News Archive
May 2005
Forward thinking
Notes from Sunday evening's sermon by Sean Harris — on how the coming
of Jesus should affect our everyday living — are now available to
download as a PDF from the 'Our publications' section of the site.
Needing help to pray?
Prayer is a rewarding and life-changing conversation with God. It’s two-way, listening and talking. But at times it can be difficult. You can feel isolated from others, running out of things to say and getting distracted. It can be helpful to have something to help you begin to pray. Jesus encouraged his followers to pray regularly and discipline is needed to accomplish that. To get started, try clicking here. If you would like someone to pray for you there are regular opportunities to be prayed for by the prayer team at the end of each Sunday service.
New arrival
Katherine Raine gave birth to a little boy, Matthew, on Sunday at 10.08pm. He’s 6lb3, with ginger(y) hair and huge pianist's hands, according to his dad, John. (For those of you who don’t know the Raines, Katherine plays violin in one of the worship teams and John plays piano.)
Should we tolerate it?
Tolerance is often demanded of Christians, but not always given back in return. I attended a ‘Diversity Awareness’ workshop this week because one of the companies I work for is keen to make its employees more tolerant of each other. We talked a lot about ethnicity and sexual orientation. We role-played scenarios which brought out more latent prejudices about people who work part-time or go home on time to pick up their kids. But during the course of the two-hour workshop it struck me that Christians are still seen as fair game for jokes and discrimination.
» moreFeeling confused?
Being confused about your purpose in life is not a bad thing. It's actually something that can awaken a desire to seek the truth about who we are and why we’re here. One of the wisest men in history, King Solomon, who ruled the nation of Israel after his father, David, was confused about his purpose in life. He once wrote, “I, the Teacher, was king of Israel and I lived in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done in the world." For more, check out the Purpose Driven Life website.
Earthly empires
There's a mind-boggling feature in this week's Business Week magazine on 'evangelical entrepreneurs' in the US who "borrow tools ranging from niche marketing to MBA hiring to lift their share of churchgoers". Sunday schools that look like Disney World. Church cafes with the appeal of Starbucks. The writer interviews Bill Hybels at Willow Creek Community Church which has a $48 million budget and $143 million in assets. Click here to read the writer's conclusions.
Miraculous victory
Our former pastor, Iain Macaulay, has forwarded this tale from north of the border about Marvin Andrews, a 29-year-old Christian and church deacon who plays for Glasgow Rangers' championship winning football team. Andrews suffered serious knee damage in March and was told it would require surgery followed by months of rest. But Andrews refused treatment, preferring to receive prayer and healing at his church. And on Sunday he picked up his SPL winner's medal after helping Rangers clinch victory against Hibernian. Click here to read the full story.
Deadline day
Today (Wednesday) is the last day for submitting articles for the June issue of our monthly magazine, the Voice. Michelle Thomson is editing this month, so drop her an email at thevoice_hbc@fsmail.net if you'd like something published. To download and read the May issue, visit the Publications section of the site.