Pick-apart-a-Penguin

Within a month of being released, the John Lewis Christmas Advert 2014 has achieved over 18m hits on YouTube and many more will have viewed it on television.

This Christmas, it is likely that more people in the UK will see the John Lewis advert than will hear the good news about Jesus at any kind of Christian church service.

If you are one of the few who have not seen it, it's another John Lewis feel good Christmas tale.   This time it's of a boy called Sam and his penguin Monty.  Although just a stuffed toy to everyone else, for Sam, Monty the Penguin is so real.  It's Calvin and Hobbes in suburban middle England but with a penguin, not a tiger.   Sam and Monty share life; Lego, fish fingers, colouring and drawing, sledging, watching telly and shopping trips are all enjoyed together.  However, the more they share life together Sam realises that Monty's is dreams are elsewhere.  Monty has a gap in his life.  And clearly it's a gap that can only be filled by John Lewis.

And so it is that on Christmas day, Mabel the penguin is sitting under the tree waiting for Monty.  The advert closes with two blissfully happy little penguins, one chuffed little boy and the strap line 'Give someone the Christmas they've been dreaming of'.

It's actually quite a good Christmas tale as it speaks in to the gap that we all feel in our lives.

Recently at Emmanuel Westbury, speaking on John 5:1-30, Mike used this quote from the writer Bernard Levin:

… people have all the material comforts they desire, together with such non-material blessings as a happy family, and yet lead lives of quiet, and at times noisy, desperation, understanding nothing but the fact that there is a hole inside them and that however much food and drink they pour into it, however many motor cars and television sets they stuff it with, however many well balanced children and loyal friends they parade around the edges of it … it aches.

For those of us who have heard the word and have crossed over from death to life  (v24) we know that we have had that gap filled through God's gift of his son, Jesus Christ.

So talking about this advert is an easy way in to speak with our friends, neighbours and colleagues about the meaning of Christmas and how God, through his son Jesus Christ has filled that gap and puts us back in the relationship with God that we were designed for.

A point that this alternative take on the John Lewis advert makes very nicely:

Ephesians 1:15-23 RAID

Last Sunday's talk on Ephesians 1:15-23 reminded us that it is often easier to simply know about God rather than actually know God.  This is often reflected in our prayers.

Later, as one member of our small group summarised, we're in danger of just praying for a nice life with God rather than a real life with God.

This got me thinking about the work I do.

I work with project teams – people who deliver projects.  And project teams like to keep things call RAID logs.   A RAID log is simply a document that identifies any external factors that may influence how the project turns out:

•  RISKS – things that may happen.
• ASSUMPTIONS –  things that have already happened.
• ISSUES – things that are happening.
• DEPENDENCIES – things that need to happen.

Suppose my salvation were to be managed as a project using a RAID log.  What would it say about my relationship with my Father and therefore my prayer life?

It would be very patchy indeed.

Certainly there would be lots of stuff recorded under Risk and Issues – reflecting my hopes and fears; prejudices and passions.  It would detail all the stuff I'm asking God for; all the stuff I need his help with.  All the 'nice life with God' prayer requests.

But what about Assumptions and Dependencies?  The 'real life with God' prayer requests?  In reality, these sections would be sparse.  The section headed Assumptions should be full of all the things that I should be thanking God for; Jesus, Grace, Salvation, Creation, etc,.  And under the heading Dependencies, well this is where I need to learn more about God and know him better.  To listen to him and know his plans and purposes for me. 

I need to get my RAID log updated – I need to get praying in Ephesians 1:17!

Made in Bristol

'We long to be a church that reaches out to the City of Bristol'. But how well do we know the city that we're trying to reach out to?

God's word teaches us 'always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have' (1 Peter 3:15). But we learn from Jesus' example that we also need to understand the situation in which we find others. Think of Jesus' approach to Zaccheus the tax collector or the woman at the well. Not only is it important to be prepared to share the good news, it's also important to be prepared to understand the context in which we share that good news.

