The Hitchhiker’s Guide to…
September 12, 2011 | 
Author “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” gave us the answer to the ultimate question, the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Of course, it was 42! But the problem was no-one knew THE ultimate question, so there’s still a puzzle…
Most of us, if we find a moment in our busy modern lives to consider the big questions of life, will say that we’d like answers to:
* where did it all begin?
* where did I come from?
* why am I here?
* what’s my purpose while I’m here?
* what happens after I die?
And then there are the other, perhaps deeper, questions like:
* what is truth?
* how do we find the right moral code for life?
* are there ethical absolutes?
* does God exist?
Oh, and the old chestnuts of:
* do extraterrestrials really exist?
* is warp drive possible?
* why can’t we predict the weather?
* is time an illusion?
* what’s reality anyway?
It seems that in our amazingly technological, information superhighway world we have vast quantities of knowledge, huge amounts of data and endless streams of opinions, yet still have no real answers to these big questions of life.
Well, no surprise to you I am sure, I am persuaded that we can look into the Bible and find some of these answers. OK, the warp drive one may not be an easy one to find an answer to, but the Bible is truly our Guide to life, the universe and everything, so let’s dig in and explore some of the answers….
Amazing times…
Wow! What a few days we have had!
The last weekend with the Livin’ It youth event featuring ADapt and LZ7 was amazing! The positive feedback from the young people of the town has been great and we are looking to see God do even greater things in our midst.
Plus, with involvement in the Burgess Hill Festival Town Day, we have found great favour with the councils of the area. We are beginning to impact the community in the fresh new ways that we should as the people of God.
Then today we have had the privilege of celebrating the life of Pastor Abiah (Abe) Armstrong – a great unsung hero of the faith who built churches, pastored generations and gave his best for the glory of the King. Totally inspired and humbled to have been around Abe and to be officiating at his memorial service and funeral.
I’m No Fool… coming soon!
Several of us from MSCCentre travelled to Huddersfield this last week to hear of the changes to the Assemblies of God UK and to be inspired by the plans for a new way forward to reach the nation with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Part of the restructure brings five new Regional Leaders for the movement…
And we are so excited to have one of the AoG’s five new Regional Leaders coming to MSCCentre for the weekend of 2nd & 3rd April! Ian Williams (Wales & West) will be with us for our special I’m No Fool day conference focussing on Living from Heaven: prophetic discipleship. It is going to be a pivotal day in the life of the church for this year and, I believe, for years to come as we build into all God has for us.
It would be great to see you on 2nd April – book up as soon as possible to make sure of your place. Cost is just £15 which includes lunch and refreshments for the day. More info under the “Weekends” tab…
Living from Heaven… in 2011!
Wow! What a
really great atmosphere at MSCCentre this weekend for our Vision Sunday 2011! We had a lot of fun Sunday morning with hot air balloons (sort of), jigsaws (really!), a cascade of balloons all getting popped, and prizes too! A memorable day to kick start the New Year.
So what is the vision for 2011? That as a church and as individuals that we will live from Heaven by seeing from Heaven and taking faith-actions that reach into the lives of those around us. We will have more up on the site soon (the powerpoint overview, the podcast and even some video footage). But until then here are the key thoughts:
Seeing from Heaven
- Fresh perspective… Rev 4:1/Eph 2:6
- As it is in heaven… Matt 6:10
- Seeing with the eyes of faith… John 5:19-20
- Taking faith-actions… Eph 2:10
- Seeing souls saved & people’s lives transformed… Prov 11:30/2 Cor 3:18
And with an emphasis on“focus, consolidate & build momentum”
based on our core values of:
- God encounter
- Worship experience
- Mission emphasis
- Everyone engaged
So 2011 here we come! Believing for an exciting year in God as we see from Heaven and begin living in all the fulness of His Kingdom here on earth.
Happy New Year!
Here we are: the very beginning of 2011! A new year, a new opportunity to be all you can be in Jesus!
Someone has calculated that there are 31,536,000 seconds this year (same as most year’s!) so what are you going to do with them all? Thing is, all time is spent or invested – and once it has gone it’s gone. So make the most of this wonderful new start God has given you.
-oOo-
Also, Ruth and I wanted to say a huge, great big “thank you” to the whole church family for your fabulous Christmas gift to us! It was completely unexpected and totally amazing and overwhelming – it truly means a tremendous amount to us – thanks!
-oOo-
And don’t forget that this Sunday (9th Jan) is our 2011 Vision day: starting the New Year with fresh perspective! Come along for an insight into God’s plans for MSCCentre, for some special worship and for a bit of fun, as well!
The Nativity…
Wow! What an absolutely superb weekend we had at MSCCentre this week!
We had snow, we had ice and yet we had lots of lovely people out for our very special Great Plan B pantomime both Saturday & Sunday evenings. A great performance, a superb message and a whole lot of fun! Great job everyone involved!
