Thought For The Week

CREATING COMMUNITIES OF WHOLENESS WITH CHRIST AT THE CENTRE

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18 July 2007

BIBLE

2 Timothy 3.14-17 – John 16.1-4a

How much have your read?
How often do you read it?
Have you found it easy or hard to understand?
What questions do you have about the Bible?

WHY IS THE BIBLE SPECIAL?

§ It’s the world’s top best seller every year.
§ It’s been translated into more languages than any book in history.
§ Billions read it each week in church and at home.
§ It’s teachings about God and humanity lie at the very heart of our culture, our law, education, healthcare and even politics.
§ But most important of all, Christians believe that the Bible is special because God speaks to us though its stories, histories, law, letters and poetry in unique way. If you want to listen to God, the Bible is the best place to start.

When people read the Bible things change, and with such a record behind it, anyone who is interested in discovering the truth should open and read the Bible.

11 July 07

CHURCH
LOVE IT OR LOATHE IT – BUT WHAT IS IT?

Acts 2.42-47 - John 15.5-11

For some of us the church is where we find our security, it is where we feel safe. For others it represents constraint and even repression and they never want to go near it.

Church is the people of God. This is why Chapels are called Chapels – because the word ‘Church’ should never [if you’re being pedantic] be applied to bricks and mortar, only to the ‘living stones’ [us] that form the people of God. In the Church of England we do describe our buildings as churches, and our buildings are often wonderful and holy places, but without the people of God, they loose their spirit and become just museums.

Brainstorm the words and images that you connect with the word ‘Church’.

Then brainstorm your memories of what church has been for your and your dreams about what it could be.

Are there any connections?

Is there anything that you’d like to feed back to the Ministers and PCC to inform future plans - If so email Mike Haslam.

5 July 07

PRAYER

Luke 11.1-4 - Matthew 18.19-20

Prayer can take a lifetime of experience and searching, or it can be so easy. Prayer is nothing more or less than talking and listening with God.

Try it for a moment - hold out your hand in and look at your fingers and thumb.

Your little finger is smallest and [probably] furthest away from you, so talk to God about the people who are a long way off.

Its hard to get your ring finger to stand up straight, so talk to God about people who are sick and find it hard to stand.

Your middle finger is biggest and does stand tall. So talk to God about the people who lead us, in our country, our community and our churches.

Your index finger can often point to you, so talk to God about yourself.

Your thumb can cover and protect all the rest of your fingers, just as your family and friends can help and care for you. So talk to God about your family and friends.

And now just be quiet for a moment and listen. And then say AMEN [which means, ‘I agree’]. And realise that you’ve just talked with and listened to God, which means that you’ve prayed.

You can find out more by going to http://www.nschurch.org.uk/home_groups.html or emailing Beth Brown.