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?”
It’s often said that money was one of the topics Jesus spoke most often about, and it’s the subject of a number of Jesus’ parables recorded in Luke’s gospel. Join us over the next three weeks, as we explore what Jesus really said about wealth.
14/2 The Wealthy Fool Luke 12. 13-21
21/2 How to make your wealth last forever Luke 16. 1-13
28/2 How not to be wealthy Luke 16. 14-31
Alongside this, each week we’re going to continue taking a bit of time to discuss some of the pressure points where the 21st century workplace presents a challenge to living as a Christian.
Everyone who is in the city centre is very welcome to join us on Wednesday lunchtimes from 1:10-1:45pm, upstairs in Caffe Nero on Fountain St. Sandwiches available (suggested donation £3).
Please feel free to share this with anyone you know who may be interested in coming along.
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.
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.
Some people, and some messages, seem to command a hearing. For most of the last two thousand years, in most of the world, Jesus and his message of the good news of God have created just such a response. The gospel writer Mark tells us that at the beginning of his public ministry Jesus went into Galilee saying “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
In the crowded religious marketplace of 1st century Palestine, Jesus was immediately recognised as a uniquely authoritative voice. Since then few people have felt able to ignore Jesus’ message. But perhaps in Belfast today we find it harder to understand exactly why the people who first heard Jesus asked themselves, “What is this? A new teaching with authority!” (Mark 1:22)
In this series of four lunchtime Bible readings in the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel, we’re aiming to go back to those heady early days of Jesus’ ministry and see for ourselves what it was that made Jesus and his gospel so compelling.
12th Oct The Voice of God (Mark 1:1-11)
19th Oct A top line summary of the entire Bible (Mark 1:12-15)
26th Oct Listen to the boss! (Mark 1:16-34)
2nd Nov Words of life (Mark 1:35-45)
Speakers:
Sam Bostock (Gospel in the City)
Moore Casement (Cornhill Training Course, Belfast)
Martyn Cowan (Union Theological College, Belfast)
Join us upstairs in Caffe Nero on Fountain St (1 min from City Hall), 1:10-1:40pm, for lunch, a reading from Mark’s Gospel and a short talk. Sandwiches are available (suggested donation £3).
What on earth are we doing? It’s a question any thinking person asks themselves from time to time. It’s a question that we can often find ourselves asking about our working lives. And it’s also a question we’re bound to be asking as the Gospel in the City network begins its life. What on earth are we doing?
Those are questions that the Bible can help us with. In our first talk series at Gospel in the City we’re going to be looking the answers Jesus Christ gives in John’s Gospel. In chapter 15 Jesus is spending his final evening with his closest followers before his arrest and execution. Facing life without their leader, Jesus’ friends are asking exactly this question: what on earth are we doing?
Jesus comforts his friends by giving them an image that would become famous: of a vine and its branches. As we seek to understand what Jesus meant, we’ll explore what it means to live fruitful lives and how all of that might apply to our working lives in Belfast.
Hope you can join us!
Wednesday lunchtimes, 1:10-1:40pm, upstairs in Caffè Nero, Fountain Street. Sandwiches available (suggested donation £3).
Image adapted from MarkDoliner on Flickr, by permission.
