
15 people responded to the invitation to become Christians when I spoke at yesterday’s baptismal service at New Life Church, East Grinstead. There were 380 people at the Jubilee Community Centre, and my wife Julia and all 4 of our daughters were with me because it was my birthday and we had a great celebration afterwards with Simon, Gwen and Beth Elliott, who lead New Life Church. It’s now 14 years since I first preached there, and since then the church has pulled off a fantastic conversion of a huge building on an industrial estate, which is used all week by the community. More recently I have been thrilled to see Simon Elliott lead the church on a journey to become more outward looking. Simon has led by personal example in this and I’m delighted to have partnered with them in this. Seeing the Jubilee Centre full yesterday was one indicator of how far they have come. It was a great day, and tremendous fun too.