Our life together centres around our main Sunday gathering where we re-orientate our lives around Jesus Christ and all he has done for us. We believe God is with us by His Spirit as we meet, helping us to worship, learn and then to serve.
We spend time together during the week in small groups. Here we aim to grow in our faith together as we work out how we can live lives that are shaped by Jesus. Prayer is an important part of our life together, much of this happens in small groups.
Portswood Church’s buildings are located within a particular area of the city and we’re involved in a number of initiatives to share God’s love and Christ’s presence in the Portswood area. From Toddlers and families to the elderly and those without stable living circumstances we’re involved as God’s people here.
As part of the Southampton City Network of Churches we partner in prayer and other projects with Churches that share our commitment to Christ across the city. We’re also involved through Love Southampton with wider initiatives to bring God’s goodness and love into the life of our city, particularly where there are areas of need.
Church is not just about coming together. We want to embrace the mission Jesus gave his followers to make an impact wherever we are. We affirm the various ways in which members of our community live as Christ-followers in our workplaces, families, neighbourhoods and social networks.
In John 13:34 Jesus taught, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” The “one another” in these verses is a reference to fellow believers. A distinguishing mark of being a follower of Christ is a deep, sincere love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. The apostle John reminds us of this fact elsewhere: “He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (1 John 4:21). This is why Care for one another, is one of our 5 key values as a church. We seek to do this as a community by forming deep, life sharing, friendships and we have Pastors, Elders and a Pastoral Care Team on hand to offer further support, in those more challenging moments or stages of life. But our love must go beyond ourselves, it must go to our neighbour. Jesus also taught in Matthew 22:39 ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
At Portswood Church we seek to demonstrate the love of Christ, beyond our doors, through our partnership with charities such as Safe Families, Basics Bank and Christians Against Poverty.
In giving these commands, Jesus did something the world had never seen before—He created a group identifiable by one thing: love.
If you’d like more information, to receive prayer, talk to someone confidentially or think we may be able to help in some other way, please contact us today.
