As was the case last month Paul will be ably assisted by Loretta Fenton & Ann Franklin. They will be drawing the teaching series Freedom & Fullness an exposition of Colossians to a close this month. The December diary is as follows:

December 3rd 
  New for Old Paul Anderson-Walsh 
[Col 3:1-11]

December 10th 
  Put then on   Loretta Fenton  
[Col 3:12-18] 

December 17th  
  A Graceful Family   Ann Franklin    
[Col 3:18-25]

December 21st
Grace Partners Dinner

December 24th  No Meeting

December 31st  
  An Open Door    Paul Anderson-Walsh
[Col 4:1-18]

Until Christ is Formed - Advanced Notice

[Pre-release copies available to buy online online now for TGP web users] 

As we prepare to bid farewell to 2006 it with great expectation that we get ready to welcome 2007. We begin the New Year with our first church plant in London outside of West London: Grace East we are so excited to see what God will do in this new work.   We have been working quietly behind the scenes with a core group who will help Hayley and I lead the work in the East and we hope that the new flavour that they will bring to the Grace Project experience will mean that at last we have a viable alternative to Grace West which we know for so many of the Grace Project family is geographically challenging. 

Working together with the Grace West Guiding Lights team we have reformatted the work in West London also so keep your eye out for the January newsletter to see what s in the diary for next month.  Grace East will be launched with a conference style teaching series based on Paul s newest book Until Christ is Formed in You" which says Paul is a kind of Alpha course for Christians. Don't miss this 10 week programme, which will be run on alternate weeks beginning in January.

Until Christ is Formed is the first instalment in a trilogy based on the phases of life identified by the Apostle John in his first epistle [1 Jn 2:12-14].  At the heart of our discussions in this series is my belief that Christians do not seem to grow to their full potential because their development has been arrested by failing to ever truly understand the nature of the Christian identity.  In this trilogy, I hope to demonstrate that as believers, we must pass through these phases Childhood, Adolescence and Fatherhood.  At each stage, we are to appropriate the tremendous life lessons before proceeding to take the next sequential step.  This linear progression will have the glorious effect of taking us from having confidence in God to becoming confidants of God, from being safe as sons to being safe sons.  However, these phases must not be rushed as though Fatherhood is the end goal.  That has been one of Mankind s greatest mistakes.  No, each phase is to be cherished and savoured with the destination being the journey. This trilogy is about that journey and, as we shall see, it is a journey into freedom.  May you embrace it, find peace and experience an ever deepening understanding of what is.

Paul Anderson-Walsh

Dr Steve McVey s foreword

 The Apostle Paul once said that we are each a work of divine art. His workmanship created in Christ Jesus, is the way he described it. Embedded within the lines, colors and shadings of our lives is a beautiful picture. It is a marvelous work of grace.
 

The Divine Artist delights in displaying the beauty of His grace in human frames. Paul Anderson-Walsh displays the very message he teaches in a riveting manner. His is a picture of how a Loving Father can take the pigments of scared little orphans and create masterpieces of grace. He encourages us all to know that what God so wonderfully has done in him, He is doing in each of us.

 Until Christ Is Formed is like the palette of an artist. With broad strokes that inspire and meticulous details that instruct, Paul shows us how the One who paints sunsets in the sky is, at this very moment, producing an even greater masterpiece on the canvas of our lives. The work of the Divine Artist will not stop in you until Christ is formed so that you display His image clearly.

 This book will inspire and encourage you. It will indeed cause you to feel safe and sound. Don t be surprised if you find yourself experiencing an inward sigh of relief as you read.  The three phases of Christian maturity discussed in chapters four and five stimulated my mind.  My emotions were stirred by a renewed sense of deep joy as I read the extensive description of agape in chapter seven. The tenth chapter is one of the best apologetics for the security of the believer that I have seen. I wish every new Christian would read that chapter within the first month of their new life in Christ.

 This first book in the trilogy sets the standard high for the other two. I recommend that you read it, then reflect on its truths. Then read it again. Like any great work of art, the nuances grow richer and deeper with each examination. May this portrait of grace find a prominent place in the gallery of God s church.

Dr. Steve McVey
President, Grace Walk Ministries

Thought for December

" The secret of happiness is freedom ~  the secret of freedom is courage" 

Perocles

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