As sure as December brings Christmas it also brings our annual carol and activity service. It was last night and there were lots of people of all ages. After the service was over we had the opportunity to join hands and make rings then walk round the Christmas tree singing Christmas carols. After that there was a great spread of treats to eat and drink.
As three elderly ladies were preparing to leave after the refreshments they commented how nice it had been to be all together and to see so many children. I couldn't agree with her more!! One time when I was chatting to one of these ladies I asked how long she had been coming to this church. This caused her to think hard and you could amost hear her working it out in her head. I don't know how long I had expected her to say but her answer took me totally by surprise, in fact it left me momentarily speechless. (Leaving me speechless as many people know is quite a difficult thing to do!) The lady replied that she knows for certain she was attending weekly in 1936 and she probably started here the year before when she moved to the area for her first job! That is 75 years this year, amazing!
mandag 12. desember 2011
fredag 9. desember 2011
Being and doing
As I finished reading the parish magazine from my former church I sighed as I laid it to one side, somethings don't change I thought. It can be both a good thing and a bad thing that nothing changes. Change should not be something we bring about for it's own sake. When we make changes in a church, in business or in our lives it is a good thing to spend some time thinking about what the motives for that change are.
Some change is both necessary and desirable, it moves us forwards towards our goal. We do however need to be clear over as many of the consequences of change as possible. Bill Hybels has said for many years that the local church is the hope of the world and I agree with him. The church and the Christ followers who belong to it are called to be different. We are called to be salt and light in the world. We are in the world but not of the world as Jesus says in John 15:19. We are en-route to eternity but we have a job to do as we journey. The English Archbishop Temple said "the church is the only organization that exists for the benefit of its non- members."
Change in the church should be driven by the need for us who belong to it to be better followers of Jesus and therefore to be able to reach out as salt and light into the world with the intention of bringing new people into a relationship with the Lord Jesus. Change in the church is often a heated subject and I feel relatively safe as I write this as we are not planning any big changes in the near future.
I believe the church is about bringing people to Jesus and then helping them to know Him better and live closer to Him. It is good for us all occasionally to spend some time reflecting over what we do and why we do it, as well as how it enables or hinders us in living out what Jesus has called us to be and to do.
Some change is both necessary and desirable, it moves us forwards towards our goal. We do however need to be clear over as many of the consequences of change as possible. Bill Hybels has said for many years that the local church is the hope of the world and I agree with him. The church and the Christ followers who belong to it are called to be different. We are called to be salt and light in the world. We are in the world but not of the world as Jesus says in John 15:19. We are en-route to eternity but we have a job to do as we journey. The English Archbishop Temple said "the church is the only organization that exists for the benefit of its non- members."
Change in the church should be driven by the need for us who belong to it to be better followers of Jesus and therefore to be able to reach out as salt and light into the world with the intention of bringing new people into a relationship with the Lord Jesus. Change in the church is often a heated subject and I feel relatively safe as I write this as we are not planning any big changes in the near future.
I believe the church is about bringing people to Jesus and then helping them to know Him better and live closer to Him. It is good for us all occasionally to spend some time reflecting over what we do and why we do it, as well as how it enables or hinders us in living out what Jesus has called us to be and to do.
onsdag 7. desember 2011
Coming ready or not!
Advent is a time of preparation, preparing for an event and the event is remembering that Jesus came into the world. The king of the universe became a tiny helpless human baby whilst at the same time still being God. It is hard to get our heads round the incarnation, fully God and fully human at the same time and on top of that a baby! We do not understand it, I am not sure we are supposed to fully understand it. God incarnate, God amongst us. Not only that it happened 2000 years ago but it is still happening now. Christians when they turn to Christ receive the Holy Spirit as a seal of belonging. Part of God, the third part of the Trinity lives within us. God is still in the world in us. This is heady stuff that we can spend time thinking about, meditating on it and as has occasionally happened through history arguing about.
