At our first gathering of 2023, Andy Taylor spoke from Psalm 43, and revealed how ‘lament’ can lead to ‘praise’ and then ‘joy’. He also spoke from Philippians 4, showing how ‘thanksgiving’ can lead to ‘prayer’ and from that to ‘peace’. These are two great verses to have, as we go into the year ahead!

At our festive ‘Carols by Candlelight’ evening, Andy Taylor talked about what an ‘Unexpected Christmas’ can mean for us today…

Gary Bastin concluded our autumn series and introduced the season of Advent. We looked at two characters in the Nativity story, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist and Mary, the mother of Jesus. Gary unpacked their different responses and encouraged us to be like Mary.

Terry Huggett continued our series ‘Restore, Renew & Rebuild’ focusing on the final section ‘Rebuild’. He reminded us that we ‘are’ the church, and encouraged us to think how we can be a place of ‘Hope’ in Basingstoke.

Gary Bastin spoke from Nehemiah 3. We saw a wide variety of people who rebuilt the wall in Jerusalem. We looked at how God wants to renew our heart so we can serve Him, or in other words to discover what our ‘section’ of God’s wall is ours to build…

On Sunday 6 November, church leader, Gary Bastin led an all age gathering all about Nehemiah. With some help from Hope Kids, we learnt how Nehemiah responded positively to what God said!

Sunday 30 October was all about us as ‘the church’. It started with bacon butties, then Gary Bastin briefly explained what the Bible says church is. We then ‘prayed in’ some new people into our church family. Finally, Andy & Diane Taylor explained the history and reason for the forthcoming trip to India.

Terry Huggett continued our series ‘Restore, Renew, Rebuild’, focusing on ‘Renew’ from Nehemiah 2. He reminded us that we don’t go to church – we are the church! He concluded by asking us: ‘What is our vision for Hope Community Church?’

Guest speaker Siân Rees spoke a great message called ‘I am who YOU say I am’ all about how God sees us. Listen and be blessed!

On Sunday 9 October Terry Huggett launched our autumn series, ‘Restore, Restore, Rebuild’ from Nehemiah 1. He left us with this question to ponder:

How aligned is your heart with Gods for the people of Basingstoke?

To listen to the song that was played, please go here