Supporting our local football club

At Redeemer Church London, we think it’s really important to build strong community within Ealing and look at joining forces with other organisations to help achieve this.

To that end, we're delighted to have been working closely in recent months with another local organisation with a great community spirit - Hanwell Town Football Club.

The Ealing area is home to four non-league football clubs, and Hanwell are the highest ranking of these, plying their trade in the Southern League Premier Division South.

The club were founded in 1920 and now compete in level seven of the football pyramid, which is three divisions below the Football League and six below the Premier League.

Known as the ‘Geordies’, Hanwell were created by men from Newcastle working locally who adopted the black and white stripes of Newcastle United FC as their colours.

Redeemer sponsored its first Hanwell match in January when the team got a credible 1-1 draw against high-flying Poole Town thanks to an equaliser from Dwayne Duncan.

Now, we are going to be sponsoring a second game this Saturday (March 15) as the 15th-placed Geordies take on Havant and Waterlooville who currently sit in 9th.

Sponsorship provides a great way for Redeemer to reach a new audience and advertise our services both at the match and on a digital billboard next to the busy A40 road.

We are really excited at this growing partnership and would encourage you to get along to the game which kicks off at 3pm. Tickets can be bought in advance or on the gate.

Prices are £12 for adults, £7 concessions (over-65s, students, NHS, emergency workers, and veterans), £3 under-18s and free for under-12s. The cost goes up by £1 on the gate.

Some of our children will be mascots, and we hope to see you there – up the Geordies!

So, how do you serve?

On Sunday Pete was talking about how we serve.

Japanese football supporters do it by clearing rubbish at the end of each match and see this as a way of honouring their hosts and being good guests.
My mum did it by being the trusted arbitrator in our street, bringing harmony to her neighbours and offering pots of tea as balm to hurt feelings.
My sisters and I do it by caring for my mum as she struggles with dementia, patiently reminding her who she is and taking the blows and harsh words with good grace.
My team mate at work does it at a local school, helping kids to improve their maths and reading skills, giving up her lunch hour to give something back. 

It's part of our God-given human nature to reach out into our community and offer a helping hand, to give time to those who ache for an empathetic ear, to offer respite to those travelling through troubled times.

Jesus led by example and stated his position clearly - he said that he came to serve.  And to hammer the point home he knelt down and washed each of his disciples' dirty feet despite their protests. Even the feet of Judas.

When Jesus taught he distinguished between those who follow him by how they serve, because by serving the weak and disadvantaged they are serving and loving him.

So, ask yourself: how do I serve?

WHEN YOU SERVE

"When you serve,
start with the feet.

And when you serve,
get down low
with a towel and a water bowl.

And when you serve,
find your honour not over,
but under.
Not higher,
but lower.
Not first,
but last.

So when you serve,
don't wait your turn,
but push your way
right to the back.
And there you'll find
nothing to prove,
nothing to hide
and nothing to loose
but your pride.

Yes, you heard,
when you serve
observe his example:
Undo a sandal
and start with the feet.
And there you will be blessed."

2016: GOOD RIDDANCE?

As the year draws closer to its end, it's natural to look back and wonder how 2016 will appear in the history books...and there are so many historic events to wonder at!

The year of celebrity death

I won't even start listing them here, but 2016 was a bad year to be a celebrity.

The year of political upheaval

Just spend a moment thinking about what's happened in politics this year.

• Brexit
• Syria
• Jeremy Corbyn, Momentum, and shadow cabinet resignations galore
• The rotating UKIP leadership and boxing matches
• Istanbul
• Italy
• France
• Donald Trump
• Donald "I'd like to punch him in the face, I tell ya" Trump

The year of football

2016 was the year of Leicester City...for a while. It was the year that England lost to Iceland (man, that was painful to write). We had Sam Allardyce in that pub. And now we have a scandal unfolding before our eyes, and who knows what that will turn into?

Your year...?

How has your 2016 been? Are you in a better place now than you were in 2015? Or would you go back and redo 2016 in a heartbeat if you had the chance?

I've frequently returned to one thought this year. There's been a lot of change and uncertainty, but one thing hasn't changed:

God is in control.

If nothing else, 2016 has proven, once and for all, that people have issues. If we put our trust in celebrities, they will all eventually just die. If we put our trust in politics, the system simply won't work. If we put our trust in some random diversion, our only guarantees are uncertainty, disappointment and disillusionment.

But God is in control.

I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.

HOW MY LOVE FOR ARSENAL HAS COST ME

I have been a fan of the greatest North London team since my older brother informed me at primary school that ‘they are our team’.

I'm talking about Arsenal.

As a child, I wanted to wear the kit, had posters all round my room of the players and loved anything with their badge attached. Pencil case, rubber and ruler all became more valuable if painted red and white.

I have been faithful to the Gunners throughout the years...

• Drinking tea out of an Arsenal mug as a student
• Wearing the scarf on playground duty when a primary school teacher
• Instructing my kids ‘they are our team’
• Even preaching about the club at church - they are the only team mentioned in the Bible (Jeremiah 50:25)

Despite all this I still struggle this season…

I thought after the FA Cup final last year, and the sudden drop of form of Manchester United and Chelsea, that this would be our year!

Yet here I am at the beginning of May, still hopeful that we can make fourth place in the Premier League to scrape into European football again next season.

This faithfulness to Arsenal costs me - in time, emotion and money.

What are you faithful to, and what is it costing you?

I encouraged us in a sermon recently that Christians should pray, serve and give. So let me make that challenge again.

Will you pray?

Will you serve?

Will you give?