Ever had those thoughts? Come on, admit it, I bet you have! Well, as I’ve been planning our next such service on 23rd June, it’s been helpful to reflect on the purpose of these church family times together. I thought I would share with you some of my ponderings, along with some top tips I’ve gleaned along the way!

Ready? Let’s go…

 TWO GOOD REASONS FOR ALL-AGE SERVICES

1. All-Age Services are a brilliant opportunity to bring the whole church family together and give children an insight into their parents worshipping.

Let’s face it family time is often squeezed out, with work demands, church commitments and the children’s extra-curricular activities. Worshipping together as a nuclear family, as part of a wider church family, helps to counter our society’s trend of fragmenting our families. But more than that, it should provide our children with the opportunity to see how we, as parents (and honorary uncles, aunts, grandmas and grandfathers), bow our heads in earnest prayer, how we sing praise to God with joy on our faces, how we receive communion with reverence, and how we listen hungrily to God’s Word.

As you know, it’s the Biblical role of parents to disciple their children in the faith – well I reckon, there are few greater encouragements to a child’s faith then seeing their parents worship God (Exodus 12:1-28; Deut. 4:9-11; Deut. 6; Psalm 78; Ezra 10:1; Nehemiah 12:43; Acts 16:33).

 2. All-Age Services are a brilliant opportunity to bring the whole church family together and give children an insight into corporate worship.

Isn’t it brilliant to be in a church family? To learn from one another, to see God at work in different ages and stages, to serve together? Well it’s not just we who benefit from it, but also our children. They are able to see that our faith is not a faith that you own alone, but is a faith that is important to all of these people who are gathered around them on Sunday morning. This only reinforces what we are modelling and teaching when they see this incredible gathering of people reading the Word together, praying together, confessing together, and singing together (Deuteronomy 31:9-13). They need to see the body in action.

I’m all for age-specific teaching, helping children and teenagers access the Bible in creative and relevant ways, but one danger is that it can make children think that what goes on in the church building is dull, uncomfortable, weird or irrelevant. Isn’t it great for children to see, know, and learn that the singing of the great hymns of the faith, the preaching of the Word, reading of confessions, corporate prayers, etc. is anything but boring. It is the gathered life of God’s community - appointed by Him, designed by Him, established for the ages.

 TWO MIS-CONCEPTIONS ON ALL-AGE SERVICES

1. Sitting still is unrealistic

Please know I do not make the above statement lightly – in fact, since my parents were asked to stop taking me to church when I was seven because I was so disruptive, I actually feel a hypocrite in one sense! However, while it does require a measure of discipline (what doesn’t?!), I honestly don’t think it’s an excessive expectation, especially as we seek to make All-Age Service child-friendly.

 2. They don’t take anything in!

Children absorb a tremendous amount that is of value. And this is true even if they say they are bored! By coming along to All-Age Services, children will become more familiar with songs and prayers and they will, they really will, pick up snippets from the talk (especially if you chat to them further about it afterwards).

 TEN TOP TIPS FOR ALL AGE SERVICES

1. Model excitement about the All Age Service

Children learn a great deal by watching you. If you reluctantly go to church, then the children will reluctantly go to church. If you are critical of the talk, activities, etc. then the children will most likely be critical. Wake up early on Sunday morning and prepare for worship. Let your children see your joy and excitement, and chat to them about why you are excited!

 2. Read the passage during the week

Check the news sheet for the passage and read it throughout the week. Chat over tea or during family devotions. The children will then be familiar with the talk text. With this knowledge, give them some things to listen for.

 3. Use Moments in the Service

Use transitional moments in the service to whisper in your child’s ear how much you loved a certain verse in a hymn, how you need to remember to pray for the sick person mentioned, or how you were convicted by that application. It keeps them engaged and allows them to see you participating intently in the service.

 4. Use the Obvious Helps

We often forget to use the helps that are already available to us. For example: have an older child find the Bible passage or guide your finger over the text as it is read for a younger child. Use the service sheet and show your children where we are in the service . Have them read the confession as you point along with each word.

 5. Sit strategically

Firstly can I urge you to sit with your children, rather than let them sit with their friends (unless of course they are in a Uniformed Group), since one main aim of All-Age Services is to enable families to worship together.

Can I also encourage you to sit downstairs and near the front, where there are less distractions. It’s also easier for them to then join in with the action songs and other activities, and feel more a part of what’s going on. Why not also be other-centred in your sitting e.g “Maybe we can sit next to this person we don’t yet know so well.”

For my mum as Dad preached, sitting strategically meant separating me from my siblings! Careful thought may also need to go into your family arrangements. Often with a small child, the best place is a parent’s knee!

 6. Create an atmosphere in your row

Encourage your children to pay attention, to face the front, to stand when everyone stands, to sing when they are to sing, to bow their heads in prayer when the congregation is to pray, etc. Don’t just ply them with sweets or a book to read – maybe just give them some paper and ask them to draw or write things they hear in the talk. You could tie it into ‘top tip 2’ e.g. have a check list for key words from the passage.

 7. Enlist the support of others in the church family

Ask another person in the church family lend a helping hand by sitting with your family. Surround yourself with folk that you have enlisted to provide you encouragement and not to fuss if your child is a little restless. Remember All-Age Services are an opportunity for them to learn and benefit as well as you and your children. (Honorary uncles, aunts, grandmas and grandpas will love an invitation to lunch also…. or they could invite you!).

 8. Stop Worrying

Many parents are concerned about what other parents or church family think of their parenting skills or how annoyed someone else is with their child’s fidgeting during the service. DON’T BE! It’s absolutely fine if papers are rustling, or a few things are dropping on the floor.

 9. Affirm Your Children

When you leave the service and are on the way home, affirm your children. Ask them questions about the service and relay what you learned and enjoyed. Encourage your children for when they were engaged with the prayers, singing, talk etc., and let them know how great it was to worship alongside them. Don’t compare them to other children but maybe set a target for next time.

 10. Be Patient

It will take time for your children to learn how to sit still, sing the hymns, etc. Be consistent in your expectations and desires for them during the service.

Paul Williams had given us the topic of the day - Prayer. This was one of the challenges Paul had highlighted at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting. For our time away we were asked to consider what it would mean to be “a praying church” and then both “how we might encourage prayer throughout the church” and “how we get to the point of genuine dependent prayer”.

Of course we could not, even in a day, begin to completely answer such questions. But we were able to start to think about these things. What was most challenging (and perhaps at the same time reassuring) was that every one of us acknowledged our own deep need to be more prayerful and to own up to our inadequacy in our commitment to prayer amidst all the busyness of life. It was at this stage I recalled that preachers of old were unashamed to speak out about the “Sin of Prayerlessness” - “What think you? Do you not begin to see that the sin of prayerlessness has had a more terrible effect than you at first supposed?” were words of Andrew Murray.

It was a good time, time well-spent, and began a conversation which we will pursue in the months ahead. Needless to say, the thoughts of the day were still fresh in my mind when I received this message from Kevin DeYoung’s blog:

The Church of Earnest Prayer

About that time Herod the kind laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Acts 12:1-5

Our prayer is often dull because there is so little earnestness in it. We pray as if no one is listening. We pray as if nothing will happen. We pray as if nothing were at stake. We pray without vim or vigour, without passion, without purpose. We pray to pass the time not to pull down blessings from heaven.

How often do we gather together with God’s people for the purpose of prayer?

If we are not often gathered for earnest prayer, we must consider why not. Is it because we do not have great needs in this body? Is it because we do not have fears and sins that beset us? Is it because there is no opposition in the world which threatens to snare us or no devil on the prowl who seeks to destroy? Is it because we are sure of ourselves and so self-reliant that we need no divine assistance? Or is it because we consider help from God to be so negligible that it is not worth our time to ask for it? Do we not think God listens when we pray? Do we not think he cares? Do we not think he is more than able to give us grace to help in our time of need?

What is the reason we have this apathy for prayer? Do we not see the critical importance of prayer? Have we forgotten what a privilege we have in prayer? Have we no confidence in the power of prayer? Do we take the example of the early church to be unreachable and impractical? Have we no sense for the blessings that await us in prayer and through prayer? Have we lost sight of the great glory God receives when his people pray? Who knows what new victories we would experience, what divine favor would be ours, what surprising providences we would enjoy if earnest prayer were made to God by the church?

God stands ready to hear us. He is eager to help us. His ways are not always our ways, but his love never fails and his mercies are new every morning. He who is omniscient delights to know our requests. He who is omnipotent acts when we call upon him. He who is omnipresent will never be nearer to us than when we pray.

We must pray, but more than that: we can pray. And God will listen. Why would we not gather often with the body of Christ for earnest prayer?

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

By Peter Collier, Pastoral Care Co-ordinator

in the picnic field off Cottage Lane in the Mayfield Valley.

All welcome!

Bring your butties, picnic basket and your neighbours.

A chance to chat and play and enjoy each other’s company.

~ Click here to find directions ~

The year draws to a close for many students and your summer stretches out before you. Many of you will be looking forward to home and other summer activities. On the other hand some of you see your course stretching on for a while yet. You may also be hanging around in Sheffield for the summer at least for a while yet.

If you are around we will be having ‘Lighthouse Extra'. Each Thursday evening we will gather for a meal and bible study (from 13^th June to 1^st August). This is open for everyone who is still in Sheffield, we would love you come and join us. If you are coming it would be great to know so we can cook enough food, although if you forget just turn up.

This year we are going to read a chapter of a book then have a study related to it. The book we are going to read is ‘Radical'  by David Platt. This is what was said about the book in Church Family News last year:

A summer read that is stirring, challenging, uncomfortable and may be just what we need. David Platt takes us to the radical call of Jesus to follow him on the road to the cross. Radical challenges us to see just how much western culture influences our discipleship and to see again the true implications denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus. 

If you are coming or just want to read along over the summer let us know, we will order books which will cost £8 each.

Peter Bramhall - Student Worker

Two of my favourite “bloggers” are Tim Challies (Informing the Reforming) and Paul Tautges (Counselling One Another).

I found this from Paul Tautges helpful last week:

Preaching through the Gospel of Luke is proving to be of much personal benefit to me and to our church. I chose the account of Luke, the physician and historian, because he presents Jesus in the fullness of His humanity - as the compassionate Son of Man who knows our weaknesses and carries our sorrows.

