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The Story we find ourselves in: God’s Grand Narrative
As people individually and as a body we are in a story bigger than ourselves, bigger than Redeemer 'Central', bigger than 'Redeemer in Belfast'.
Tags: Belfast, Church, Church planting, Community
Redeem:Men March 2010
Redeem:Men is an opportunity for men at Redeemer Central to gather together, enjoy friendship and hear relevant teaching. Events are run quarterly throughout the year.
Graceocracy
Forget everything you know about the parable of the good Samaritan. It is not a nice moral tale about a kind man who does a good deed by helping someone who has had a bit of a nasty turn. Nor is it about an arrogant priest who ignores a dying man leaving him to his obvious fate. It is a story about a different kind of priest, one who would come to end all that the earthly priests had been required to do.
Tags: Christianity, Church, CityGroup, Community, Grace
Community is not
I wake up each morning not knowing what each day brings. Although I am now getting out into the community and doing a job that I love (even though not my own class) it’s a whole different ball game and something I am going to have to adjust to. As a result of being ‘on call’ most mornings I have found doing community is more difficult because I don’t know what I am doing each day, when I get home I am really tired (I don’t think pregnancy helps!) and as a couple we make sure we have at least one evening or a weekend doing things together.
Tags: Community
Playing by the rules
Red:Writers is one of our excellent groups that meet around the city twice a month. You can find out more about red:writers here. Here is a sample of some of the things they have been up to. Enjoy!
The grass roots radicals
I've been hanging out with the tales of the early church as told by Dr Luke in his appropriately named book Acts. In fairness, by anyones standards the few months leading up to the beginning of Lukes writings were epic. The twelve disciples became eleven plus a traitor and watched as everything they had been told would take place happened, although to them it would have hardly made much sense at all. The king of the Jews, freedom fighting Rabbi, son of God, friend, companion and old testament legal advisor was now hanging naked on a tree. Out beyond the city wall, with the leapers, criminals and city rubbish dump hung everything that they had spent the last three years pinning their hopes on. It must have felt like the end, the twelve now eleven soon to be twelve again were in disarray, the great revolution had seemingly come to an abrupt end. The end it was, in one sense that is, it was the end of something old and the beginning of something very very different. It would take them three days to realise the gravity of what had just taken place. Nothing was ever going to be the same again.
Tags: Christianity, Church, Community
The way to happiness…?
I love tea. I love fruit and herb teas - not to say I don’t like the “normal” black tea which has become worldwide known as the UK’s preferred drink at 5pm each day (but that’s another post in itself!). I like to try different flavours - is that the right word? I was introduced to liquorice earlier this year. I love the sweet, have tried the root but didn’t know they did a tea. I find if I’m open-minded when I try different teas it can be an enjoyable experience. I suppose it’s like trying anything new, if I have a preconception about what it’s going to be like there’s a risk of being disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn’t sure about liquorice tea - it didn’t have a great appeal to me before but now when I see a pack and need more tea I buy a pack. I have only seen one brand who sell it at the moment (I won’t mention the brand as I’ll have to mention there are numerous other brands of tea available!). This particular brand has a motto or phrase printed on a piece of paper at the end of the string attached to the tea bag - does this have a proper name?...I read them then normally move my focus either onto what I was doing or drinking the tea.
Tags: Community, Life, Made me think
We are nothing unless We are everything
It's the way it all goes down in Luke part 2. The acts the Apostles do see a dynamic community established. The new followers first response is to be an everything people. Everything for everyone, in no small amount. You need it and I’ve got it? Then you can have it. You are poor and I am less poor? Then I will choose to become poorer so you can become richer. My home is your home, your home is my home, lets share a meal of bread and wine.
Tags: Bible, Christianity, Church, Church planting, Community, Faith
Privacy and community
One of the biggest subtle challenges to the gospel in western society is the cult of privacy.
Tags: Community, Life, Relationship
Meaningful engagement with random strangers
I popped into Tesco on a Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago to pick up a few bits and pieces, and I had a pleasant, but ultimately unfulfilled experience. I was strolling along with my little trolley, taking my sweet time, stocking up with fruit and veg, and balancing it out with a healthy helping of cheese and wine. Nothing too unusual about that. But there I was, strolling along in my own little world, thinking about the price of tomatoes, when I spotted this other shopper. A male shopper. A handsome male shopper. A handsome male shopper without a wedding band. No trolley; he was carrying a basket. Hmmm. Shopping for one. Interesting.
Tags: communication, Community, Life, Relationship
Put your hands in the air stand up sit down sing a song say hello turn around
Some time ago I was invited to go and watch the Belfast Giants play ice hockey. For an ice hockey virgin stepping into the home of the Giants, the Odyssey arena, was to say the least, otherworldly. I only have two ice rink sports based memories the first is of Torville and Dean in theatrical dress dancing and throwing each other around and getting all upset. The other is of the Slovak professional ice hockey player Miroslav Satan at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games. As young geeky evangelical pastors kids we had endless minutes of fun with this (a geek of course being a word derived from 18th century circus performers who bit heads off chickens, but that's another story) the thought of Satan playing ice hockey in hell was soon put to bed by the obvious temperature disadvantage that exists there. Although, as I was fast learning, watching the game, for some, may of course be used as a very successful form of eternal punishment.
Tags: Christianity, Church, Church planting, CityGroup, communication, Community