Chislehurst Songs of Praise: Saturday 11th October, 11.30am

On Saturday October 11th, 11.30am, Hope for Chislehurst will be hosting a Songs of Praise event on Chislehurst High Street, outside the Active Age Centre next door to Sainsbury's supermarket.  It promises to be a great time with singing led by Chris & Jennie Orange and band, a musical performance, and stories of hope from local people.  So please come along and join in!  See you there.

THE CHURCH AND THE CREDIT CRUNCH

Each statistic vies to be the most striking:

• Total U.K. personal debt at the end of August 2008 is £1,448 billion
• This is now greater than U.K. annual G.D.P. (which is currently £1,410 billion)
• Average household debt is £59,350 (including mortgages)
• 1 person every five minutes is declared bankrupt or insolvent
• 104 properties are repossessed daily

The focus recently has been on ailing banks, but if anyone could be in any doubt about the impact the shortage of credit is likely to have on ordinary families, these figures are proof of the alarming precariousness of many U.K. households. Few things worry people more than unmanageable debt and these statistics reveal a nation burdened with anxiety.

The Bible has much to say about wealth, possessions and debt. The Jubilee laws of the Old Testament made provision for the remission of debt every seven years. The aim behind this law was to protect the integrity of every extended household in Israel because debts led to land being sold which broke up families and made people destitute in an agrarian society. It was from such laws that the inspiration for the international debt remission campaigns of the last decade was drawn.

Jesus had much to say about wealth and possessions, advising his followers to resist their addictive lure and to be satisfied with less. Our society has singularly failed to follow his guidance – we are more or less all implicated in this – and our generation may now be reaping what it has sowed.

Thankfully Jesus also invited all who are weary and heavy laden to come to him for rest. He cares deeply about our welfare. Every family mired in fear or panic over their finances should know this. It’s not as if every person or family with unbearable debts has brought this on themselves anyway. Manageable debt can suddenly become unmanageable on bereavement, divorce, illness or unemployment.

On September 27, members of Churches Together in Chislehurst heard Richard Latteman from the national Christian charity Stewardship give a talk on the nature of this problem and the way churches might help people manage their money more prudently. Jesus invites his followers to lift the burdens from the heavy laden in his name. We are exploring ways we might develop such a ministry in our locality. If you have any interest in pursuing this - especially if you have a professional background in finance and are looking for ways to serve the Lord in more unobtrusive ways than you have previously been invited to - let me know at sburtonjo@aol.com

Reverend Simon Burton-Jones

Prayer & Publicity, Saturday 4th October

On Saturday 4th October, 10.30am at Chislehurst Methodist Church, we will be gathering together to pray over the Songs of Praise event which will be happening the following Saturday.  So please come along if you'd like to join together in prayer and then go out onto the streets of Chislehurst to distribute flyers and invite people to the event.  Thank you.

Session 5: Fasting & Mission

This was the title of our last evening together this Lent. There was a lot of lively discussion in the small groups and some great ideas were offered.

One of the questions asked was, what we might be called to put aside for God. Three different groups identified the way we use our time. We are often protective of our time, only giving so much of our time to the Church, or God. One group reminded us that Jesus always gave people his time – he was never too busy to listen to people, or help them when they were in need.
Another issue explored by three groups was money, especially the way we use our money. One group was concerned about our ‘love of money’. Discussions about the way we use our money opens up a sensitive issue and it was returned to, by another group, when considering the priorities God might set for us. The groups also questioned the churches pre-occupation with tradition, infrastructure and buildings.

The second question was what God was asking us to make a priority of him during this year? Several groups considered that God was asking us to focus on work we are already doing, that has a broad impact, such as the work of CYFC headed up by Lyndsay. Two groups spoke about God calling up to prioritise our outreach, finding ways to share the good news of Jesus Christ in practical ways, or through evangelism.