In preparation for preaching tomorrow, I’ve been studying Luke 4:38-44 this week - the account of Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law as well as dealing with more demons in the synagogue. Though Jesus was relentless to maintain the priority of preaching; the compassionate, personal care of our Saviour toward those in suffering is obvious. The following words, from Phillip Graham Ryken’s commentary, were a wonderful reminder of this personal care of our Great Physician. This lengthy quotation is Ryken’s answer to the common question, “Does Jesus still have healing power today?”

Since Jesus has healing authority, we should pray in his name whenever we are sick. But we need to recognize that God often chooses not to heal us. Some day “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Rev. 21:4 NIV). But we are still living in a fallen world, where disability and disease are part of God’s curse against sin. Eventually all our prayers for healing will be answered, but this will not happen until Jesus comes again. Furthermore, God often uses our physical difficulties to do his gracious work in our lives. The life of the Christian follows the pattern of the life of Christ, in which suffering is the road to glory.

Among other things, this means that we can never make our health the test of God’s love. Often Jesus has a work of healing to do in us that goes much deeper than our bodies. In his commentary on these verses, Michael Wilcock imagines what Jesus might say to us when he chooses not to answer our prayers for healing. Perhaps he would say something like this: “I could of course give you immediate relief; but I would rather take the opportunity to do something more far-reaching, which will be to your greater benefit in the long run. You will find it more protracted and perhaps more painful, and you may not understand what I am doing, because I may be treating disorders of which you yourself are unaware.” And what would Jesus do then? Wilcock says he would “set to work to deal with the needs of the whole person, rather than with the obvious need only. He may aim at a calming of spirit, or a strengthening of courage, or a clarifying of vision, as more important objectives than what we would call healing. Indeed the latter may not be experienced at all in this life, but only at the final ‘saving and raising' of the sick, when their mortal nature puts on immortality.”

In his healing work as our Great Physician, Jesus is concerned for the whole person-body and soul. Often he uses the hurts of the body to bring healing to the soul, much the way a doctor uses deadly chemotherapy to kill a cancer. Sometimes we wish that God would just hurry up and heal us. If he doesn’t, it is not because he doesn’t love us, but because he is working a better plan. In the meantime, we need to trust him to do his total work in our lives.

As you prepare your heart for the Lord’s Day worship in your local church tomorrow, consider Jesus, the compassionate and gracious Savior who knows your deepest needs.

(This post can be found here)

Peter Collier

Jo on the student team has recently finishing reading ‘Emotions, living life in colour’ by Graham Beynon.  Here are her thoughts on the book...

Within just a day (or maybe even an hour) we can experience a huge range of emotions, sometimes life really does feel like a rollercoaster. Maybe we wake feeling weary, we have a coffee and become more cheerful. But it doesn’t take long before we experience many more ups and downs; ranging from anger to awe, disappointment to delight, or even outrage to a sense of being over joyed. There can even be days when we feel as if our emotions have been erased, as if we’ve turned into a robot, numb compared to those around us.

There are many great things about emotions, but there are times when my emotions seem like my arch enemy. There have definitely been days when I’ve wished my feelings away, days when I’ve been convinced emotions are bad. Yet, that denies how God made me, as a thinking, feeling, relational being.

Graham Beynon’s book is an outstanding read, helping us to discover what it means to be fully human, putting our feelings in their right place as we seek to live and grow to be more like Jesus, loving our Heavenly Father.

As I’ve read this brilliant book, Beynon has helped me think through the right place for emotions in my life and how to view emotions from biblical point of view. I’ve been challenged to recalibrate my heart. The ways in which my heart wrongly values things instead of Jesus (leading to ungodly thoughts and feelings) has been rebuked. I’ve finished this book encouraged, spurred on, wanting to meditate more on God’s word to warm my heart and help me love God more, living in a way which honours Him.

Although this book is about emotions, you come away not wanting to feel a certain way, but desiring to be more like Jesus.

Whether you think your highly emotional or emotionally suppressed this is a must read! 

The Cross He Bore: Meditations on the Sufferings of the Redeemer

by Frederick Stratford Leahy

I was chatting to Peter Collier, the Pastoral coordinator at Christ Church Fulwood, about good books on the cross for something I was teaching over Easter this year. He recommended this one, which mysteriously appeared on my desk a week later. To tell you the truth I didn’t use it in my prep... I should have!

It’s only short (exactly 100 pages) but it is jammed full of really helpful and challenging thinking on the events leading up Good Friday and the cross itself.

Leahy draws on the wisdom of many others in putting together 13 short chapters (I particularly like the one on darkness) each taking on a different biblical truth about those hours that should be very precious to every Christian.

I’m often asked by young people why we need to talk about the cross and Christ death so much, I think from now on I might just have a pile of these books in my office to hand out! The author brings a depth of thoughtfulness and reflection that highlights our enormous need of the cross as well as emphasising the cost to Christ and in turn the lengths he was prepared to go to to rescue sinners like you and I.

I’ve used it in my quiet times over the last fortnight and it’s been brilliant. It would be a great book to have on your bedside table in the lead up to Easter next year, or any time of the year for that matter.

The Genesis of sex - Sexual Relationships in the First Book of the Bible

By O. Palmer Robertson

Who says the Bible is boring, old fashioned, out of date and irrelevant!? Sometimes I think we forget that God created us to be sexual beings, and as such has an intimate understanding of what goes on in our minds and lives when it comes to sex. Not only that, but he knows the ways we twist what he made to be good so that sex, not only fails to be a picture of the intimacy the church can have with Christ, but becomes an multi-faced idol that steps into God’s shoes and yet fails to satisfy.

Genesis is a book full of narrative instruction on sex. From Adam and Eve in the garden to the love triangle of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar to the lustful longings of Potiphar’s wife for young Joseph. Genesis is a book full of stuff that is surprisingly contemporary.

Robertson splits his book into six sections covering sex in the beginning; in marriage; it’s affect on succeeding generations; sin; singleness and the future. It is covers most of the problems and issues todays world struggles with, from lust to divorce, from homosexuality to loneliness. Although based on narrative from Genesis the author often strays into the New Testament to make his point more clear.

This is an absorbing and timely book that reminds us that, even though we sometimes don’t like to talk about sex, God still has plenty to say. A familiarity with such thinking is bound to help any reader at some point, either personally or as we love and care for one another. 

Not long ago I had the opportunity to sit down and ask honest questions and get honest answers about what it is like to be an international student at Fulwood. I had heard about how isolated and different they it can be on Campus, and that they really struggle to meet and especially make friends with British students.   But the great sadness for me as the conversation went on was seeing actually maybe that things are not that different in church.

Imagine spending tea and coffee time standing alone as other students formed tight exclusive circles? How about finding out all the other Freshers had spent the day together, but no-one had told you? Is it because people assumed they didn’t speak good enough English? Is it because they were worried they might have nothing in common? I really couldn’t say.

Cliques are natural: right?

The thing is, I know most of the students at Fulwood.  I know them as a group of students that are keen to be kind, to be working out their faith in love, to be inclusive.  So what’s going on here?  As we’ve been thinking about the doctrine of church recently it has struck me that maybe our problem is that we forget who we are.

Talking to a diverse church in Ephesus Paul reminds them that when they became Christians they also became the church.

“For through Him [Jesus] you have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently you are no longer foreigners and aliens but fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household… “ (Ephesians 2:18-19 ESV, my emphasis)

When I became a trainee here I knew from the beginning that it is my job to make everyone welcome here. Suddenly I had a new boldness to:

• walk up to complete strangers and introduce myself,
• sit myself down next to people I didn’t know
• to make conversation with people I hadn’t spoken to yet

And one day it dawned on me:   if only I had realised earlier that  that has always been my job since the first moment I became a Christian! So actually, yes, maybe it is natural to form cliques, but we, in Christ, have a new nature, and unity in church should look as supernatural as it is. We are...

 “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone”  (Ephesians 2:20)

I’m the problem

As a student I mostly used to turn up to church feeling like people really should make an effort with me.  It’s always much easier to see ourselves as the victim: I’m the most awkward, the least popular, the busiest... It sounds nice and humble right? But let me let in you into a secret: It’s all pride.  “I don’t want to look stupid and ask someone who’s been at church for 10 years if they’re new!”  “I want to spend time with my friends- I don’t want to miss out on all the fun by talking to new people!”  “It’s much easier to huddle with my group of friends and then mutter and grumble when I get home about how cliquely everyone else is...”.  Pride.

That’s why Paul says in Ephesians 4:2 to  “Be completely humble and gentle”  because that’s how we can start to ‘keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace'.   Yes, he’s talking Jews and Gentiles, but surely he also means the year group... the subject group... the friendship group... yes, even the national divisions we see every Sunday.

This is not (supposed to) make us all feel bad. This is who Christ has made us into and why we needed saving in the first place! That is the only thing that will liberate us from introspection and self-pity and allow us to look outwards - to one another and to Him.

By Philippa Lovell, Student Ministry Trainee

I’ve been getting through the little pile of books at the side of my bed while on sabbatical and thought you might like the odd review. Here are two:

Input output - Jo Boddam-Whetham

This is a great little book which should make your mouth water. It’s not full of recipes, rather a manual for new Christians beginning to get to grips with prayer and Bible study OR those of us who just want to be reminded of the hunger we could have when it comes to these things.

Filled with biblically based advice and thinking, Jo leads the reader through what God has to say about communication with him in a way that strives, not to make you feel guilty, but instead spurred on to just enjoy God more in our times with him.

Jo writes in a very conversational style, probably more suited for the teenage reader, but definitely not to count out more mature interested parties. The Gospel is explained and foundational, terms and words are unpicked and explained and what may be difficult for some to grasp about a Christian’s walk with God is made simple.

This is a book to read with your teenage child, give as a godparent or buy for that friend who is starting out on, or struggling with, their quiet times.

Lets talk about parenting (everyday advice for raising kids) - Tony and Judy Willis

Australians Tony and Judy are now Christian grandparents and have endeavoured to relate their experience and wisdom in the area of parenting in this thin yet very down-to-earth book. Written as a “chat between one set of parents and another”  the book talks of successes, failures, joys and heartbreaks.

