Hockley Pentecostal Church

Every now and then you come across a truly remarkable story. A story in which the love and power of God are revealed in all their awesome glory. Barry Woodward’s life tells one of those stories and he’ll be sharing it with us on Sunday 3rd May. To give you an idea of what it’s about, here’s an extract from the back cover of his book “Once an Addict”.

Barry Woodward was a drug dealer and heroin addict who once lived on the notorious Bull Rings in the centre of Manchester. This book describes Barry’s descent into the murky underworld of drug dealing, addiction, crime and imprisonment, and gives first hand insight into the city’s nightlife and music scene. Along the way we are introduced to some of the most extraordinary characters, and we see the extreme lengths to which some of them will go to get their next ‘fix’.

Illegal drug use claimed the lives of many such people, and it seemed inevitable that Barry would also succumb to the drastic consequences of his addiction. With devastating amphetamine-induced mental health issues, a fourteen-year heroin addiction, a string of broken relationships, and the threat of HIV looming, the outlook for Barry appeared very bleak. Then three extraordinary encounters changed his life forever….

Here is a pdf of the flyer about Barry’s visit. You can also get information from his website.

We’re coming up to the Easter holidays and I wonder what it means to you. For a lot of people you’d think it had nothing to do with our lives (except maybe an excuse to eat loads of chocolate). The reality is very different. Easter is a celebration of one the most amazing weeks that our planet has ever seen.

Two thousand years ago Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey in fulfillment of prophecy. Within a few days the crowd that had cheered him became an angry mob, baying for his blood. On Good Friday we remember how he was brutally tortured before being crucified. Then on Easter Sunday comes the biggest celebration of the year. Of course Christmas is great when we look back at his birth, but the Bible reveals his death and resurection as probably the greatest event in the whole of history.

This Easter we’ll be celebrating the fact that there is nothing better than God in the whole universe. He has the greatest love for us, the power to overcome any circumstances, as well as the desire and ability to transform our lives for the better. Not even death is a match for the creator of everything.

This Easter we’ll got all our usual services which you’ll find on the weekly page. We’re also joining with many other local churches to walk down Soho Road on Good Friday. It’s called “The Walk of Witness” because we’re all witnesses to the great things that God has done for us. The events of two thousand years ago still have a practical effect on our daily lives. There’s a few photos from earlier years in a previous post.