May we wish you all a very Happy New Year, and may the Lord be with you as you venture into another year. We thought you might appreciate an update from December, so please find our latest news below.

Super Saturday

On Saturday 1st December a team of us made the most of our town centre location to give away about 400 Christmas booklets and invitations to our Christmas services. Plus, about 200 hot chocolates were also given away. It was a delight to have a team of young people helping us and to be supported by friends from Truro Evangelical Church and Scorrier Christian Fellowship. The response to the give-aways was almost entirely positive, and it was a joy to be serving the Lord together.

St Martins Care Home

On Monday 17th December we led a Carol service in a local care home with a mixture of carols, readings and nativity scenes acted out by the young people. We were warmly received by the staff and residents and had some good conversations with people afterwards. This is the third time we have been into St. Martins this year and give thanks to God for the opening. There are also Christians in the home who are grateful to be reminded of the gospel.

Carols and Christingle

On Sunday 23rd December we held our annual Carols & Christingle service, which in previous years has been very well attended. Thankfully this year we did have a number of visitors, both Christian and non-Christian, but sadly not as many as we had hoped for given the amount of effort we put in. We will shortly be reviewing our Christmas outreach to help in the planning for next Christmas.

Sadness at St Ives

Christmas was also a sad time in St Ives since a 14-year-old local boy who used to come to our Tuesday Club took his own life. We had the opportunity of supporting the family, and also taking the funeral and cremation. It was a privilege to be able to point people to Jesus at Christmastime as someone who entered our dark world, was acquainted with grief, and who came to bring us hope.

Furthermore, the church is facing various challenges with people getting older, people getting sick, some people leaving, and so we are keenly aware of our dependence on the Lord and praying that his strength would be displayed in our weakness.

Getting fit in 2019

As we begin a New Year we are going through a 4-week mini-series, as follows:

• How to read the Bible, which is like eating
• How to pray, which is like breathing
• How to serve, which is like exercising
• How to give, which is like investing

The goal is to help us get up-and-running as we seek to follow Jesus in 2019.

We hope to see you if you are visiting this year, and in the meantime we would appreciate you prayers.

With our love

Tim and the members of Zion