Advent is a time of preparation. A time to prepare our hearts and minds to once again be ready. Jesus in his teaching also promised that he would come back, we do not know any of the facts around is return, not the date or time, Jesus himself says he does not know when but that it will happen. Only the Father knows when. The words of Isaiah, so often read in church during advent, are as relevant today as they ever have been:
Prepare the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
This text is quoted in the New Testament by Matthew in chapter 3 about John the Baptist but it is also relevant to us today. Are we ready for the glory of the Lord to be revealed both in our lives and in or world?
Christmas is coming whether we are ready or not. Christ has come and is coming again, are we ready...or not?
Advent is a time of preparation. A time to prepare our hearts and minds to once again be ready. Jesus in his teaching also promised that he would come back, we do not know any of the facts around is return, not the date or time, Jesus himself says he does not know when but that it will happen. Only the Father knows when. The words of Isaiah, so often read in church during advent, are as relevant today as they ever have been:
Prepare the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
This text is quoted in the New Testament by Matthew in chapter 3 about John the Baptist but it is also relevant to us today. Are we ready for the glory of the Lord to be revealed both in our lives and in or world?
Christmas is coming whether we are ready or not. Christ has come and is coming again, are we ready...or not?
mandag 28. november 2011
Uncomfortable thinking
This evening we are going to hold our bi-monthly church board meeting. I am to lead the opening thought for the evening and discussion. I intend to use this film from the Lousanne conference in Capetown last year. I do not intend to provoke a guilty conscience which this film clip could easily do but rather to spur us on into further action. Take a look at it and then think your own reaction to it.
http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/11432
The bibelt text I will also use is from Matthew 9:35-38. You are welcome to join our board this evening in thinking about mission and praying that the Father will "send out workers to gather in His harvest".
http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/11432
The bibelt text I will also use is from Matthew 9:35-38. You are welcome to join our board this evening in thinking about mission and praying that the Father will "send out workers to gather in His harvest".
torsdag 24. november 2011
Rather embarassing!
If I was ever in danger of taking myself too seriously Sunday morning would have brought me back down to the ground with a bump. As you will have read in the previous spot, we have had a weekend of meetings in Norkirken. Jørn Strand spoke to a packed church on Sunday evening, the main meeting room was full, we opened the doors to the cafe and that was full in no time, we had to also seat people on the balcony!
That is not what I am going to focus on today. On Sunday morning we had our usual communion service and Jørn preached. There were a number of visitors in church too. It was a great service and all went swimmingly until the final hymn. I announced it and as I did so, the two year old I was sitting next to took off her trainers one by one and handed them to me. She did this easily as they have Velcro fastenings. I placed them down on the seat along with some papers I had in my hand and the bible I had been using. I then perched on what was left of the seat for the hymn (fact for my non-Norwegian readers: Norwegians sit to sing hymns). As I stood for the final bessing I thought "Oh bother my microphone box has slipped of my waistband again!" It was only afterwards I realized that it was the trainers which had attached themselves to my bottom! What can you do but laugh!
That is not what I am going to focus on today. On Sunday morning we had our usual communion service and Jørn preached. There were a number of visitors in church too. It was a great service and all went swimmingly until the final hymn. I announced it and as I did so, the two year old I was sitting next to took off her trainers one by one and handed them to me. She did this easily as they have Velcro fastenings. I placed them down on the seat along with some papers I had in my hand and the bible I had been using. I then perched on what was left of the seat for the hymn (fact for my non-Norwegian readers: Norwegians sit to sing hymns). As I stood for the final bessing I thought "Oh bother my microphone box has slipped of my waistband again!" It was only afterwards I realized that it was the trainers which had attached themselves to my bottom! What can you do but laugh!
lørdag 19. november 2011
How to stress a pastor in four easy steps
1 Arrange a series of meetings with a high profile and excellent speaker who regularly appears on TV.
2 Speaker does not arrive by the time the meeting is due to begin.
3 Tecky who will run the whole of the computer system / sound system / a lot of the lighting / hymn and song words is delayed on a long distance bus travelling on a busy Friday and in bad weather.
