A Bridge for the Good News

It was sort of our re-launch Sunday as a church this past week. We had used Sunday May 10th as a run through of how it would all go and then asked people to bring friends and guests to VUE for this week.
I have said to a few people already that it was a morning where I felt we could really use the word 'BUZZ' in relation to us as a church. There was energy and enthusiasm oozing from everywhere which is brilliant because it is very attractive for anyone looking in. People got to the tasks of setting up, welcoming, serving refreshments leading the worship and all sorts of other essential bits with fervor and vigor.

I felt it strongly on my heart to preach about moving to VUE out of a real desire to bridge the gap between church and culture. It was a fantastic opportunity and I finished off explaining how I hoped we would go about doing that. Here is the gist of it:

This is the mission we think we must proclaim and embody, we will certainly give it our best shot at least.
We must overcome that which has made the church invisible in culture, we must:

NO LONGER FLEE FROM CULTURE OR HAVE A 'BOMB SHELTER' CHURCH MENTALITY
NO LONGER IMPOSE OUTDATED CULTURE BUT ADAPT TO CULTURE TO GIVE OUR MESSAGE
OFFER DIVINE COMMUNITY TO A FRACTURED CULTURE
LOVE AND NOT JUDGE (DON'T ASK SOMEONE TO CHANGE BEFORE THEY HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE AGENT OF CHANGE- GOD)
'SHOW' THAT FOLLOWING CHRIST IS THE GREATEST THING AND NOT JUST 'TELL' PEOPLE IT IS!

I finished off stating that if the church has a message that can transform the lives of 21st Century people, if the gospel is true than everyone should get a chance to hear it without having to leave their cultural reality to do it!

We want to make a difference, we must.

Simon

This is just a pure Giggle!

So yeah, we discovered as a church on Tuesday evening that our church got a brief write up in News of The World (not a paper we would have expected). This is a national Sunday paper read by millions, and we just cannot get over that somehow the story of a small church launching in a Cinema in Watford made national news.

Simon

A Major Preaching Challenge

If you are a regular visitor to this blog you should have noticed by now that again and again I refer us to other men and woman of God who seem to say things so much better than I ever could. I'll do it again now.
I have quoted this man several times before, his name is A. W. Tozer. His insights into a vast array of topics in remarkable, and here are some brief thoughts on preaching:

"Many of us who preach the unsearchable riches of Christ are often pretty dull and hard to listen to.
The freshest thought to visit the human mind should be the thought of God. The story of salvation should put a radiancy in the face and a vibrancy in the voice of him that tells it. Yet it is not uncommon to hear the wondrous message given in a manner that makes it difficult for the hearer to concentrate on what is being said. What is wrong?...

It is true that only the Spirit-filled preacher can be morally effective at last; but for the moment we are thinking only of the ability of a speaker to command the attention of his hearers. And if the speaker cannot keep his hearers immediately interested, his message cannot possibly have a long-range effect upon them, no matter how spiritual he may be."

Why is that I know exactly what Tozer is referring to here? It is virtually heart-wrenching for me to sit under someone who has no ability to suck me into the glorious truths of the gospel because they are so boring.
We must stay far from this type of delivery if we are to see the hearts of people drawn into the great message of salvation.

Simon

We Did It!!

They arrived at 7.30AM, yes people that time does exist, they came in hoards. Men dressed in an assortment of colours jumping out of vehicles grabbing the equipment essential for their mission and accessing the pre-determined location to do what they had come to do.

Everything was gathered together as they descended into the dark hall that was to become their home. In a flash in the blink of an eye they set about their task. In what seemed like moments wires, cables, speakers, lights, cameras, PA desks and a vast assortment of items were arranged in their place. No sooner had these men succeeded in their mission, another platoon arrived. Quickly they slipped into their official orange flak vests and prepared for all that would be thrown at them whilst caught up in this endeavor. Young, old, female, male their team got to work.

10AM rolled around, there had been sounds and rumours of activity for over an hour now, the loud sound began. IT WAS TRUE! Church had begun in screen 7 of VUE cinema Watford. The noise, joy and unified mission took place for an hour and a half and then they rolled out (well of course they did, a movie started at 12PM in that screen so they had to). Beverages were taken, conversations were had, people discussed the crazy goings on of that morning.
Deep breaths were breathed in ad then it dawned on them, 'We did it! We just had our first Worship Gathering as X1 Church in a cinema. How amazing was that."

Yeah we had a great time. It was our run through on this past SUnday, and I just want to thank everyone and of course thank our wonderful Father for His glorious goodness to us. The adventure begins in earnest now...

SImon

Moving Church...

As of this Sunday (10th May) we are moving our location for our Sunday mornings to a local cinema. It is an unbelievably exciting, yet demanding move actually. I do believe in many hearts there is a combination of excitement and ominousness. I preached this past Sunday about the 'Top 8 Things to Pack and Leave behind." I suddenly realized that it was not just helpful for our context of moving location but actually would be helpful for anyone moving church, moving home and joining another church, embarking on a church plant from a current church. Maybe they are helpful so here is break down of them.

WHAT TO TAKE * WHAT TO LEAVE BEHIND
The Gospel * Religion
Grace * Legalism
Faith & Hope * Negativity & Despair
Hatred for Sin * Comfort with Sin
Unity * Divisiveness
Function/Form * Form/Function
Passion * Apathy
Selflessness (servanthood) * Selfishness (Consumerism)

I may break each of these down in the near future, keep watching this space.

SImon