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Things I learned on Sunday….

February 21, 2012 in church, God, Jesus, northern ireland, Things I learned on Sunday with 0 Comments

Sharing in worship with a different Church family/congregation can be a refreshing experience…..

We left Castlewellan after breakfast on Sunday morning with a view to stopping in Belfast and dropping into a Church service somewhere…..the choice is vast to be fair….but, we all said “Dave Clawson” at the same time when suggestions were being thrown around…..it was a sign from above……ok, im exaggerating a wee bit!

We love Dave……I could listen to him preach a lot more……..

The contrast between my ‘home Church’ and West Kirk on the Shankill Rd in Belfast appears huge….in some ways, it is…..but, in a sense we are just the same!

I wonder whether a visitor to High Kirk would leave with the same message ringing in their ears that, I had when we left West Kirk on Sunday?

It’s all about Jesus! That’s it……….simple!

It was ‘thinking day’ for the Girl Guides in Dave’s Church…..there were kids, flags and the national anthem…..references to the 12th of July……you know what I mean….the things that wind up many middle-class ‘christians’ in complex little Northern Ireland………..

And, it didn’t matter…..it was ALL about Jesus…..and everyone…..the ‘whosoever’ in the building were made fully aware of the fact that it was ALL about Jesus!!

It was a real blessing for us to visit…..challenging, encouraging, refreshing……..

It should always be ALL about Jesus…….on Sunday, ‘up the shankill’ it was!

[Rev David Clawson is Minister in West Kirk Presbyterian Church on the Shankill Road in Belfast - he occasionally blogs here]

Things I learned on Sunday…

February 13, 2012 in Bible, church, God, Jesus, Things I learned on Sunday with 2 Comments

In chapter 3 of Genesis the opening verses are all about the exchange between the serpent and the woman…….

What we call “The Fall” comes about as a result of a conversation………….. a conversation about God………..a conversation that questions, that casts doubt about what God has said……………a conversation that distorts the character of God………..a conversation that refutes the integrity of Gods word!

I enjoy conversation…………I enjoy conversation about God……………online conversations and face-to-face conversations……..on twitter………on this blog……..and over coffee….

But, am I guarding myself against the subtle manipulation we see in Genesis 3?

Things I learned on Sunday…..

January 16, 2012 in Bible, church, God, Jesus, Things I learned on Sunday with 0 Comments

“If you view church as some sort of ecclesiological buffet, then you severely limit the likelihood of your growing into maturity. Growth into godliness can hurt. For instance, as I interact with others in my own local body, my own slothfulness in zeal is exposed, as is my lack of patience, my prayerlessness, and my hesitancy to associate with the lowly (Rom. 12:11-16). Yet this interaction also gives me the opportunity to be lovingly confronted by brothers and sisters who are in the trenches with me, as well as a safe place to confess and repent

What’s the bottom line? Local church membership is a question of biblical obedience, not personal preference.” [source]

Not related to sermons from yesterday but, on my mind today………

Things I learned on Sunday….

January 9, 2012 in Bible, God, Jesus, Things I learned on Sunday with 8 Comments

Talking about the details of creation and the account we have in the book of Genesis, is potentially controversial…….

Within the Church, there is a a lot of differing opinion!

So, “Eden, A Paradise Lost”……a new sermon series in Church, might stir some questions and opinions…..or not?

“And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  (Genesis 2:8-17 ESV)

The thing is, I don’t want to open up the ‘creation’ debate on my blog………..

Biblical authority is a closed-handed issue though…….it’s no longer popular to say that we simply trust in God’s word as our highest authority…………….and, we could throw around our opinions on specific areas of creation and how it took place and just  miss this exact point…….so, perhaps the following quote better articulates what I am saying…

“……our Christian faith is rooted in events that actually took place in the world. For example, modern readers are often tempted to read the accounts of Creation and the Fall as fanciful accounts of origins that bear little relation to what actually happened in the early stages of human history. But a study of these stories from a historical perspective reminds us that Moses taught ancient Israel their theology by reporting what actually happened in those days. The same is true of the stories of the resurrection of Christ and his future return in glory. Although many people treat these and similar New Testament reports as ancient fantasies, biblical theology helps us see that they report what God has done in the past and will do in the future. Christian theology is not based on fantasy but on fact.” [source]

This is where I stand…….it was encouraging to have it affirmed from ‘the front’ yesterday…..

May we see God’s truth!

Things I learned on Sunday…….

January 2, 2012 in Bible, church, God, Jesus, Things I learned on Sunday with 3 Comments

Do “You worship what you do not know……..” John 4:22

We must and do worship something…………..all of us……………….. some of us “worship what you do not know……..”

Could I be in Church, ‘serving‘ and interacting? Sharing opinions? Playing an instrument? Designing promo material/magazines/flyers? Leading a ministry? Praying for people? Preaching?

Yet, worshiping someone/something I do not know………….

At the start of another year let’s ask ourselves if we know Jesus………and, if we are worshiping someone we actually know……….

May we know Jesus in 2012

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