Among the creative thoughts about priorities, was one suggestion that we might run Alpha courses as CTC; we could run several courses a year and people would meet Christians from different denominations from the start of their Christian journey. Three groups suggested that CTC might run celebration events, such as a Festival of Faith. Finally one group suggested that what Chislehurst needed was Street Pastors – they are already at work in Orpington and Bromley.

The last question was about the groups in our community who need to hear the good news and the ways we might enable that to happen. The consensus was that we should be in touch with all the different age groups, though some did favour elderly and others parents. One group suggested people in debt – a good suggestion in our current economic climate?

When asked to think about how to do this, we received some creative ideas. Everything from a prayer boxes in local shops, to a summer barbeque on the street. Other groups reminded us of the importance to do small things, such as talking to people in pubs, on buses and in supermarket queues.

Carol Kitchener

Is this the end, or just the beginning?

I hope that those who have been able to come will agree with me that the five sessions of 'Break Free' have been really inspiring, challenging and enjoyable occasions.  Last night's session, 'Fasting & Mission', provided a really fitting way to round off the series, and to send us towards something new and exciting for Churches Together in Chislehurst as we seek God for ways that we can work together to speak and act out his love for those around us.  The recording is available at the top of the page as usual.

We are really grateful to everyone who was able to come along to any or all of the sessions - it's not the same when you don't have a good number, and we did, so thank you.

We are also extremely grateful to everyone who helped: Clare Herriot, Clare Low, Margaret Earp, Anne-Marie Brant, Shaan Chaplin, all of our readers and prayer-leaders, Matt Freestone, Lynton Cope, Ian Snares, Andrew Vaughan, Carol Kitchener, Simon Burton-Jones, Brian Clark, and Mary Lamb, who sent us on our way last night with a wonderful and heartfelt form of prayer.

A special thank you goes to the stewards of The Methodist Church, who made the church available to us.

I may have missed one or two out - I hope not - but if I have, I'm sorry.

So here's looking forward to the Good Friday Walk of Witness - 9.30 am from St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, and our Hope 08 discussion time on April 9th, 7.45 for 8pm at Chislehurst Methodist Church.

God bless,

Martin

New Recording

Last night's talk, entitled 'fasting & Fulfilment, was given by Brian Clark of Chislehurst Baptist Church.  I thought it was excellent.  You can listen to it, or even download it, by going to the audio section at the top of the page.  We did have a slight problem with the recording, which means that for a short section of the talk the volume is a little low and there's more background noise - but the sound goes back to normal after a short time.  Anyway, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Session 3: Fasting & Action (Isaiah 58:7)

You can listen, or listen again to a recording of the talk from last night's session at the top of this page.

As part of my presentation, I played a recording of an account of a man called Mr. Genor, who used to stand in George Street, Sydney, Australia, handing out Christian literature. His story is amazing.  It's included in the 'Fasting & Action' recording, but is also included on its own - again in the audio player section above.

 
The subject was 'Fasting & Action', with the main emphasis being that we have a God of action, who has broken in to our world in the person of Jesus Christ, so that we might see what God is like and join him in his mission to bring his kingdom of love to bear more fully in a world where there is much suffering.  Here's the final slide from the presentation...

Some of our discussion after the presentation was based around these two questions:

What might a Christian mean when he / she says 'God loves you'?

How might Christians communicate the message of God's love to others?

I have summarised the feedback from the questions below...

God Loves You

God loves you. The kind of true love that God has for you longs for a response, but doesn't ever demand it. God sees you just as you are - the good and the bad bits, the happy & sad bits. None of that has ever, or will ever, change the extent of his love for you.

If you're lost at sea, he is already on his rescue mission. He may even be holding your head up above the water, preventing you from drowning. If you hold on, he'll be able to pull you out of the water, nurse you through your recovery, and help you to start walking again. As you continue to recover, he'll give you the opportunity to join his rescue mission, so that others lost at sea might be saved.

