Community

Do you believe God is interested in the everyday details of our lives? Does he care if we find a parking space? Get the right job? Feel good about our appearance?

Ruth Adams was inspired by this article (written by a friend of her daughter).

So brew up, click here and prepare to be challenged…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1139164/Living-prayer-Can-God-help-survive-slump-pick-perfect-party-dress–More-women-believe-answer-yes-.html

I’m not sure I can even spell this but it’s an article/blog by a friend in Manchester who has been running a Fresh Expression since before the term was coined.

The gist of the article is that when we seek first to build relationships by shared activities (very activate and a route we would recommend) there is a danger that we can get caught up in the activities themselves rather than remembering that we do have a message to share.

No rush – but let’s remind ourselves to give people some Good News at some stage

So here’s’s your thought for the day…
http://benedson.blogs.com/benedson/2009/02/missional-obliquity.html

This is a great week to celebrate marriage – maybe to have a service to renew vows or to have a party.

The event lasts a week and finishes with Valentine’s Day. How about a celebration with married friends. Make it a no children allowed event so they can concentrate on each other.

Tearfund have just produced findings from a research project which demonstrates that the ‘Church is not in decline’ any more. See the press release: http://www.tearfund.org/News/Press+releases/Church+is+where+the+heart+is.htm

This is the second piece of encouraging news I’ve read this week. Even though church attendance is rare it seems that people are warm to the Church in general.

A recent poll reported that a huge number of people say that they WOULD accept an invitation to a service if it was offered.
We just need to make sure that the experience of the visit is so positive that they want to repeat it.

Making a real effort to get to know someone and being genuinely interested in their lives is the key. No-one likes to feel that they are being head-hunted for numbers. Activate has always encouraged relationship building first and foremost. We are called to introduce people to Jesus and not to get them onto a Pew. However, being part of a loving group who are living the Gospel and not simply talking it, is much more likely to attract people and encourage them to stay and belong.