Sunday 2nd September

Worship this week includes a number of songs and a rhythmic psalm, plus  prayer for teachers and children either beginning school for the first time, or returning to school. We will share bread and wine (grape juice) during Communion together.

David Beales is speaking from James 1. Children's groups continue upstairs during the talk - this week led by Richard and Susie Hearing (4's -10's) and David and Carey Watson (2's-3's).

Please join us afterwards for an informal shared lunch to farewell Mark and Naomi Snelling and Alex, Amanda, Naomi and Gideon Parker. (Mark and Nay are  imminently heading off to South Africa for 3 months, volunteering with a charity in Cape Town that supports orphans. The Parker family are returning to USA at the end of the month.)

The food!
John from Finezza Pizza is one again generously preparing a number of pizzas for us. Thanks John! Please bring something simple and easy to prepare from home to add to our "buffet" - eg sandwiches, salad, fruit, cake - enough for yourself and for one or two other people. Thanks!

5pm Barn Church
This week Barn Church will take place at Assington.
The minibus will leave Abbeygate at 5pm and return people to their homes around 8pm.
Please contact Isaac Lasky for further details 07429 553244
Don't forget to bring something along to share during our supper together!

Sunday 26th August

Many of you are on holiday, some are at Greenbelt Festival, so may the sun shine on you at least for some of this weekend!

For those in Colchester another action packed weekend is in store!

On Saturday mornings it's always a joy to see the Maths Club in action at Abbeygate Two with young people from 7-15 eager to learn and develop their understanding.

On Sunday this week, there are three local events-

Morning worship at Abbeygate Two 10.30am; following worship songs and interactive prayers, Isaac Lasky will be speaking in the last of the series on Ephesians, looking at the Armour of God, chapter 6, 10-20. Activities upstairs for children before joining together for the final song

International Christian Fellowship at 18 Hereford Drive. It will start at 12.30p.m and we will finish by 2.30p.m. We will have lunch, sing some songs and hear about how Holy Spirit works in people's lives. We hope you can join us. Do invite your friends too. Please let Enoch know if you need a lift- enoch_gen524@yahoo.co.uk.

Barn Church will be meeting at 5pm at Abbeygate Two.

And don't forget Migle and Jess on mission in Lithuania to visit and pray for a young 12 year old girl who has been undergoing treatment for cancer. They are taking the butterflies that the children made two weeks ago and will show video highlights by internet of last week's DNA worship. Let's pray for them at each of these events!

Sunday 19th August; worship at 10.30am Abbeygate Two, 9 Whitewell Rd, Colchester, CO2 7DE.

This Sunday is the third Sunday of the month so we are having a bring and share community lunch. The owner of the Finezza Pizza has been coming to our church I know some of us have been to his pizza place. We are going to order ten pizzas (both meat eaters and veggie)  from him as part of our lunch. So please bring food like green salad or pasta or things you would like to eat with the pizzas! If you do not want to have the pizzas please also bring food that you like! Donation is welcome to contribute to the pizzas.

love from Pinceau


For our worship time we'll be hearing about and praying for Migle and Jess' imminent trip to Lithuania to visit a child in hospital and bring greetings and prayers from DNA- and butterflies made by our children last week! We will send them out with faith and expectation that their prayers will make a difference and bring encouragement and healing.

There will be communion together and songs led by Dave Watson. Janie Beales will be reading Ephesians 5, 18-end and will be bringing her understanding of Paul's teaching about the roles of wives and husbands in a marriage- a controversial subject in 21st century Europe, but guaranteed to provoke interest and thoughtful reflection. Plenty to talk about over lunch!

Welcoming new students

Colchester Town Tour for New International Students at Essex University -11/08/12

Are you heading for the medal podium?

Sunday 12th August:
The Apostle Paul gives plenty of sound advice about how to run the race of our life in his letter to Ephesians.
After Naomi Snelling spoke about maturing in our spiritual lives last week, David Beales will be reading Ephesians 4; 17 - 5; 18 this Sunday to see some of the behaviours and attitudes called for among maturing followers of Jesus.
Dave Watson will be leading the music and there will be space to continue in prayer for the needs of the world. Katie Williams has prepared a creative activity for children which will be a colourful and fun reflection on God's creation.

Saturday 11th August: New Students Tour of Colchester!
Enoch Kunarajah writes: We are organising the Colchester History Tour (tour guide is our own David Beales) for some new students at Essex uni who are here now for pre sessional English...It will be this Saturday starting at 11a.m, from Abbeygate 2. The tour will be for 1 hr and then we will have shared lunch at 12p.m...

If you are free we would love to see you at the tour or come later at 12p.m to meet the new students and have some lunch. Your presence in welcoming the new students at DNA would be a special moment to many new students.. Please do come if you can!