For example, what if you were to find yourself sharing the good news with a Wills girl over Brains Faggots on a Bristol Loedekka? An improbable scenario perhaps, but would you be able to make sense of it?

Bristol's 1,000 year history is rich and varied and being a sea port, trade and commerce have been central to the evolution of the city. However, for many of us, knowledge of the city's social and commercial history will not go much beyond slavery, Brunel and Concorde.

From Celestine to Cider; in fifty products and industries Made in Bristol provides an engaging and thoroughly researched overview of the city's recent history that is easy to read and often full of surprises.

Written by someone who is clearly an enthusiast, David Bolton's very partial account of industrial Bristol tells some of the wonderful and often improbable stories of nineteenth and twentieth century trade and manufacturing in Bristol.

Reaching for this book may just help us in reaching the city!

Made in Bristol – 50 Stories of Local Enterprise and Innovation by David Bolton is published by the local Redcliffe Press (£12.95). Buy your copy here.

Embarrassing, Inappropriate and Unprofessional?

What did you do at the weekend?

A question so often asked by colleagues.

And a question so often answered badly by many of us.

If you ever feel frustrated by your clumsy responses to questions like this or are frustrated by your attempts to evangelize, Amy Orr-Ewing is able to offer some encouragement.  Sharing Your Faith at Work: Embarrassing, Inappropriate and Unprofessional? is an online seminar for eighteen to thirties that seeks to encourage and equip us to evangelize in the workplace.

This on-line event, hosted by The London Institute of Contemporary Christianity, takes place on Monday 25 November.  Advance registration is essential, click here to find out more.

http://m.ustream.tv/channel/licc-ltd

Vocations, Jobs, Callings and Careers?

We can tie ourselves up in knots over this.  What is God calling me to and is it my vocation?  But if my vocation is what I'm already doing how can God be calling me to it?  My job is working for a large life insurance company, so is that my vocation or my calling?

Paul Grimmond tries to make biblical sense of it all in the current issue of The Briefing:

http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/09/gods-plan-for-work-vocation/

Greetings from New Word Alive!

The singing at New Word Alive this year has been great. And on Monday night it was particularly impressive.

The experience was amazing, everyone singing, hands and arms everywhere. There was real sense of unity and purpose and we were greatly rewarded as tears soon turned to joy.

We started with the Jesus Love is Very Wonderful, moved on to Our God is a Great Big God and ended with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and The Wheels on the Bus. With all the actions too!

Earlier in the evening the teaching had been on 1 Peter 2, and we had been challenged with these application points:

• We are called to a live a life of love.
• We are to have a deep and earnest love for one another.
• We are to crave spiritual growth.
• We are called to declare His praises.

God's provision is always perfect though his timing often takes us by surprise. So, that evening He provided us with an immediate opportunity to apply His word by putting in to practice what we'd earlier learned.

When one Emmanuel family was suddenly struck down with a stomach bug, a deep and earnest love for one another looked like nine adults singing nursery rhymes to an inconsolable sixteen week old baby.

Tears soon turned to joy!

NewWord Alive is an annual conference serving the local church to reach the world. To join next year's group and live as family like this why not come to Word Alive 2014 which takes place on 7-12 and 12-17 April 2014 - speak to Aidan or Claire Darley to find out more!

Unreached

You and I agree that it would be a good idea to meet up for a meal to talk through the latest Tim Keller book that we've both been reading. So we decide to meet for a meal. Two weeks on Tuesday, eight-thirty, my place.

And so, two weeks on Tuesday, eight-thirty, my place you'll be standing on the door step with a bottle of Shloer in one hand and the latest Tim Keller in the other. We'll sit down and eat food, drink Shloer and talk Tim.

It's how people like me do church. Although it's a good example of how to share life and disciple one another. It is also a reflection of what an ordered, diary-driven life I lead.

Unreached– Growing Churches in Working Class and Deprived Areas is a book that challenged me and perhaps may also, challenge many of us at Emmanuel. The hard reality of chaotic lives, where the certainties of work, steady income, stable home and relationship and physical security simply do not exist would make the diarised, supper-date discipling described above impossible in the urban estates of north Bristol.