4 Say 5 minutes before the service that Erik cannot lead the opening as arranged in case the speaker cannot find the church: "you'll be OK to open the meeting, won't you Tracy?"
As you may have guessed we got off to a bit of a shaky start last night but I don't think the church full of people noticed. I disappeared to my office for a minute or two and sent up one of those "now I really need you to come through for me God" prayers that we have all prayed occasionally and asked God how He wanted me to open the meeting. I opened with Isaiah 60, the first 4 verses. Later in the meeting I had the wonderful experience of the opening tying straight into one of the speaker's points, God didn't let me down that time either!
The Techy arrived looking somewhat frazzled one minute after the meeting should have started. I said I would stretch out the opening until he gave me the nod that he was ready and I could hand over to the worship leader. He was ready very quickly and we had a wonderful time worshiping God.
The speaker arrived during the worship and had time to draw breath and focus before he was due up at the front.
It was a fantastic meeting! Jørn Strand spoke powerfully on 2 Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." He asked us to think when we read this text "we have this treasure in jars of clay". Where in the sentence do we put the emphasis? It is so easy to put it on the "jars of clay" - us - and to forget that it is God's treasure we are filled with. The focus is on us and not on what God has given us or done for us. He continued the point by saying that all of us who know Jesus as our Lord have been given treasure in our lives by God and if we don't put it in a savings account but use it then God gives us more, we get filled up. His point was that it is in using what God has given us of his grace, gifts and goodness in our lives that we receive more of it! Like in the story of Elijah and the widow in 1 Kings 17.10-16 our pots of clay do not run out - God just keeps on filling us up. I often say God cannot fill up a pot which is already full, we need to use some of what we have to make room for a refill!
Last night was the first of four meetings this weekend at Norkirken and it was excellent. I am really looking forward to the next three! If you are local, come along this evening at 7pm, if not then I have a question for you to ponder: "Are you using what God has given you or have you hidden it away in a savings account for a rainy day?"
2 Speaker does not arrive by the time the meeting is due to begin.
3 Tecky who will run the whole of the computer system / sound system / a lot of the lighting / hymn and song words is delayed on a long distance bus travelling on a busy Friday and in bad weather.
4 Say 5 minutes before the service that Erik cannot lead the opening as arranged in case the speaker cannot find the church: "you'll be OK to open the meeting, won't you Tracy?"
As you may have guessed we got off to a bit of a shaky start last night but I don't think the church full of people noticed. I disappeared to my office for a minute or two and sent up one of those "now I really need you to come through for me God" prayers that we have all prayed occasionally and asked God how He wanted me to open the meeting. I opened with Isaiah 60, the first 4 verses. Later in the meeting I had the wonderful experience of the opening tying straight into one of the speaker's points, God didn't let me down that time either!
The Techy arrived looking somewhat frazzled one minute after the meeting should have started. I said I would stretch out the opening until he gave me the nod that he was ready and I could hand over to the worship leader. He was ready very quickly and we had a wonderful time worshiping God.
The speaker arrived during the worship and had time to draw breath and focus before he was due up at the front.
It was a fantastic meeting! Jørn Strand spoke powerfully on 2 Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." He asked us to think when we read this text "we have this treasure in jars of clay". Where in the sentence do we put the emphasis? It is so easy to put it on the "jars of clay" - us - and to forget that it is God's treasure we are filled with. The focus is on us and not on what God has given us or done for us. He continued the point by saying that all of us who know Jesus as our Lord have been given treasure in our lives by God and if we don't put it in a savings account but use it then God gives us more, we get filled up. His point was that it is in using what God has given us of his grace, gifts and goodness in our lives that we receive more of it! Like in the story of Elijah and the widow in 1 Kings 17.10-16 our pots of clay do not run out - God just keeps on filling us up. I often say God cannot fill up a pot which is already full, we need to use some of what we have to make room for a refill!