Beacon House is making an appeal to the churches- please bring what you can to Abbeygate Two over the next few weeks:

AT PRESENT OUR CLIENTS ARE  IN DESPERATE NEED OF ALL THE ITEMS LISTED BELOW

CLOTHING
Men's boxers - Sizes Small and Medium
Men's jeans - Waist sizes 30 - 36"
Tracksuit/Jogging bottoms - All sizes
Men's trainers/shoes - Sizes 8 - 12
Men's and Ladies T-shirts
Ladies Bras - All sizes
Ladies Knickers - All sizes
Ladies Socks
Men's baseball caps

TOILETRIES
Shampoo - 200 - 300ml size
Men's and Ladies Spray Deodorant
Twin-bladed Razors
Shower Gel
Shaving Foam/Gel
Toothpaste

OTHER ITEMS
Sleeping bags
Blankets
Rucksacks/Holdalls
Biscuits
Cup-a-Soup
Coffee
Dettol Anti-Bacterial Spray

Sunday 5th August

This week, Naomi Snelling will be reading  Ephesians 4, 1-16 and speaking about growing towards maturity, illustrating the Scripture with her own story. She will also show a short film about the ministry she and Mark will be supporting for 3 months in South Africa.

There will be some worship songs, Holy Communion, creative prayer stations and news about Abbeygate Two developments.

Children will have supervised activities during the talk.

If you're on holiday, relax and keep safe! If you're in town, we look forward to seeing you.

International Christian Fellowship - 29/07/12

Sunday July 29th

This Sunday, 29th July, there will be a worship event at Abbeygate 2 as normal at 10.30am.

David Beales is getting excited to  be speaking about Ephesians 3, which is a magnificent chapter.
There will be music, open mic prayers, space to respond and an update and prayer for History Maker Foundation.
Children will have quiet activities to do during the talk.

International Christian fellowship:
"We will be having International Christian Fellowship next Sunday (29/07) at 12.30p.m. We will have a homemade Chinese lunch cooked by our wonderful Chinesefriends.

After lunch we will hear someone share how God is working in her life through her fears and worries, then Patrick will teach from John 14, which starts with Jesus' words ' Do not let your hearts be troubled'! We hope to have some singing too.

Please do invite friends as it will be great to meet people from many nations.

Please note this months International Fellowship meeting will at Betty / Sherry house which is
2 Alefounders Close, CO4 3UR ( first road on the left on Avon Way as go towards Greenstead)"
If you need a lift or more information please contact me on 07969210284 or enoch_gen524@yahoo.co.uk.

Sunday 22nd July

Morning service - 10.30a.m at Abbeygate 2.

This week Patrick Ramazani will teach us from
Ephesians 2:17-18
¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
There will be some children's activity upstairs.

Sunday Morning service (15/07/12)

Sunday 15th July - DNA's 11th Birthday! AND the Dedication of Sarah Ajaj.

Please join us at Abbeygate, 10.30am as we celebrate in worship, then gather with Raied, Souzan, Rania and Samaa Ajaj for the Dedication of baby Sarah, before sharing in bread and wine together during the Communion.
This week's guest speaker is a friend and colleague from USA, Jon Shuler, who will preach from Ephesians 1:1-14 on the theme, "Glorious grace!"

To be followed by:

Picnic at Abbeyfields, from 12.30pm 
parking outside the Colchester Arena Leisure Centre (CO2 7FZ) , opposite intersection of Flagstaff Rd and Circular Rd North/Napier Rd

Please bring your picnic lunch, something waterproof to sit on, and any additional friends and family who you think might enjoy the day. All are welcome.
Along with football, frisbee and any other equipment available to use, there will be some games and races organised during the afternoon for people of all ages!

In the unlikely event (!) that it rain, we will have the picnic at Abbeygate instead

NB Barn Church people will be invited to join these birthday celebrations with their families- no separate Barn Church this week

DNA Cricket

Cup Champions - 07/07/2012

Sunday July 8th

This Sunday, July 8th, Nick Brooke will be concluding the brief series from Mark's Gospel on Jesus' training of disciples. Check out Mark 6, 1-13.

Janie will lead music and there will be children's groups upstairs, with Isaac Lasky and Dave Watson. There will be prayer for our mission both at home and overseas- Manik Corea is back in town and we'll have opportunity to pray for him and his family as they move to a new ministry in Bangkok;  we'll also hear something of our UWM team's local activities and needs for prayer as well.

Please take a report from last week's AGM , which will be made available; this details the newly elected Church Council and some of the discussion that took place.


The following Sunday, July 15th, is our eleventh birthday! Following a celebration worship with visiting speaker Jon Shuler and dedication of Sarah Ajaj, there will be a picnic in Abbey Fields for all the family- a great opportunity to introduce friends to the community as well; feel free to invite anyone you'd like to introduce to the church.

July 7th

Manik Corea meeting:  Abbeygate Two, Sat July 7th,  3-4.30pm

Manik will be back in town this weekend! Many of you will remember Manik from his time in Colchester serving among international students between 2000-2005. He has visited a couple of times subsequently including being the preacher at our tenth anniversary celebration last July.

We sent Manik and his wife Maple out with prayer in September 2005, just a week after they got married! As a church, we have supported them with both prayer and finance over the years while they were studying in Singapore then working with Christ Church, Bangkok. Now they have finished their term at Christ Church and are about to start a new church planting venture in Bangkok.

