Mission – Ministry – Life
The 06:30 train from Macclesfield on a cold Saturday morning is not normally something to celebrate but it was the first leg of a great day attending the Baptist Assembly. This year held in Oxford. The day packed a lot into a short timeframe and was a significant improvement on last year. The morning started... Continue Reading →
Following on from my previous posts about mission we used the Sundays leading up to Easter to run a short series called ‘Finding your way back to God’. This was based on the book by Jon and Dave Ferguson. However, as well as the book itself they produce sermon outlines, powerpoint sides, testimony videos to... Continue Reading →
“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you are right” is attributed to Henry Ford. But whatever its origins it captures something of the challenge of sharing our faith and engaging in mission; too often we think we can’t do anything so we do nothing. In many areas of life it is not... Continue Reading →
When preparing people for overseas mission reputable agencies train folk in cross cultural mission. To understand the language and culture of the place they are going to – and to understand their own cultural biases and background and the way they shape who they are. To be effective in mission, longer term, you need to... Continue Reading →
In Luke 10 Jesus doesn’t just send the 72 out – he gives them a strategy to follow. It’s the same strategy he gave the apostles when he sent them in chapter 9; it’s a strategy Jesus uses in his own ministry and which Paul and others copy. The difference is that here in chapter... Continue Reading →
Motivation is important. It is what makes you do things and is made up from a variety of sources. Some of our motivation comes from things outside us, for example seeing the horror of the migrant ‘Jungle’ in Calais, motivates us to do things to reduce suffering. Some of our motivation comes from inside us,... Continue Reading →
It risks stating the obvious but engagement in mission is part of discipleship. That’s to say that because we are followers of Jesus we will participate actively in his ministry; not least because he calls us to. Preaching from Luke 5, where Jesus calls the first disciples after their all night fishing trip had caught... Continue Reading →
I generally appear (I think) to have things together. But even though I know that’s not really true I’ve been completely taken aback this week at the power of certain memories. It comes about because our eldest, Matt, was off to New Zealand as part of a gap year; spending time exploring and learning whilst... Continue Reading →
Last term I did a preaching series based on Peter Scazzero’s book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. I read the book whilst on sabbatical and found it personally useful; it gave framework for thinking about and processing some stuff in my own life. I also thought it might give some folk in the church a similar framework... Continue Reading →
It’s that time of year when preparing Christmas services comes to an end. Or, if you’re not into planning, starts with increasing levels of panic as the deadlines loom. Finding fresh ways of working familiar themes is always a challenge but also needs care as, for most UK churches, Christmas is a season where many... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 