An informal gathering over mulled wine, festive food and live acoustic music from Maria Nickolay. Featuring an interview and a short talk with Dave Jensen (All Saints Church of Ireland, University Avenue) addressing the question, “Christmas is fine, but why do they need to spoil it with Jesus?”
A traditional service of lessons and well-known carols. With music from the Salvation Army brass band and seasonal treats, and a talk on the meaning of Christmas by Lee Campbell (Strandtown Baptist Church).
Many people today see Jesus as an interesting religious thinker (like the Buddha) or a revolutionary prophet (like Che Guevara). But to contemporary people Jesus was either a dangerous heretic or he was the son of God. Put another way, they either believed he had been rightly executed by the Romans, or that God had raised him from the dead, offering life to the world.
This Easter we will be joined by Stephen Shaw QC to consider the evidence for the empty tomb. Stephen has practiced at the Northern Irish Bar for over 30 years and has been Senior Counsel since 2001. Stephen regularly speaks on the evidence for the Christian faith and we are delighted that he is able to join us for this one off event, organised by Gospel in the City.
Wednesday 12 April 2016, 1:10 – 1:50pm
May Street Presbyterian Church, Belfast (see below for directions)
All welcome. No booking necessary.
A copy of a flyer for this event is available to download here. Feel free to share this with anyone you know who may be interested.
In the run-up to Easter, we are returning to Mark’s Gospel after a couple of months’ break. After the excitement and enthusiasm of the early days of Jesus’ public ministry, the mood has turned sour as Jesus is challenged again and again about his unique claims.
We’re going to be looking at five “conflict stories” in Mark 2-3. In each we’ll see how Jesus’ claims are at the same time wonderfully good news and strangely controversial. Ultimately, we’ll see that Jesus’ commitment to bringing life sets in motion the events that lead to his death.
This series will be great for anyone exploring what Jesus’ life was all about, and there will lots for Christians to chew on as we consider together what it means to follow a controversial Christ.
Our speakers for this series are Moore Casement (Cornhill Belfast), Sam Bostock (Union College), Christoph Ebbinghaus (Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian Church) and Jim Crooks (the Crescent Church). The series will finish in Easter week with a special talk from Stephen Shaw QC, “Dead Man Walking: the Case for the empty tomb” (12 April).
A copy of a flyer for this series is available to view and download here. Feel free to share this with anyone you know who may be interested.
The book of Revelation is one of the Bible books we often find confusing. But in the first chapter, John gives us a powerful introduction that helps us understand Revelation’s central message. Even more importantly, this chapter gives us a vivid picture of the God who speaks to us and who makes us into a kingdom of priests. It’s the kind of image we need to have filling our imaginations if we are going to live as salt and light in our workplaces.
So we hope you’ll join our meetings on the next two Wednesday lunchtimes as Trevor Johnston opens up Revelation 1 with us.
Trevor Johnston serves as Rector at All Saints Church on University Street.
What does it mean to be a disciple of King Jesus in our workplaces?
For the first few weeks of 2017, we’re going to be looking at the opening to the Sermon on the Mount. With potent images Jesus sets out what life in his kingdom looks like: comfort for the mourners, joy for the persecuted, salt of the earth, light for the world, a city on a hill.
Jesus gives us a vision for a kind of “public faith” – a way of shining brightly as citizens of his kingdom in a world that rejects his rule. As Tim Keller has said:
“To be “public” doesn’t mean being strident, nor to force the subject into conversations. It simply means that Christians should not hide who they are.”
Join us for a mixture of Bible teaching and interactive seminars over five Wednesday lunchtimes as we work out how we might bring light to our workplaces by being who we are.