Principles are obvious without going into great biblical detail, making this a book you could give to a non-churched friend who is sympathetic to Christian values. The authors emphasise the need to work out principles differently with different children.

Specific issues like money, discipline, school and sexuality are carefully thought through and there is a great section on “Responsibility and Decision Making” which helpfully develops an apprenticeship model of parenting that runs though the rest of the book.

If you’re looking for a book that takes a thorough look at what the Bible says about family then there are probably better places to go. However this book never aims to expound a scriptural view of parenting, rather a wise and practical discussion about raising children, from a couple who are obviously committed Christians for whom the gospel is central.

It’s a quick read that I recommend to you.

Gareth Wroe - Senior Youth and Families Worker

Stuart regularly attended the CU lunch bars.  People seemed so against the Christian faith that he wondered if maybe they were right and he was wrong.  He started looking things up and watching videos on you tube.  They claimed the bible was made up and Jesus didn’t exist.  He decided he should take some time out to decide if he still believes.  So he stops coming to church to see if he still believes

These are stories of students I have met who were plagued with doubts.  Doubt is not an uncommon phenomenon.  It disturbs people and cause emotional distress.  The big question is what to do.  How do you deal with doubt?

Martin Ayers' book helps you think about doubts and how to deal with them.  I would highly recommend it if you are struggling with doubts.

Peter Bramhall

The end of the Tracks means a new term for Small Groups. We will be looking at James together  - a practical and challenging book. The leaders had a Service Station on April 20^th where they started to get to grips (or better - be gripped by) James.

All this got me thinking though - what are you expecting from your Small Group this term? What are the dangers in your Small Group? Don’t get me wrong - I think Small Groups are (or can be) great.... It’s just that with all good things there can be dangers too (like a toothbrush and toothpaste - they can be great, but only if used in the right way...)

Here’s one danger to look out for this term...

Relationships:

Surely as Christians we are bound together in a new community of those belonging to Christ? We even speak a lot about being a ‘church family' don’t we? So what on earth can be dangerous about our relationships in our Small Group?

I wonder if we see our Small Group as a place to help us find friendship first, before we see the Small Group as a means to know God better? Oh, of course we still study the Bible and pray but we see them as tools mainly to grow our relationships with each other.

I wonder if we sometimes forget what makes a Christ Church Small Group distinctive? What is it that makes us different from Fulwood tennis club? Or weight watchers? We could join all sorts of groups meeting in Fulwood and agree to gather around a common theme - our common love of hitting a ball across a net, or our desire to lose weight together.

What should make a Christ Church Small Group distinctive is that we are rooted in the gospel of Jesus' death for sinners. We are united on one distinct and unique foundation: being children of God together through faith in his Son. If the gospel is not at the heart of the group, we may be a group of Christians, but it is not a Christian group!

We should be caring for one another (it is a joy to see Peter Collier working alongside me here in my office promoting that very thing!), but if our focus is on our problems then we miss the point. A Christ Church Small Group is not primarily concerned about helping people with their problems. Otherwise we become problem-centred rather than gospel focused. Our focus must be growth and not problems!

Our primary reason for being an active part of a Christ Church Small Group must not be to get closer to each other, but to grow in Christ. Indeed it is James‘ concern that: ‘... you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything’ - chapter 1 verse 4.

Let’s keep on track in the new term as we seek the growth of one another - James will see to that if we listen to him well!

“Ding Dong the witch is dead!” the placard above the head of a joyful woman announced. Other placards called her a bitch rather than a witch. So Britain reacted to Margaret Thatcher’s death.

The sight of people singing and dancing in street parties celebrating somebody’s death immediately appalled me. Photographs suddenly were everywhere on the media. I had to remind myself that photograph journalism was usually deceptive. A close-up of 30 people in a city of millions hardly represents the viewpoint of society. It’s a vivid image, a powerful image, the kind of image that any subeditor will find irresistible. But is it a true representation of the community’s reaction? Yet, even if it represents only a small part of society, I am still appalled.

It is not that I have particularly strong feelings concerning Margaret Thatcher. She was the British Prime Minister not the Australian. Her Falklands war was the 1st British conflict in over 100 years that didn’t involve Australia. Her battles with the miners, the Irish, the working class and socialism were on the other side of the world. She brought about significant change and so inevitably had admirers and critics. I do not profess to be in any of these camps. I can see the good that she did as I can see the damage as well. However, it was amazing to see the depth of hatred that was still in the community 20 years after she had left office. And I was appalled to see such gleeful hatred on the day of her death.

Pondering this phenomenon I remembered the joy expressed at a press conference when Saddam Hussein was executed. It may be a moral failure on my part but unlike my attitude towards Margaret Thatcher I did feel Saddam Hussein was a monster. But I recall being a little surprised that his execution should be greeted quite so joyfully and put it down to the immediacy of the hurt that those journalists had experienced.

Then suddenly the sense of my hypocrisy came home. I recalled the moment when I heard that Pol Pot died. I was alone at my desk when the announcement came over the radio. Immediately, as if in a knee-jerk reaction, I called out in a loud voice: “Good!” As soon as the word left my mouth, I wondered at my reaction. Yes, I had Cambodian friends who had suffered terribly at the hands of that atheistic monster. Yes, I had a developed attitude and strong feelings about his evil rule. But is it right to rejoice in the death of a sinner?

There is a long history of people expressing their hatred by defiling dead bodies. Apart from the grisly ugliness of the body snatching industry, there is the purposeful desecration of enemies. From Homer’s Iliad with Achilles mistreatment of Hector’s body to Vlad’s appalling impaling of his foes, to the American marines in Afghanistan last year, the desecration of defeated foes has been condemned by all and sundry. The Muslims condemned mutilating dead bodies in the seventh century as the Geneva conventions declared that bodies must not be despoiled in the twentieth century. Such a tabooed activity is not limited to military action; political enemies have also suffered public exposure and denigration. Charles II had Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton, posthumously executed, publicly hung until late afternoon and then put their heads on a spike above Westminster Hall; the bodies of Mussilini, his associates and mistress were abused before being hung upside down to public display and contempt. The Bible speaks of the horror of defiling corpses (Deuteronomy 28:26, 1 Samuel 17:44-46). David rewarded Rizpah for protecting the bodies of her executed sons (2 Samuel 21:7ff), just as God condemned the Moabites for burning to lime the bones of the King of Edom (Amos 2:1-3).

I doubt if anybody is planning to desecrate the body of Margaret Thatcher, but to rejoice in another person’s death stems from the same disregard of the commandment: “you shall not murder.” It’s very natural for people who have suffered grave injustice to wish the capital punishment of the perpetrators. We want vengeance, but “Vengeance is mine. I will repay; says the Lord” (Romans 12:19). Our sinfulness compromises our ability to sit in judgement on others. God alone can be trusted with death, for he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the sinner would repent and find forgiveness (Ezekiel 18:23). 

While death is the wages that sin pays (Romans 6:23), the desecration of the dead and the joy in somebody’s demise, indicate the desire for more justice than simply death. Some Australians opposed the Indonesian execution of the Bali Bombers, not because of opposition to capital punishment but because death was insufficient punishment. The same disappointment was expressed when Pol Pot died without ever being brought to trial or punished for his crimes. If all that such murderers get is the death we all get, where is the punishment for their crimes or the justice for their victims?

However, nobody ‘gets away with it' with God. There is a judgement beyond the grave; as the Scriptures says “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgement” (Hebrews 9:27), and “we must all appear before the judgement seat” of God and Christ (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

So should we rejoice in another’s death? It certainly is understandable in the extreme cases of evil or when we have been personally abused by somebody’s sinfulness. Yet it ill behooves sinners, such as ourselves, to clamour too loudly for justice. Our great need is not judgement but mercy. The great news of the gospel is that by his death and resurrection, Jesus has brought us not only forgiveness and pardon but also new and eternal life - for while “the wages of sin is death, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Copyright (2013) phillipjensen.com Reproduced with permission from phillipjensen.com

It’d be great for anyone to have another listen.

At Christ Church Fulwood we will soon begin another Christianity Explored Course - starting on Tuesday 30th April at 7.15 pm, lasting for 7 weeks.

The last few courses have been great fun. We’ve gathered together with people of all ages, shared a great meal together and had the opportunity to openly chat through people’s questions, while taking a closer look at one of the historical accounts of Jesus' life, in Mark’s Gospel. You won’t be asked to sing, pray or read anything outloud and you don’t have to know anything about the Bible to come along.

Find out more about the courses running at Christ Church, and sign up, by looking at our Christianity Explored page. There are also some great videos, real life stories and information about Christianity available on the Christianity Explored website.

CE courses run all over the country, so if you’re not in Sheffield, why not find a Christianity Explored Course near you?

As we approach Easter, why not listen to the recent morning service sermon series 'On The Way To The Cross', looking at Mark’s Gospel.

If so, you are more than welcome to attend a service of remembrance at Christ Church Fulwood, which will be followed by refreshments in the Church Centre. 

Memorial Service

Sunday 24th March 2013 at 3.00 pm

RSVP to Rebecca Harris, Christ Church Fulwood, Canterbury Avenue, Sheffield S10 3RT or email rebecca@fulwoodchurch.co.uk if you would like to attend. In your reply, please include the full name of the person being remembered as well has the number of people you expect to attend the service.

Mo Bro Days, Many Butty Deliveries or Mountain Biking Dads?  MBD has seen something of all these activities during the past year.  Whether it was sharing tales of failed attempts at facial growth in Movember’s MBD meeting, munching bacon butties or whizzing along the Monsal Trail on bikes, tag-a-longs and trailers in the summer family social, 2012 was GREAT fun for Men Behaving Dadly and their newborns to 6 year old children. 

It was also great to host a special guest last August.  In her final month of many years of ministry here at Christ Church Fulwood, Kate Selby finally fulfilled her long standing ambition to attend MBD.  She summed up the thoughts of many wives who benefit from a child and husband free morning once a month when she commented, “I bet the mums love this” and "I can’t believe how so many men can look after so many children while eating a bacon butty and holding a conversation - ALL AT THE SAME TIME - amazing!!'

