Liverpool: Roger Davies
For a sports nut like myself this summer has been brilliant! From the vuvuzela dominated World Cup (‘vuvuzela’ has now made it into the Oxford English dictionary) to the emotional rollercoaster of Wimbledon (isn’t it always when you want a Brit to win!) it’s been a season of one great event after another. And despite Spain’s World Cup win and Rafael Nadal being crowned Wimbledon Champion it’s been pretty good as a team GB fan too.
Best of all was our record medal haul in athletics at the European Championships in Barcelona. 19! Only the Russians (steroid enhanced?) and the French (unexplainable?) could do better. But we could have won even more if our relay teams hadn’t dropped the baton!
God gives a baton to every generation to run and serve His purposes with. Whether it’s an individual ‘born for such a time as this’ like an Esther or a nation chosen to ‘rise and build’ like the people in Nehemiah’s day, God gives each generation a sense of destiny and significance to build His reputation. Today it’s our turn. Today it’s our leg of the race. Today it’s our time to run and run it to win. Whatever we do, let’s not drop the baton! If you didn’t know already Hope City Church in Liverpool is on the move! From the beginning of September, Hope City Church’s Sunday morning 11am service will be right in the heart of the City at The Black-e on Great George Street (right next to the Chinese Arch. For a sneaky peak of the venue check out www.theblack-e.co.uk).
This is such an exciting move for Hope City Liverpool and it’s a bit HISTORIC. The Black-e was built as a church in 1840 and nicknamed the ‘third cathedral of Liverpool’. The last service at what was the Great George Street Congregational Chapel was held in 1967. Now over 40 years later the building will open once again for Church on Sundays. How cool is that? It’s also quite STRATEGIC. We want to be in the city centre, in a ‘city-on-a-hill’ venue accessible to all from right across the City and beyond. Hope City is a church for the CITY of Liverpool, not just a community within it, so meeting right in the heart of it suits us well. We think there is also a bit of a PROPHETIC edge to the move as well. We are making a statement that God is alive and well in Liverpool. We want to introduce as many people as possible to the hope of Jesus Christ and the life changing power of His Gospel. Being at the centre of Liverpool means we’re changing the city from the inside out.
To help you feel at home in our new venue we have loads of great events going on in September. For all the returning Students there are coffee crawls and open-mic nights in the city and lunches for new people after our Sunday Morning Services. We have more Connect Groups than ever before which launch at the end of the month as well as our September Sunday Night Live ‘rise & build’ special back at the Megacentre. Kicking it all off is a MegaPrayer night as we declare God’s purposes and promises for this great City.
What a privilege to be born for such a time as this. What an awesome sense of purpose knowing that it’s our turn to run the race to make God famous in Liverpool. How exciting to be one of those called to rise and build God’s church in the 21st Century. Unlike team GB we have no intention of dropping the baton. And we’d love you to be a part of it too.
Look forward to seeing you in church!
Roger & Anna Davies
Congregation Pastors - Liverpool
From September... Our Sunday Morning Services, are being held in a brand new venue - THE BLACK-E 1 Great George Street, L1 5EW. See you there!
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