Category: evangelism and mission

An intentional detour of grace

In John 4:3-6 we read: 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was… Continue reading An intentional detour of grace

What if the nuclear missiles were to hit in 20 minutes?

Someone asked this question on Twitter the other day. Fortunately, before everyone panicked, it became clear that the question was intended as hypothetical. But what would you do if the warning message went out that you had twenty minutes before the missiles began to hit? In that context, if you live in an urban area… Continue reading What if the nuclear missiles were to hit in 20 minutes?

Discerning a calling to the urban West Midlands

My desire is to see gospel communities planted into our urban inner city and council estate neighbourhoods in the West Midlands.  I believe that if this is going to happen then we’ll need two things. First of all, we’ll need indigenous church leaders from working class estate contexts and multi-ethnic contexts to be raised up,… Continue reading Discerning a calling to the urban West Midlands

2022, COVID or a post COVID world and the church

I thought it might be helpful to say a little bit more about what we might expect to happen with COVID-19 over the next year or so and how this might affect our approach to church life.  I’ve seen a few people setting out some potentially scary scenarios recently. For example, in one very bleak… Continue reading 2022, COVID or a post COVID world and the church

Christmas Eve

You know how they say that a picture is worth a thousand words? This is that picture. Eve who with her husband brought death into the world became the mother of life. She was brought under the crushing curse of sin and death but her descendent the promised seed crushed the serpent’s head. Here in… Continue reading Christmas Eve

Xmas and Christmas revisted

I want to expand a little here on one of the points I made in my article about preparing for Christmas carol service sermons.  In that article I warned against trampling on the connection points that might exist with those attending.  I referenced an essay by CS Lewis called Xmas and Christmas which imagines Herodotus… Continue reading Xmas and Christmas revisted

Preparing the Christmas Carol Service Sermon

Over the next few weeks we are going to be doing something that we’ve not had the opportunity to do for the past couple of years, inviting people to come along to a Christmas Carol service.  It’s one of the few times of year when it’s reasonably easy to invite people along to a traditional… Continue reading Preparing the Christmas Carol Service Sermon

Christmas, hospitality and Muslims

A few years ago, a friend of ours invited us for an evening meal with their family. It was no ordinary dinner party, the clue was that we were going to be eating far later in the evening than I would normally. We were being invited to an Ifkar which is the meal Muslims eat… Continue reading Christmas, hospitality and Muslims

Using social media as a shop window into your church

Churches put a lot of effort into the appearance of their buildings, particularly taking time to create inviting entrance foyers that enable people to see in and feel able to come in. We know the effect of a church building with closed, heavy, austere doors.  We know the impact of walking into a building which… Continue reading Using social media as a shop window into your church