Whilst it was sad to see a few drift away as their children outgrew the group, MBD was richly blessed as it welcomed some NKOTB (and there’s always room for more!).  2013 promises to be a momentous year for MBD as we celebrate our 100^th meeting and welcome our 1000^th visitor.   Wouldn’t it be great if the 1000^th visitor could be a dad who crosses the church threshold for the first time, becomes interested in finding out more about the Lord Jesus through natural conversations within the group, thereby sowing the seeds of faith for the future?  After all MBD is as much about church family ministry as it is socialising and bacon butties!

The Christian Evangelist, Billy Graham, famously said, “A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.”  I’ve never met a dad who doesn’t want to be a ‘good father‘ and it would be a brave man who would say that he could achieve this entirely on his own.  So my prayer is that MBD would continue to offer just one of many ways in which dads can share their fatherhood experiences and spend quality time with their children, whilst seeking the guidance of, and giving thanks to God, the best ‘Good Father’ of all.

By Rob Shenton

To find out more about Men Behaving Dadly take a look at their webpage, or look through the calendar to see when it is next on.

This development is wonderful news, not only for our brothers and sisters at Christ Church Walkley, but also for the city of Sheffield which so needs to hear the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2013/02/18/ordination-in-kenya-of-minister-in-anglican-church-plant-in-sheffield/

If you have joined the Electoral Roll on a previous occasion, and wish to remain on the roll, you must re-submit a completed form.

Find out more information or download a form here.

The song is a setting of Paul’s hymn of praise from Ephesians 1 and it’s great to see how faithful the song is to God’s word. Kauflin and Chester have skilfully and wisely crafted the lyrics so that we can sing from exactly the same hymn sheet as Paul. Some of the themes highlighted in both the passage and the song include: our spiritual blessings in Christ, our adoption in Christ, our redemption through Christ’s sacrifice and our inheritance in Christ guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. You can clearly see how this plays out with the passage split up around the lyrics below:

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ...

Come praise and glorify our God 

The Father of our Lord 

In Christ He has in heav’nly realms 

His blessings on us poured 

For pure and blameless in His sight 

He destined us to be 

And now we’ve been adopted through 

His Son eternally

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment-to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

Come praise and glorify our God 

Who gives His grace in Christ 

In Him our sins are washed away 

Redeemed through sacrifice 

In Him God has made known to us 

The myst’ry of His will 

That Christ should be the head of all 

His purpose to fulfill

13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-to the praise of his glory.

Come praise and glorify our God 

For we’ve believed the Word 

And through our faith we have a seal 

The Spirit of the Lord 

The Spirit guarantees our hope 

Until redemption’s done 

Until we join in endless praise 

To God, the Three in One   

To the praise of Your glory 

To the praise of Your mercy and grace 

To the praise of Your glory 

You are the God who saves

We first introduced this song in 2012 and I must admit it has been a grower. At first hearing I thought it was a good song but it didn’t instantly grab my attention. However, since realising how blatantly biblical the lyrics are, I have grown to love it.

Musically, I think the song is excellent. I love the way that it uses refreshing chord progressions (the second bar jumps to chord VII of the relative minor!) and has a melody with a modal feel, supporting the words really well. We’ve found it really easy to sing congregationally, with people picking it up quickly and using it to encourage each other and praise God joyfully.

It’s a great song to sing at the start of a service as it is a call to corporate praise, reminding us of great truths about our God, with the chorus allowing his redeemed people to praise him for his mercy and grace, shown to us in Christ.

Matt Dennis, Music Ministry Trainee

There is plenty going on at Christ Church Fulwood over Christmas. Take a look here to find out more details!

1. It is God Centred

You’re rich in love and you’re slow to anger

Your name is great and your heart is kind

For all your goodness I will keep on singing

This song causes us to remember the goodness, kindness and holiness of God, and that our right response is to worship Him.

2. It’s biblical

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul;

Worship His holy name.

Sing like never before,

O my soul; I’ll worship Your Holy name

You can’t help thinking that this song sounds as if it’s taken straight from the psalms, and that’s because in many ways it has...

Psalm 103: 1-5 (ESV)

"Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me bless his holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

who redeems you life from the pit,

who crowns your life with steadfast

love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed

like the  eagle’s." 

Matt Redman explains how this song basically flowed out from his meditation on Psalm 103, where he was struck by how David can’t help but overflow with praise for all God has done.

(see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yPzETBreaU for a video of Matt Redman talking about the song)

3. It reminds us why we praise

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

Like David, we have so many reasons to ‘Bless the Lord'. He is so good and so worthy, we will never run out of reasons to glorify the Lord, for 10,000 years and forevermore. And in this way the song can point us to Jesus, just think for a moment about all that Christ has accomplished and all we have in Him - the love and kindness God showed us in Christ gives us more than enough reasons to sing! 

4. It preaches to ourselves

Bless the Lord, O my Soul!

When we sing this song we are calling our souls to praise - it reminds us to bless the Lord with everything, from the soul, and from the heart, and not merely with our mouths, something that Jesus condemns as hypocrisy (Matthew 15:8).   

5. It’s realistic about life

Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me

It’s realistic about the joys and challenges of life. This song reminds us that whatever happens, whether good or bad, hard or easy, it is right to still sing of the Lord’s goodness and praise Him.

6. It’s singable

It’s simple and singable (that is if you take it down a couple of keys, we do it in D)

7. It’s memorable

The chorus is especially engrained on my mind, and frequently I find myself singing it. Wouldn’t it be great if those in our congregations remembered that refrain from a Sunday and responded to themselves calling their souls to ‘bless the Lord' throughout the week.

Whether you like it or not your children may get invited to dress up and attend Halloween parties, and well made up monsters will arrive at your door shouting “trick or treat!”

What should we do? What is a measured reaction? And how do we stay godly and witness well at the end of October? Here’s a few ideas from one helpful blog I read from Ed Drew at Dundonald Church:

PLEASE NOTE the tract mentioned will be available for a couple of weekends before Halloween

1) Don’t over react

I would guess that very, very few of those we know think it’s much more than a bit of harmless fun. We can appreciate that most of those who dress up, go to parties or go knocking on doors, are children who don’t know better. We can be gentle in how we approach those who are celebrating Halloween.

2) As Christians we have nothing to be afraid of in Halloween. We may have reasons not to celebrate it, or have reservations, but we’re not afraid of it. Whenever Jesus met the devil or evil spirits, He won - and His defeat of the devil is final. On the cross, Jesus broke Satan’s power of condemnation and death over His people by fulfilling God’s law in His death (Hebrews 2:14-15). And Jesus drives out Satan from our lives and sends in His Holy Spirit so that believers can no longer be possessed by demons. Those in Christ are safe.

We can assure our children that we don’t need to be afraid. We don’t even need to be worried. We stick close to Jesus.

3) Let’s remember that the devil and evil spirits are real (Ephesians 6:12). Christians have generally been careful in how they approach Halloween because Jesus took the devil and evil spirits seriously.

In our own families, we might want to take our children to the Bible stories that show Jesus meeting the devil or evil spirits. For instance, you could tell your child the story of Jesus being tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11), or perhaps tell them about the time Jesus sent an evil spirit out of a person (eg Mark 1:28). Sometimes these stories are avoided in children’s Bibles, so you may need to be imaginative.

How we respond in practice is up to each of us.

When other children come knocking at our door, I think we can be generous, with sweets. You could even take the time to tie a Halloween leaflet to bags of sweets. The Good Book Company have published a very gentle tract explaining why Jesus is the Light of the world. If the children of neighbours come knocking, this is a tract aimed at children that is warm and positive. We won’t be thought of as angry or aggressive or overbearing.

When our own children are invited to Halloween parties or they ask to go “trick or treating”, we might want to at least talk to them first about what Halloween is about. Some families at our church have decided not to let their children take part. Some have held alternative parties called “Parties of light” or “Pumpkin parties” - to have a party but without celebrating the dark spirits. This makes it clear that we’re not against fun, or parties - it’s that we choose carefully what to celebrate and how we have fun.

We are each free to consider this for ourselves. Each family can make up its own mind. Let’s take the opportunity to talk about the great victory Jesus has won at the cross, and the safety we find in Him.

After a time Huck spoke up. “What’d you bring for food? I’m hungry.”

Jim unwrapped his bedroll. His worldly wealth was contained in it. Immediately it was all laid out in full view. There was a hat and some fruit, a pair of socks, a rabbit’s foot and a book. Jim tossed Huck a piece of fruit.

“What’d you bring a book for?” asked Huck with a note of irritation.

“T’read,” said Jim rolling up his blanket again. “What else a book good for?”

“Didn’t think you could read,” Huck said and then wished he hadn’t.

“I can read,” Jim responded with intense seriousness, gazing into the night.

“What kinda book is it?” Huck asked.

“Book about theology,” Jim said, his voice trailing away.

“Theology. I hate theology almost as much as I hate schools and rules.” Huck said, and emphasized the point by spitting into the river.

“What good is a theology book on a trip like this?”

Jim was silent for along time before he answered. “Trip like this is long. Lotta things gonna happen. Might come in handy.”

(“Doing Theology with Huck and Jim: Parables for Understanding Doctrine” Mark Shaw, Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2004)

Find out about the Fulwood Bible Training Course here.

“... at this time of year, just as millions around the country are starting their university careers, here are a few tips and lines of enquiry. I hope that it helps even just a handful.”

Cynicism or Criticism? Developing an integrated mind at University

With tesco full of trees and tinsel and Sainsbury’s full of Santa and sleigh bells from mid September, perhaps that’s the last thing you want to hear just now. However, what these big stores have understood is that Christmas is a remarkable, once-a-year opportunity. We need to understand the same. At this point, of course, we part company with them, we’re not out to make money; the mission is so much more vital than that. We are charged to make the most of every opportunity to share the gospel with those who don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ.

For the time being at least, Christmas remains a unique and vital time of year in this regard. Thousands of people in our Parish and in our city are just waiting, wanting, expecting, hoping to be invited to church.

So we’re getting strategic. Since July, a number of us have been meeting, plotting, planning and organising like crazy to make sure that we make the most of the moment. Our particular focus are the five Carols by Candlelight Services in mid December. You can see the dates and times below.  You’ll notice more flyers, and posters, and banners, and adverts, appearing around the church premises and the parish than ever before (even on the 120 bus!).

