If you are within striking distance of London please do join us for our inaugural Church gathering on Sunday 13th September at 16:00 at Trinity Church Westminster (or if you can’t make it then, come and visit us soon!). We’d love you to join us, whether it is simply to encourage us as we begin, to find out more about the Christian Gospel, or explore potentially joining the church. To keep updated on all that’s happening, sign up for monthly briefings here:
Westminster and the war for the cosmos
In ancient thought ‘the Cosmos’ is not so much the unimaginably massive impersonal expanse of the universe and all there is in it. It is massive, but it is more like a structured, hierarchal cosmic house, with spiritual powers on the higher levels operating above worldly powers. And as Parliament started meeting again this week, we may think that it is central to any future hope for our country. And it is the battles that take place in its chambers that shape the future. And they are certainly not unimportant. But in the book of Ephesians, we see a higher power operating on different level. Through Christ’s resurrection and ascension to rule at the right hand of his Father, he has taken his seat as the rightful ruler of the Cosmos. Paul explains that God:
raised [Christ] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:20-23
And that our most important battles are not against
“…flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12
In our first preaching series, as we exposit this extraordinary letter to the Ephesian church, we are going to see how the church meeting is more consequential than Parliament meeting for the future hope our country, and how we under Jesus are to wage spiritual warfare to see evil powers restrained and his Kingdom come more in its fullness in our world. If we have always thought there must be more to hope in than politics or we are ready for a different explanation of the state of the world and how to be part of changing it, come and find out about God’s plan to redeem and renew the world through Jesus from Sunday 13th.
Westminster Bible Studies + The Discovering God course
“Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” Matthew 13:52
From Wednesday 23rd September at our Westminster Bible Studies our aim, with the help of the Spirit of God, is to train everyone who comes to be disciple-scribes for the Kingdom of God. We will be engaging in weekly deep-dive Bible Studies in the Gospel of Matthew from 18:30 at Trinity Church Westminster. So if you or anyone you know would like to be trained in the treasures of the foundational teaching of Jesus, Wednesday by Wednesday, do spread the word. We’ll meet in groups of around 8-12 around tables and there will be group leaders on each table to guide us through our studies.
Alongside that, for the first five weeks of term we are running our ‘Discovering God’ course. Where we will do a similar thing, but with the chance to explore an outline of the fundamentals of the Christian faith and consider the cosmic claims of Jesus Christ. There will also be lots of space for discussion and questions.
If you would like to find out more about those, please see the ‘Midweek’ tab on the website. Or if you have got any questions or would like to let us know you are coming along please get in touch here:
‘Having a maximalist view of Jesus’
Once a month after our main gathering we are excited to be hosting a Public Seminar. The first will be on Sunday 27th September at 17:45 to 18:45. This is where we get to address a topic in more depth that we think will be useful the church and for everyone, so it’s open to all.
Our strapline as a church is ‘Christian Maximalism for the Glory of God’, and that starts with having a maximalist view of Jesus. And we are delighted to have Gwilym Davies from the Proclamation Trust joining us to show us how Jesus is not just the centre of the Bible, but of all of life, of all of history, and of all of the cosmos. It will a challenge and an encouragement to all of us, even those of us who have been following Jesus for a long time, not to settle for a too small view of him or for whatever our current knowledge of him is, but to long for a continually fuller and fuller vision and knowledge of him.
We would love you to join us.
Please pray
We would be established as and a faithful church in Christ Jesus.
For our pre-launch weekend with 23 of the launch team this Friday-Sunday, that we would grow in knowledge of love of the Lord and each other. And we would prepare well for launching next week.
That many seeking to know more about Jesus would find there was to us on a Sunday or Wednesday and they might hear the gospel, repent and believe.
That we might connect with other believers moving into or across London, or other believers for whom it would be wise and fruitful to join the launch team and partner with us.
That we would have maximal view of Jesus and his gospel, and for protection against the flaming arrows of the devil as we move into this initial phase.
Finally… please do spread the word to those whom might like to come along, follow from afar or pray for us.