This Saturday, Manik will be presenting news about this new work of church planting in Bangkok, Thailand at Abbeygate Two, Sat July 7th,  3-4.30pm.
You are most welcome to hear what is going on; prayer partners are needed for this new venture which is a direct spin-off from Manik's experience of getting our church started here in Colchester 11 years ago. If you can't make Saturday, look out for Manik on Sunday and sign up for the prayer letter. Sadly (for us!) Maple and their son Josiah are in Asia and not able to travel with Manik this time.

July 5th

Abbeygate Two meeting Thursday 5th July, 8pm
This is just a reminder from the AGM on Sunday for those who are interested:

Meeting to discuss Abbeygate Two

Where? Abbeygate Two
When? Thursday evening 5th July at 8.00pm
Why? Another organisation has made an offer to lease Abbeygate Two; what is our response?
What? Discussion and Prayer

Sunday July 1st

Redina Kolaneci is this week's speaker, continuing the series on how Jesus trained his apprentices. Her talk will be centred around 2 healing miracles from Mark 5:21-43. Naomi Snelling will lead worship music and the morning's worship event will include Communion.

This event will be followed by Part 2 of the AGM, from (approx)12pm - 2pm.
All are welcome to stay and participate.
Agenda will include nominations and elections to the church council, financial report, time for questions and discussion. Carey Watson will be chairing this event.

Please bring your own packed lunch (sandwiches etc) to eat during the meeting.

Notes for the Diary : Events on Sundays in July
July 1st- AGM part 2
July 15th- Anniversary picnic on Abbey Fields after morning worship.
July 29th- Creativity Sunday and International Christian Fellowship

July Sundays have special events!!

July 1st- AGM part 2
July 8th- History Maker Foundation event at Pancaldis in the afternoon- and Nay's birthday
July 15th- Anniversary picnic on Abbey Fields
July 22nd- Donau Gemeinde's 10th birthday in Germany- some DNA folk will be visiting
July 29th- Creativity Sunday

Discussion Questions from Sunday 24th June- the Wind and the Waves!

Questions for discussion (no particular order, pick three or four to discuss)

1.    Fear negates faith. Why is it so critical that the faith of his followers be strengthned?
    ref. Matthew13:58, James 1:5 - 8

2.    What do you think about Jesus’ verbal response to them? ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’

3.    How is this particular miracle a sign of the Kingdom of heaven?

4.    What do you think about Jesus’ methods of training?

5.    Read Romans 12:2 How relevant is this Scripture to the story?

6.    How does having faith the size of a mustard seed relate to this crisis?
    What might the outcome have been had the disciples exercised mustard seeds of faith in their predicament?

7.    The Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) reveals to us a God-in-community (Three in One). In Old Testament times people received the word of God when they gathered in tribes and as a nation, rather than as individuals. Jesus mentored his apprentices in groups of 12, 72, or in 2’s and 3’s, rather than as individuals.  How does this weigh up with the individualism of 21st Century Europe and the   West?

8.    Just as we put our money in the bank, we put our faith experiences in a faith memory bank. We can draw on these memories of God’s faithfulness to us at any time, to encourage our belief and trust. What difference would it make to DNA as a whole, if we created and kept individual faith memory banks, as opposed to developing and fostering a communal faith memory bank?
9.    In DNA what practical ways can we grow a communal faith memory bank, rather than individual ones, to encourage our faith and trust in God?

Sunday 24th June

Sunday 24th June - Creativity Sunday

Theme: How Jesus apprenticed his disciples - No. 3: Mark 4: 35-41 "The Wind and the Waves"
Dramatic story telling
Creative all-aged prayer activity
Children's Arts and crafts (in the main hall)
Interactive talk (upstairs) for the adults (and those preferring not to do Arts and Crafts)

This week the seating arrangements will be different. Following on from the story-telling and prayer, children will remain downstairs for their Arts and Crafts, with activities led by Richard and Sue Hearing, Jenna Chapman, Maisy and Georgia Collins. The adults will move upstairs and enjoy more comfortable setting for their talk and discussion.

PLEASE NOTE  - Colchester Foodbank need support
Colchester Foodbank is struggling at the moment, with a greatly increased
demand, and would welcome donations of food. The items requested include
long life milk, cereal, fruit juice and sugar (ideally1kg  bags).
Please bring your contributions to DNA on Sunday and they will be delivered to
Foodbank next week. Alternatively, food can be taken directly to the Big Yellow
Warehouse near North Station on Mondays between 10-12pm,
or at CCVS in Winsley's House during working hours.

THANK YOU!

AGM part 2 on July 1st

The 2nd part of the Annual General Meeting for DNA Networks will take place on Sunday July 1st, after morning worship.

The purpose will be to finalise the election of members of the church council; for this the electoral list will need to be complete, so if you have not yet filled out the relevant form please do so. You have to be over 16, baptised and/or confirmed and part of DNA for at least 6 months.

Church Council members will represent the Mission Units, Missional Communities and Servant Teams.