All of this is, of course, secondary to personal invitation. That’s what really works - and that’s why we want you to feel encouraged, motivated and equipped to get creative and get inviting folk to these services. Here are ten quick ideas to get you going...

1.     Invite your friends - at the school gate, the tennis club, the gym, the pub...

2.     Invite your colleagues - could you make Carols by Candlelight your official work Christmas social? Get the whole office, staff, or all your clients along.

3.     Invite your neighbours, especially if you live inside the parish.  Could you take up the challenge to invite everyone in your whole street? - knock on doors, give out flyers, (look out for the ‘Invite my Street' packs available in November).

4.     Do you run a business? How could you advertise for us? What about posters, or banners, could you get an email invite to every employee? Or an invitation to every client?

5.     Make a meal of it. Have a Christmas bash for all your friends and neighbours, finishing up with a trip to Carols by Candlelight.

6.     Get a poster in your front window, in your car window, your office/staff room/tea room noticeboard... put one anywhere that’s legal! (posters available in November).

7.     Come and sing Carols around the Parish (6^th December), and/or Carols in the Village (8^th December) as we knock on doors and invite shoppers.

8.     From 1^st December, get online to fulwoodchurch.co.uk and use the interactive form to invite people electronically.

9.     Pop onto facebook and change your profile picture to our Carols by Candlelight logo. While you’re at it, join our group and invite your friends.

10. Finally, if you tweet then lets get the message out using the hashtag #fulwoodcarols

Think creatively and lets get the message out. If you’ve got ideas, or you need resources (flyers, posters, videos, etc) then speak to...

 Tim Cudmore - timcudmore@fulwoodchurch.co.uk

 Rebecca Harris - rebeccaharris@fulwoodchurch.co.uk

 or Peter Turnbull - peter@fulwoodchurch.co.uk

Carols by Candlelight Dates 2012

Saturday 15^th December, 5pm and 7.15pm

Sunday 16^th December, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm

By Peter Turnbull

Let me move on and give you (more briefly) some more of our considerations when choosing songs for Sunday worship.

2. Old and New

It seems right to me to have a mixture of ancient and modern material. This serves to remind us that faithful Christian believers have been working out their salvation for two thousand years - and some of them have a lot to teach us! Using ancient material can also help us to balance our theology - as different ideas or doctrines tend to be favoured or neglected in different periods of history. A mix of old and new also keeps us from the arrogance of thinking that all the best songs were written in the last five, ten or twenty years. Such a mix of styles also helps us prefer the needs of others - since all will find some music they don’t love. This makes the point that church is about our mutual edification, not our individual entertainment.

3. Familiarity

It’s wise to balance things our congregation will know well with newer material. We want to keep our song lists fresh - and learning new songs is great for the church. We do try to be careful, however, to avoid having too many newish songs in a service, there’s nothing worse than folk feeling they can’t join in because everything is unfamiliar. I make it a rule never to have more than one brand new song in a service, and to place something very well known in close proximity to a new song being taught.

4. A variety of musical keys

More practically, there’s nothing worse than everything being in the same musical key. This tends to lead to things sounding a bit dull and repetitive, even to the non-musician.

5. Approach - God-centered songs vs People-centered songs

I always want to be asking ‘what, or who is this song actually about?' Some songs are more about God - his character, attributes, word, deeds in the gospel etc, and some songs are more about us - our commitment to God, promise to live for him, expressions of praise, our sin, our dependence on God and so on. We do need both, so it’s worth checking through to see if we have a balance. If the balance is swayed one way or the other, I generally prefer to sing more about God than about us - most of us don’t need any encouragement to be introspective, and help comes from the Lord, not from within!

6. Plurality - ‘I‘ v ‘We’ songs

Similarly some songs are written in the first person (‘I will offer up my life...') and some in the collective (‘Strength will rise as we wait...‘). Again a mix is good although I rarely allow myself to have more ‘I’ than ‘We' songs in a service, after all we are the gathered church singing together and it seems right to reflect that, on the whole.

7. Complexity vs Simplicity.

Some songs and hymns are complex, developing a theme or themes thoroughly, giving rich insight and teaching. Others are much more simple, shorter, with fewer words. We can be inclined to think that the former always trumps the latter, (after all who doesn’t benefit from the thoroughness of ‘In Christ Alone‘, or find ‘Immortal Invisible’ stretching). However, I do (again) think both are valuable; the simplest truths of the scriptures can sometimes be the most profound. Leaving space for meditation and heartfelt response can also be a weakness in our circles. One tip I’ve found helpful is to pair up a complex and a more simple song on the same theme and sing them one after the other. For example a simple song of heartfelt commitment like ‘Jesus, all for Jesus‘ might work wonderfully after ‘In Christ Alone’ (depending on what keys you play them in of course!).

8. Being realistic

Can the musician/s (whatever your style) pull it off and play it well? If not then it’s almost always better to try something else. The positive effect of a song may be entirely lost if the congregation spend the whole time anticipating a musical train-wreck.

9. Helping the repertoire

Regardless of the specific themes of a particular service, there may be songs we should be singing at the moment in order to teach it to people, or to keep it fresh in their minds? Careful planning along these lines will mean we keep things in the repertoire which are in danger of drifting out of the collective memory as well as teaching new songs thoroughly over a number of weeks. 

by Peter Turnbull

In some ways, this task feels harder than ever. We have access to more songs, in more songbooks, on more CDs and online than ever before. There can be pressures from all sides to sing more or less of certain songs or styles. We long more than anything that our song selections would help us all to leave our meetings knowing and loving Jesus more so we thought you might value an insight into the process of choosing...

We’ve split this into two posts - there was simply too much to say! This first post deals with the core idea of ‘Matching Themes', the second will follow and develops a whole host of other (briefer!) considerations.

Matching the themes

This is a balance of the following three things...

a) The theme of the preaching.

We read in Colossians 3:16 that we are to... ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing...' Put another way, the preacher and the musicians are not supposed to be on opposing teams. We have the same goal, that the word of Christ would be deeply understood. taken to heart, enjoyed, celebrated, and responded to by those who hear and sing it. It’s just sensible therefore to sing and teach along the same thematic lines - so that the scriptural ideas being taught and digested are not so disparate as to lead to confusion, but rather that content is united around the theme of the preaching, helping us to learn and respond to the word of Christ deeply. This doesn’t mean that every word of every song must speak explicitly of the passage or idea being taught, but that we try to avoid leaping dramatically from one theme to another.

For example, we’re teaching through the book  of Hebrews just now. We will come, on one particular Sunday, to Hebrews 4:11-5:10. This passage begins with an exhortation to obey God’s living, active, all-exposing word so that we may gain eternal life, before concluding that we ought to hold firmly to our faith since the priestly work of Jesus is so complete and wonderful. ‘Before the throne of God Above‘ was a natural fit as it expounds the priestly work of Jesus, and urges us to fix our eyes on Jesus amid temptation and despair - a strong theme in Hebrews. I also elected to sing the hymn ‘How sure the Scriptures are’ before the preaching - this was an appropriate hymn to prepare our hearts for hearing God’s word, but also one which pretty much paraphrases Hebrews 4:12-13.

So far, so straight forward. But what about when we’re faced with a passage addressing a quite specific issue, a topic on which we’re unlikely to find songs? I find it helpful in these cases to try and assess ‘the theme behind the theme‘. If for example, the text preached was 1 Corinthians 5 - Paul’s command to expel the proud, sexually immoral brother from the church, I would try to write down some ‘theme-chains’ like these...

Pride - Sin - Holiness (ours) - Holiness (God’s)

Church discipline - Church - God’s love for the church

It may sound simple, but I find this helps tremendously to clarify my thoughts and results in more balanced and helpful services. To that end, I think there’s also sometimes a place for ‘balancing' the teaching of a specific passage (as any good preacher will) against the rest of scripture - this can help us to care pastorally for people. For example, the passage mentioned in 1 Corinthians might unwittingly leave a humbled, repentant believer with feelings of guilt and condemnation because of past sexual sin. It might be wise to balance things by singing about the kindness and compassion God shows in the gospel to the humble and repentant. Of course, singing of the gospel is always good for us.

b) The liturgy of the service.

Another aspect of ‘Matching the Themes‘ is to think about the liturgy of the service. We ask ourselves ‘what things ought we to do when we get together, and how can our singing help?’  Does the service give opportunity for praise, adoration, confession, prayer etc..? Not all of these aspects will be done through music - but it is worth bearing this in mind when you choose songs.

c) The liturgy of the church year.

The, of course, there are the festivals in the church’s calendar to consider (Christmas, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Advent etc). The extent to which we mark each is a judgment call, and some are given more weight than others (Christmas and Easter), partly because of the evangelistic opportunities they provide.   

d)  Finding the flow

Finally, we want to try to create a good thematic ‘flow' to our services. Jumping around from a song chosen because it’s currently Advent, to a more general song of praise, to something which ties in with the preaching can leave things feeling fragmented. In other words - realising that you’re trying to satisfy multiple priorities can make things feeling more disjointed if you’re not careful. I find it helpful to try and find songs which (as it were) do ‘multiple jobs‘ in a service. If, for example, a service lacks opportunity for praise, or there’s no hint at Advent, what I really need is an Advent themed song of praise! And if I can find one which ties in with the passage being taught then so much the better! Once songs are chosen, I’ll try to think through the ‘journey’ of the service asking - ‘does this make thematic sense?‘ ‘does it flow from one idea to the next?’ ‘do loud bits follow quiet bits in an unhelpful way?' and so on.

More Generally...

Song selection is a huge balancing act. When we’re trying to match and balance a preaching theme like church discipline, give opportunity for praise, have a sense of celebration yet a sense of reverence in your meeting, get a good sense of flow, and remember that it’s Advent... we just do our best and pray for God’s help to balance things well. Remember too that song selection is a long term thing. We want to feed and equip you, our church family over the course of weeks, months and years to know, love and respond to the Lord Jesus.

Tune in next time too, for more considerations...

by Peter Turnbull

The answers were fascinating and informative...