The Followers of Jesus Christ

The Followers of Jesus Christ are brave, generous with their time, keen to work with others, unconditionally kind, clearly and obviously loved by their Lord.

They give away pleasant surprises, befriend the lonely, demonstrate sacrifice, use God's voice to lift up others, telling true life-stories of his love for them.

They are always on the lookout for the next opportunity to speak a message of hope, they care, they share their treasures, opening their homes & lives free of charge.

They go the extra mile, they are joyful in the face of adversity, they listen, they laugh, they cry, they give equal value to every person. They use whatever means possible to communicate their Saviour's love.

As usual, please feel at liberty to comment.

Martin Hall

Session 2: Fasting and Prayer (Isaiah 58:6)

On Wednesday 20/2/08 we looked at Isaiah 58:6 where the writer challenges the reader to consider part of the fruit of fasting namely that the “bonds of injustice would be broken and that the oppressed would be set free”. I said that the Trinitarian God we worship is a God of justice and just as He is passionate about His love for us He is passionate about those held in oppression or held captive. I also discussed the work of Christian Solidarity Worldwide and their work in helping persecuted Christians around the world and cited the example of Helen Berhane imprisoned for her Christian faith, who was so badly tortured in prison she has difficulty in walking.

In our world there are many things which can cause oppression in the lives of all people not just those who are persecuted for their faith. Oppression can come in the form of things in our lives that weigh us down, it could be the things we see missing from or lives that we desperately crave for, or it could be the burden of things in our lives that we desperately want to get rid of.

Jesus came to break oppression as He quotes from the book of Isaiah in Luke 4:18 that He was sent “to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free”. Hence my questions to the group at the lent course evening were based around the idea of what possibly are the bonds of injustice in Chislehurst and what could we as Churches 2gether in Chislehurst do about it!

Below are some of the questions I asked and then some of the answers from the groups.

If Isaiah were here with us today what would you tell him were the bonds of injustice and oppressions holding back people in their faith in Chislehurst today?

• · The rich seem to get richer and the poor seem to get poorer
• · Little if any first time housing
• · Financial pressure to aspire ever higher
• · Expectation to be at Church meetings
• · Work Life balance and 24/7 nature of work
• · Sunday opening
• · Youth are not valued
• · Time spent by people watching TV and surfing the internet
• · Break down of relationships
• · Sporting activities for children on Sundays

What can we do 2gether to help break the yoke of oppression for people in our local and global community?

• · Recognising culture as it is, serving in after schools clubs, café church, lunchtime worship etc
• · Support families in crisis
• · Pray for a safer neighbourhood, for the Police and CSO’s
• · Link with organisations supporting people
• · Get to know your neighbour
• · More youth work, street pastors
• · Support the persecuted and oppressed
• · Write to MPs
• · Courses on parenting and finance
• · Support Missionaries and Missions

What Would Jesus Write?

To the angel of the church in Chislehurst write:

I know your works. You have a lacklustre familiarity with me, worn out with meanness and ingratitude. Would that you cheered my name with the gusto that they muster in the Valley or at the Palace! You have hidden your light in a dark cave which few can see. And yet there is in your village common ground where this light may shine. Just as you put your wares in the window 2gether, so may your good works be visible for all to see. Rejoice in what you can do 2gether, the next generation will thank you for it. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

On February 13, local Christians were asked to imagine what Jesus would say to the Church in Chislehurst were he to write them a letter in the spirit of the messages he sent to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. What you read above is a playful but challenging interpretation of what they imagined he would say.

