Glenwood Church

Advice given by an old Celtic Saint

1. Live as if Jesus is with you all the time

2. Leave a place better than how you found it.

3. Wherever God has put you, don’t leave - easily!

                                                                       St Anthony

Sorry - it’s been a while since I last wrote a blog!  Much has happened since then.  An amazing trip to the States over Easter to visit and learn from four churches and a conference.  These were Cedar Ridge Community Church (Brian McLaren is based here but now led so well by an Englishman - Matthew Dyer), Bethel Church Redding (Bill Johnson), Mosaic Church (Erwin McManus) and also where the conference, Awaken 08, was based and finally but certainly not least Willow Creek (Bill Hybels). When we chose the churches to visit I did not know where some of them were located –s0 hence I did realise how much travelling there would be!  But it did mean we saw some great sights - setting sun over Lincoln Memorial, the view from top of Rockerfellow Centre and the walk across Brooklyn Bridge, lands end in California and a boat trip under the Golden Gate Bridge, Venice beach in LA, the art and the walk along the lake in Chicago.  There were also some very moving moments - the Vietnam Wall of remembrance in Washington, Ground Zero and the amount of beggars on the streets.We learned so much from all the churches we visited and our prayer was that God would give us lots of ‘nuggets’ and meet with Jane and I - and touch us.  He did both and the encounter with God came on our last day in Willow Creek. Here God just came and blessed both Jane and I with his presence and goodness.  What were some of the ‘nuggets’ we learned?

• While the churches we visited had vastly different expressions of spirituality - they had one big quality in common - they all loved Jesus and were seeking to follow him. 
• Walking into four churches were you are a complete stranger was an interesting experience! It made me really look at the question of how welcoming are we to new people who walk into our Sunday gathering.
• These churches ranged from 500 - 25,000 - so they were big!  I was reminded, very strongly, that must never forget that God is concerned for one person - so every person in our faith community’s matters and is of value.
• Great deal of creativity in many of the churches I visited - but used in different ways.  Made me realise the need to make sure that we keep exploring ways of being creative.
• The need for very good planning but in partnership with the Holy Spirit.
• All four churches were seeking ways to serve the poor.
• Confirmed to me again that the Sunday gathering is but one part of church - church is 24/7

 Well I could say much more but will leave that until next time.

Thanks Paul 

 A great deal more failure is the result of an excess of caution than of bold experimentation with new ideas. The frontiers of the Kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution.  J. Oswald Chambers

The invention of a hard drive recorder has changed the way that Jane and I watch TV in that we are able to record a number of programmes and view them at a time that suits us. So the other day we caught up on a BBC drama series, The Last Enemy, which we had recorded but not got round to watching. Like all BBC drama it was very well written, acted, gripping and fast paced. But what a dark ending!  The drama was looking into the not too distant future and suggesting that Britain would become a police state with far more control than George Orwell ever dreamed of!  It suggest a place where all freedom was limited by the state and where the individual was utterly powerless to do or change anything.  As I say, a depressing view!

 As we move into Easter I thank God that we worship a God who has liberated us to be the people we were created to be.  The cross of Jesus is empty not because He is dead and in a grave but rather it is empty because He died and rose to life again.  Jesus defeated death and the power and principalities. This means many many things.  But foundational is that the Kingdom of God, through the church, is on the move and can’t be stopped by any force of man. 

I loved the story we heard in church in early March about what God is doing in Iran. How many, many people are coming to faith in Jesus.  I had coffee just a few days ago with a man who told me the same type of stories but this time in China.  In a country where there is apparently no church we have the fastest growing church in the world!  This is a God who is on the move and whose Kingdom can not be stopped. 

