CGC office

Over the last few months City Gate Church has been raising money for projects home and away. Families and Family Groups have been raising funds weekly, so that Fareshare and Fundelaship can benefit from the money raised.  Last Sunday we counted a fantastic £1076 in our Jam Jar Challenge! With a couple more collections due, we are excited to reveal the final amount soon. Thanks to everyone who contributed in raising funds! If you would like to find out more about Fundelaship and Fareshare, or add to our collection, please go to our Projects Page.

This Sunday we had Rabbi Pesach Efune join us, to share on Tu b’Shvat, the Jewish ‘New Year of the Trees’ holiday.

We started the morning with a light ‘fruit breakfast’ in the cafe, with a selection of culturally significant fruits including dates, figs and pomegranates, which are traditionally eaten during Tu b’Shvat.

Occurring on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, the day is celebrated as an ecological awareness day, and trees are planted in celebration.   The Tu b’Shvat is the start of a season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle.

It was amazing to hear how Israel is the only country in the world that has more trees now than it did 70 years ago!  A real encouragement for us all to keep planting and bearing good fruit.

Psalm 1

1 Oh, the joys of those who do not

    follow the advice of the wicked,

    or stand around with sinners,

    or join in with mockers.

2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,

    meditating on it day and night.

3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,

                                                                            bearing fruit each season.

                                                                                  Their leaves never wither,

                                                                                         And they prosper in all they do.

Ruth Valerio, Churches and Theology Director for A Rocha UK spoke today at City Gate Church on ‘Christianity in an Age of Consumerism’.