Talks

It was our pleasure to have Roger Bretherton come to speak to us!  He was brilliant!!  He started a mini-series in our Sunday meetings talking about Resilience.

He gave us this Definition of Resilience:

“Resilience is the capacity to face challenge, complexity and change which enhances us rather than diminishes us.”  Resilient Leadership Foundation

Roger talked about Jesus’ famous sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapters 5-7) and explained how the principles and the content of that message explain how we are to live so that we can live life well – the way God intended. And at the same time build resilience into our lives.

He shared some amazing stories and simple illustrations.

What a joy to have Joe Gisbey with us!  It is so good to hear all the feedback on how our financial giving has made a difference in Malawi and also to have Joe bring a challenging message from God for us too!

Joe speaks about the “11th Commandment”

In John 13:31-35 Jesus says: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”  In our world we’re always looking for the next “new” thing! When Jesus said He was going to give the disciples something “new” they might have been excited to learn of this “new” thing only to find that it didn’t seem “new” at all!!  “Love one another” was something Jesus had said often.
The thing that WAS new and also radical too, was that Jesus explained that they (and now “we”) should love one another “like He has loved us.” Jesus loved his disciples through all the tensions, and challenges of everyday life. And they had experienced that, however, they were about to see Jesus’ final and ultimate expression of love (AGAPE love!) as Jesus would be tortured, and hung on the cross.  His commandment was to “love” each other with THAT kind of love!  Wow!  “That’s impossible Jesus!”

In Matt 5:43-48 in the sermon on the mount, Jesus had already spoken about loving not just the people we like, but even loving our enemies!! And being “perfect – like our Father in Heaven!”  That also sounds impossible Jesus!!

We could say that Jesus gives an 11th commandment (“Love one another”) to 11 disciples. (We know that Judas had already left the room.) Numbers are important in the Jewish tradition, they have significance.
For example: 10 is the number of the divine order.  12 is the number of governance
11 represents CHAOS. It’s in the midst of chaos, the lack of order, when all goes wrong that Jesus wants us to love. Love isn’t dependent on simply agreeing with each other, and loving those people we get on with, it goes much deeper. The activity of loving begins right here with us and the person next to us.
When the temple curtain tore down the middle, it symbolised that God was changing His address! He wouldn’t live in the temple anymore, He wanted to make His HOME in the hearts of His people.  So, today, we are now the dwelling place of God!
Miracles and healing are just a side act of the flowing AGAPE love, flowing from us, the people and the home of God.
How are you challenged to “love one another” more?  Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to give us the compassion, kindness, patience and love we need to do it.

On Fostering Sunday our very own Zoe Bell representing the local organisation “100 Homes” challenges us about what it means to exercise “Radical Hospitality.”
The Greek word for hospitality - “Philoxenia” means “Love of the stranger”: it is more than welcoming friends to a meal, it’s about opening ourselves up to strangers; not even just people we don’t know, but people who are different, people who are not welcome everywhere.
Zoe reads two challenging passages where Jesus addressed those listening to him about welcoming the stranger. Read Luke Chapter 14:verses 12-14.
In Matthew Chapter 25 verses 31-46 Jesus underlined the importance and the weight He gives to the practical responsibility his followers have, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit those in prison, saying that those who do this, it’s like they are doing it for Jesus Himself.  This is at the heart of what it means to be a follower (or apprentice, or disciple) of Jesus.

One of our 2024 bible passages is from Isaiah chapter 54. It speaks about expanding the place of our dwelling.  The passage was not originally spoken to an individual, but to the people of Israel who were in exile, away from home. The context was a very challenging season, the prophet Isaiah speaks about a “barren woman”.  Zoe says that the last 12 months have been one of the hardest seasons she has ever been through.  She could identify with the feelings of the people of Israel, in their “lostness” but amid this season, she knew that God was calling them to be radically hospitable, to extend their own physical home to make more space to care for children who need a family.

