What is our gathering together on a Sunday morning all about? Here’s a few serious and not so serious contributions to the discussion…
What is Worship?
RTG 10: The Gospel as it used to be
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican is widely recognised as one of the great triumphs in human artistic endeavour. Painted from 1508 to 1512, Michelangelo’s striking portrayal of the creation, fall and destruction of humankind by the flood has evoked enormous praise for its interpretative and creative genius. […]
Clarifying our Mission – part 2 – the most important clarity of all.
As we read through the biblical material concerning his earthly life and ministry, we find that Jesus sent his disciples out as missionaries on at least two occasions (Matthew 10:1-42; Luke 10:1-20. Their task both times was to preach the good news of the Kingdom, and demonstrate its reality by performing the miracles Jesus himself had carried out.
RTG 9: Rediscovering the World – the yeast of Separatism
“Come ye out from among them and be ye separate.” 2 Cor 6:17
I first encountered the ‘doctrine’ of separation, or non-fellowship as it is also known, during my early attempts to join a local church. Such was its hold in one I attended that the church leaders there not only refused to socialise with their non-Christian colleagues outside of work, they would also not even eat with them whilst in work…
Home Group Leadership Training (HGLT) : Introduction & Overview
Welcome to the Home Group Leadership Training (HGLT) series! Since the very beginning of the Christian church followers of Jesus Christ have been meeting together in small, home-based groups to encourage and challenge one another in their journey of faith. In the pages that follow you will find an introduction to the basic information and […]
Trip to Peru with Compassion (Ireland)
In May 2011 a number of us involved in the Dublin Willow Creek Leadership Conference were invited to travel with Compassion International to see some of their work in Peru. It was a great experience and this is the little promo video they made whilst we were there. You can check out Compassion here.
Clarifying our Mission – part 1- learning from the early church
When we set off to fulfil the task God has given us in mission, the obvious first step to begin with is to turn to the scriptures and to see what Jesus and the early church did as they responded to this same calling. In doing so our hope is inevitably to find a simple, […]
RTG 8: Rediscovering the Kingdom – the yeast of Platonism
The teaching of the Greek Philosopher Plato has been, and remains, the most dominant and influential philosophy in western history. Even though few of us spend much time pondering his work; even though many of us might struggle to know the difference between him and the former ninth planet in our universe, every one of […]
RTG 7: Rediscovering Community – the yeast of Individualism
Unlike some of the other ‘isms’ we are discussing in this little series of blogs, ‘individualism’ is such an accepted and fully integrated element in our modern Irish culture that it is often difficult to even notice its presence any more never mind appreciate its influence. The joy-robbing severity of legalism and jarring anger of […]
A Long View
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom […]