Family Church Southsea

What a treat. Family Church Southsea member Lorna shares nuggets of godly wisdom as part of our latest Church Value; Church Family. 'Growing Up' in the Lord, with Christ, is something Lorna has walked through and experienced over time - and is the first to admit she is still on that journey. Christian maturity is not about becoming flawless—it is about becoming more like Christ through patience, h...

In this message, we explore what it means to be God's church family: one body and one house, with every believer chosen for a reason and called to play a unique part. As each member does its special work, the whole body grows healthy, growing, and full of love, reminding us that we are called to be valuable contributors, consumed with service and not just consumers. Following the example of Jesus,...

Church isn’t just a place we go on a Sunday, it’s somewhere we belong. God is doing something intentional here; He intends us to be a family and we need to be intentional in building a home together.

When a pint of lemonade costs £4.50 and yet the world has just produced its first trillionaire, we can say economically, we live in shaky times. When it comes to finance, we are called to be bold in faith but also bold in our stewardship. Working with what we’ve got and giving from who we’ve got, we can live with a generous heart that gives God the glory and points people to Jesus. As Christians,...

When it comes down to it, who would we choose first: our brothers and sisters in country, in colour, in culture, or in Christ? When we genuinely choose Christ, we’ll genuinely choose each other too. So where do we find our identity? And are we a genuinely diverse church? A church of all nations is not the goal but a byproduct of our discipleship in Christ that we get to enjoy and celebrate! Unders...

It is time to draw near to him as he promises to draw near to us. Worship is not just our song but our everyday lives, even the mundane parts. Sometimes we are faced with very difficult challenges that can cause us to fear. Go anyway. This is our worship. He promises that he is with us and he will go before us. On discovering Jesus had been resurrected, the two Marys fell down in worship. Soon aft...

We say prayer is communicating with God. But it is even more than that! Prayer is communicating with God, approaching him as father through relationship, with boldness and faith to receive his response according to his will. What another fantastic message delivered by one of our Core Leaders, Laura. Laura's gift for teaching really blessed us as she took us through what can feel like an overly-fam...

We value relationship with God and want every believer become a committed disciple of Jesus. This includes being baptised in water, filled with the Holy Spirit and walking closely with Him. We encourage personal responsibility for growth through Bible study and desire our church congregation to love the Word of God. To love the Word it is essential to understand its purpose. Without this, its abus...

What are you remembering, that you should really forget? And what have you forgotten that you really should be remembering? Jesus used Passover as an opportunity to encourage us to remember what he did for us. David meanwhile committed himself to remembering what the Lord had done for him. And the prophet Isaiah tells us to forget former things. And then there's forgiveness. Forgiveness is not so...

Jesus is full of grace and truth. He is both. Fully. In equal measure. Both are essential and life giving, but one without the other is worthless - deadly, even. The woman in adultery was able to walk in freedom because of Jesus' grace given to her despite her sin. Jesus' truth turned the temple's tables so that the blind and lame could enter and be healed. Jesus spoke about the two sons where the...

Surrender, submission, sharing. This is what the new life of a believer should consist of. To surrender is to recognise that our new life is going to cost us our old one - just as the prodigal son was required to take off his old rags to put on the best robe given by his father. We need to know what it is we're still trying to cling on to. To submit is to recognise that we can't keep doing what we...

Returning to his father's house, the prodigal son saw himself as a servant, but the Father wasted no time in clothing him in the finest robe. Today - regardless of our past or how we see ourselves right now - when we come to Father God we immediately receive His white robes of righteousness. By His grace alone, the old has gone and the new is here and filled with direction, purpose, infrastructure...

Assistant Pastors Richard and Philippa arrived back home on Saturday night to then share with us on Sunday morning all about their three weeks joining missions in Africa. From Tanzania to Angola, the presence and power of God was experienced in their travels and reminded them just how much the Father loves and cares for us. It is from this position of living in God's grace, we must share the same...

Like the Father who ran to the prodigal son, our Father in heaven first heals our Spirit when we give our life to him. But he doesn't stop there. Mesi took us through how God heals and restores us spiritually, then in our minds and emotions as we put on the clothes of righteousness, and also physically as the Lord nourishes our bodies. Imagine going from desiring pig food to sitting at a feast! We...

What is Compassion, really? Do I Feel what God feels towards people? Are we showing others the same Compassion God has shown us? The new Family Church values have officially landed in Southsea. Core Leader Laura picked up the first value of 'People' and took us through what it really means to have compassion. It says that the Father was moved with compassion when he watched his lost son approachin...

We are a Church Without Walls at the water's edge. Pastor Andy introduced the vision and plans to prepare for our church family to prayerfully consider getting behind, in serving, financial offering, and bringing 'God ideas' to the table. We are in turbulent times where safe lives are not guaranteed and complacency is being shattered. So as we 'carry the ark' of God's presence and prayerfully stan...

Today is Vision Sunday 2026 for the whole of Family Church. Ps Steu speaks about the Mission and Vision of the church and introduces the six Family Church Values which will be expounded during the following weeks... We Value People We Value New life We Value Relationship with God We Value Church Family We Value Gathering We Value Commissioning Each of these is represented by a part of the parable...

If we truly want to live in the Holy Spirit and operate under the anointing of God and see signs, wonders and miracles taking place, then we need to see what He is doing.

Between your birth and salvation and the end of your life here on earth, what story has God written for your life? What is God's purpose for you in this time? And how does this interlink with that of our Southsea congregation? Indeed, God has you here for such a time as this. What is your response? What more could you be experiencing and growing in with us, and blessing and building the church wit...

Do you find yourself standing in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing? Can you stand up and stand out despite the cost? Whose shoulders are you really standing on? Can you stand humble, letting God do the work? We dive into the dramatic book of Esther as a way to understand what the Bible calls 'people pleasing'. We are by design social beings. But are we prioritising other pe...

Today was a momentous occasion in Family Church....Ps Andy & Gina Elmes passed the Family Church Baton of Leadership to Ps Steu & Carla Payne. The following words were written by Ps Andy & Gina... There are moments in life when you realise you are standing on holy ground - not because something is ending, but because something has been faithfully completed. After 28 years of founding,...

Why is 'First Born' so significant in the Bible? This was the question that stuck with Andy after sharing on 'Hagar Not Hate' a few weeks ago. We are the Church of the First Born. The First Born - Jesus - was there at the beginning and was the first to be resurrected into new life here on earth. As with Jacob and his father Isaac, we have received the birthright and the blessing. And just as with...

It started in the Rose Garden and involved a donkey. What sounds like a romantic story was, in reality, not. Or at least, it didn't feel like it at the time. And yet, looking back as Pastor Andy & Xel share their own testimony of how the Lord brought them together, it is clear to see how God authored their steps. Following from last week's 'First Love'; this is a story of a redeeming Jesus con...

We are all imperfect people. But when we make that decision to have God as our first love, it all changes. The above quote was the advice given by Arnel to the congregation, as Philippa rounded up a difficult but important conversation with him and Natalie from the sofa this Sunday. We continued in our 'First Things First' series by talking about our 'First Love'. Our Assistant Pastor Philippa sen...

This Sunday markes the first anniversary of the Family Church Southsea congregation. Also, its the start of a new series of messages titled First Things First. Ps Andy Bullock invites memeberts of the congregation to share testimonies as words of encouragement for everyone. He follows this with his own testimony and message.