Zoe and Paul have recently moved into a wonderful larger house (that God has provided miraculously for them) but every step along the way it felt like it was challenged.  Being obedient to following Jesus isn’t often easy!  (To hear more of the story – listen again by clicking the link below)
Of course, God is the best host of all, He is always welcoming us with radical hospitality into his heart, with love.  And part of our response to His love and His hospitality is for us to do the same for others!
Challenge: Is there space at your table to welcome others? Could you even think about fostering? Find out more on https://www.nottinghamcityprayer.com/100-homes.

As we enlarge our tent as Ashwood, are we also ready to enlarge our hearts?

The wonderful Jo Hargreaves gave the words HOME, SAFE & SOUND a whole new dimension in our amazing Ashwood 2024 Mini-Conference!! On Saturday, we had already heard a lot about how fearfully and wonderfully we are made, especially about the wonders of the brain. We often think of ourselves as poorly when our bodies have health issues, but we are a tripartite being: Body/Soul/Spirit (1 Thess. 5:23). Even when the body is poorly, the soul and spirit can still be healthy and we can call ourselves an overall healthy person.
On Sunday, the mum of three, psychotherapist, writer and co-leader of Alive Church in Lincoln shares with us “a nervous system case study” about The Prodigal Son coming home, feeling safe and sound.

What did the Prodigal Son’s journey feel like in body, soul and spirit? Going off, he made a bad decision. These are made in our back brains.
Caroline Spring says: You have to change your stance before you change your story. We need to change our thinking from the back brain to the front brain (where good choices are made)! What things help us to change our stance (shift our thinking and emotions from the back brain to the front brain)? Love, worship, be in awe, repent, and meet our basic needs (rest, food, drink etc). It is so important to meditate on God’s everlasting love to be able to shift our thinking to the front brain. God wired us like that.
When things don’t go well for the Prodigal Son “he comes to his senses”, he starts to make good decisions (in his front brain). How did the shift happen? He remembered his father’s love! If you struggle with self-condemnation, use self-compassion.

When the prodigal decides to go back to the father and repent, he is thinking in his front brain. He is met with compassion from his father, which soothes his nervous system. The father throws his arms around him and kisses him: Oxytosin is released, the love hormone that makes us feel secure and safe. Oxytocin gets rid of cortisol, the stress hormone - just like the bible says: “Perfect love casts out fear!”
When the father dresses him and puts a ring on his finger, serotonin, the feel-good hormone kicks in. When they party and he starts to enjoy himself, dopamine, the reward hormone, appears. God wants to change our story! Let’s change our stance so that the celebration can begin!
The same invitation is extended to us today: come home! When we have been reckless with our thoughts and actions, we can turn to God who will boost our oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine.
You can start that process now by speaking a “Breath Prayer”: Inhale slowly through your nose while reminding yourself: “I am safe”. Then exhale through your mouth even slower and say to yourself: “I am loved”. The word Ruach means both breath and spirit. In Genesis, we read how God creates order out of chaos with His Ruach. He can do the same today for each of us.

This Sunday – it is great to have a guest speak with us.  Mark Hopkins from Kings Church Arnold (a Ground Level Network Church) speaks to us about “Salvation”.  Which simply means to be “saved” – a term we often use within church environments to describe how God saves us.  Mark highlights to us that in its broadest terms “Salvation” means much more!
He uses the words from Psalm 103, originally written by King David, to describe the wider benefits from God that we can now experience.  He points out that sometimes we can “feel” the benefits and sometimes it’s more about the position of truth. For example, God Forgives us – whether we “feel” it or not.  It’s based on what is true – not how we feel.

“Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.”.

He ussd the analogy of a theme park at Disney! It looks incredible from the outside, but inside it is even far more amazing!  His question for us:
Are we still on the outside deciding whether we want to benefit from God’s salvation?
Are we enjoying everything that God has for us inside the theme park?  OR
Have we got stuck at the ticket office unaware that there’s so much more for us?