Rather than being single narrative, this book is a summarised collection of the experiences and ideas of evangelical Christian leaders who have seen both success and failure in planting churches in deprived areas of the UK. Using stark, often jarring language ('middle class churches', 'the urban poor', 'many residents on council estates feel their life has no purpose') , this book examines the history, culture and values of the working classes in the UK and uses this as a basis for developing a vision for how church can be established in housing estates and inner city areas.

Simon Smallwood, who spoke at the Emmanuel weekend away and is a contributor to the book, explained it something like this; It's no good hoping that churches like ours can parachute new church plants in to housing estates. It will be a long slog. We need to be prepared to send people who will spend years building-up and growing leaders from within existing communities in order to develop new churches in those areas.

Unreached – Growing Churches in Working Class and Deprived Areas (Tim Chester, IVP, 2012) is available from the Emmanuel Bookstore priced £7.99. 

Hello Kitty!

It's early December, it's a weekday, it's early evening and I could be in any city centre pub.  Sitting on the bar is a pint glass stuffed with bank notes.  It must be the Christmas party season.

The kitty is there to make sure that me and my colleagues all have a full glass in our hands for the rest of the evening.

Hello Kitty, bye-bye Jesus.

Christmas office parties provide some of the best opportunities to speak up for the King and also the best opportunities to screw up royally. 

Here's the dilemma, join in the drinks rounds, be part of the group, get alongside others but risk ruining my witness.  Or stand off, appear aloof and priggish and witness to no-one.  How do I get the right balance?

For me, a combination of some Acts 4 boldness together with a bit of practical forethought is required:

·         Pray

·         Plan

·         (de)Part

Pray – I'll pray for a good party and good conversations.

Plan – Who will I sit with? Who shall I talk to?  Where are they at?

Depart – I won't hang on to the bitter end, I'll set a time to leave and stick to it.

All simple stuff, but usually enough to get the better of the kitty!

What we do with someone's words...

I have an induction pack to write by the end of the week.

It's been lurking at the bottom of my to-do list for weeks.

Induction packs are things that are handed to new starters in large organisations like the one I work for.  The hope is that it will give anyone joining the department some idea of what's going on.  It contains lots of stuff about organisational structures, portfolio hierarchies, cost centres,  recharge models, quality contracts, where to find a projector, how to get in to the boardroom, how to get out of the car park, where to find a decent espresso, etc,.

My boss asked me to write it two meetings ago.  And two meetings ago was at the beginning of September.

But, since two meetings ago I have:

·         Got sucked in to working on 'Project Hawaii'.

·         Prepared a whole new set of budgets for the department.

·         Been on holiday.

·         Been sick.

Basically, I've done lots of other stuff I wasn't expecting to do.  All valid stuff but none the less this induction pack is still at the bottom of my to-do list.

The problem is that in my mind producing this document is more of an aspirational thing rather than a hard-and-fast, must-do thing.  Two meetings ago my boss's words went something like 'It would be nice to have an induction pack for the department, Aidan I think you'd like to write one...'

Clearly I didn't really engage with my boss's words.  However, my boss still needs an induction pack writing and the deadline is looming.

What we do with someone's words is a measure of our love for them.' 

Now just imagine that my boss's words had been God's words.   Would writing this induction pack still be lurking at the bottom of my to-do list?  No.

I know from Colossians 3 that I should work for my boss as if working for the Lord.  When I honour my boss at work I honour my boss in heaven.  What I do with my boss's words is a measure of not only my love for them but also Him.

So, I have some writing to do...

Start Where You Are, See Where it Leads...

A couple of Sundays ago, we studied Acts 1:1-11 and drew out three main learning points from the passage:

1. He is crowned
2. He is coming back
3. He has commissioned witnesses

Some interesting questions arose including one that focussed on verse 8b; 'and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth' (NIV).

Does this mean I have to go to the ends of the earth in order to be a good Christian?