The groups' observations could be divided into good, bad and challenging:

Good

• Working together on the Chislehurst Youth for Christ project and in the shops
• The possibility for outreach arising from the 2008 Lent course
• The progress we have made in accepting one another's strengths and traditions

Bad

• Loss of that first love for God
• Lack of commitment expressed in attitudes to the Bible and to giving
• The existence of ingratitude, complacency and greed in the culture having seeped into the Church
• The absence of young people from our worshipping communities

Challenging

• The need for Monday to Saturday discipleship in addition to Sunday worship
• Finding new and creative ways of working together
• Getting outside our four walls in mission
• The spiritual needs of Chislehurst's 'up and outs' (c.f. 'down and outs') - the affluent but spiritually impoverished

Session One: Fasting and Holiness

Hello Everyone,

Thank you to everyone who came along last night to the first of five sessions in our 2008 Lent series - 'Break Free'.  It was very encouraging to have such a good turnout.  I felt really challenged by what Simon had to say, and the questions that he asked us to discuss in our groups.  The third question that Simon asked was 'What do you think Jesus would write to the churches in Chislehurst?'.  Simon is compiling a letter from our collective responses, which will be posted here soon.

So In the meantime, you can listen again to Simon's talk by clicking on the player in the 'Audio' section at the top of the page.  When Simon's post comes up, why not respond with a comment - you can do so by clicking on the 'comments' link at the foot of his (or any) post.

Looking forward to seeing you again next week,

Martin Hall

Fasting and Fulfillment

I will be covering the fourth session on March 5th dealing with how fasting can contribute to a fulfilling life. I think fulfillment sums up what the majority of us want out of life. Another word might be satisfaction. We are all hungry to be happy but it is so hard to get and even harder to sustain. The fleeting pleasures of this world are like Chinese food: it fills you up for about thrity minutes and then you're hungry again. We want to be happy but we want that happiness to stay. We want a kind of "happy" that isn't constantly stolen by our circumstances. We want security. but we want more than that. We don't want to believe that life is merely a party where you show up have a good time and then leave. No, we want believe that our life counts that it matters. That is why we long to share our happiness with others because deep down we know that we matter most when we matter to someone else. We want significance. I believe a happy life that is both secure and significant is the only thing that can really satisfy; and that kind of life can only be found in Christ Jesus. But since we rarely consult him on the matter we tend to settle for substitutes. We settle for the temporary over the eternal and the trivial over the truly significant. Our Father has given us all things to enjoy and the truth is we should enjoy them but it is when we substitute the giver for the gifts that our hearts become lean and souls begin to starve. All of his gifts are wonderful but they were meant to sustain never to satisfy.

That is why we ofter have to take these very good things and set them aside so that we can feed on Christ without distraction. In doing this we are able to lay our hands on the kind of life he has always intended for us. We discover a different kind of happiness that exists beyond circumstance. It is a life of eternal consequence. We find a life that is secure, significant and satisfied.

Brian

faith and conduct

I'm preaching at the first meeting of the Lent course next Wednesday - kicking off the study of Isaiah 58 and the nature of true fasting. It's been quite a challenge preparing what I am going to say!

One thing that worries me is the erosion of an understanding of personal holiness in the Church today. We have allowed the intimate link between what we believe and how we live as Christians to be broken. 'See how these Christians love one another' is the banner under which others should come to see the love of God expressed tangibly. Fairly or unfairly, it's more likely that outsiders today think 'see how these Christians despise one another' as we find ways to tear strips off the way other Christians believe. We also sometimes justify ways of living which are incompatible with our calling simply because in a post-modern age it doesn't really matter how consistent you are in what you think and how you act.

I think what we are doing at this Lent course is all about re-establishing the biblical link between faith and conduct. As Micah said: 'what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?'

Come and debate these things....

See you on the thirteenth!

Simon

Lent 2008: Break Free!

We're very excited to be able to tell you about Break Free, which will be a series of five evening events during Lent 2008. Click on the image above to read the Break Free newsletter.

As Break Free gets moving, we will be posting information, thoughts and ideas here, as well as recordings of the talks - and you can join in too by posting your own responses for others to see. So keep checking for updates, and we'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas and views.

This year, I'm going to give up...