Nearly 50 people gathered for the November edition of Café Church in the Itchen Abbas Village Hall on Sunday afternoon, where once again its mix of tea, cakes, hot dogs, outdoor sport, crafts, good conversation, worship, prayer and a talk proved both enjoyable and stimulating.  Worship was led by Tim Clapp, Alfie and Fraser and the prayers by Sarah Noble.   The crafts table was a hive of activity as gourds and pumpkins generously donated by James Greig were painted in a wide range of colours.   Georgie Walker and Jenny Crowther, working hard in the kitchen, made sure the refreshments were plentiful, with Jenny’s cupcakes (iced very creatively with cookies ‘n’ cream, hazelnut and white chocolate swirls) a particular highlight of the sweet and savoury sustenance.

Nicky Barber gave the talk, speaking about Jesus as the all powerful King of Kings, sovereign over the whole earth and heavens, and about the fact that through his death on the cross and his resurrection, we can now live in his Kingdom, which is itself the eternal, all powerful, huge, spiritual realm where God rules. For now that kingdom is usually hidden but sometimes we see it bursting into view when Jesus heals people, forgives their sin and raises them from the dead. We also thought about the contrast between this “kingdom of light” and the “Kingdom of Satan” (or of “this age”) and its associated darkness which brings pain, sickness, lies, hatred, pride and death into our world. Jesus has won the victory over the darkness and one day it will be banished completel,y but for now we live in a sort of battlefield or war zone where the two kingdoms clash.

In conclusion, Nicky asked people to think at their tables about two questions: Firstly, do we know or want to know the true king (Jesus) and is he “our king”, the one we obey even when it is costly to do so? Secondly, are we putting our energy and resources into God’s kingdom or wasting them on things that won’t last?

A recording of the talk can be found here: