food4thought

A kid’s slot for CCB all age church aimed at infant chidldren

Who can tell me what a superhero is? Someone who does amazing things.

Let’s look at some pretend superheroes [PowerPoint Slides] 

Who can tell me who these are? Asterix, Heman, The Incredible Hulk, Batman & Robin

We’re looking some of our favourite Christian superheroes at the moment. Christian superheroes are just ordinary people who did extraordinary things.

This week we’re going to think about this man.

Does anyone know who he is? He lived in Great Britain. He’s an Englishman does that help? He lived in the 18th Century, does that help? His name is George Whitefield. There can’t be too many superheroes called George!

George Whitefield is a hero because he kept on helping people to follow Jesus

1. He did it when people wanted him to stop

When he started to persuade people to follow Jesus there were lots of important people in the church who tried to stop him. They didn’t like what he was saying even though what he taught came straight from the Bible. And so he wasn’t allowed into lots of church buildings to help people hear about Jesus. So what do you think he did? He went outside. He was one of the first people to start telling people about Jesus in the open air. One book I was reading this week thinks that he preached outside of buildings 18,000 times.

2. He did it to all sorts of people

He went to lots of different countries. He went all over Great Britain helping people to become followers of Jesus. He went to Scotland 14 times, Ireland twice, he went to every county in England and Wales. That’s a lot of travelling and he did it before the invention of the car. He even went to America 7 times at a time before steam ships had been invented. And he also went to lots of different types of people. He went to the poor and to the posh. So one of the most famous times he talked to people was outside a Coal Mine in Bristol. And he also helped some very rich people, some of the most important people in the country to become followers of Jesus.

3. He did it for a very long time

He became a Christian when he went to University and so he didn’t follow Jesus when he was your age. Now that’s a shame but despite that he decided to spend the rest of his life helping others to follow Jesus. He was helping people to become followers of Jesus even on the day he died, when he was a very old man. What a great way to use the life God has given us.

Conclusion

We can be mini Christian superheroes like George Whitefield when we help people to follow Jesus.

• We can do that when we do it outside of church, at school or at home or in the park.

• We can do that when we help lots of different people perhaps from lots of different countries lots of whom live around us and go to our schools.

• We can do that for the rest of our lives even if we haven’t started yet

Why is George Whitefield a hero?

George Whitefield a hero because he kept helping people to follow Jesus

New to London? Come to Balham! You wouldn’t be the first recent graduate to settle in this part of the metropolis! It’s perfect if all you want to do is eat, drink or buy a house. There are probably more restaurants, bars and estate agents than people. Bordering on the prosperous ‘Nappy Valley’ in between the Commons you wouldn’t feel out of place if you decided to stay, put down some roots and raise a family. It’s a great place to live. As Arthur Smith, Radio 4 Personality, Comedian and self-proclaimed Mayor of Balham once said, ‘I’ve travelled the known world and I’ve never been anywhere as exciting as Balham. With it’s broad boulevards and exotic nightlife it’s like a cross between Paris and Rio de Janeiro’.

The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ

Let me start with some significant caveats to this discussion.  

• Nowhere does the Bible justify arrogance, disrespect, scorn or persecution of those of other faiths. And it’s worth noting that countries with a Christian heritage are more welcoming of those of other faiths than many other countries. Presumably this is because they’ve taken seriously the need to preserve the freedom of religious expression even if they disagree.

• Sincerity is not enough to justify a claim to truth. Whilst none of us wants people to be insincere or hypocritical in their belief sincerity alone cannot be the sole determining factor of whether what they believe is true because it’s possible to be sincerely wrong. Hitler is an infamous example. None of us could challenge the sincerity of his belief that the Aryan race was superior and on that basis to wipe undesirable weaker races from the planet. But none of us would find in his sincerity reason to approve of it.

• We need to recover the real meaning of tolerance, which is to allow others to express their views but then debate about the validity of those views without resorting to abuse or violence. It’s not tolerant to insist that all views are the same, in fact it’s intolerant because it prevents people from holding different opinions. Consider the abuse heaped on Christians for expressing something different.

Christians maintain that Jesus Christ is unique amongst all religious figures. It’s not a viewpoint shared by all religious thinkers. Many would say Jesus deserves no more attention than his competitors. Increasingly many assert that any differences that exist between these religious competitors don’t really matter. There are in fact five views that attempt to explain how the world’s religions relate.

1. Exclusivism argues that there is only one religious truth. Christianity, Judaism and Islam all believe this. They just disagree which one is true. As I hope to prove this is in fact the only coherent approach.

2. Inclusivism maintains that all faiths have discovered some truth but they are merely preparatory for Christianity or unknowingly Christian!

3. Agnosticism despairs of ever finding the truth given the bewildering array of alternatives on offer. It therefore tends to ignore them all.

4. Syncretism suggests that all religions have some truth and so takes the bits we like and combines them.

The one I want us to consider goes one step further and it’s called Pluralism. Pluralism assumes that Jesus Christ is just as true but certainly no more true than any other religion. It’s a position that has become increasingly popular in 21st century religious thought. It’s the belief that all religions lead to God just as all roads lead to London. And so it doesn’t matter which route you take. One way is as good as any other. The popularity of pluralism arises for a number of reasons

• The history of violent religious fanaticism of the type exemplified by the so-called Christian crusades of earlier centuries or the Islamic fundamentalists of this has led many to seek a way for the world’s religions to peacefully coexist. However, the attempt to reduce the complexity of violent disagreements and describe them as religious wars is overly simplistic. To describe the conflict in Ireland as a war waged between Catholics and Protestants is to miss the point that it was a division caused by differing views on independence to the UK by Republicans and Unionists.

• Cultural diversity exists on our doorstep and we want to live together in close proximity. That is especially true in this part of south London we are equally likely to share our roads with Muslims, Hindus or middle class atheistic materialists. Although it is worth noting that a recent study of religion recorded that only 5.4% of the population regard themselves as practising another faith.

• In this country pluralism is popular because we’re lazy and we don’t want to stop and engage with the issues that surround religious and philosophical thinking. The temptations of materialism and hedonism are more than enough to keep us busy.

