The culture of the Kingdom – Rob Pearson

A culture reflects the values, beliefs & practices of a community of people. This year we focus on the culture of the Kingdom of God,
found in the Godhead, between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus taught us to pray that the culture and experience he enjoyed in heaven would come to earth for our benefit: ‘may your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt 6:10).

2 things help us to understand Jesus’ radical prayer.

Firstly, imagine what it is like in the culture of heaven where the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father, where the Holy Spirit seeks to glorify the Father and the Son, and all 3 persons are involved in mutual honour, respect, trust, loyalty and sacrificial love. It is into this incredibly loving relationship that you and I are invited, where literally God has opened up his heart through Christ’s death on the cross to allow us in, so that we can share in this divine relationship for ever and ever. As a parent’s heart for 2nd & 3rd children expands in love, so did God’s heart for us. Imagine this culture transforming people, communities and nations as the values of heaven invade earth.

Secondly, what qualities and values would people outside of the experience of church want to see if they came into a church for the first time?

These 2 simple questions help us to understand God’s intention when he created the world and sent Jesus his Son to redeem it. It is this culture of the Kingdom  we set out to explore in this new year of 2013. May we invite you to share this exciting journey with us; you can find out more in our Sunday services at 10.30am or by joining our Alpha Course (click on the Alpha Course under ‘Know Us’ tab above).

God bless you this year,

Pastor Rob Pearson

Dear Friends,

We welcome you to join us in celebrating ‘Love Christmas at Lakeside’:

2 December 10.30am ‘Grace’

9 December 10.30am ‘Advent Youth & Children’s service’

16 December 10.30am ‘Christmas Overseas’ involving our mission partners

23 December 6.30pm ‘Community Carols’

25 December 10.30am ‘Christmas Day’

30 December 10.30am ‘End of year service’

God is love. It’s a short sentence and will provoke a variety of responses. God is love – definitely, or is God love? How we respond may well indicate where we are coming from and what have we experienced in the past. The Christian faith is based on the revelation of God to mankind through a person. Not a philosophy, an ideology or even a religion, but via a relationship with God through one person, Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to his hearers, ‘if you want to see God, look at me; if you want to know God, know me, if you want to get to God, go through me (John ch 14). The hearers he was talking to lived in a world where the professionals (the priestly function) was separated from everyone else and to get right with God a person had to go through a priest. The holy presence of God was inside the Temple and only the special people (the priest’s) were allowed in and under strict requirements, or they were risking their lives. The most holy place was separated from everything else and everyone else by a heavy woven curtain 60 feet high, 30 feet wide and as thick as a tapestry! This reinforced the separation of God from his creation where only a few had the privilege of access to God.

Then everything changed! Jesus came and started teaching about the love of God (the gospels) and demonstrating it by getting involved in the lives of the people who had no previous access to the presence of God. Now there was a person you could see, touch, feel and even smell; a living, breathing, real person who taught the truth like never before and validated it by the miracles that people saw: the demon possessed were set free, deaf ears opened up, blind eyes saw for the first time, the lame started leaping and dancing for joy, the lepers got new skin, the disabled became fully-functioning. Not everyone was happy with this new kid on the block and finally the plot to arrest, torture and kill Jesus Christ took place. Jesus had taught his disciples that this needed to happen in order to get plan B (the world as it existed) back to plan A – God’s original intention.

When Jesus suffered and died in agony on a Roman cross, bearing the sin burden of the whole world, the curtain in the Temple (60 ft x 30 ft) was torn in two from top to bottom by invisible powerful hands; revealing that access to God’s presence is now available to every human being. God wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4). God is patient not wanting anyone to perish: (2 Pet 3:9). The amazing thing is to discover that God who created us in love, has always desired a relationship with us and took the initiative to remove the barrier to this relationship himself, so that we discover the things that kept us from him were dealt with 2000 years ago on the cross (the Atonement), allowing us who believe, unhindered access to the presence of God in this life, here on earth, now.

