Worship
Psalm 63
A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.
1 O God, you are
my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
"As
Christians we know that everyone longs for happiness… but we will never tell
them to deny or repress that desire. Our problem is not that we want to be
satisfied, but that we are far too easily satisfied. We will instruct them how
to glut their soul-hunger on the grace of God. We will paint God's glory in
lavish reds and yellows and blues; and hell we will paint with smoky shadows of
grey and charcoal. We will labour to wean them off the milk of the world onto
the rich fare of God's grace and glory."
John Piper
As a church we have an ambition - to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our energy. We believe we are made to worship and that as we worship we become fully alive.
A writer called Ravi Zacharias says that the heart desires wonder and magic. He says technology is what man uses to supplant the desire for wonder. Ravi Zacharias says that what the heart is really longing to do is to worship, to stand in awe of a God we don't understand and can't explain.
This sounds about right to me and as a community we want to learn how to use all our creativity to worship God well.
We know it's not just about songs, although we like singing - modern and
ancient
We know it's not just about words, although we take great care with words
We know it's not just about preaching or teaching, although we know that's
important
We know it's not just about breaking bread or communion (or whatever you call
it), although we treasure this so much
We know it's not just about flashy PowerPoint presentations or the latest
technology, although we know we live in a visual age
We know it's not just about which music style we choose, although we recognise
that young people love music more than anything
We know it's not just about ritual, although we believe that patterns shape us
We know it's not just about being Anglican, although we love our inheritance
We know it's not just about service, although we love getting together
It's also about justice
and peace
and forgiveness
and sacrifice
and confession
and healing
and compassion
We could say more... but the best thing is to join us as we give ourselves to God and learn to wonder
Services at St Michael's
Our weekly services follow a simple pattern each month
| 1st Sunday | 9.15am | Traditional Communion |
| 11am | Sunday Live! - a relaxed all age service | |
| 2nd Sunday | 10.15am | A service with communion at it's heart |
| 3rd Sunday | 10.15am | |
| 4th Sunday | 10.15am | A service with communion |
| 5th Sunday | 10.15am |
We also meet together in different ways on Sunday evenings - at Pennard Court,
at St Michael's for a healing service and at Governors House...
We are an Anglican church and are rooted in its traditions and liturgies. We are informal and relaxed. We are have a great band who often lead our singing. We like to keep things simple and straightforward. We appreciate beauty. We enjoy creativity. We are charismatic. We know we all have gifts to use and like to participate. We are joyful. We are easy going. We like to chat. We like good teaching. We like to share the 'peace'. We know we get it wrong. We know we are loved by God.
We look forward to welcoming you. We are a church
for you