But we cannot believe in pluralism with any degree of integrity for two obvious reasons

1. Different religions do not believe the same things

To say that different religions believe the same things is an attractive proposition because it means that in the end we have no differences. However, no devotee of one of these faiths would agree that they are the same. The local Imam would not let you say Christianity is the same as Islam. The Rabbis would not let you suggest that Judaism’s view of Jesus of Nazareth and Christianity’s are identical.

At a superficial level different religions do share some things in common. They all try and interpret the world around us, they all give some degree of moral guidance to individuals and try to influence government and they all lift our eyes from the material things of this world to the spiritual things of the next. But that’s not as helpful as it might sound. We could argue that George Bush and Saddam Hussein share things in common but to do so without mentioning their differences is utterly misleading. For example both George and Saddam think that strong government is a good thing, that the use of force achieves your objectives and that weapons inspectors can be frustrated in their work. But if that’s all we say the picture is deceptive. The real issue is their fundamental differences about what they think about terror, the use of WMD, the killing of innocent civilians and so on.

At a more fundamental level different religions contradict one another. We cannot simply pretend these differences do not exist. It’s plain from even a cursory glance at other religions that they believe very different things about who God is, what he’s like, how he reveals himself if at all, how we’re saved and so on. The different religions and their beliefs are mutually exclusive because they contradict each other. The Hindu believes that there are many gods, Islam insists that there is just one but Buddhism claims that there is no god and we have to search for the divine inside ourselves. It is this that has led Rev Dr Michael Green, senior research fellow at Oxford University to write, ‘Christianity may be wrong but nobody with their head screwed on can claim that it’s just the same as other religions!’

2. Different religions are not different ways to God

The attempt is sometimes made to iron out the differences in different religions with the suggestion that they are really different ways of describing the same thing. They are humanity’s attempt to describe the divine and are equally valid attempts to do so. The illustration of 3 blindfolded people describing an elephant is sometimes used. One has hold of the tail and thinks that the elephant is a rope. Another has the trunk and thinks that the elephant is a tube. One has the leg and thinks that the elephant is a tree. The problems with this description are pretty significant. It relies on the fact that all the world’s religions are merely the blindfolded attempts of humanity through the ages to grope after God whilst really being in the dark. The only one who isn’t in the dark is the pluralist! But in one sense it is true that we’re mostly groping around in the dark trying to work out what God is like. The Christian wants to say that the only one without the blindfold is not the pluralist but the Christian. That sounds incredibly arrogant. But this claim is based on Jesus Christ’s claim to be revelation from God. By giving us the true picture he brings to an end all human speculation. To continue the analogy it’s as though the elephant has reached out and removed our blindfolds to reveal what he is like. Rather than the world’s religions being different ways of describing the same reality they are different routes away from the one true God. They’re not equally valid ways to approach God at all. The Bible explains that we all suppress the truth about God, which is evident in creation and in our consciences. Instead we create more compliant deities. These inventions are figments of our imaginations. They may grow in popularity as others choose to become devotees but they’re still speculative. The religions of the world may be impressive in their devotion and human compassion but they do not bring us closer to God. They express our rebellion against him. They’re really roads leading away from God. Not all roads lead to London. They also lead away.

Let’s consider what Jesus said about this subject. In John’s gospel 14:6 he said, ‘I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me’. In this response Jesus is claiming uniqueness in 3 areas

1. He is God’s unique salvation

The world is full of people who are lost and the different religions of the world attempt to provide direction but Jesus said that he is only one way. We are spiritually far from God and we need to be saved. The only way to be saved is through the death of Jesus Christ. The other religions of the world are obsessed with self-improvement but Jesus taught that the bar of acceptance was so high that God had to act to rescue us. The religions of the world say rescue yourself but Jesus came as a rescuer. When you’ve got yourself in trouble in the surf off Sydney’s coast you don’t need someone drawing alongside you with a diagram and instructions of how to swim you want someone who can to dive in and save you. He did that when he died on the cross.

2. He is God’s unique revelation

The world is full of people who are confused about what God is like and the different religions of the world speculate on this issue. But Jesus said that there is only one truth from God. He claimed to be God shrunk down into a human body to reveal what he is like. Of course the question remains whether we believe Jesus was who he claimed to be. But when we consider his profound moral teaching, the wonderful consistency of his character, the awesome power of his miracles and the extraordinary fulfilment of ancient promises that he could not arrange himself we have to conclude that he is God in a human body. For example, a great deal has been written and said about Nelson Mandela, these different opinions should be respected even if they are contradictory. But if we want to know the truth about Nelson Mandela it would seem sensible to listen to what he says about himself in his autobiography, ‘The Long Road to Freedom’. Equally we must let the Son of God tell us what God is like and not claim that we know better than him with our different religious opinions.

3. He is God’s unique resurrection

The world is full of people who are spiritually dead, that is they are about as responsive to God as a corpse and they need spiritual life. The different founders of the religions of the world can’t help us because they’re all dead. Every religious figure lies rotting in their graves with no wisdom about how to live beyond the grave. Jesus claimed to be the only life from God. We will never find the bones of Jesus Christ because He is the only one to have come back to life from the dead. He alone has divine power in himself and can therefore promise to share his resurrection life with others. There are countless religious opinions about how we might acquire an eternal relationship with God but Jesus Christ is uniquely qualified to tell us how. This led Jesus to the conclusion that there is no other way to get to the Father except through him. Jesus claimed exclusivity. But that is not an arrogant claim but wonderful news.

Conclusion

In Nuclear, Biological or Chemical attacks Royal Navy ships isolate themselves from contamination by creating and maintaining what’s known as a citadel. In order to maintain the purity of the environment there’s only one way to get into the citadel. The only way is through the cleansing station where all the impurities are washed away. There are lots of different doors in the ship but none of them will get you in. If you don’t go the right way you won’t get in. It’s not arrogant to claim that there’s only one way to get in. It’s true. In fact we ought to be thrilled that there’s in fact a way out of danger. In the same way there’s nothing arrogant about Jesus’ claim to be the only way to the Father in heaven if he is God in a human body. There’s no other conclusion for the evidence. The good news is that while the religions of the world don’t lead us to God, Jesus Christ will.

Personal Work

Someone has said that most of life’s important decisions are made two feet from another person. I haven’t a clue who said it but I suspect that’s the case for most of us! Any significant leaps forward in our own Christian maturity can probably be traced back to a conversation with someone who took the time and care to pursue us on a particular issue. This is what I want us to consider briefly in this paper.

1. The Definition of Personal Work

Let me begin with a definition.

Personal work is ‘ongoing conversations with an individual encouraging them to apply the teaching of the Bible at a personal level so that they might mature in their Christian life’.

This is not a new concept. There’s divine precedent. Throughout the gospel accounts we read of Jesus taking one of his disciples aside to teach them and deal with them on their own. There’s also apostolic example. Paul followed his Lord’s example and invested heavily in the life of Timothy in particular. So consider the following passages

Acts 20:17-21

17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

Notice how Paul prioritised the visitation of households in order to direct the gospel helpfully to individuals.

Colossians 1:28

28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Notice Paul’s emphasis on teaching Christ to everyone. His conerne that everyone without exception would reach Christian maturity. The power of God enabled him to keep going in this exhausting work.

Ephesians 4:11-16 11

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Notice how the job of the pastor-teacher is to equip the church so that we’d all become mature. Paul envisaged that happening as we all do our work and speak the truth to one another in love.

One of the dangers facing us as small group leaders is to assume that our work is done when the passage is prepared, the study finished and the last prayer said. However, we’ve got a responsibility as shepherds of Christ’s flock to care for each of his precious sheep. This goes beyond merely laying a delicious Bible meal in front of them. With wisdom and sensitivity we need to help individual sheep to really digest what’s been placed in front of them. Clearly the group setting is not the place to do this and most people prefer the opportunity to do this away from their peers.

2. The Process of Personal Work

The number of ways in which we’ll do personal work will be as different as our personalities. I don’t want to be overly directive and suggest that there are set ways to do it. Personal work is more about an attitude than technique. Although I’ll try and give some examples it’s not even about having the right questions either. It’s about wanting to see others grow in Christ.

However, that said there’ll probably be a discernible progression in our conversations with the person we’re seeking to influence. I’ve found it helpful to hold myself to account for the way I’m fulfilling my responsibility to my small group members. One of the ways to do this is to think of personal work as a line of progression from initial ‘ice-breaking’ conversations through to mature Christian discussion about lifestyle issues. Therefore we need to move from exploratory conversations about someone’s background and personal interests, through an explanatory conversation in which their understanding of the gospel can be articulated to the opportunity to encourage them to live for Christ in every aspect of their lives. We may find it hard to move beyond the exploratory stage because we’re comfortable with this level of discussion and so are they. These questions aren’t usually too demanding and we’re not asking them to talk about sensitive subjects. However if we’re not talking about God’s word and it’s implications then we’re not really doing anything of eternal significance. We have to cajole ourselves into being the one who takes the lead in asking the tougher questions. Let me suggest that there are three main stages in developing a relationship with someone in our groups.

a. explore their background and interests

We cannot expect a new group member to open up on sensitive spiritual matters if there’s been no previous interaction between us. Openness requires trust. Trust will be built over time. It’s the reward for our integrity. Our group members will initially be very cautious about making themselves vulnerable and discussing the deeper issues of life until they recognise in us a transparent trustworthiness. It’s worth saying that this relationship ought not to be one way. Some of us may be unwilling or unable to open up and that will stifle the development of trust. If people don’t get a lot back from us there’s no earthly reason why they should continue to make themselves vulnerable by divulging information from their life. Clearly any individual needs to create their own style of questioning but some of the questions I’ve found helpful to explore someone’s background and find out a little more about them are.

• ‘Where do you live?’ ‘What do you do for a living?’ ‘Where did you grow up?’ ‘Tell me about your family background?’ ‘Have you got brothers and sisters?’ ‘Why did you make the decision to come to this church?’ ‘How did you become a Christian?’

If we can’t answer some of these more fundamental questions we probably ought not to try and progress in our discussions with group memebrs. This sort of information about someone is foundational for any ongoing relationship and therefore essential. Without it we leave ourselves open to the legitimate charge of insincerity or worse manipulation.

b. explain the gospel clearly

Unless we’ve known someone for a while it’s quite probable that some of our group members may be unclear on the basics of the gospel. There’s no substitute for clarifying misunderstanding or exploring the implications of the gospel on a one to one level. We need therefore to be clear on the gospel ourselves. We can get a little rusty and so it’s worth rehearsing the gospel and reading something helpful. I used to try and read ‘Know and Tell the Gospel’ by John Chapman each year because it stated the gospel clearly, it reminded me who does what in evangelism and it dealt with some of the objections raised to the Christian world view. It’s valuable to be able to recite a gospel outline off by heart. And whilst we’ll rarely get the opportunity to do so in one sitting it’s useful to have a framework that we’ve memorised and can refer to without having to grind through the gears too audibly!

c. encourage them in moving towards maturity

Apart from the thrill of leading someone to Christ there’s also the immense privilege of helping someone develop in the Christian life. Discussions with KG leaders provide a unique opportunity for people to engage with issues, address them and make some resolutions. There’ll inevitably be some key areas that dominate their agenda. Their stage of life, their influences at work and the prevailing social culture will combine to create issues for their faith. The question of pre-marital sex, marriage and marital relationships will never be far away. Many will be faced with decisions about jobs and ambitions for the future. The issue of personal disappointment [which can spill over into bitterness and resentment] may arise when life does not go the way that they’d choose. So too will a general outlook on life that they’ll be subconsciously picking up from their peers. A consumerist attitude that means that commitment to church will only ever be offered when it appeals to our appetite. A hedonistic approach to life means that their ambitions for the future may not involve serving Christ and the gospel but going travelling or fulfilling any number of their personal aspirations. Our task is to help people live for God’s glory in faithful and loving obedience to Christ. Perhaps some of these questions might be helpful?

• ‘How often do you get to read the Bible and pray, once a month or more regularly?’ ‘Have you thought about how you might serve others at church?’ ‘How can I encourage you to live for Christ at work?’ ‘Who are you longing to reach for Christ at the moment?’ ‘What have you found helpful about ‘Knowing God’ this year?’

3. The Resources for Personal Work

Personal work involves applying the teaching of God’s word to an individual life. The resource that distinguishes personal work from secular counselling is the Bible. In 2 Timothy 3:15 Paul made it clear that the Bible provides everything that’s needed for us to completely equipped to do the work of ministry. There’s no substitute for knowing our Bibles. So if we’ve got out of the habit of reading the Bible, studying it and applying it to life then let’s get back on track.

Praying

We must keep praying that God will create opportunities for us to be involved in personal work. There will sometimes be group members who for whatever reason decide that they’re unwilling to allow what they perceive to be an intrusion into their life and will be very unco-operative. This is rare but it can happen. As in all things we depend upon God to give us success in this area and he may well withhold this from us until we ask him for it in earnest.

Preparation

It’s inevitable that we’ll have to cover a topic where we feel out of our depth. There’s no shame in that. No one’s expecting us to be omni-competent in every area of theology. There simply isn’t time for us to get up to speed on every issue that’s likely to be raised. However, there are some things that we can do to in preparation. Think through the likely questions that you might be asked and then prepare an answer. Why not buy an introductory book to doctrine like ‘Know the Truth’ by Bruce Milne or an introductory book to apologetics like ‘Biblical Answers to Today’s Tough Questions’. The staff are employed to help us with the issues that arise so don’t be shy about getting in touch.

4. The Opportunities for Personal Work

I understand the constraints placed on our time by the busyness of London life. I’m sympathetic to the effects of tiredness on our enthusiasm for gospel minsitry. But we need to be convinced that the success of our time as a KG leader is determined by how faithful we are to the task of personal work. It ought to occupy a prominence in our planning and our prayer time. The expectations of group leadership are shaped to make personal work a priority. I don’t want us spending more than an evening on preparing our study. The prep nights, prep notes and an evening ought to be sufficient to lead a great study. We need to have free nights in the week to see friends, spouses, group members and some quality ‘telly’! We place people in KG groups so that there’s a clear demarcation of responsibility. The idea is that therefore no one ought to be missed. We must avoid cross gender personal work because that inevitably involves developing a degree of intimacy with another person. It can lead to confusion and leaves us vulnerable to accusations of abuse. We need to be creative in looking for opportunities to deepen our friendship with those whom we serve. Meals, coffee, sporting fixtures, films are a natural and normal context over which to catch up and discuss issues. At church look around at the start of a meeting and try and sit next to your group members. You could perhaps read the Bible with someone in the morning if they were keen to pursue that.

Conclusion

There are few things in the Christian life as rewarding or demanding as working with individuals. All we really need to be good at personal work is to love people, Christ and his word. It’s possible to make it sound very intimidating but in essence it’s one Christian taking responsibility for another’s soul and asking what can I best do for that individual.

A one off kid’s slot for Remembrance Sunday

Today is Remembrance Sunday and we’re going to think about that this morning.

First of all let’s look at a DVD clip to help us think about this subject.

There are three things that we need to know about Remembrance Sunday.

1. It’s a day to remember something important

We don’t have days like Remembrance Sunday all the time. We have them once a year. The reason is so that we never forget something really important.

• Who here forgets things?
• What do you forget?
• What could we do to make sure that we don’t forget things?

To make sure that we never forget something very important we have Remembrance Sunday. It’s a day to remember something really important. When I need to remember to put the rubbish out for the dustmen we don’t have a special day. It’s not that important. But we really don’t want to forget this day because what happened was so important that we’re going to remind each other every year. One of the ways we remember it is by having sounding a trumpet and having a minute’s silence. The trumpet sounds like this [play the Last Post]. And then we’re supposed to keep quiet for a whole minute. Do you think you can keep quiet for a whole minute?

2. It’s a day to remember people’s sacrifice

• Who knows what sacrifice means?

To sacrifice something means that we give up something very special. We make small sacrifices all the time. So instead of watching C Beebies we might go and help Mum lay the table. Instead of playing with our favourite toy on our own we might let someone else have a go. Instead of keeping all our sweets for ourselves we might share them with someone else. Those sorts of things are sacrifices, they’re sometimes hard to make but they’re usually quite small. The sacrifice that we remember today is a very big sacrifice.

When things go bad between people they argue. But when things go badly between countries the argument can get so bad that they go to war and fight each other with bombs and missiles sent from tanks, ships and aeroplanes. We’re remembering that instead of staying at home and doing nothing lots of people went to war and gave up their lives in the fighting. We thought last week that God has given us life and so it’s a very precious and special thing to be able to live. But when countries go to war it means that people are going to be killed. There have been two world wars and lots of other wars since and so lots of people have died in the fighting. We remember their sacrifice by wearing something.

• Does anyone know what it is?
• What colour is it?

Red poppies like this grew up in the places where all the fighting had been in the 1st World War.

3. It’s a day to remember the peace we hope for

Peace is what we have when people don’t fight each other and instead become friends. Peace is a really wonderful thing. The reason why lots of people lost their lives in sacrifice was so that our country could live at peace. People in the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force are there to make sure that we have peace in our country. They wear uniforms like this. This is my uniform from when I used to be in the Royal Nay.

• Who likes dressing up?
• Does someone want to try it on?

It’s very important that we don’t forget the sacrifices that brought us peace. But there’s something that the Bible says is even more imoprtant than this act of remebrance.

Jesus’ Act of Sacrifice

In the Bible Jesus tells us that there’s an even more important Act of Remembrance. we can read about it in 1 Corinthians 11. It’s called the Lord’s Supper. At the Lord’s supper he wants us to have some bread and some wine.

• Why does he want us to do that?

Every time we have the Lord’s Supper we remember that Jesus died for us. Instead of wearing a poppy, sounding the trumpet and having a minute’s silence we eat some bread and drink some wine. He doesn’t want us to forget something important. He doesn’t want us to forget the sacrifice he made on the cross when he brought us peace with God.

A kid’s slot from all age church

Who can tell me what a superhero is? Someone who does amazing things

Let’s look at some pretend superheroes. Who can tell me who this is? It’s Spiderman

Some superheroes are less well known and people forget them after a while, so let’s ask the older people here who these are [Bananaman, Batfink etc] 

This is my favourite. Who is it? Buzz Lightyear

We’re going to look at some of the favourite Christian superheroes over the next few weeks. Usually superheroes have a special power that helps them to do something but the people we’re going to think about were just brave and courageous. This week we’re going to think about this man.

Does anyone know who he is? He lived in Egypt. He lived in the 4th Century. His name is Athanasius. Athanasius is a hero because he kept reminding people that Jesus is God even when lots of people said that he isn’t.

If anyone here thinks that Jesus is God it’s likely that one of the reasons we do is because someone like him made sure that the church kept of teaching it. If he hadn’t done that we might not know that Jesus was God.

Athanasius knew that was wrong and so he spend the rest of his life reminding people that Jesus is God not just a person like us.

1. He kept reminding people that Jesus is God even though he was very young

When he was only 25 years old, Athanasius went to a very important meeting with lots of church leaders where they were discussing who Jesus was. It was called the Council of Nicea. He helped his boss, one of the most senior church leaders, a man called Alexander to teach the truth. When he was only 30 he became a Bishop and had to remind everyone in the church that Jesus is God. We might think that 30 is very old but actually it’s very young to have to do something so serious. We can be mini Christian superheroes when we remind people that Jesus is God even if we’re only very young.

2. He kept reminding people that Jesus is God even though important people told him he was wrong

One very important person who was there was Arius. He said that Jesus was just a human being like you and me though he was quite a special human being. The most powerful man in the whole world agreed with him. His name was Emperor Constantine and he was the most important person in the Roman Empire. We can be mini Christian superheroes when we remind people that Jesus is God even if important people like our teachers are a little bit confused and don’t realise that.

3. He kept reminding people that Jesus is God even though he was sent away from his country

He was sent out of his home country 5 times. He was sent to the desert, to Italy, to France and to Germany. He spent 15 years away from his home because the people in charge didn’t like what he said. Imagine being told that you couldn’t go home. That’d be awful wouldn’t it! We can be mini Christian superheroes when we remind people that Jesus is God even if people end up being very nasty to us. Why is Athanasius a hero?

Athanasius is a hero because he kept reminding people that Jesus is God even when lots of people said that he isn’t.

A kid’s slot from all age church

Who can tell me what a superhero is? Someone who does amazing things

Let’s look at some pretend superheroes. Who are they? [Lara Croft, Elasti Girl, Xena, Buffy]

What do they have in common? They’re all women

We’re looking some of the favourite Christian superheroes at the moment. Christian superheroes are just ordinary people who did extraordinary things. This week we’re going to think about this woman [picture]. Does anyone know who she is?

She was born 300 years ago. She lived in England in the 18th Century and she was very posh. Her name is Selina and she was the Countess of Huntingdon.

Selina, Countess of Huntingdon is a hero because she lived her whole life for God.

1. she used her home for God

Because she was very rich she had lots of houses. Home is a very special place isn’t it? Homes are great for relaxing in. She could have used her house for herself and her family but she decided to use her house for God. And so she used her home as a place where she could invite people to come and hear about Jesus. She used to have lots of people round for tea and then invite someone really good at talking about Jesus from the Bible. One of the people she used to like to get in was someone we’ve heard about already, George Whitefield. We can be a bit like her when we talk to our friends about Jesus when they come round to our house for tea

2. she used her money for God

She had lots of money because she was born into a rich family and married into a rich family. She could have used it not to buy herself lots of things but she used her money for God. She used it so that other people could hear about Jesus. She built over 200 churches and she paid for colleges so that people could learn how to teach the Bible. There’s one story where she paid for a church building by selling her loveliest jewellery. We can be a bit like her when we use our pocket money so that other people can hear about Jesus.

3. she used her position for God

She knew almost all the important people in the country. She knew all the important leaders of churches and she knew all the important political leaders. She even knew the King and the Queen who thought that she was amazing. There’s one story where the Queen told an important Bishop that it was a shame she couldn’t be a Bishop because she was so much better than they were! She could have spent her time going to parties and getting her photo in all the newspapers but she decided to use her position for God. Instead she made sure that the people who ruled this country made it easy for church leaders to teach people about Jesus from the Bible. We can be a bit like her when we remind important people that they’re supposed to be looking after people who teach the truth from the Bible.

An appraisal written at Theological College in 2000

The Alpha Course

‘People are struggling with evangelism. We don’t have to prove Alpha works – it just does’

[http://www.alpha.org.uk]

This sort of theological pragmatism is rampant throughout the church. The consequences are potentially pastorally disastrous. However, in an age where making disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ is proving especially difficult, it’s understandable. The apparent impenetrable secularisation of the western world has led to churches to grasp at what works. If someone could come up with a proven tool for increasing church numbers and breathing new life into tired congregations they’d be onto a winner. The Rev Nicky Gumbel [Senior Minister at Holy Trinity Brompton, London] has designed a simple 15 session course that will do just that. It’s called Alpha. You might have heard of it!

However, despite it’s world acclaim Alpha has not won universal approval. One dissonant voice wrote, ‘In giving many of those involved in evangelism what they want (ie numbers) can Alpha give those on the receiving end, the unconverted, what they need; that is, to hear the saving gospel as presented by Jesus and the Apostles, and preserved for us today in the Bible?’ [W.D. Scholes, A is for Alpha B is for Berean, The Churchman Volume 112 Number 4]. And that’s the essential problem with this highly popular course. It’s appalling that the weakness of a gospel course is it’s presentation of the gospel.

This essay explores that issue. It exposes the theology of conversion that underlies Alpha. It concludes with John Chapman that ‘[Alpha], in its present form leaves much to be desired and could not be used by anyone who takes the Bible seriously’ [First Things First: Alpha Examined, Briefing Number 185]. The Alpha course is analysed by asking three questions of the material.

First, what assumptions does Alpha make about the needs of prospective converts?

Secondly, what is the implicit or articulated concept of conversion?

Thirdly, what is it that produces the conversion it hopes for?

Each section concludes with a brief reflection on the practical implications.

1. The prospective converts are people whose lives are characterised by having something missing.

Rev Sandy Millar, writes, ‘many men and women today experience a real sense of spiritual hunger without having any contact with church’ [www.alpha.org.uk/sandym.htm]. Gumbel adds, ‘again and again … we find people who talk about this spiritual hunger, this gap. Amongst the millions who do not go to church, there is a longing, at time recognised and at times hidden, for a relationship with God’ www.alpha.org.uk/news/99-11.page6.htm]. They assume that unbelievers are spiritually hungry and genuinely searching for something to satisfy their longing for meaning. In Nicky Gumbel’s book, ‘Telling Others’, Millar writes, ‘it isn’t that people are not interested in spirituality, interest in the occult, religious experiences, spiritism and other forms of alternative searches is as great today as ever it was – but the universal spiritual hunger, that need to fill the God shaped hole has not been met by those things’ [p15].

Alpha is far more positive about the human condition than the Bible. We’re not described as rebellious creatures railing against the rightful rule of our creator. Insufficient attention is paid to the immorality of our sinful rebellion and the eternal consequences that we’ll suffer. It’s true that the talk covering the material on sin does acknowledge that unbelievers are rebels but it’s only a sentence. There’s no extended explanation of what that entails and why it’s so serious. Far more attention is given to the ruination of our lives from the unhelpful influence of sin. Alpha presents a picture of humanity in which we’re people who need rehab not sinners needing forgiveness. To be fair the course does acknowledge that there are eternal consequences to our rebellion. It warns that unbelievers will be cut off from God. But blink and you’ve missed it. Youth Alpha, a good source for the real theology of the course since it omits all but what it regards as essential, rather gives the game away when it writes, ‘sin is rubbish that clutters up our lives and clutters up our world’ [p5]. However, the Apostles in their missionary efforts thought these issues were central. We need only look at Paul’s classic evangelistic sermon to unbelieving Gentiles in Athens Acts 17:30&31 to see that sin and judgment were never excluded. In conclusion it’s hard to argue with Hand who states, ‘the plight of humanity in Alpha is not as serious as it is in the Bible’ [http://web.ukonline.co.uk/crn/page12.html].

There is a positive practical outworking of this theological downplaying of sin and its consequences nevertheless. It creates in the course leaders a genuine conviction that the gospel of Alpha has something to offer their unbelieving friends. No criticism can be levelled at the enthusiasm of Alpha supporters on that issue. Yet the approach of the course is fundamentally anthropocentric. It’s not a ‘rescue from judgement’ that the gospel offers but ‘adding what’s missing’. As the evangelistic booklet ‘Why Jesus?’ states, ‘nothing will fill this gap except the relationship with God for which we were made’. God is a convenient addition to life. He satisfies my hunger. He adds what’s missing. I’m a consumer who finds in God what I’ve always been searching for. Becoming a Christian seems little more than gaining a better life for our enjoyment. That’s just a lame version of hedonism isn’t it? The moral outrage of rejecting God’s rightful ruler, the Lord Jesus Christ is completely absent. Instead the aim of the course is to attempt to offer unbelievers in the gospel of Alpha what they’ve been searching for all along.

There’s a determination to look for points of contact with the culture and seek to capitalise on them. As Scholes points out, ‘Alpha succeeds in being relevant at a cultural level. We live in an age where … style is winning the victory over substance. Nineties man and woman are simply uninterested in anything that is not presented in the current idiom’. Alpha has taken seriously the emphasis of ‘becoming all things to all men’ [1 Corinthians 9] to heart but has confused cultural flexibility with doctrinal flexibility. This is Liberal Protestantism all over again. The comparison with the nineteenth century project in which doctrine was accommodated to prevailing opinion is surely not wholly without merit. Whilst Alpha may be some way from this approach the warning bells sound when Millar writes, ‘Nicky Gumbel by taking account of literally thousands of questionnaires has adapted and improved the course so that it is truly moulded to the perceived and experienced needs of those who attend. Without taking anything for granted, stripping the gospel down to its bare essentials, he has made Christianity accessible to this generation’ [Telling Others, p16]. Fortunately, enough of the gospel remains for God to convert those whom he has chosen. However, it’s a short step from a stripped gospel to a naked one. The end result for the unbeliever, clasping nothing else but a seriously attenuated gospel, will be embarrassed humiliation on the Day of Judgement.

2. the concept of conversion implicit in the approach of Alpha appears to be a process of incorporating unbelievers into a believing community.

Conversion occurs through winning people to acknowledgement of the reasonableness of Christian morality, adoption of that lifetsyle and assimilation into a social scene of Christian love and acceptance. Ian Lewis highlights the danger of this in his article for Evangelicals Now, ‘I am sure that many people are being converted through the Alpha Course but I have a suspicion that some of these people are being converted to a Christian lifestyle rather than to Christ’.

There’s no clearly articulated concept of conversion in the training manuals. It might be argues that it would be unlikely to achieve such widespread popularity if that were the case. However, Gumbel does acknowledge that conversion is part of a process [Telling Others, p16]. What he means by this is perhaps illuminated by a comment in the Youth Alpha manual that ‘Christianity is caught and not taught’. The emphasis on Alpha is therefore to get people to belong.

This criticism may sound harsh but a cursory glance at the course structure reveals that gospel material features in only three of the fifteen talks. This of course depends on a definition of the gospel that’s conerned with the life, death, resurrection and return of Jesus Christ. But the directly evangelistic material is located only in the talk in week three. Talk one is a promise that Christianity will provide the unbeliever direction, reality and an authentic life in all its fullness. Within the Alpha scheme this talk is designed to encourage people to continue with the course and at least to give Christianity a fair hearing. Talk two covers material of an apologetic nature about the existence and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Talk three then looks at the human predicament and the divine solution. It ends with a prayer of commitment. The next twelve talks are concerned with subject matter appropriate for a Christian basics course but not an evangelistic one. Perhaps here Alpha reveals its origins as a discipleship course developed under the direction of Rev John Irvine. And also reveals a confusion about what it’s trying to do. Beyond the third talk the language is inclusive and the approach is to assume that people have ‘prayed the prayer’. Indeed as early as week four, Alpha deals with the question ‘How can I be sure of my Faith?’