Would you like this for yourself – a relationship with the God of love? It is possible; the only barrier is hesitation or reluctance. That’s why we run our Alpha courses to allow you to investigate a relationship with God without feeling you must attend church. We find that those who do discover God for themselves actually want to come and join in the worship, teaching and fellowship with others on this amazing journey of discovery. Salvation involves and blesses the whole person, body, mind, soul & spirit. Please contact us for details of the next Alpha Course (see the Know Us tab at the top of the page) or if you can’t wait, do come along any Sunday morning and introduce yourself – we look forward to meeting you,

God bless you, Pastor Rob Pearson

Sometimes we reflect on where we are or what we have achieved and wonder is there more than this? Bono sang: ‘I still haven’t found what I’ve been looking for’ summing up the feelings of many.

We are, or become the sum of many things: our unique personality, the influence of our upbringing, our education, our friends, contacts and colleagues, our drives and desires, hopes and aspirations.

So, if there is a gap between what we are and what we feel we should be, where lies the answer? Scripture tells us we are ‘made in the image of God’ (Gen 1:26) and that we are ’fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Ps 139:14). If these statements are true, then there is potential locked away inside each one of us that must be able to be activated. The word of God says: ‘God has set eternity in our hearts’ (Ecc 3:11) and that the ‘words of life are in our mouths and in our hearts’ (Rom 10:8).

How amazing - the reality of the Kingdom of God is locked away inside each one of us, yet many are oblivious to this truth. Paul teaches if we ‘confess with our mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. For it viagra online is with our heart that we believe and are justified, and it is with our mouth that we confess and are saved’ (Rom 10: 9-10).

Jesus promised every believer in himself would inherit ‘LIFE in all its fullness’ (Jn 10:10). When we believe, this promise is activated in 2 ways: we enter into eternal life with Christ forever and begin an exciting journey of discovery into the Kingdom of God where our unique place of involvement is waiting for us. Good parents help their children to realise and develop their God-given potential and God is just the same – he is a good dad and loves you with an everlasting love.

We begin by believing and we progress by searching and discovering: ‘seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you as well’ (Matt 6:33). ADDED TO YOU AS WELL. This is the abundant life that Jesus promised; life in all its fullness. It’s about getting into ‘alignment’ with God and his purposes in this world. Jesus promised: ’Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom’ (Lk 12:32).

Been searching all your life? Tried many things – nothing worked? Look no further: God is holding out a hand to you today to start a new journey with him, one that will last for all of eternity! Will you take his hand and trust him with your life? We recommend as a first step on this journey of discovery to sign up for the Alpha course we run twice a year, the next one will begin in the autumn. But if you can’t wait for that, come along any Sunday morning at 10.30am in the Civic Centre, Perton and introduce yourself to me or one of our welcome team.

God bless you, Pastor Rob Pearson

Is the future fixed and there is nothing we can do about it, or is it flexible, more like an empty canvas, waiting for an artist to begin to create?

For some, faith is understood as fate and there is nothing we can do about today or the future; c’est la vie… for others faith is a daily journey of discovery with an interactive God of suprises.

We all know life is a journey, but the key to life is discovering its purpose and our part in it; are we just here by random chance, or is there a Designer in the background somewhere?

Join us this month as we tackle the big issues of life, the now and the yet to come: is there hope for the future?

God bless you, Rob Pearson, Pastor

Pretty well anything of lasting value in this life comes down to relationships at some point. 

Did you know you were designed for good, meaningful and lasting relationships by God? In fact, relationships were created by God and existed in the Godhead before anything began.

The Father, Son and Spirit are involved in an ongoing relationship of immense love, respect and cooperation for our benefit. What the Godhead possesses is shared with us. We are invited into the most fulfilling and eternal relationship with God, through Christ.

It is this right relationship with God that clears the way for every other relationship to succeed. If we love God, we will want to do all we can to deepen our relationship with him through worship, honour & respect for his desires. ‘We love because he first loved us’ (1 John 4:19). While it is hard to ‘try to please God’, it is completely possible to please Him and live in freedom, rest and trust as a result. If our ‘vertical’ relationship with God is right, our ‘horizontal’ relationships with others will fall into place.

