Positioned for growth: Making space for what God wants to do
A few weeks ago our Site Pastor Sonia preached a Site Vision message about the call for us to position ourselves for growth – the podcast didn’t record that Sunday, so here is a short summary of her message for anyone who missed it!
A few years ago now, my husband and I heard two words that completely changed our lives: “It’s twins.” Suddenly, we needed to make more space for our growing family. Over time we learned how to stretch our environment, adjust our expectations, and grow into the life we had been given by God. As our family has grown, we’ve had to keep making room—not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually too. Through the stretching, God has of course strengthened us.
At the beginning of this year, our Senior Pastor Simon Benham shared our Kerith 2026 vision (you can watch it here!) rooted in Isaiah 54, where God tells His people:
“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide… lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”
Although these words were originally spoken to Israel during a time when they felt abandoned and ashamed, God was reminding them that their story wasn’t over. Growth was coming, and they needed to prepare for it.
We believe that same invitation applies to us today.
When we look around our church community in Farnborough, it’s clear that God is already at work. It would be easy to focus only on future plans, but it’s important to recognise what God is already doing among us. New people are joining regularly, our Revive ministries are growing, and many are stepping forward to serve. Children and youth ministries are flourishing, people are finding friendship and belonging, we are seeing much answered prayer and lives are being changed through Jesus.
Across the UK, many church leaders are reporting similar stories. People are exploring faith, university students are encountering Jesus, and churches are seeing renewed openness to the gospel. While every town and community experiences this differently, there is a growing sense that something significant is happening spiritually across the nation that will ripple out from cities, to towns and rural areas.
Our role is to be ready.
The imagery of pitching a tent offers a powerful picture of preparation. Before pitching a tent, you clear the ground, ensure there is enough space, stretch the fabric wide, and hammer the stakes deep so it can withstand the wind and rain. In the same way, preparing for growth requires intentional action.
For our church, that includes some practical steps, creating more welcoming (and warm!) usable spaces, ensuring there is room for more people to gather and connect. You can read about some plans for that here.
But buildings are only part of the story.
True growth also happens within people. We are called to take intentional action also. To enlarge our hearts, welcoming all people with genuine hospitality and care. We want to be a community that is easy to enter – one that is open, warm, and inviting to all - while remaining deeply rooted at the core in faith and truth.
That means us strengthening our relationships, supporting one another in discipleship, and investing in our own spiritual lives through bible study, prayer and time with God.
Ultimately, positioning ourselves for growth is not about numbers or structures, strategies or new initiatives. It’s about keeping our focus on Jesus. In a world full of noise and distraction, the most important thing we can do is fix our eyes on Him. He is the One who both stretches us - and strengthens us.
So as we continue to prepare for the season ahead and what God may want to do through us, the question for each of us is simple: How can we each make space for what God wants to do next?