                “I wish I knew Potato waffles go in the toaster”

                “I wish I knew Geography included science”

                "I wish I knew how much food costs"

Someone spoke of the disorientating experience of moving in with a group of people they have never met before.  This was heightened because of intro week in which the aim for some was to drink as much as possible and sleep with different people.  As she looked back she wished she hadn’t thought their behaviour that week was all they were about, they were normal.  These were not people to write off but who desperately needed the good news of the gospel. 

One answer though really intrigued me.  Someone said she wished she knew how supportive church and Christian Union would be.  If she had known that, she would have felt much calmer about coming to University.  It is a great testimony about what church should be.  Church is a community of people who are committed to each other, supporting and caring for each other, laughing and weeping with each other, teaching and rebuking each other.  It should be a place which is supportive, helping us to live in the situation God has called us to.

In our 6.30 pm service at Christ Church Fulwood we are studying Hebrews.  Last night we read:

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ”Today,“ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”   Hebrews 3:12-13

In the midst of a world where there are things which may cause us to stop believing God, the writer exhorts everyone not to turn away from God.  He goes on to say that we all should be encouraging one another.  Encouraging each other not just on Sundays, or at Bible study, but daily, as long as it is called today. We are to be encouraging each other all the time to keep believing the promises God makes in Jesus and keep living for him.

It is a great thing that someone found church to be supportive.  A supportive church is essential, people who will encourage each other daily to keep believing the promise of God and following him.  In the midst of uni intro week where there is much to tempt us to turn away, let’s make sure we keep encouraging each other to believe the promise of God.

By Peter Bramhall, Student Worker

"What do you do when you don’t agree with your pastor?  What happens when you find yourself thinking differently to the Vicar?"

Those kind of questions might well have been asked by some who came to the meeting at Fulwood on "Women Bishops" this last week.

The meeting was well-attended, and by people with a divergence of views. Whilst the topic has raised temperatures within the Church of England, at this particular meeting there was a good spirit without there being unanimity of opinion.

In the first half of the meeting, Paul Williams and Andrew Rees carefully explained their understanding of the relevant passages from 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 11. There was ample opportunity for questions and, after a break for refreshments, we were able to watch a very good presentation of Jane Patterson, explaining how the Church of England, and especially General Synod, were progressing with their deliberations as regards the consecration of women to the episcopacy. There was then a further Q & A time.

I was convinced by the argument from Scripture, but what struck me especially was Paul’s very clear message that, for him, this issue was not the “touchstone of orthodoxy” nor did he want it to become a defining doctrine for membership of our own church family.

His greatest concern was for the gospel and for the future of “Conservative Evangelicals” within the Church of England. A recording of the evening is available and is recommended.

I came home thinking of something I’d read recently. It was a blog post by Ray Ortlund, writing on the Gospel Coalition website, concerning Hebrews 13:17:

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.  Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” 

He then said that, "...you will not always agree with your pastor.  That is why the words “obey” and “submit” are there in the Bible.  When you disagree with him, and you talk it through and pray it through and wait on the Lord and still can’t come to agreement - that is when “obey” and “submit” should exert their authority in your life".

This, wrote Ray, required “a basic attitude of openness and humility and deference to your pastor.  He is the one who will give an account to God, as only he can.”

What came across most powerfully was the answer that Ray Ortlund gave to the question, “What if I think my pastor’s ministry emphases might be wrong?” 

“There is no pat answer to that difficult question. But I know this.  Unless the impact of your pastor’s ministry is clearly unbiblical, his imbalance is probably of the Lord.  It is probably the imbalance the Lord wants for your church at this time.  Many times in Scripture less-than-ideal situations are of him.  Roll with it.  You don’t need to take control.  The Lord is in control.  Don’t ”rescue“ your church from what the Lord is doing.  Wait on him.  He will surprise you with blessing you cannot foresee.”

And he ended with a challenge, "If all we can think about is what Hebrews 13:17 doesn’t say and what it doesn’t mean, I still want to know what Hebrews 13:17 does say and how it is meant to change us.  These strong words are in the biblical text."

You can read the whole of Ray Ortlund’s post here.

By Peter Collier

Hugh admitted that, as churches and as individuals, we often fail in this area. God knows this and that is why the call to “love one another” is writ large across the New Testament.

It needs to be ‘writ large' across the Christian too. Evil ran through the novelist Graham Greene’s anti-hero Pinkie Brown, just like the lettering in a stick of Brighton Rock - hence the title of that work. For the Christian, the love of God should characterise us in the same way - the more we are broken, the more the love of God should be evident in us.

It was a good message to hear - full of challenge but brimming with encouragement. I saw a picture of this in conversation last week. 

An older man, recently amongst us, told me his own story - taken from home and family as a teenager in 1941 into forced labour thousands of miles from home. Released and joining the war effort in North Africa, fighting across two continents and losing many of his friends in the process. Coming to live in Britain, surviving against all odds a near fatal mine accident, losing his wife, remarrying, and then losing his second wife.

And what does he say now? “I thank God every morning and every night for my family here at this church in Fulwood”. He has been loved and welcomed by members of this church - a neighbour, a neighbour’s family, and by many new friends. Of course we often fail, but wonderfully - and in God’s mercy, we sometimes get it right.

“No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:12)

Peter Collier

It’s a question that many are asking at this time of year.  Students heading off for university will be asking the question, as will others returning from camps and houseparties having become Christians or been stirred up to put the Lord first.

A question I’ve been asking in these last weeks is this: What should a church strive to be like?  At the beginning of this new academic year, with the refreshment of a good break behind me and a clear mind to think straight before the busy-ness of a new term begins, I want to be focussed in putting my energies into the main thing.

With those questions floating around, the Lord spoke very clearly to us on Sunday morning, as former Vicar of Christ Church Fulwood, Hugh Palmer, preached for us from 1 John chapter 4 verses 7-12.  What should you look for in a church?  What should a church strive to be like?  What is the mark of genuine spirituality?  On Sunday, we heard very clearly, it is love.

John wrote his letter because a group of people had left the church because they believed they were far more spiritual.  It left John’s readers unsettled and unsure.  So John gives a series of tests for the Christians to be encouraged that they are real believers and the dominant test is love.

Because God is love, those who are born of God will bear the family likeness, loving as he is loves.  His kind of love is self-sacrificial.  So we too should love as he loved.  This is a difficult love to live - “love calls at the most inconvenient time.”  It’s a costly love - it’s not long before it makes demands on our wallets.  It’s a love that leaves us vulnerable - and so often is taken advantage of.  But love is the mark of person (and the church family) born of God.

There’s much misunderstanding about love in our culture.  It’s a while since I’ve listened regularly to popular music, but when I did I learned that love is “all you need”, it “makes the world go round” and on a good day, “you can feel it in your fingers and your toes.”  But the kind of love that was sung about a few years back (and listening to the songs my children play is still sung today) was always a sentimental and emotional love.

Be assured, the apostle John is not going all mushy on us.  His love is practical and real and tough.  In the rest of his letter he tells us NOT to love the world.  He warns against false doctrine and sinful living.  He commands us to obey God’s commands.  This is a tough and robust love.

It’s not slushy love, but it is love - and to fail to be loving others the way John tells us to love, calls into question a churches credentials.  That’s not to say we won’t blow it - of course we will (John acknowledges that too) but love is a (dare I say “the”?) mark of genuine spirituality.

Paul says the same in 1 Corinthians 12-14.  To a church that thought it was so spiritual, he slaps a chapter on love right at the heart of his assessment of their spirituality.  Elsewhere Paul tells us that love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:10).

So, students, as you move to a new situation and look for a church, there may be all sorts of things you’ll be attracted by (or put off by) as you search for the right church to join.  The music, the preaching, the welcome, the praying, the evangelism, the demographic of the congregation.  They’re all things to look carefully at.  But be sure to look for a church that is loving.

For us at Christ Church Fulwood, as we head into this new academic year with our copious events and programmes kicking off again with a vengeance, what do we want to be striving to be? A preaching church?  A doctrinally sound church?  An evangelistically zealous church? Well yes, all of that and more. But what do we want to be known as?  I’d love us to be known as a loving church.  Loving in the richest and fullest sense of that word - loving the way the Bible uses that word.  Not a wishy-washy, wet, sentimental love but a robust love, that really makes a difference, embracing the unlovely, laying down our lives for others, putting our money and time where our mouths are.  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” Luke 4.18-19

The ministry of Jesus Christ is incredibly precious to us as a church family.  He has come to preach good news to the poor. 

He brings good news of grace - for those with nothing to merit such news, those who can echo the words of the great hymn Rock of Ages, ‘nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling'.

He brings good news for all - here is news for outsiders, those with no way into God’s Kingdom.  It is news for people like us, who are described in Ephesians as ‘without God and without hope in the world'.

He brings good news of Jubilee - news of God’s favour.  It is the year when God proclaims debts cancelled, sins pardoned and a welcome back home.  It is a year that we desperately need.  Each one of us has forfeited our plot in heaven, mounting up debts before God we can’t possibly pay back.  Only once, but for all, God blew the trumpet of Jubilee and by his Son’s cross declared debts cancelled, come home.

The ministry of Jesus Christ is incredibly precious to us for we were formed by this news of God’s favour.  We are a community who live in the Jubilee year!

Over the next few weeks I want to highlight a number of implications for us as a church family, that we may see what it means to be a community living in the Jubilee year.  Here is the first implication: As this is the year of the Lord’s favour...

Let us be a community who live as recipients of favour:

  ·         Let us be a community of mercy not merit - we must view one another through the lens of the gospel of grace.  No one is here by merit, simply by grace.  So we no longer compare one another by worldly measures, but simply by the incomparable measure of grace Jesus has bestowed on each of us.  May our relationships be marked by mercy not merit.

·         Let us be a community of insiders not outsiders - Here in the community of God’s favour there is no inner circle, nor outer circles formed in protest of a perceived inner circle.  Here in the jubilee community all have a seat at the King’s table, for he sends out the invites not us.

