Autumn 2010 at mbc

30 Aug 2010 | | Posted in Uncategorized1 Comment

No matter what they tell us
No matter what they do
No matter what they teach us
What we believe is true

At first listen, it is easy to dismiss Andrew Lloyd Webber and Boyzone as being immature philosophers.

There is a sense, however, that they are right! What we believe so influences the relationships, decisions and actions of our lives that it acts as truth for us – even if it is not!

If we believe that God is all powerful, can do anything, wants to be dynamically involved in our lives, could not love us more etc…. then these thoughts have deep and radical implications for the whole of our lives, because they direct our paths.

Conversely, if we view God as disinterested, impersonal, inactive etc…, or even as we view ourselves as one outside the orbit of this divine attention, then the direction, outcome and the success of our lives is negatively affected.

In this time of change and challenge, of exciting opportunities and major decisions, we would do well to ground ourselves more firmly in the grace and truth of the good news we have received and we would be wise to be ever and increasingly open to the Holy Spirit (who leads us into all truth!)

With this in mind, I would like to recommend two things to us all:

  1. Starting in October, the inter:act team will be reading through the whole Bible in a year. This year, the Elders, Staff and Apprentice Pastors will be joining them. Can I encourage all of us to engage with this discipline and to do so together? There will be a daily blog entry to encourage us in this venture.
  2. Our two sermon series during this autumn term are  designed to stimulate us to live out of truth. ‘Wise’ is a series based, unsurprisingly, in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament and is designed to help us make godly decisions as we walk through this world. Our evening series is based in the gospel of John and will be a great opportunity for us to bring our friends to meet Jesus.

Looking forward to a fantastic autumn at mbc!

- Karl