The scriptures teach into relationships between husbands & wives, parents & children, employers & employees and between citizens and government. The NT is full of helpful advice on how to treat ‘one another’ or ‘each other’.

If you take a survey in your shopping precinct, your neighbourhood or at work, on what are the greatest problems facing our society today, lack of respect will probably come high on the list. Somewhere along the way we have lost the point and the value of relationships. The good news is that the kind of relationships we dream about can actually happen because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. He died to reconcile us to God and to reconcile us to one another. To reconcile is to repair and renew, to renovate and re-establish. Damaged relationships can be revived to the delight of all.

When the Holy Spirit begins to operate in our heart and soul, we will feel the call of God and also be aware of human relationships that are wrong and need to be put right. Repentance is the gateway to restoration, we apologise in order to repair & renew a relationship of value. It could be with your boss, your spouse, your neighbour or your child.

Please join us for this teaching theme of immense value in our relationship-starved world of today.

God bless you,

Rob Pearson, Pastor

Perseverance is the life choice of the farmer, the long-distance runner, the patient mother or father, the builder, the gardner and all who see the goal in the distance and work toward it.

Perseverance is the opposite of the quick fix and ‘get it now’ mentality. People who persevere know that the goal, the end result and the outcome is worth it and are prepared to pay the cost along the way. Perseverance highlights the true value of the goal being pursued.

We gratefully acknowledge that perseverance begins with God – he has persevered with us in presenting the gospel to us, the good news of Jesus Christ, enough times to enable us to believe and receive his gift of salvation. God is for us and not against us. How amazing for him to persevere in this way, knowing what is best for us and patiently allowing our rejection until we finally accept Christ. In the same way, parents persevere with their children because they see the big picture and know all the hard work is worth it.

Perseverance is one of the responses to God in our Christian lives. Heb 12: 1 encourages us: ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’

Perseverance is character building and handled well becomes an admirable character quality. If you succeed after a long struggle, people will notice and remember you for it. Good character formed through the trials of life and faith will be evident to all.

Join us for our teaching theme on perseverance to discover this for yourself.

God bless,

Rob Pearson, Pastor

Dear Friends,

Thanks so much for visiting our website!

As a church we are intentionally focussed on our local community

(Perton) and partner with our good friends in The Church At Perton in a range of community activities: (see diary of events ) and also (Community activity under the ‘know us’ page).

When we talk to people in the shopping precinct they impress upon us the value of the word community, hence we have this at the centre of our church name. We believe God has designed human beings to flourish ‘in community’ so we have a range of opportunities for you to join in and ‘belong.’ For those who may not be ready for a church service, we provide a Quiet Room with refreshments on Sunday mornings.

We believe the local church is the hope of the world (and community) and a sign from God that he loves the community and the people in it.

We also link in with churches in our city under Wolverhampton NET group of churches, currently hosting healing services in St John’s Church (see Healing For You).

Whatever ‘community’ means for you, we would appreciate you visiting us one Sunday at 10.30am in the Civic Centre, Perton, or call in the Quiet Room, or enquire via: info@lakesideperton.co.uk

God bless you,

Rob Pearson, Pastor

The summer holiday is upon us; traditionally a time for us to unwind after a year’s efforts at school, college, work, home and church.

It is harder to keep up our spiritual disciplines but well worth the effort; with time to relax we can still include our personal devotions and have more time to reflect that God is on holiday with you.

Jesus took his friends away from the demands of ministry: The disciples gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then because so many people were coming and going that they did

not even have a chance to eat, he said to them ‘come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest’ Mark 6: 30-31. (We retreat in order to advance)

On a previous holiday, Carole & I both sat outdoors with our eyes closed for 5 minutes to identify the number of sounds going on around us and then fed back our findings; try it, you’ll be amazed!

Anyone on a canal or Norfolk Broads holiday will notice far more going on at 4mph than 70! If its warm and dry, sit out at night and gaze at the stars; see into the rock pools through your child’s eyes and dad’s don’t do all the digging in the sand!

If you are by the rivers or sea, the mountains or open countryside, reflect on being in the presence of God your Creator and remember you are very special to him.

God bless,

Rob