And then there was the Christmas Family Service with a children’s nativity play plus a well presented message of the real meaning of Christmas in quiz-form as well as a talk for the adults – another brilliant morning from the wonderful MSCCentre Family Service team!
And now, we are fast approaching the big day itself. There’s probably still lots to do – especially now we have frozen everything! But we have the BBC putting on a special Nativity show this year (evenings Monday to Thursday this week) – a talking point for sure. Top that with our Christmas Eve Carols & Readings – with mulled wine and mince pies – and a short service Christmas Day and there is a special Christmas indeed!
Have a lovely week, take care in the icy conditions, and don’t forget to remind yourself and others that “Jesus is the reason for the season!”
Glory to God in the Highest! God bless…
Are you ready?
Christmas is even closer this week! The Great Plan B special event is this weekend coming and is shaping up to be a wonderful, fun-filled performance for all the family guaranteed! There are still a few tickets left – email Pollyanna@msccentre.org for more information.
Sunday morning 19th sees our Very Christmassy Family Service which should last around one hour and includes our “traditional” nativity. Bring your family & friends for lots of “ooo” and “aaah” as the children present the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth.
Then in the final run up to the big day itself we have Carols by Candlelight with mulled wine & mince pies on Christmas Eve – another really good opportunity to invite people, who maybe don’t normally come to church, to come along and enjoy celebrating the reality of Jesus this Christmas!
And if you are staying local this year, why not join us on Christmas Day itself for our short celebration of Jesus’ birth – the best gift we can give: our worship to Jesus HImself!
Are you ready? Get those invitations out! Let’s spread the Christmas message to everyone in our world.
Are we ready? Oh, yes we are! Looking forward to seeing you!
Christmas is coming!
Christmas! Amazingly we are at that time of year again! The last twelve months seem to have rushed by… My old grannie used to say time goes faster the older you get and it seems to be true! Well, actually, we know that time goes at exactly the same pace for all of us, it just seems to go quicker for some. That said, each of us only has so much life to live and, unlike the pantomime which is coming up very soon (see the trailer on another part of this website) we don’t get the chance for a dress rehearsal – this life is the real thing!
So, this Christmas, why not take a moment to thank God for what time you have had until now and decide to make the most of the life He has given you. This Christmas receive afresh Jesus into your life and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you to your best life yet in 2011 and beyond. And, maybe even more important, take some time this Christmas to let others know that the true gift of Christmas is Jesus coming into the world to bring us true peace with God and give all of us the opportunity to have eternal life with Him. There’ll be no worries then about time flying by….
Wellbeing: are we attractive people?
I wonder as we approach the end of our short series on Wellbeing if you think of yourself as an “attractive” person?
That word has so many connotations these days: mostly to do with beauty, physical appearance and so on. Yet an attractive person is one who attracts: who causes others to want to be around them.
Does your lifestyle cause you to have thriving wellbeing?
If it does you will almost certainly attract others who are either thriving themselves, or who want what you have. And what you have is Jesus – so what better way to share Him with others than being all you can be in Him, thriving in wellbeing in your career, social life, finances, physical health and community involvement and telling others through words, actions and daily life that you belong to Christ.
The apostle Paul writes that we are “letters” from God to the world – the gospel on two legs rather than written in a book. What a challenge: to live our lives as God would want us to. Yet how good to do that, to live God’s way, to live life “by wisdom” which is the self-evident way to live (Luke 7:35, The Truth NT).
Today, tomorrow, this week, this month… decide to thrive in life, to live alive to Jesus, to be wise and live life to the full!
Wellbeing: Spirituality is the key…
The Gallup organisation published a book this summer that is based on their years of research into the field of personal growth, individual wellbeing and satisfaction in life. Amongst some really interesting findings was the important key comment:
“For many people, spirituality drives them in all areas [of wellbeing: Career, Social, Financial, Physical & Community]. Their faith is the most important facet of their lives, and it is the foundation of their daily efforts.”
Those of us who follow Jesus, who have faith in God and live moment-by-moment empowered by the Holy Spirit know this to be true: all of life should be impacted by our Christianity. So often in the past we have separated out what we do on Sunday and the rest of the week – some call it the Sacred-Secular divide – yet the reality is that God wants to be involved in every area of our lives. As we give ourselves more to Him, to His service and to seeing every aspect of our life as being of importance to Him, we will begin to thrive in wellbeing in all of our lives. We will move into the careers that are right for us; we will build relationships that are strong; we will gain the finances we need to fulfill the calling on our lives; we will be healthy in body, mind and emotions; and we will be able to make significant contributions to the community around us.
“I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” – Jesus [John 10:10 MSG]
Are you thriving in wellbeing today? God wants you to be full of life – even to overflowing! Go for it!
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Tags: career, community, financial, health, social, spiritual, wellbeing | 
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