Well yes and no. Jesus is addressing a home crowd in this passage, he's speaking to the apostles whilst they are still in Jerusalem. And in this verse, Jesus is explicit that they the apostles start their work at home: 'you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem'.

For the apostles, Jerusalem was here.

I easily forget that mission is just as important here as it is elsewhere. For me, here is a large life insurance company in central Bristol and a quiet cul-de-sac in north Bristol. For you here may be a school, home, factory, hospital, university or office and a town-house, penthouse suite, family home or student let.

Whilst there are many faithful believers who are called to overseas mission, for most of us mission begins here.

Start where you are, see where it leads!

Sorry you were out...

Amazon? Aunty Betty? Or maybe it's The Good Book Company?

If only my letterbox were bigger.

But no, I must be patient. It won't be until Saturday before the mystery of the little red card can be resolved. Only then I can get to the Royal Mail collection office. And only then I will be at peace having found out what was 'too big for my letterbox'.

Those little red cards that the postman drops through the door: a simultaneous source of delight and frustration, just enough information to get excited about, but never enough to know what I'm getting excited about!

I must persevere, it won't be long until Saturday and then my patience will be rewarded.

Number Twenty? Seventeen? Or maybe it's Number Fifteen?

Which of my neighbours would I love to get to know better? Who's the neighbour who I just never seem to get the chance to talk to? Who's the neighbour who I started to have a Jesus conversation with at the street party this year, but didn't get the chance to finish? Which neighbour mentioned they love singing carols?

Later this autumn my postman is going to be helping me with all of the above!

The Royal Mail are introducing a service where big stuff that the postman can't deliver can be left with a neighbour. From an Acts 29 perspective, I think the service may work something like this:

• I go on-line and order some stuff that's too big for my letterbox.
• Make sure I arrange delivery for when I know I'm out.
• Postman tries and fails to get big stuff through my small letterbox.
• Postman leaves delivery with neighbour who loves singing carols.
• I go round to neighbour who loves singing carols.
• Have good conversation with neighbour.
• Neighbour loves singing carols and hearing the Good News preached wonderfully on December 16 and/or on December 23 at Emmanuel Westbury.
• Neighbour accepts Jesus as saviour!
• I don't have to wait until Saturday for my parcel!

When Things are BIG...

Right now, these things are big in my place of work:

• Gender Neutral Pricing Legislation.
• Stability of the test environment for Release 11.
• 2013/14 Business as Usual budget and headcount planning.
• Faulty air conditioning.

All very big things. In fact so big, that there's a whole bunch of people, myself included who spend all week, every week talking and worrying about these very big things. And when we're not talking or worrying about these very big things we actually try and do something about these very, very big things.

All very big things. Can't you see how big they are?

Of course, the reality is that what's big in my workplace is likely to mean little or nothing to you (except possibly the last one!).

It's similar to the disciples trying to ride out the storm or feed so many people with so little food. All they could see was the problem and not the bigger picture. In the workplace we too tend to get very preoccupied with what's right in front of us rather than remembering that the work we do is actually a small part of something that God is in control of. That's not to say we ignore or turn away from the problems and challenges we face at work, indeed we glorify God and witness to others in the way in which we approach them.

We can trust Him because no matter how tough it may get at work or how big the problems may seem, there is no situation that is bigger than Him.

Things may be big, but Jesus is bigger.

And someone's coming to fix the air conditioning on Monday. Praise God.

Further Reading: Matthew 14:13-36

Parables and Weasel Words.

Dilbert is an unlikely hero of the corporate workplace.

A down-trodden, cube dwelling, under-valued, software engineer who works for a faceless corporate giant, Dilbert is the fictitious creation of cartoonist Scott Adams. Among the daily challenges and frustrations that Dilbert faces are people who use weasel words. In Dilbert's world, weasel words are the language of managers, sales representatives, corporate coaches and technical writers. It is the language of vagueness, falsehood and uncertainty; a strap line or slogan that sounds impressive yet is empty, statements of fact that leave you none the wiser, promises that commit to nothing.

