is the pharmacist at Kiwoko Hospital. He pastors a local church and also leads the hospital mission team. He helped translate the Christianity Explored course into Luganda and Swahili and trained thousands of pastors to use the course. He and his wife Nora also care for around 30 orphans in their own home.

A year ago Shadrach founded a much needed school in the nearby village of Nkondo. Goshen school has already proved very popular with 240 children registered. Besides needing additional permanent buildings (another story), their most pressing need is for clean water, and that is where you come in. The nearest safe water supply is 3 kilometres away.

Pastor Shadrach Luwago talks about Goshen School in Nkondo, Uganda

I need your help to build a well for Goshen school and Nkondo village. It is going to cost £3,750 ($6,000) to survey the ground, dig the well and install a pump. Providing safe clean drinking water will significantly reduce mortality rates as well as sickness and disease for hundreds of people. Within a day we have been promised £1,200 which is a third of the way there.

A Ugandan based charity called Fields of Life which helps build schools in East Africa has the necessary drilling equipment. So all we need is £6,000 ($10,000). I have promised Shadrach I will raise the money by the end of August. I feel so strongly about this, I am prepared to take out a bank loan to cover any shortfall. Shadrach sent me this news update recently.

Dear Stephen,

Greetings from Goshen family. Thank you very much for the email. I am sorry for the delay to reply this email. I have had problems with connections and many days after work i had to go to school to collect water for the kids with the pickup. The nearest water source is approx. 3 kilometres. Because at the school now we have 240 kids, it becomes very difficult to fetch enough water for all of them, especially during lunch time when it is very hot and every child after having lunch is thirst for some water. It is difficult for them to run 3 kms. to the well and 3 kms. back for the afternoon classes.

This is why i have to fetch for them some water for drinking and also for cooking, but because I go after work in the hospital, time does not allow me to fetch enough water for them. It is in the evening and everybody in the village is coming to fetch water so we have to queue. You can find over 50 jerry cans in a line. By the time they finish getting their water it is already dark. After class all the kids get their jerry cans and walk with a teacher to fetch their own water to wash.

Whenever it rains we use gathered water in the ponds but this kind of water is very polluted and makes many kids sick. right now we are looking for ways of getting drugs to deworm all the kids at school. Most of them are sick with worms.

We have even decided to buy a donkey as you can see in the photo with a plan of making a cart for it to be able to pull the cart with some jerry cans of water to bring to the school. Thank you very much for considering to support Goshen school and the people of Nkondo village as well.

God bless,
Shadrach

So, will you help me? If you wish to make a contribution to provide safe clean water to Goshen school and Nkondo village, you can do so through Christ Church, Virginia Water, which is a registered charity. You can give via a Bankers Order Form or by cheque payable to PCC EPCCVW and send it to Revd Dr Stephen Sizer, Christ Church, Virginia Water, GU25 4PT, headed “Goshen School Well”.

You can watch a short video I made of Shadrach talking about his school. I also interviewed Craig Dyer of Christianity Explored and Jim McAnlis of Fields of Life about their involvement in Shadrach’s work.

You can also download a copy of this article for wider distribution.

P.S.

Charities like Christ Church are able to reclaim basic rate tax (22%) on your donations if you are a UK taxpayer. This equates to approximately 28% of the gift you give us out of your taxed income. If you pay UK tax and have not already done so, please download and return the Gift Aid Declaration. If you are a US/UK dual taxpayer, please be advised that Christ Church is registered with the CAF American Donor Fund enabling you too to give tax-efficiently claiming Gift Aid in the UK while still benefiting from a tax deduction in the US. Click here for more details.

How to Receive Communion Faithfully

Receiving Holy Communion Faithfully from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

The Privilege of Church Membership: Receiving Communion Faithfully
(1 Corinthians 11:17-34)

Whenever I travel abroad I empty my wallet of all my extraneous plastic – there’s my Boots Advantage card, my Tesco Club card, Shell garage card and Nectar ‘you deserve it’ loyalty card, my Starbucks card, Costa Coffee Club card, my Caffe Nero card, my Halifax Ultimate Reward Card, Automobile Association card, Dry Cleaners loyalty card and of course, my Wentworth Club card.

Into my wallet  depending on who gave me the best flight deal, goes my British Airways Executive Card, my American Airlines, Delta or United Airline card, and of course my Passport.

We are probably all members of one or more club, trade union, professional association, community group, society or charity. Membership is important. It gives a sense of belonging.

What you may not realise however is that ‘Membership’ is actually a Christian word. In Paul’s letter to the Romans he writes, “in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:5). That means ‘the Church’ is the oldest and largest club in Britain. Continue reading →

Loving Unbelieving Relatives: or how to handle unbelief in the family (John 7:1-13)

Loving Unbelieving Relatives (John 7:1-13)

It’s Sunday morning. You’re eating breakfast, alone, peacefully. Then the door opens, and in comes… you know who, looking slightly dishevelled and half asleep.  They look at you inquisitively. They look at the clock. They look back at you, sitting there in your Sunday best. There’s a long pause.  And then it begins.  Round 1: Scepticism. “Where are you off to then? All dressed up at this hour of the morning? “I’m going to church. It’s Sunday…”  You want to add something else but you resist the temptation. Silence.  Round 2: Cynicism. “Off to your little holy huddle then. They’re just a bunch of hypocrites,” with an emphasis on the ‘your’ holy huddle. “Well, one more won’t make a difference” you reply, regretting saying it. Silence. Round 3: Sarcasm. “You think you’re better than the rest of us, don’t you?”  “No, I just know I need God’s help to make it through the day” and you feel like adding, “and find the strength to keep loving you.”  Silence. Sound familiar?  Don’t tell me that conversation has never happened to you.

