DESPISED (Video)

Watch our latest short video here. If you like you can download this video free in HD. Click on the VIMEO logo and once on the VIMEO site select the download link.

Video on Vimeo

XCEL Church now have a VIMEO video site. This is a site for sharing video. You can watch these videos here or go to the VIMEO site where you can download these in full HD (High Definition).

New Blog

Over the past weeks Steve has been sharing on the “The face of Love”.  Being grounded in the love of God is the foundation all all we are and do.  In order to explore this subject on a more permanent basis Steve has set up a blog entitled”Loves Excelling”.  We hope this resource will become a regular source of meditative material that will bless many and allow then to grow in their relationship with God. You can visit the new blog at www.loves-excelling.org or clicking here.

ALC Leadership Academy

Well hello to yall who may be reading this little blog entry! My name Is Dave Taylor and I’m writing to tell you what I’ve been doing with myself over the last year. Well, the end of august 07 saw me come to the time where I would move away from the misty Isle of Skye for the first time! Where did I set sail for I hear you ask! Well the destination was……Bradford, West Yorkshire, England……Yeah, no honestly despite not being the most glamorous of places, I really am going somewhere with this. And the reason I moved my life down to Bradford was to attend the Abundant Life church Leadership Academy. Hopefully you’ve heard of this awesome Church, but if you haven’t here’s a little outline. Abundant life Church is a modern 21st century Church that’s located in the heart of Bradford, it’s a large church, we have 3 services on the Sunday and at a regular service you could expect to find 2000 people attending. It’s a genuinely beautiful church, with a huge heart for their city and the world around them. They exist to serve others, and that’s exactly what they do, but anyway! Back to my year. The Academy is all about taking people and moulding them as people who can be leaders in there own life and in turn, lead others. Its about ripping apart and exploring some of the views you could have had about God or our beliefs as a Christian, and challenging those views so that you might learn to look and search for yourself and not believe something cause its what everyone else believes! So in that respect it grows us Closer to our father as we discover him more for ourselves. The way the classes work, is: We have 3 sessions that are an hour long each and they run from 9:30am through till 1pm and after that your time is free but on academy you have a service skill which is an area of church life you choose to get involved in for 5 hours a week (although its usually way more that and your usually doing loads of jobs at one!). My area was serving on production which involved all the stuff like setting up stages for rehearsals and Friday nights when we would have our 3 youth groups. But another area I was chuffed to be involved in was playing on the worship team on Friday nights! I played a lot of Guitar while I was away and there’s nothing like playing with other musicians to hone your own skills! Great fun! But maybe looking back on it, the biggest thing, maybe even more than the life changing, and I mean life changing teaching, was the relationships that grew over the year. I was blessed to be surrounded by amazing people for a year. Proverbs 27:17 says, ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’ For me this was so true, I learnt so much from not only the lecturers, but from the friends I made who chose to take the time to care and to shape me. We can learn so much from our friends if we choose to always have an open ear and a humble heart. So I guess I better be summing this up! Yeah, I couldn’t possibly get into the depths of the year but I will say this, if you ever think about doing Academy, be ready for a bumpy ride! It can be hard at times, but there is always going to be pain in the growing, but that is natural. And something I learnt, don’t waste a minute of it, push yourself, don’t sit back and expect to change, God wont shove a parked car! Come willing to help God change you so you may get out of the year all there is to get. Some of there lecturers are the best in the world and are such a pleasure and privilege to get to know. They will seriously grow you and expand your knowledge and understanding of God’s word and his plan for you! Get ready to be impacted!

Peace

Dave Taylor

Cherish 09

Waking up on Thursday morning, bag packed and ready to go, I couldn’t imagine what lay ahead that day. I was going to my first ever Cherish women’s conference in Bradford with a bunch of lovely ladies from Skye. This annual event caters to around 2000 women and offers challenges and inspiration for those who want to know more about living for G0d. From what I had heard there would be music from Aysha Woods, talks from world renowned speakers such as Christine Cain and Diane Wilson as well as pamper sessions, lots of cake and plenty of craic. What I didn’t realise as I kissed my kids goodbye that morning, was that we’d miss the train at Inverness due to being held up by demonstrators from Invergordon who were against a new incinerator. We ended up driving all the way to Glasgow! (Thank you John.) Like a bad sit-com we ran out at random stations on the way only to see the train pulling away seconds ahead of us. You can imagine our shock when we finally arrived at Glasgow Central Station only to find that our train had been cancelled due to vandalism.

Catching a later train, we finally arrived in Bradford and made it to the opening night. Amongst the gaggle of glamorous girls the Skye contingency had made it, looking more wild west than city chic, but we had made it! We were so happy to be there and overwhelmed by the mass of the event and the attention to detail. The event’s theme ‘Urban Angels’ could be seen in every decoration and we felt a warm welcome from everyone from the car park attendants to the speakers on stage.

There was a true sense of the Holy Spirit at the event and so much to take in. The speakers seemed ‘normal’ and genuine and their messages spoke of the power of women for Christ, the influence that women have and their special place in God’s plan. Some men were allowed in too and entertained us with songs, sketches and plenty of participation from the ladies. In addition there were presentations on Human Trafficking and other causes which we hoped to raise money for on our return home. Of course we also managed to pack in curries, shopping and sunbathing as well as plenty of time to chat and chill.

Cherish passed too quickly, and as we enjoyed a fabulous curry on the Saturday night we couldn’t believe that we would be leaving the next day. Next year I hope to go to Cherish again and I’m sure there will be more lovely ladies joining us. Although next time, I’ll probably make sure that there are no plans for a new incinerator in Invergordon and leave an hour earlier than planned, just in case!

Dolina Munro