5QN Advent Adventures

19 Dec 2011 | | Posted in Events, Missional Expression Stories, NewsNo Comments

Katie Backler reports back after a hugely successful afternoon of advent craft

A few weeks ago the large hall was transformed into a buzzing mass of adults and children making the most incredible array of advent crafts. There was something to suit everyone… nativity mobiles, crackers, candles, fimo jewellery, biscuit decorating to mention a few. There was the chance for adults to have a yarn over a cuppa and mince pie or sing along to their favourite Christmas song!

Loads of friends came and joined us which was hugely encouraging – they loved it and had a blast.

5QN is all about building community with those around us and introducing people to Jesus….we came a bit closer to that vision in doing this.

If you would like to find out more about 5QN please visit the mbc website or email Katie at katie@mbc.org.uk.

Katie

 

November 24-7. Brilliant.

11 Nov 2011 | | Posted in 247 Prayer, News1 Comment

Well last week marked our first venture back into 24-7 prayer since relocating to Central Hall. Participation throughout the week was brilliant and by the end precious few slots went unfilled (even the silly o’clock ones!). Well done church!

The room itself was amazing thanks to the creativity of a committed team who did a wonderful job of transforming what was once a graveyard for office furniture into an inspiring prayer space. In case you couldn’t make it along, see for yourself, check out some of the photos!

Coming off the back of what’s been a hugely blessed week of prayer for us, here’s an encouragement from Eddie:

I wonder what your experience has been in the 24-7 prayer room this week?  For many the prayer room has been just the catalyst to stop “doing” for a while and instead to practice just “being”, being in the presence of God.

Remember, when we pray it doesn’t change who God is but it does enable Him to change who we are.  We understand a little more of what it means to glorify Him in all aspects of life. We allow the balance to shift from our tendency to depend on ourselves to having an increased dependency on Him. We glimpse some more of Father’s love for those He has created but who don’t yet know who He is. Let’s keep encouraging and enthusing each other on this trajectory of dependence on God. After all He has an infinite, unending store of grace, joy, hope, purpose, love, direction and power to lavish on us. Do you know all we have to do to receive it?

Just ask, that’s it, just ask.

Another week of 24-7 may have ended but lets keep praying and seeking His face! COME ON!

Eddie

A half night of prayer launches our week of 24-7 at mbc

1 Apr 2011 | | Posted in 247 Prayer, News1 Comment

On Thursday 31st March, the church family gathered together for a time of worship, business and prayer with our God in heaven.

Lynn and Scott Alexander led an all-age interactive prayer time with Alice Clegg and Josh Lee. Children and families gathered to sing praise to God, dance for joy, celebrate Jesus and spend time praying for their friends, their schools and listening to what Father God had to say to them.

Following the church meeting over 40 members of the church gathered to commit themselves to praying together – as individulas, for the church, their loved ones and the nations. Thomas Dean, Heather McCormick, Josh Lee and Tim May led this interactive, integrated time of prayer and worship where we focussed on Jesus, read from God’s word, prayed for current affairs, our church body, people who do not yet know Jesus and the places where we can bring Jesus to everyday.

Our Senior Pastor Karl Martin led us in communion and then we finished the night praying the Indian way – in one big circle all shouting out our prayers together. It was hard to get us to shut up!!

It reminded me of that verse in Isaiah 62 which says that the watchmen will not be silent, day or night, and they will not give God any rest until He responds to their prayers.

Let that be an encouragement to us as we begin a week of 24-7 prayer at mbc.

If you haven’t already signed up, there are still slots available – just follow the link below and spend some time in the prayer room this week.

We plan to gather again soon for another half night of prayer, so be ready to get that date in the diary.

And please, let us always be a people on our knees!

Karl, Niki, Katie and Eddie write from India

23 Mar 2011 | | Posted in India, News1 Comment

(N.B Some of the names within this post have been changed to protect identities)

Hello from Bangalore!

We have spent 4 days here and have seen and experienced much. On Thursday and Friday we were involved in a leadership conference at the OM Base.  Senior leaders and pastors based in the south of India gathered and we taught on a wide range of subjects such as leadership, being one with the Son, heart, friendship, marriage and women in leadership.  We loved spending time with these guys and hearing some of their stories.  Many of them have stories of suffering and persecution because of their love for Jesus and desire to share him with others.  Its been great to encourage them and to be encouraged by what they have shared.  A highlight for us all was the privilege of being able to wash their feet and pray God’s blessing on them.

The guys at the OM base remember the inter:act teams visits from the last couple of years with great fondness – they were so encouraged and blessed by those trips and told us so often.  The murals are still looking lovely!

Niki and Katie also managed to take a trip into one of the slums in Bangalore.  Here OM have a ministry with the community there.  There is a small church which provides a nutritional feeding programme for around 60 children.  They give them milk, bananas and eggs – often their only meal in a day.  We were able to help hand the food out to the children and pass on Jesus’ love simply in a smile or a touch.

The Pastor of this church, Joseph, shared his story of how the church came into being.  Joseph and his wife had become Christians (at the moment he asked Jesus into his life his bent back was straightened!) and were working in the quarry.  His two sons stayed behind in the slums and were playing together.  Their youngest son was 11 at the time.  While playing he fell into a pool of sewage just behind their house.  Only his hands could be seen.  He was pulled out and carried back to their home and left lying on the floor of their home, dead.  His parents arrived back about 6 hours later to find him there.  They prayed, crying out to God for their son’s life and promising to bear witness to God’s greatness if they could have their son back.   Three hours later he sat up, was sick from all that he had swallowed and was absolutely fine!!  Incredible!  On the same spot that incident happened the church now stands, bearing witness to God’s goodness and faithfulness.

On our way back out of the slum we stopped and prayed with two ladies in their homes.  One of these ladies was blind and was caring for her niece and had a daughter aged 4 who was unable to walk.  She has no other family – the church, amidst their poverty, were pulling together resources to help care for and feed them.  Again, it was an incredible privilege to pray with people living in difficult circumstances and know that we are one in Jesus.  It is easy to feel hopeless, but commit them to God and know he is the Hope-giver and source of life to these friends.

We will be going to church in Bangalore tomorrow where Karl will preach. Then, we fly out to Pune where we will be doing some more teaching to a group of Pastors from Maharastra.  We look forward to catching up with friends we got to know last year.

Thank you for your prayers – God is at work.

Karl, Niki, Katie and Eddie

Just Christmas Update

13 Jan 2011 | | Posted in Just Christmas, NewsNo Comments

We chose to celebrate a bit differently this year, asking ourselves what a just Christmas would look like not only for us here in Edinburgh, but also for those in the world who live in injustice. If we really believe that the world changed forever when Jesus moved into the world as a baby, shouldn’t that radically affect how we celebrate Christmas?

It’s been absolutely brilliant to see Christmas being celebrated differently at MBC. From cake sales to kids parties, clothes swaps to creative crafting, so far the total donated stands at £16,491.95! Brilliant!

If you haven’t got your donation in yet, don’t panic… Just Christmas donations can be sent to the mbc office, or placed in the Gift Box at the front of church. It would be helpful if donations were gift-aided and recieved by the 13th February, so we can present our total gift for the Dalit Education Centre in Sholapur to Joseph D’Souza when he visits on the 20 Feb ’11.

If you have a children’s ‘feed a dalit child’ box please return the contents, however small, to the attention of ‘Hannah Montgomery’ at the mbc office, clearly labelled with ‘feed a dalit child’.

For more info check out www.justchristmas.org.uk or contact hannah@mbc.org.uk