Last night was the first of four meetings this weekend at Norkirken and it was excellent. I am really looking forward to the next three! If you are local, come along this evening at 7pm, if not then I have a question for you to ponder: "Are you using what God has given you or have you hidden it away in a savings account for a rainy day?"
torsdag 17. november 2011
Looking forward
In many ways today has been all about looking forward. I have spent the day preparing for the coming weekend. We are having a series of meetings led by the well-known Norwegian preacher Jørn Strand. We are working with the regional office of Normisjon and are expecting a lot of people each day. There will be meetings on Friday, Saturday and two on Sunday.
I am looking forward to it but there is a lot to get organised, lots to put in place and countless potential problems to think of and deal with before they arise. I am juggling a lot of different things and am in slight danger of dropping one! Never mind, I love it really.
There has been a lot of prayer in the run-up to this weekend and I hope and pray that the meetings will revive people, blowing the flames of the Spirit into a great fire in people's lives. We all need to be on fire for God. Let me give you a question to ponder: what are you on fire for? Why? What are you doing about it?
I am looking forward to it but there is a lot to get organised, lots to put in place and countless potential problems to think of and deal with before they arise. I am juggling a lot of different things and am in slight danger of dropping one! Never mind, I love it really.
There has been a lot of prayer in the run-up to this weekend and I hope and pray that the meetings will revive people, blowing the flames of the Spirit into a great fire in people's lives. We all need to be on fire for God. Let me give you a question to ponder: what are you on fire for? Why? What are you doing about it?
onsdag 16. november 2011
A first!
For me this is a first! I am writing my first ever blog.Not only that but I have created this all by myself. Those of you who know me will know that I am not good at this sort of thing, I tend to ask one of my teenagers to do it for me.
The idea behind this blog is to write little and often about what is going on in the life of the church I pastor, Norkirken in Sandnes on the west coast of Norway. I am now in my third year here, before that I was working as an Anglican priest in the UK Diocese of Bradford.
So what has been going on this week? Well, on Monday we held our Alpha course which started with asparagus soup and home made bread rolls and the room was filled with a wonderful smell of fresh-baked bread as people arrived. This week we were thinking about how God leads us in our life.
On Tuesday there was the prayer meeting in the morning. This meeting seems to be growing as we now need to rearrange the furniture in the prayer room to fit everybody in! What a nice problem to have. The hour in prayer seemed to whizz by and after that we enjoyed coffee and cake. To round off the day yesterday there was a craft evening. There were 12 of us who were shown how to make candles by one of the Mums in our Little Stars group. I then showed everyone how to make soaps. We all had a great time with lots of chatting and laughing as well as making new friends.This is something we will definitely do again!
Today I have spent some time preparing suggestions for the children's session on Sunday morning. We will be continuing the theme we had in our family service which was based on Max Lucado's book "You are special". On Sunday the children will be thinking more about what it means to be uniquely and wonderfully created by God; they will be using bubbles, song, film, drawing, play doh and prayer. This evening is our House Church meeting and we are up to session three of the course by Bill Hybels' "The power of a whisper". The material is very good and we are all learning a lot from it. Do you hear God whisper to you? What do you do when you hear him?
The idea behind this blog is to write little and often about what is going on in the life of the church I pastor, Norkirken in Sandnes on the west coast of Norway. I am now in my third year here, before that I was working as an Anglican priest in the UK Diocese of Bradford.
So what has been going on this week? Well, on Monday we held our Alpha course which started with asparagus soup and home made bread rolls and the room was filled with a wonderful smell of fresh-baked bread as people arrived. This week we were thinking about how God leads us in our life.
On Tuesday there was the prayer meeting in the morning. This meeting seems to be growing as we now need to rearrange the furniture in the prayer room to fit everybody in! What a nice problem to have. The hour in prayer seemed to whizz by and after that we enjoyed coffee and cake. To round off the day yesterday there was a craft evening. There were 12 of us who were shown how to make candles by one of the Mums in our Little Stars group. I then showed everyone how to make soaps. We all had a great time with lots of chatting and laughing as well as making new friends.This is something we will definitely do again!
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