·         Let us be a community where debts are met with forgiveness - We are a community of sinners, for they are the only type of people Jesus calls (Luke 5:32).  We will inevitably let each other down; sometimes in small, frustrating ways and sometimes in ways that (worldly speaking) there is no way back from.  But this is a community living in the Lord’s favour.  This is the year of Jubilee, a year when debts are cancelled because our King has paid them.  So if you are harbouring unforgiveness towards a brother or sister in this church family call to your heart the gospel that Jesus has spoken to you, we are a community where debts are met with forgiveness.

Brothers and sisters let us be a community who live as recipients of favour.

Andrew Rees

Alongside all of this we feel the pressure from parents or friends or ourselves:  we have to get top marks.  It feels as if our whole future hangs on success of these few weeks.  In addition there is the summer to plan, the holidays, the festivals, the house parties, the jobs to be applying for and the daydreams the library induces.  In the midst of all of this coming to church seems to be the straw that will break the camel’s back.  After all, we think, church will still be there in a month’s time. 

Obviously you are a Christian all the time and coming to church is not more spiritual than other things.  Having said that, there are good reasons to make church a priority.

Here are my top 4 reasons for making a church a priority during exams

1.       You’re a Christian.  The most important thing about you is that you are a Christian.  Being a Christian is more important than passing or failing.  Being a Christian is more important than your future career.  Coming to church feeds your faith.  It helps us to grow to know God better.

2.       Perspective.  Knowing God better helps us in each situation which faces us.  It teaches us what is important and how to live.  You are not just a Christian at church, but church helps you to know what each moment of each day should look like.   This brings perspective on revision and laziness, failure and success.

3.       Church is not all about you.  You might feel you can learn and grow as a Christian from the comfort of your arm chair.  Yet that misses the point that church is communal.  We meet to encourage one another.  Coming to church benefits others as we encourage them, pray with them and learn with them.

4.       Set the Pattern Now.  Exams are part of a life full of big moments.  If you decide that church is for when life is easy and there is not too much on, then you will end up not coming to church much over future years.  Set a good pattern now of coming to church even when life is busy and tough.

There is loads more that could be said, but hopefully that inspires you to keep enjoying coming to church especially through exams.  Also be assured that there are a lot of people praying for you as you face this busy period.

• Respond rightly to God and the gospel (with seriousness and celebration).

• Be rooted in Christian history, benefitting from the songs and insight of the saints of old.

• Be relevant to our culture, speaking the musical language of our day.

• Avoid a culture of entertainment, so Christ-likeness trumps our preferences,

• Serve God’s diverse people.

However, it’s time for a disclaimer! You could read all this and draw the conclusion that each and every church family should pursue an ever-increasing number of musical styles and genres - anything goes! (and must do so).

This is clearly impractical.

So what musical genres or moods should we be pursuing here at Christ Church? How do we decide what works and is useful? Well, partly with reference to what I’ve already said - there should be some variety, it should allow for a breadth of ‘right emotional responses’ to God - awe, reverence, joy... etc. For example, if all of our music is faddish, transient and shallow, we may embrace a spirit of celebration but are unlikely to develop any deep-seated convictions about the awesome and holy God who has given us cause for such deep celebration by his remarkable incarnation, death and resurrection.

But beyond this lies a further question. Why do we instinctively know that some musical styles just won’t work in our setting?

Why is it, for example, that we don’t have a great burgeoning of rap and hip-hop at Christ Church Fulwood? After all doesn’t such music have a unique contribution to make? (undoubtedly). And isn’t rap, unlike many other forms of contemporary music, profoundly content driven? (absolutely). But we instinctively know this is not the best idea, but why? The answer lies in two simple ideas. Personality and Authenticity.

In order to draw any of the unique benefits a particular style of music brings, it must be able to be played and sung with authenticity. Otherwise the unique contribution of that music is negated because it just seems ridiculous. A much better place to start when working out which music will serve our church well is to ask, ‘What gifts has God given us as a Church‘? Working this way around will help us to use, value, develop and train those musicians God has placed among us, and to avoid musical blind alleys which are doomed to failure because they lack authenticity. That doesn’t mean we never push the boundaries, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pursue variety (for all the reasons given), but we must do so within the limits of ‘who we are’ as a church.

As an aide, this definitely doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to reach out with the gospel to those who are very different to us (absolutely we should!). And, yes, there may be some musical implications here. I understand and applaud the instinct to change a church’s music to appeal to non-Christians who are not yet part of the church family.  Remember though that stretching things too far will only result in inauthentic music, which everyone can see through. It’s worth saying, too, that (at its worst) this kind of thinking leads to far too much trust being placed in music to do the job of drawing people to Christ. Instead, we must earnestly pray for the work of the Holy Spirit, preach the gospel faithfully and with passion, and use the gifts we have to make authentic music with some variety.

Lastly then, you might wonder how we’re trying to put this into practice here at Fulwood? What balance are we trying to strike to serve the priorities and ideas in these three posts?

The following might help you make some sense of the changes and developments you’ll see at Fulwood.

We want to...

•     Pursue ‘undistracting excellence' as far as we possibly can. Such excellence serves all of the other priorities as attention is drawn to Christ and to the content of our songs rather than an impending musical train-wreck. Much is therefore expected of our musicians in the way of preparation, rehearsal, practice and prayer. We unapologetically seek to use only gifted and humble musicians who have a heart for the Lord.

•     Start with the question ‘what musical gifts has God placed here'? This has lead to an increase in the use of choral music in recent times.

•     (following on from the above) Implement our vision for a four-fold music ministry consisting of 1. Contemporary Music Group, 2. PA Ministry, 3. Core Choir, 4. Orchestra... all serving the church throughout the year.

•     Pursue each musical style properly and unapologetically. Often church music gravitates toward a ‘safe' middle ground where everything sounds pretty well the same. This means you effectively lose all the benefits of variety! For example, our contemporary music should be truly contemporary.

•     Use the right instruments for the right job. Hence our grand piano is now only used for choral and orchestral music, while we use our new keyboard week-to-week in our contemporary bands.

•     Develop a diverse music ministry team, firmly united around the gospel. The music leadership team and I now oversee around 70-80 musicians who serve in youth contemporary bands, adult contemporary bands, our core choir, and our PA ministry.

If you’re part of the church family at Christ Church I would be delighted to talk more with you about this; if you have questions, concerns, or you’re inspired to be involved, do be in touch. 

An article in todays times talks of the possibility of having located the remains of Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra just off a small coral island in the South Pacific. The intrepid lady, along with her navigator, disappeared 75yrs ago during an attempt to fly around the world along the equator. Other unsolved mysteries listed in the article include the final resting place of Noah’s ark, the rockets from Apollo 11, Hitler’s ashes, Shergar the racehorse and Atlantis.

There is nothing like a good mystery to get us interested. However I wonder if some of the mysteries that are a little more close to home are unhelpfully ignored. Secrets like “why so many young people are leaving church?”, “what happened to family bible studies?” and “who is really responsible for the spiritual development of young people?” do not maybe have the sensational factor, but are equally, if not more, worthy of serious consideration, debate and decisive action.

To that end in a couple of weeks we’re planning to put on our first ‘3D" event. The idea is to take an issue that affects young people and families and

DISCOVER with a careful look at culture, society and church what is actually going on. Before ...

DISCERN what God has to say about that issue in scripture and then...

DECIDE in groups how to face the issue in our own homes and families

 You can see where the 3D comes from now! Issues in the pipeline include Sexuality, Drugs, Transitions in education, Youth Culture, Success, Film, Music, Grandparents etc.

No doubt there are Mysteries that God alone knows the answers too, but I’m constantly thankful that, although there are some secrets (Deut29v29) that we’ll never know, there is in God’s Word answers that equip us for life and godliness (2 Peter 1v3). It’s my pray that in facing some of these “secrets” families and church family will be strengthened and encouraged to keep trusting the bible to solve these daily mysteries and thus glorify him more in homes and church.

3D will take place in Christ Church Fulwood church Lounge on Friday 20^th April at 7.30. Coffee and tea will be available and we aim to take about 1hour 15 mins. (Babysitters available on request Please phone 07847301254)

Reason for Variety #4 - Avoid ‘CENTERTAINMENT' 

We must make God and the preaching of the gospel (which includes discipleship and evangelism) the heart, centre and purpose of our meetings and not entertainment.

 That doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy any aspect of gathering as a church, gathering with God’s people is joyful, but it does mean we won’t let entertainment drive the agenda. This is a huge challenge to us and our culture for two reasons. Firstly, we’re all sinful and our natural propensity is to seek out that which we feel meets our own wants, desires, comfort and entertainment. We gravitate in packs to people who are like us and things which makes us feel good. Secondly, we live in the age of digital entertainment: the ‘iPod generation‘. The mantra of the iPod generation is that you ‘have 1000 songs in your pocket’. In other words, you can consume whatever musical entertainment you want, whenever you want it. Life, in entertainment terms, is entirely choice driven. Nobody is tied to TV schedules anymore, we have video-on-demand whenever we want it. You can even find an internet radio station which will tailor the playlist to exactly suit the preferences of every individual listener.  There are great benefits to this - I have 1000 songs in my pocket and I love that! I’m a sold out member of the ipod generation (in one sense). In another sense, however, the iPod generation faces a challenge when it comes to church.  It’s so easy to import the ideas of personal choice and entertainment into our services. This is seen (in larger churches) in the creation of a plethora of different services each catering to a particular musical taste. This model seems attractive but I think is ultimately dangerous because it doesn’t reflect the gospel. The gospel unites Jew and Gentile. In other words, very different people find peace with God and crucially unity together in Christ. For me the the iPod model of church - different services for different tastes - fails because the gospel which is preached (the gospel of reconciliation and unity) is undermined by church structures which ‘saying' something else. 

Reason for Variety #5 - Serve God’s DIVERSE PEOPLE

God’s people are diverse. What evokes joy in one evokes despair in another. We’ve need to remember then, that we will never be united around musical taste - why would we expect to be. The thing we hold in common is Jesus Christ. The gospel is what unites us. In a diversity of life circumstances we’re each on a journey of discipleship, growing up into Christ, becoming more like him. As we do this, a constant challenge for each of us is to learn to prefer the needs of others (Just like Jesus did). Here again, diversity of Music helps us. Music that speaks soundly of the gospel but that you don’t like is an opportunity for your discipleship. it’s an opportunity to behave like Jesus- preferring the needs of others, rejoicing in the benefit that a diversity of musical styles brings to our brothers and sisters around us. 

Stay tuned for a final post!

In this first blog post let me allay a few myths and give you the first three (of five) reasons that we, by conviction, believe in musical variety across the board at all of our services. 

Myth One - Keeping people happy.

Doing anything in church life to ‘keep people happy‘ is a poor plan. To be truly happy (‘blessed’ in Bible language) has very little to do with the immediate gratification of my wants and whims but is a product of walking closely with the Lord Jesus. Given our sinful nature these whims and wants for our own comfort and ‘happiness‘ are not necessarily an accurate measure of what will do us the greatest spiritual good. Remember, blessed are the poor and humble, not the opinionated or the entertained. ‘Pleasing everyone’ is also a completely unachievable goal. Of course we will never be united by musical taste (in any church, let alone a largish one). Why would we expect to be?! We must expect to be united by the gospel, not by this tune or that. Jesus Christ (not Bach, Watts, Wesley, Redman, Hughes or Townend - great as they are) is the one who binds us together. Pleasing everyone is a poor goal, we must find a better one!

Myth Two - People only ‘like' one kind of music. 

This, in my experience is just not true. People are much more complex than that and find that all kinds of music speaks to them and helps them to know and feel the weight of the gospel and the wonderful character of God. For example, in the churches to which I’ve belonged the simplistic idea that ‘Youth don’t like hymns' is just not true and does young people a dis-service. Plus, as my friend often points out, the generation who grew up with the Beatles are now entering the more senior years of life. 

Reason for Variety #1 - RESPONDING RIGHTLY to God and the gospel

A right response to God and the gospel includes a diversity of emotions or ‘states of the heart'. We ought to respond to almighty God in awe, wonder and reverence, yet also with a real sense of joy and celebration; as we are sinners brought near to a holy God through the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ. There also ought to be a sense of peace about Christian gatherings: after all, we are people who know peace with God and the restoration of human relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Having said that there’s also a right sense of restlessness and action when the church gets together: We are a people battling with sin, putting off our old selves and becoming more like Christ, a people labouring to take the gospel to a needy world.  It’s just true that different kinds of music are good at helping us to appreciate and respond to God in different ways and help us feel the implications of the gospel. 

Reason for Variety #2 - BEING ROOTED in Christian history

We would be wise to understand our place in the history of all God has been doing in his church throughout the generations. It is the height of arrogance to assume that all the greatest songs of Christian worship were written in the last twenty years, or to assume that the those who have gone before us have nothing to teach us and no songs of praise to contribute. Being rooted in the hymns and songs of previous generations means we don’t become blinded to those aspects of theology which remain neglected in our current time and culture.  For example it is relatively difficult to find contemporary songs which talk in any depth about the coming judgment of the Lord Jesus, yet there is a rich supply of more ancient hymns which will teach and feed us on this important issue. 

Reason for Variety #3 - BEING RELEVANT to our culture

We are wise to seek out, to make use of, even to create our own contemporary musical expressions in response to God and the gospel, lest we become lazy or neglect to engage ourselves in the things of God, or neglect to engage with those aspects of God’s character and the gospel which particularly speak to our culture; lest the church becomes a museum to a former glory; lest we cease to speak the musical language of our day which engages both Christians and non-Christians. The church has a history at the forefront of contemporary music (just ask Bach) and we must make music which sounds like ‘now'. 

Stay tuned for two more reasons... one disclaimer... and several concluding thoughts about how we put this into practice!

I Was in Cambridge on Thursday talking to some Youth Workers from East Anglia. It was great to catch up with some old friends and be amongst other people who wanted to grasp the truth of God’s word and apply it relevantly to ministry with young people.

The evening was all about how youth workers can better engage with parents, and as we thought, discussed and mulled over things I was struck afresh how important it is that Youth and Children’s workers engage fully with exactly how God want’s the church to support it’s children.

To cut a long story short, passages such as Deuteronomy 6v4-9, Ephesians 6v1-4, Psalm 78v1-4 along with Proverbs, plenty of Old Testament narrative and many other bits of scripture, all point towards the responsibility of parents when it comes to the spiritual growth of Children.

This months evangelical alliance magazine IDEA published an article Called EXODUS, in which they quote Christian Research as estimating that the church will have lost 1.1million children in the 30 years between 1990 and 2020

In it Peter Brierley, a man I really respect, says this:

"The rise in the number of youth workers in recent years has meant that the Church has not lost as many young people as it could have done"

BUT what if it’s the other way round?

Could it be that the rise in youth workers has actually contributed in some way to the exodus of young people from the church? Could youth workers have so professionalised Youth Ministry that parents feel they can’t complete...

“Youth workers are so cool, so culturally aware, so much better at discipling, that I might as not bother and just leave it to them when it comes to my children!”

I hope that I’m wrong BUT what I want to do, more than anything, is to ensure that our Family, Youth and Children’s ministry is putting the responsibility where God says it should be. I want the ministry at Christ Church to be the icing on the cake for Mums and Dads who understand and are equipped to take spiritual responsibility at home.

I think Wayne Rice (Veteran youth worker) puts it beautifully in this clip...

Time was spent looking at some of the Judges; I chatted about our families being set up to model God’s good rule to a world that doesn’t think God’s rule is good; and fathers and sons discussed, in pairs, about what they had been learning. All this was great, and I hope helpful, but I was struck and reminded about how important just spending time being together is vital, particularly being daft and building happy memories.

When I turned up on Friday night everyone was wide awake and excited about a weekend together, but as I arrived for tea on Saturday there was a noticeable age split. The boys were bouncing around, no doubt aided by the odd E number from tuck shop, while the Dads were beginning to look a little the worse for wear. This I learnt was a combination of getting muddy on the ropes course, competing on the climbing wall and at archery and an epic football game won by the Dad’s who “cheated”. Needless to say all this information was gladly divulged by sons who had just had a brilliant time with their fathers.

After tea we played “hunt the Dads” in the dark with torches, followed by “hunt the sons” in a similar fashion. The sight of Paul Williams running, and shouting “I got you” repeatedly, in the pitch black after a small, but very fast, figure who didn’t want to be found will be a lasting memory. This was followed by a camp fire and songs with silly actions with which everyone joined in.

I tell you all this just to remind us Dads to make time and do daft things occasionally. Memories of that sort of friendship build security and approachability for when times get tough.

I think this Youtube link makes the point beautifully!

A festschrift (literally a “feast of writing”) is a book honoring a respected person and presented during his or her lifetime.  Recent years have seen these presented to John Piper, Dick Lucas and Don Carson and others.

Could a festschrift contribute to the dilemma of the “celebrity pastor”? That’s a real danger, but in this case, the truth is that the focus is firmly centred on the gospel. These writings are not about Philip but about the role of the pastor that he so valued and to which he gave himself unstintingly.

However, the purpose of this review is not to contribute to the festschrift but to encourage you to read these essays. Personally, this is a form of writing I really enjoy. Too many books have a good idea at heart but run out of steam well before the last page. However, the contributors here use their skill and knowledge to concisely and clearly address “all the major aspects of pastoral ministry”.

Each of the contributors knows Philip personally and wisely use the various contexts of his ministry to introduce their subject. There are 12 essays in total, preceded by a four-page foreword by Hugh Palmer that sets the scene well.

This book might well be “a major resource for all pastors” but I think it is far more valuable than that. This is a book for all of us. Here we have an insight into the role and ministry of the pastor that will help us, not just as those who are “pastored”, but also as those who must pastor “one another”.

It is not just pastors who need to learn valuable lessons on renewal, prayer, worship and the church. We can all learn from this helpful book so that we might be hearers of the word, doers of the word and messengers of the word, “a people that are God’s very own, eager to do what is good”.

Peter Collier

The book is available from the church bookstall for £8.

I’ve been a Christian for 28 years now - 28 Christmases have amazed me, as I’ve thought about the wonder of God’s remarkable intervention in the incarnation.  But this year I have been grabbed afresh by the wonder of the truth that God became a baby.  The Almighty God, the creator of the universe, the one who flung stars into space (as the hymn writer puts it) became a baby - a gargantuan gift in very small packaging.  There was my justification for wrestling with the remains of the roll of Christmas paper.  Except what was impossible for me, was possible for God.

Happy Christmas

What are they? 

A time which Christians set aside to spend reading the Bible and praying every day.  

Why do them? 

A person who becomes a Christian goes from knowing about God to knowing God. 

“Now this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”           --John 17:3 

Being a Christian is all about knowing who God is and what He has done.

But if we don’t spend any time with Him we can’t get to know Him! After all if you are getting to know a friend you spend time hanging out, chatting, asking questions.  

^"1In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ²but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe." Hebrews 1v1 

The main way we get to know God is by reading the Bible.  Jesus is described in the Bible as being the word of God.  

 "¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1v1 

So we can know God by reading the Bible-His word written down.

But often we don’t read the Bible or spend any time with God. 

Why not? 

Prayer often does not happen because Christians don’t take the time to plan to pray and we then decide we are too busy-watching TV, checking facebook etc.

Some Christians plan to pray but then are defeated by their mind drifting off topic.

Other people feel like they are too far away from God to pray.

Some feel that they are too ashamed to pray.

And lots are happy to just be mediocre. 

So Top tips to combat these issues (drawn from a selection of  ex-youth who’ve just gone to Uni) 

Find some time when you can be alone.

Find a time to timetable it every day.

This doesn’t mean it becomes a religious habit it means you do it whatever you’re feeling. (preferably in the morning as it focuses you for the day)

Write prayers down, or think of creative ways of praying if you aren’t in a routine or habit of doing it at all because it makes it more fun-like a prayer map or timetable. 

Use ‘Search the Scriptures’.

Explore Bible notes.

Remember that God loves you and has written it down so how He feels about you doesn’t change even if you don’t feel close to Him.

Remember you can always ask for forgiveness.

Please post your own top tips in the comments section below! 

by Emma Graham

Click to download the November-December edition of our Church Family News magazine to find out a little more about who we are and what’s going on at Fulwood Church.

The verse on the back of the tshirt reads: ‘For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “yes” in Christ’ 2 Corinthians 1:20