For some of you, coming to church on a Sunday morning is a real sacrifice.  It’s a war zone at home and you tread so carefully to avoid the minefield of unbelief.  Family members can make you feel really guilty being here, and not with them. It only takes one member of the family, a father, a mother, a partner or sibling, ever so sweetly and not so innocently to wind you up and ruin your day even before you get here. And I know it’s even more embarrassing if “you know who” is reluctantly sitting next to you right now. Just don’t look at them…

It’s tempting to wish, if only we had been in Jesus’ family. Listening to his pearls of wisdom at every meal. I can’t imagine his mother or brothers or sisters ever went hungry, ever told him to shut up and go to his room, ever got ill, at least not for long. Headache dear? Period pain? Toothache? Arthritis? Surely no problem living with the Son of God? And mothers, I bet Jesus always put the seat down, washed his hands, brushed his teeth and went to bed when he was told. And he certainly never left his dirty clothes on the floor.  Surely the family of Jesus were the happiest people on earth. But the Scriptures reveal the reality was actually very different.  Surprisingly, Jesus was given a really hard time by his close family. On one occasion :

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I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas: Wentworth Carols by Candlelight

Do you enjoy dreaming? Do you ever remember your dreams? Do they ever reoccur? Have you ever dreamed about dreaming? Have you ever thought about sharing a dream? The film Inception is probably the most complicated, fast paced and dramatic sci-fi thriller I have ever seen. The premise is that professional thieves can invade and share in other people’s dreams to steal information via a drug-induced sleep.

From the ingenious mind of British filmmaker Christopher Nolan, Inception begs the question: what if you could share a dream with someone? Long before Christopher Nolan dreamed up the imaginary world of Inception, the Bible encourages us to dream, to imagine the future and to share the experience.

The Old Testament Prophet Joel predicted, ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28).

Joel is talking more about ‘day dreaming’ than about night dreaming. You can’t do much about dreams at night but you can during the day. While ‘day dreaming’ is usually a pejorative term, I believe we should consciously and actively cultivate the art of day dreaming. Do you have any hopes or dreams for Christmas? For the New Year? For your family? For our community?

Let me share my dream. Imagine Virginia Water as a village free from crime, free from pollution, free from noise, free from stress, free from fear. Imagine Virginia Water as a place where children are safe walking to school alone. Imagine Virginia Water as a place where you felt completely safe walking alone at night. Imagine our community with no recorded crime. No speeding motorists, no burglaries, no shop lifting, no assaults. Imagine Virginia Water with no alcoholism, no drug abuse, no vandalism and no graffiti. Imagine not having to lock your windows or doors or gates at night. Imagine not needing an intruder alarm, surveillance cameras, high walls or the services of a security firm.

Imagine Virginia Water as a place where marriages last for life, where there is no infidelity, no unwanted pregnancies, no abortions, no child abuse, no adultery, no marital violence, no divorce. Imagine no anti-Semitism, Islamophoba, no racism of any kind, but a tolerant and caring community where minorities feel secure and accepted. Imagine our elderly cared for by neighbours. Imagine no one left alone, no one lonely, no one depressed, no one suicidal,
but everyone valued, affirmed and contributing to the good of the community.
Is such a vision unrealistic or naïve?

At the birth of Jesus, the angels announced to the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests” (Luke 1:14). That wasn’t a wish or an aspiration. They were announcing a fact – Shalom – peace – reconciliation with God and one another is promised, nay guaranteed, to those who recognise Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. That is what Jesus came to achieve through his supernatural birth, through his wondrous life, and supremely by his death and resurrection in our place and for us. It’s not a fantasy. It’s not a dream. It’s not make believe. For those with eyes to see, the Bible gives us a vision of what the future will be.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

This vision of the future has encouraged Christians down through the centuries to pray, as Jesus taught us, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10). And then to give their lives to make it a reality

What 2011 holds for us, we do not know. It is perhaps timely with the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton a few months’ away, to remember something memorable William’s great-grandfather said on Christmas Day 1939. As citizens of the British Empire faced a world war, King George VI resurrected the tradition of delivering an annual Christmas message to all the inhabitants of the Empire. In this excerpt from his speech, the King, not usually a compelling speaker, inspired and reassured his listeners by quoting a poem:

“I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied,’Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be better than light, and safer than a known way.'”

May you place your hand in the hand of God this Christmas. May God give you a vision of his plan for your future that will last all year and beyond. May God give you the wisdom to discover and strength do his perfect will. And may your dreams, so anointed, come true. And in doing so, may God bless you and those you love, this Christmas and forever more.

Delivered at the Wentworth Golf Club Carols by Candlelight Concert, Christmas 2010.

Making a Covenant with God (Nehemiah 10)

Renewing the Covenant with God (Nehemiah 10) from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Nehemiah 10 is all about the solemn agreement God’s people made.  As we consider it’s significance and relevance, I want us to answer three questions.  1. Why did they make this covenant?  2. Who made the covenant?  3. What did they covenant?

1. Why did they make this covenant?

1.1 Because the Lord had covenanted with their fathers. (9:7-8)

1.2 Because the Lord had protected them. (9:9-15)

1.3 Because the Lord had chastised them. (9:16-37)

1.4 Because they were now determined to change (9:38).

“In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.” (Nehemiah 9:38)

They meant business. They wanted to begin again.
They wanted to repent of the past. They wanted to start again in the future. I hope you want to today as well. That is why they made this covenant.

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