10,000 view latest Co-Mission film
Adam Malooly of the Co-Mission church planting movement writes: With 2020 being what it was, this Christmas was a particular opportunity to share a message addressing the loneliness and isolation many were feeling.
This was at the forefront of our minds when we released our latest Christmas film The Lonely Dinosaur. The film is the story of a toy dinosaur shadow that comes alive on Christmas Eve and finds himself alone. In his search for friends, his journey leads him to understand the truth about the Christmas season and what ‘Immanuel’ truly means – God with us. The film has been seen by over 10,000 people and downloaded by numerous churches.
The contextualised gospel – delightful, doubtful, or damnable?
Tim Wells and Lois H.M. Wells
Date posted: 1 Feb 2021
What is the gospel? That sounds like a pretty basic question that every Christian knows the answer to. But wait, what are your ‘go-to’ Bible verses if you were asked to sum up the key elements of the gospel? Take a minute to jot them down – we will return to them later.
The gospel, like the spectrum seen in a quality diamond, radiates an exquisite array of themes. Each of the four Gospels, for example, has its own unique emphasis on the person and work of Jesus: Matthew (Jesus as King), Mark (Jesus as Servant), Luke (Jesus as Man) and John (Jesus as God). They also record how our Saviour brought the good news to a kaleidoscope of cultures, classes, religious standings, genders and ages. But how much should this variety in the starting point of the hearer determine the nature of the gospel message presented to them?
ten questions
David Norbury
1. How did you become a Christian?
New director for HOPE
Hope Together
Date posted: 1 Feb 2021
Dr Rachel Jordan-Wolf has taken over from Roy Crowne as executive director to lead HOPE Together in the UK.
Rachel has worked closely with HOPE Together since 2010, when she was the Church of England’s National Mission and Evangelism Advisor.
Skull plans to bring new life to Brighton’s dry bones
Association of Grace Baptist Churches (SE)
Date posted: 1 Feb 2021
David Skull (aka Skully) has been serving Grace Church Guildford for the past 13 years. In July he will be moving with his wife Naomi and their four children to lead Grace Plant Brighton. He explains how this happened.
Back in 2012, Montpelier Place Baptist Church sadly closed. It represented a community of Christians who had been gathering in Brighton since 1834. The building was demolished in 2017, but we don’t believe this is the end of the story. Grace Plant Brighton is sowing the seeds of a new church in central Brighton in 2021.
All Nations’ 90% IT cash boost
All Nations College
Date posted: 1 Feb 2021
All Nations College has announced an ambitious plan to invest in technology for the College after a loss of £170,000 in expected income due to the pandemic.
They are budgeting £51,000 for a two-person team of ICT personnel that they say is needed. The scheme includes an ambitious new ‘Student Management System’ which will help All Nations to track and to manage all student data more effectively.
Bishop Pat Harris 1934 – 2020
Chris Sugden
Date posted: 1 Feb 2021
Bishop Pat Harris, former Bishop of Northern Argentina and of Southwell and Nottingham, and onetime Secretary of Partnership for World Mission for the Church of England died peacefully in December.
His family write: ‘Patrick was a man of deep faith, with strong convictions as a Christian since his Army days as a young officer. From there he went to Oxford to study law (at Keble College) where he was President of the Christian Union. After attending theological college (Clifton Theological College, Bristol), he was a curate at St Ebbe’s in Oxford from 1960-63.
Church planting: is the old method best?
Deiniol Williams
Date posted: 1 Feb 2021
Church planting can sometimes seem like a relatively new phenomenon, but whether it is or not depends on what you mean by church planting.
A good friend and mentor of mine – who has planted two churches in France – believes that when Paul instructed Timothy to ‘do the work of an evangelist’ (2 Tim. 4:5), he was instructing him to plant churches. To evangelise – to make disciples of all nations (Mat 28:19) – is to see churches started. Church planting, in this sense of the term, is as old as the early church.
Awr i blant? Syniad gwych!*
Two encouraging pieces of news from the
Evangelical Movement of Wales (EMW).
Steffan Job writes:
A group of officers and leaders from the
camps and conference work have produced
some online videos to fill the gap left by the
summer cancellations, and so began Awr i
blant (An hour for children).
Christians in Sport reaches 70,000 in Covid and launches new evangelism resource
Jonny Reid of Christians in Sport writes: In the first lockdown, Christians in Sport encouraged sportspeople to Pray STAY Say – encouraging Christians to stay in the lives of their sports mates. As part of that campaign we delivered five online sports quizzes with a short talk explaining the Christian faith. We’re thrilled that over 70,000 people joined in.
In November, the second lockdown saw elite sport able to continue, but for competitive amateur sportspeople, sport halted once more. However, the guidelines gave opportunities for sportspeople to do something outside with one other person, so we launched Train 1-2-1. This brand-new resource encouraged people to go for a run or cycle with friends, and then ask them three questions about Jesus’ identity, mission and call.
