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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2002-01-23, Page 12January 27 "More Righteous than the Most Religious" - Matthew 5 Alpha starts soon! HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY CHURCH Auburn - 526-7555 PASTOR DAVE WOOD - 523-9017 Sunday 9:30 am. • Family Bible Hour 10:30 a.m. - Morning Worship Service 7:30 p.m. • Evening Worship Wednesday 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. - Crusaders & Youth 7:30 p.m. • Adult Prayer Meeting Friday 7:30 p.m. Youth MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS 11:00 a.m. - Morning Service - Sunday School 9:30 a.m. - Belgrave Service Wheelchair accessible Nursery care available Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 887-9831 BLYTH UNITED CHURCH Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street Sunday, January 27 Worship Service & Sunday School at 11:00 a.m. fit& Weleawe Pastoral Supply Minister: Rev. Dr. Eugen Bannerman Office: 523-4224 BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Joan Golden - Diaconal Student Minister Church Office 887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wcLon.ca Sunday, January 27 Ethel United Church 9:30 a.m. Worship Service and Sunday School Brussels United Church 11:00 a.m. Worship Service and Sunday School Come worship and celebrate the Epiphany Season with us! The Citizen's 2002 will be published February 6, 2002 To be part of this issue call Alan or Jeannette 523-4792. 4 4 4 4 r 0, for the 4 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 4 January 24th, 2002 4 St. John's Anglican Church, Brussels 4 beginning at 6:00 p.m. with a potluck supper 4 Ecumenical Service at 7:00 p.m. 4 ,mora.vr "tiF -vor NK-Nr, "sr Nr Nor NI' Brussels Ministerial is hosting an Ecumenical Gathering PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2002. From the Mininster's Study Alpha looks at tackling tough questions By Pastor Ernest Dow Living Water Christian Fellowship, Blyth "Christianity: Boring, Untrue, and Irrelevant?" That's just one of the tough sub- jects tackled by former lawyer Nicky Gumbel during the Alpha Course. Thousands of people around the world have found purpose and peace through authentic Christianity as a result of participating in Alpha. It is a sympathetic, fascinating introduction to Jesus Christ — still the most attractive and captivating person possible to know. Brussels Mennonite Fellowship has just begun the Alpha series; Living Water Christian Fellowship will be starting one in February; and St. John's Anglican Church, Brussels is planning to offer the course this spring. What has made Alpha so popular and appealing to people of widely varying church background (and none)? Alpha focuses on the essentials of Biblical Christian faith, the "majors" not the "minors". It steers clear of finer doctrinal details that denominations have disagreed on. Its presenter, Nicky Gumbel, offers humorous yet compelling talks that are very convincing about the truth of classic Christianity, couched in a warm and personable manner. Yet one of the best features of Alpha is its refusal to avoid the tough questions that everyone won- ders about at some time in life... basic spiritual issues that are not easy to deal with. Responding to the question, "Christianity: Boring, Untrue, Irrelevant?", Gumbel takes us from "Christianity" back-to look at Jesus' claim to be "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Jesus offers direction for a lost world; reality in a confused world; life in a dark world. Gumbel comments, "In Jesus we find life where previously there has been guilt, addiction, fear, and the prospect of death. It is true that all of us were created in the image of God and there is, therefore, some- thing noble about all human beings. However, we are also fallen; we are born with a propensity to do evil. In every human being the image of God has also been to a greater or lesser extent tarnished, and in some cases almost eradicated, by sin... What Jesus-did—when He was cruci- fied for us was to pay the penalty for all the things that we have done wrong... He died to remove our ALMIMIMMEOMMIMIL 8 3 3 I 1 r 1 ofitaing, Viler i g Miami, Teilauktfiips 9:30 a.m. - Sunday School for all ages, 10:30 a.m. .- Worship at Blyth Public School, corner of King & Mill Pastor: Ernest Dow 523-4848 www.tcc.on.ca/-dowfam guilt, to. set us free from addiction, fear, and ultimately death. He died instead of us." Thus Alpha does not deny the pain and problem of our human condition; but it also shows how the truth of Jesus meets our need for help and real meaning in life. Another question Alpha tackles is, "How Can I Resist Evil?" Many peOple wrestle with tempta- tion every day. Gumbel responds: "If the image of God as a white-bearded old man sitting on a 6oud is absurd and incredible, so also is the image of a horned devil trudging through Dante's inferno. We are not dealing with an alien from outer space but with a real personal force of evil who is active in the world today... The ultimate aim of Satan is to destroy every human being (John 10:10). He wants us to follow a path that leads to destruction... Satan wants failure to become a pattern in our lives. He knows that the more we fall into sin, the more sin will start to control our lives." The Alpha materials counsel peo- ple to defend themselves from evil by putting on God's full armour (Ephesians 6:11) — getting the whole Christian truth into our sys- tems by reading the Bible and Christian books, listening to ser- mons and tapes; receiving the right- eousness that comes from God through what Jesus has done on the cross, along with telling God how sorry we are when we fall, so He will restore His friendship with us; and having faith in Christ, "the opposite of cynicism and skepti- cism, which wreak havoc in many lives". Gumbel reminds us that evil can be attacked through prayer: such a weapon has "divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:4); and evil can also be challenged through action, as Jesus carried out a ministry of heal- ing and kindness. Besides telling others the Good News about Christ, we can live it. "At work people should notice our consistency, honesty, truthful- ness, hard work, reliability, avoid- ance of gossip, and desire to encour- age other people. At home, parents, family, and roommates will be influenced by our service to others, our patience, and our kindness, far more than by our words." Want to hear more? Cornerstone Bible Fellowship Ethel The churches sponsoring the Alpha Course would be more than happy to have you join in. You will certainly be better equipped to tack- le life's tough questions as a result! r4 8 8 8 You are Welcome at the BLYTH COMMUNITY CHURCH OF GOD 9:45 a.m. - Sunday School - for ages 3 to adult 11:06 a.m. - Morning Worship 7:45 p.m. - Evening Worship Kids' Club - Tuesday - 3:45 - 5 p.m. Ages 6-11 welcome. Bible Studies - Wednesday morning 10 a.m. Wednesday evening 7:30 p.m. Phone 523-4590 308 Blyth Rd., Blyth THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA Veicooced, San to come awl eciet% ud Sunday, January 27 Morning Prayer St. John's Vestry Meeting after the Service Trinity, Blyth St. John's, Brussels 9:30 a.m. 11:15 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 24 - Ecumenical Potluck Supper & Service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - 6 p.m. - St. John's Church Hall The Rev. Tom Wilson, B.A., MDiv. 887-9273 Reade Jae* ce.4 i(eyr wow/40 Sunday, January 27 Morning Worship Service - 10 a.m. Evening Worship Service - 7:30 p.m. "He satisfies my desires with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's.'.' — Psalm 103:5 BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH zts, Hwy. 4, Blyth 523-9233 Wheelchair accessible Ladies' Time Out: the last Wednesday of each month 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. (Returning to last Thursday of each month beginning Jan. 31) John 14:6 - Jesus said, "I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE, no one comes to the Father, but through Me." Everyone Welcome For more information call 887-6665 Communion - 9:45 - 10:30 Family Bible Hour and Sunday School - 11:00 - 12:00 Prayer & Bible Study - Tuesday 8 p.m. 0' Offering in support of Brussels Ministerial Benevolent Fund 4