Stagione 12
Last week in our Starting With God series we were reminded that God is not dead (no!), this time Chris takes it one step further to examine that - as He is alive - how is He working out his plans? The answer comes in an unexpected and slightly daunting form: his plans are being worked out through the Church. Through us!
A potential criticism of Christianity could be that we all follow the teachings of a dead leader, interpreted and changed by human minds for 2000 years. But that's not true, and for one very big reason: God is not dead! In a return to our Starting with God series Chris looks at how that transforms our understanding of scripture and how we should be open to God's living Spirit in us.
Susan brings us the message this week from Psalm 23, leading us through a reflection on each of the different sections of David's most famous psalm. We are reminded that turning our hearts toward God in every situation that we find ourselves in is essential in keeping us on the right paths laid out before us.
This week Liz Kinsella visited us from Tearfund to speak both about their work, particularly in South Sudan, and also remind us that God can multiply whatever little we think we have and use it to create lasting transformation.
Chris continues in our Starting With God series by looking at David's declarations that God is his God. We see that what we choose to worship reflects our deep-rooted priorities and how we too can join David in his declarations.
We all know that there is a difference between learning about something in an abstract manner and experiencing it first hand. Having a stuffed animal doesn't prepare you fully for meeting one of those animals in real life. Chris takes that metaphor and applies it to God. We can learn all we like about him but until we truly have an experience of Jesus we can't possibly begin to understand what he is really like.
The true wonder of the Kingdom of God is something that is impossible for us to understand. In the next in our Starting with God series Chris looks at how the the Bible uses metaphors and similies, models that we do understand, to give us a glimpse at the indescribable.
Names are important. They can convey so much more meaning than simply what the word literally means. So what can we learn from God's name revealed to Moses: I Am Who I Am? Chris speaks on how through speaking His name God reveals part of his nature to us.
We've spent the last weeks in our Starting With God series looking at how having an intimate relationship with God is of ultimate importance in our lives. But in 1 Corinthians Paul says that striving for that relationship is futile if we don't have evidence to back up our convictions. Chris looks at the "reliable data" that Paul provides to show that what we believe is actually true.
In Psalm 119 the psalmist says that God's word is a lamp to their feet and a light to their path. In the next in our Starting with God series Chris looks at how the word of God is essential to our journey, guiding our way through the darkness of life and illuminating the true path to Jesus.