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January 2005, Page 4.
Index of articles:
by subject,
by date.
In this issue:
(January 2005)
A Link?
Alpha,
Talk about Jesus,
Baa Woof,
Qu'ran Christmas?
Talk about Jesus
One of the great difficulties in following Jesus in Britain today is that it has become difficult to speak about our faith. We live in a culture where "faith" is a private thing, and what's between you and God is supposed to be your own business and nobody else's. We think a polite person never pushes his/her religious views at others, and that it is somehow indecent to wear your heart on your sleeve.
We know Jesus didn't want his followers to be tongue-tied. He told them to go out and tell others about him, heal the sick and call them to follow him. Not just the 12 disciples, but 70 others, and then (at his ascension) all his disciples. We know the early church spread the good news about Jesus all over the Roman empire - it reached all corners of the known world.
And we know this tongue-tied problem is a British problem. It's not like that in Africa, or Indonesia, or America.
To be honest, our British church services don't help us Christians to talk about our faith much. We all go in and sit down in our pews facing the same direction. We listen to a monologue from someone standing six feet above contradiction. We spend 90 minutes in church, and for the first 75 we don't have conversation with others. Is it surprising that we are not well-prepared to speak about our faith to others?
This spring we hope to do something about that. We're running a 7-week course which we're calling "Talk about Jesus". It is based on the Church Pastoral Aid Society's "Lost for words" material, and will be suitable for adults and youth. It will help us break the sound barrier.
Each evening will have some input, some set questions for group members to work through and answer together, and some discussion. As at Alpha, there will be no fuss, no embarrassment and no strings. There will also be refreshments (but not the full meal of "Alpha"). There will also be a small amount of "homework".
Anyone can come - you don't need to have done Alpha. If you are interested in coming please sign up.
John Hartley