And in the Glenwood Faith Community?  Well this week I met with someone who was out of work and we prayed together as they were on there way for an interview - they got the job. On Monday 45 children came to the day-time club run by Lynda and the The Echo came and took pictures!  Almost 800 young people crowded into the Gate Theatre to watch two performances of their set play ‘An Inspector Calls’ - performed by Going Public Drama Team. Sarah continues to work with the local schools and in particular looking for a just solution to the present school’s crisis.  Someone stopped off on their way home and simply asked if they could sit down in the church for 10 minutes and have a cup of tea - we may not see them again - but they did get a cup of tea in Jesus’ name! One of the older people in the church asked at the Sunday service if there was someone who could help put a shed up in their garden.  The first person approached, who has a very senior and busy job, agreed to do it.

This is God’s church and His Kingdom is advancing. As we come to Easter - let us thank God for the risen Christ.

There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world: and

that is an idea whose time has come. 

                                                                                      Victor Hugo

Christmas has come and gone and believe it or not I was given my first Easter egg the other day – crazy world!  But in the life of the church we had a wonderful ’07 Christmas with many stories of God meeting with us.  Let me just share a couple of snapshots:

Philip and Ruth Bishop who are both in Mark and Abi Rogers’ house group hosted a Christmas ‘special’ at their home with their small group and some of the Glenwood running group. The idea was simple – people were encouraged to invite friends to their home for an evening of singing carols and having food. Rob Burns then cleverly wove the Christmas story around the author of and story behind each of the carols, such a simple, but great idea.

All the children’s and youth work had some great parties last year.  I was so encouraged by Ali Jensen’s story after the g-pod Christmas party (for which I was Father Christmas!).  There were about 40 children mostly from the local neighbourhood.  Parents with children in both Wrigglerz and g-pod are continually dropping off and picking up their children over a 3 hour period. One parent approached Ali after the party and suggested that instead of having to go home and continually collect and drop off children why didn’t they have a coffee bar for parents.  So imagine this, every week while the kids have their club their parents will be hosting a coffee bar for themselves – a place where they can meet and chat with one another.  What a dream – to have people who live locally ‘popping’ in to the church for a coffee.  What a great opportunity to talk about and demonstrate God’s love with them.

The Sunday evening carol service was also packed seeing many people bringing friends and family.  I met someone who came due to receiving one of the 2000 invites that we as a church had pushed through doors on the estate.  It was a wonderful service full of God’s love and grace and 10 people took away discovery packs.

This is our community.  A place where God is touching the lives of people – and we thank Him!

Thanks

Keep journeying with the One who loves you!

A church which pitches its tents without constantly looking out for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling….(We must) play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, and live by impovisation and experiment.  Hans Kung

  We just had a great Sunday morning gathering!  During the service we welcomed into Glenwood many people who want to make this their local church.  It was such a privilege to share communion and pray with these people.  What stories of God’s grace each has to tell!

This is why I love the local church, this flawed, broken messy beautiful group of people. Because it is full of people who have stories to tell –each building a fuller picture of Jesus. Through this blog I want to share some of the stories from this faith community that I hope will encourage and strengthen our faith.

I have spent most of my adult life being part of and serving this community that is called church. I believe church is the greatest hope for my life, for our friends and local communities.  There are many reasons why I believe this but near the top has to be the amazing truth that it is through this community that I have experienced so much of Jesus.   

In  serving

being,

laughing,

crying,

eating,

drinking,

sharing,

loving,

breaking,

being broken,

singing,

meditating,

living,

I have touched the incomparable Jesus.

Further more I have seen Jesus touch others. 

I have seen him walk among the homeless as some share their food and clothes with people who have so little.

As I have sat and watched a performance of a dance company in the Gate I have seen Jesus dancing with them. 

When the parent takes their child and meets up with other parents and their children, Jesus is there – with them and in them.

He is there when a member visits an old person who has no one to look after them.  They spend time with them and make a meal for them.  Jesus is there at the heart of that home. 

Incredibly the church is the body of Jesus here on earth.  What a wonderful calling and privilege but also what a responsibility!   My constant prayer for us in the Glenwood faith community is that as His body we will constantly live and breathe Jesus in all that we do.

Thanks

Keep journeying with the One who loves you!