Another telling contribution is that the concept of biblical repentance is absent. Grudem defines repentance as, ‘a heart felt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ’ [Systematic Theology]. Alpha defines repentance as ‘turning from the things I know are wrong’ [Youth Alpha, p6]. However, mankind is not the one who can define what he should turn from. Indeed if we were to have our way we’d turn from none of his sin but rather incorporate it into some form of pseudo-Christian belief system. In Youth Alpha this is taken to extraordinary lengths, ‘we can help their thought processes to mature by encouraging them to decide what is true for them personally as well as what they believe to be true about God’. Theological anarchy appears to have been legitimised by this comment. What this means in practice is that anything that presents too great an obstacle to involvement is excluded or watered down.

If this contentious assertion that conversion is little more than belonging rather than believing is correct it’s not surprising to note the emphasis throughout the course on the importance of friendship and joint involvement in communal activities. It would be churlish to suggest that this approach is inappropriate. But it’s patently part of the Alpha strategy to foster friendships so that people feel indebted to their small group and the Christian sub culture. In an age of increasing individual alienation Alpha offers authentic friendship. That is surely a good thing. What is less laudable is the confusion this may engender in the course participants. The course lacks clarity about what constitutes authentic Christian conversion. People may think they’ve been converted but in fact all they’ve decided to do is belong to a crowd at church. In contrast the New Testament offers assurance of reconciliation with God on the basis of faith in Christ alone rather than involvement in a church organisation. As Hand writes, ‘Alpha, with its emphasis on small groups, ‘sharing times’, fun, sympathy and understanding, there is a danger of being converted to a loving group of people rather than to God himself’ [Falling Short? Day One Publications, p86].

3. what produces conversion is not the gospel alone once and for all time entrusted to the saints but whatever works for the designated target audience.

Gumbel, building on the insights of Graham Cray, posits preaching a different message when reaching either those from a rational or an experiential background. He writes, ‘the gospel involves both the rational and the experiential and it impacts both those from an enlightenment background who need to experience God and those who have sought experiences but who need to understand the truth about God’ [Telling Others, p27]. he argues that it’s as necessary and valid to attempt to convert someone from an experiential background with the gospel as it is to attempt to convert someone from a rational background with experience. That’s nonsense isn’t it? Consider for a moment the Apostolic model presented in Acts. The same gospel converted both religious Jews and irreligious pagans. Sure they may have had to make some concessions with a lack of familiarity with biblical material and concepts amongst the Gentiles but in essence the gospel was exactly the same. Further on in ‘Telling Others’ the theological observations of another College lecturer are marshalled to justify Alpha’s flexibility in content. Consequently, Gumbel argues that three types of technique must be included in an evangelistic course if it to be successful. He also regards them as equally legitimate ways of presenting the gospel to unbelievers. Thus gospel proclamation, social action and power evangelism are employed in order to win people to Christ. The inclusion of power evangelism is justified because, ‘it is firmly based in New Testament practice’ and ‘hence we should expect to see the supernatural display of the power of the Holy Spirit as part of his kingdom activity and as an authentication of the good news’.

What emerges is a lack of confidence that the verbal proclamation of the gospel will convert anyone. Mere words need to be supplemented with supernatural attestation. As we might expect much is made of the miraculous material in Acts. Supernatural spiritual activity of this sort is assumed to be normative. But the authenticating work of the Holy Spirit expected today is limited to an inward physical experience which is labelled ‘being filled with the Spirit’ or speaking supernatural languages. This approach leads to theological pragmatism in which the audience and their worldview become the determining factor for the evangelistic content. Gumbel writes, ‘I have found that those from an essentially Enlightenment background are at home with the parts of the course that appeal to the mind, but often have difficulty in experiencing the Holy Spirit. Others coming from the New Age Movement find that rational and historical explanations leave them cold, but on the weekend away they are on more familiar territory in experiencing the Spirit’ [Telling Others, p29]. Increasingly unbelievers will approach Christianity with a post enlightenment worldview and this will inevitably mean that Alpha will drift towards a non-rational evangelistic methodology.

This type of approach reveals an allegiance to a charismatic theology of conversion in which believers are not persuaded by cognitive engagement to willingly forsake other allegiances, submit to Christ and rely on his death. What is encountered in Alpha is what John Chapman calls, ‘a standard charismatic line on the ‘fullness of the Spirit’ being a subsequent experience to conversion’. Gumbel writes that, ‘the pattern on Alpha is that people come to Christ and are filled with the Spirit’. It soon becomes clear that he is not talking about two coincidental events but that the fullness of the Spirit is something to move onto post-conversion.

In practice therefore, the high point of the course becomes the ‘weekend away’ at which there is a concentrated attempt to teach about the Holy Spirit. This acts as an apologetic for charismatic theology and prepares to create excitement and a sense of expectation for the supernatural signs mentioned earlier. It also means that the balance of a so-called gospel course is biased in favour of charismatic teaching where five of the total fifteen talks are concerned with an aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work. It’s perhaps telling that the Spirit’s work in bringing new life through the word he has expired is not articulated.

Conclusion

It’s encouraging to note that Gumbel admits, ‘I’m sure that [Alpha] is greatly marred by human error and frailty. There is much room for improvement and we try to listen to constructive criticism’ [Telling Others, p21]. Alpha is greatly marred, in the mercy of God he may continue to convert people through it. However, there’s so little gospel content in it that God is not left with much to work with. Consequently those who are convinced that faith comes by hearing the gospel are left hoping that unbelievers ask some searching questions is their small groups.

Any serious Bible believer ought to be left asking four serious questions

1. Are we witnessing a new liberalism in which humanity’s felt needs become the determining factor for the content of the gospel that is preached to them? We may be.  

2. With Alpha’s emphasis on a subsequent and necessary post-conversion experience does this mean that the course has drifted into the territory of preaching something which is not a gospel at all? It may have. We need to heed Paul’s warnings in Galatians 1:9.