And it's not just Dilbert. We too are surrounded by this language, worse still how often do we find ourselves using it?

At Emmanuel on Sunday's we have just finished studying Matthew 13, looking at many of the parables that Jesus used.

Parables? Dilbert would be cautious. Why the ambiguity? Why didn't Jesus just say what he meant?

In the English Standard Version, Matthew 13:24 and 31 reads 'He [Jesus] put another parable before them...' Not told another parable to them or shared another parable with them but put another parable before them.

Parables are put before us to make us think, not because they are vague or untrustworthy words, but because they are words that require a response. Parables challenge us because they speak to our hearts and will divide. However, we are blessed because we know from Matthew 13 that as children of God we have 'ears to hear'.

When Jesus speaks, he speaks to our hearts. By using parables, he always puts a simple choice before us. We either accept that he is Christ our saviour or we don't.

Unlike the language of weasel words that both we and Dilbert face daily, parables are the language of truth and certainty.

For further reading: Matthew13 / www.dilbert.com

See What You're a Part Of

It was obvious really. As I had cycled to church, I must therefore be a student.

Even when well in to my late thirties, at my last church I was regularly invited to join the student meeting after the main service. Well-intentioned no doubt. But all those who invited me could see was the cycling gear, my boyish good looks and put two and two together and had assumed I was a student. I'd been pigeon-holed.

We all do it to other people. But as believers in the workplace we often pigeon-hole ourselves.

Mark Greene of the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity describes the problem like this. 'We lead ourselves to believe that really holy people become missionaries, moderately holy people become pastors, and people who are not much use to God get a job.'

So I work in life insurance, dealing with numbers and project managers all day. Therefore, I am not much use to God.

Your turn now, please delete as appropriate: I work in education/health/finance/engineering/ sales/leisure/government/retail/administration, therefore I am not much use to God.

In last Sunday's teaching on The Parable of the Weeds (Matt 13:24-30) we learned that Jesus tells us otherwise. The good seed (God's family – us!) has been sown across the whole field (the world). We're growing amongst the weeds to bear fruit for God. That's wherever we land and in whatever situation He places us in. No holy huddles here please!

We don't belong in a pigeon-hole. We belong where God places us and that's where we can bear fruit for Him.

Let's try again, please rejoice as appropriate: I work in education/health/finance/engineering/ sales/leisure/government/retail/administration, therefore I am much use to God.

See what you're a part of?

Further Reading:

Matthew13

The Great Divide – Mark Greene, LICC

Bob Diamond - 'Damaging the Franchise'

Aidan Darley, a member of the Emmanuel church family, reflects on recent events at Barclays Bank and how we should respond as people seeking to honour Jesus in our own workplaces:


Following a damning investigation in to the conduct of his staff's fixing of the inter-bank lending rate, this week the Chief Executive of Barclays Bank was forced to resign, in response to pressure not only from the Bank of England but also the industry regulator, politicians and the media. Resigning his post Bob Diamond said that to remain at the bank would be 'damaging the franchise'.

By asking colleagues to falsify lending rate submissions, Barclays traders had manipulated the market in order boost the bank's profits. The chairman of the Financial Services Authority described the traders' dishonesty as 'cynical greed'. While trying to serve their masters at Barclays by increasing the bank's profitability, this cynical greed actually caused their downfall.


In our own working lives, our bosses may ask us to change a report so that it neither asks nor answers too many questions, or to put a gloss on it, or to delay a payment by a couple of days, or simply to "tell them I'm out". Whatever it may be, however trivial it may seem, we too risk 'damaging the franchise' of those we are employed to serve every day.


But as people who serve both earthly masters and an eternal heavenly master we have an even greater responsibility; when we act dishonestly at work not only do we risk damaging the reputation of our employers - but we also dishonour our Father. 

We don't know if Bob Diamond knew what was going on at his bank. We can be assured however, that we have an amazing heavenly Father who loves us, and sees all that we do.


"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Jesus in Matthew 6:24