3. Do the proponents of Alpha have faith in the straightforward proclamation of the gospel to save those whom God has chosen? It doesn’t appear so. 

4. Will the gospel of Alpha work on judgement day? I concede that it can, but only just. 

The pastoral implications of these conclusions are terrifying. If we think solely in worldly success and ignore eschatological judgement we may as John Chapmans warns ’succeed in adding people to our churches who have never been converted’.

I’m not prepared to take that risk with a course in which I’m hoping to see unbelievers persuaded by the truth of the gospel. So I’ll be using another course. I’m using Christianity Explored at the moment www.christianityexplored.com and I’d encourage others to do the same.

Bibliography

• Alpha Website http://alpha.org.uk
• Alpha Manual, (London: HTB Publications, 1993)
• Alpha Administrator’s Handbook, (London: HTB Publications, 1998)
• Chapman J, ‘First Things First’, The Briefing Issue #185
• Gumbel N, Questions of Life, (Eastbourne, Kingsway, 1993)
• Gumbel N, Telling Others (Eastbourne, Kingsway, 1995)
• Gumbel N, Why Jesus? (London, HTB Publications, 1991)
• Hand C, ‘Alpha Examined’, http://web.online.co.uk/crn/page12.html
• Hand C, Falling Short? The Alpha Course Examined, (Epsom, Day One Publications, 1998)
• McDonald E, Alpha New Life or New Lifestyle? (Cambridge, St Matthew Publication, 1996)
• Scholes WD, ‘‘A’ is for Alpha ‘B’ is for Berean’, Churchman Volume 112 Number 4
• Wells DF, Turning to God, (Carlisle, Paternoster Press, 1989)
• Youth Alpha Manual, (London: HTB Publications, 1995)
• Youth Alpha Leader’s Manual, (London: HTB Publications, 1996)

A one off kid’s slot in all age church.

Lot’s of people have things called slogans so that people know what they’re about. So for example who says,

‘Can we fix it?’ [Bob the Builder]

‘You’re a really useful engine’ [The Fat Controller]

We have a slogan here at CCB to remind us and to help others see what we’re about. Our slogan is ‘Loving God. Loving God’s People. Loving God’s World’.

We’ve tried to summarise all that God teaches in the Bible about what we’re supposed to do as a church. Let’s think about each one of those phrases.

1. God wants this church to love Him

The most important thing that we can do at church is to help one another to love God. We’ll love God when we know more about him. And so one of the things we must do is help people learn more about God from the Bible. We do this by looking at the Bible when you go to Sunday School and you do it in Sunday School. If you want to get to know someone what would you do? One of things you might do is sit down and talk and spend time getting to know them God wants this church to be a place where we come to learn about God.

2. God wants this church to love His people

The next most important thing that we can do at church is to love the other people in church. There are lots of different people in this church and we all need all sorts of different help. And so we need to find out what they need and how we can help if we’re going to love them. Imagine that you’d been playing rugby and kicked the ball into a tree, what would you want to happen? One of the things that you might want is God wants this church to be a place where people to help us.

3. God wants this church to love His world

The next most important thing that we can do at church is to love people who are lost and don’t know how to find Jesus. If someone is lost and they don’t know where they are what would you do? One of the things that you might do is show them where they are on a map, where they need to go and how they need to get there. God wants this church to be a place where people who can’t find God can be pointed in the right direction.

Conclusion

Let’s pray and ask God to make us a church that’ll Love Him, Love His people and Love His world.

A one off Kid’s Slot for Mother’s Day

Who can tell me what these people have in common? [Pictures of people in congregation]

They all have Mums. Most of us here has a Mum or is a Mum.

Who knows why I’m talking about these things?

Today is a special day on which our society has decided to remember Mums in particular. It used to be called Mothering Sunday but nowadays it’s known as Mother’s Day.

The Bible doesn’t say anything about only remembering our Mums one day a year but today is a special opportunity for us to say thank you to our Mums and to God for our Mums. I thought it would be good to see what God says about Mums in the Bible. He invented Mums, they were his idea.

God says that Mums are great for 3 reasons

1. Mums are great because they love us

In Titus 2 the older women in the church are told to help the young Mums to love their children. To love someone means to put someone else’s needs before our own. When a friend comes to your house and you let them have your toys you’re showing that you love them. [One of the church kids to bring her favourite thing and share it] Our Mums love us because they spend the whole time making sure that we’ve got everything that we need. They buy us food and then cook it, they buy us the right sort of clothes so when it’s cold we can be warm. Some of them have jobs so that they can send us to nice schools, go on great holidays and live in houses with space. They spend time with us reading books, helping us with our homework and driving us places so that we can do things. They’re busy making sure that we’ve got everything that we need and they do that because they love us.

2. Mums are great because they train us

In Proverbs 29 the wise man says that it’s a bad thing if a Mother doesn’t train her children. To train someone means to help someone become better at something. When you go to the park to play rugby with Dad he’ll train you [practice kicking the ball with one of teh church kids]. Our Mums train us in the way that we behave. They teach us what God would like us to do and then they help us to do it. They encourage us when we’re doing the right thing and say things like ‘well done’ and ‘good girl’. And they discipline us when we’re doing the wrong thing and do things like sending us to the naughty step or smacking us. None of us likes being told off but our Mums do it because God wants them to train us to be better at pleasing him.

3. Mums are great because they comfort us

In Isaiah 66 God says he’s a bit like a Mum because just like them he comforts his people. To comfort someone means to take care of someone else. [One of the school kids to give his or her Mum a hug] Our Mums comfort us when we’re sad perhaps because we’ve fallen off the climbing frame and hurt ourselves. They comfort us when we’re lonely perhaps because people have been horrible to us at school. They comfort us when we’re not very well or we wake up in the middle of the night.

So what does all this mean? If we’re small children it means that we need our Mums more than we realise. If we’re grown ups it means that we owe them more than we realise. So let’s thank God for our Mums by praying.

Dear God, Thank you for inventing Mums. Thank you that they love us very much. Thank you that they teach us what you want us to do and they help us to do it. Thank you that they care for us when we’re sad. Amen.

And let’s thank our Mums with these gifts of flowers [pre-arranged bunches of daffodils].