What is Christainity?

I’m delivering a short presentation this week on “What is Christianity?” and I thought might like to see some of the content…

Christianity is the world's biggest religion, with about 2.1 billion followers worldwide and is the largest expression of faith in Cheshire. It is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ who lived in the Middle East 2,000 years ago. Christians believe that there is only one God, whom Jesus called Father, and they believe Jesus is the Son of God. Christians believe that there is a life after death. The Bible is a collection of holy books used by Christians. It has two main sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament was written before the life of Jesus. The New Testament is about the life and teachings of Jesus and his followers and letters, written mostly by St Paul, which were sent to the early Christian communities.

All mainstream Christians believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, this is the Trinity. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth is the foundation of our faith. We believe he was sent to save humanity from death and sin and Jesus was put to death on a cross, and 3 days later he rose from the dead. This is called the resurrection. Within Christianity there are many subdivisions in the world with different secondary beliefs. These are called denominations and some of the most well known groups of Christians include the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal and New Church movements. There are two main festivals that Christians celebrate with special events.  Easter takes place between late March and late April each year, depending on the full moon in spring. This celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christmas is a holy day when Christians mark the birth of Jesus on 25 December At this time presents and cards are given and received, special church services take place and some schools put on nativity plays to remember the story of Christmas. Most Christian churches meet on a Sunday morning, and have their own buildings. Within a service there will be sung worship, prayers, and readings from the bible, and a sermon, (talk) on how to apply Christian teaching to every day life. Our spiritual leaders are called bishops, priests, vicars or ministers.

Church Communities and Groups are increasingly acknowledged for the strategic role they play in generating and maintaining community cohesion, contributing intrinsically to the quality of life within their communities and neighbourhoods. Recent research carried out in Cheshire has demonstrated:

• The breadth and depth of projects that demonstrate Christian love and compassion
• Projects and programmes that can be relied upon because they have stood the test of time
• Mainly self-funded and often voluntary led projects, contributing to our region in many ways, from increased levels of social inclusion to the conservation of our building heritage.
• Projects that fill gaps left by overstretched public services with such faith-based community action taking place that has often gone on ‘under the radar’ and undetected.

It is my hope and prayer is this research will become springboards for greater understanding, appreciation,

co-operation and partnership with Christian Faith Communities; The future transformation and salvation of many of our ailing communities may just depend upon it.

Who do you think Jesus is?

I think we can all agree we are living in troubled times, certainly at a national level we can see areas where there is trouble not least the ongoing economic crisis in Europe and the austerity measures that the government are introducing. At times we cal also face troubled times at a very personal level, a rebellious teenagers, an unfaithful spouse, a devastating illness. Life often brings trouble our way. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed, we struggle to merely stay afloat. Difficulty during times of trouble should come as no surprise to students of the Bible. It was Jesus himself who said, "In this world you will have problems." That doesn't sound like a very optimistic outlook. However, He goes on to say, "But take heart! I have overcome the world." Now, that message is positive indeed. Trouble. Difficulty. These things are a reality in this life. Jesus promises us that He has provided victory over those things that cause us so much pain. Trusting in Him is the key to overcoming these problems. Why not evaluate your present struggles from this perspective? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Who Do You Think Jesus Is? In our increasingly secular and Biblically illiterate culture, there are all sorts of ideas about who Jesus is. For many weeks in 2003, The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown was number one bestseller. It described Jesus as just a man who was married to Mary Magdalene. It said they had a child, and the church sought to cover this up for 2000 years. The book appeals to pseudo-intellectuals who have a weak historical and Biblical background. Who do you think Jesus is? That's the exact question Jesus asked of His disciples. Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus affirmed his answer. Most of the world accepts Jesus, the man, as a good prophet or teacher. But only a minority of the world believes He is "the Christ, the son of the Living God."

Now I accept that I'm part of the minority who believes that Jesus is who He says He is. But what about you? Who do you think Jesus is?

Is there a God dimension in the economic crisis...

 

A month after protestors took to the streets in New York against greed and corruption in Wall Street, anti-capitalist protests spread across the world. Similar scenes took place in the financial district of major cities in more than 80 countries as far apart as Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Sydney and London. In Rome police had to deal with outbreaks of violence but in other cities the protests were peaceable. In London the protesters set up camp in front of St Paul's and although initially cathedral clergy supported the action, the size of the camp made it difficult for visitors and worshippers to enter the building, which was closed for a period on grounds of health and safety.

Meanwhile political leaders, with their financial advisers and economists, from all over Europe gather for one summit after another amid dire warnings of the consequences of the failure to shore up the ailing euro, as Greece and Italy teeter on the edge of bankruptcy, with Ireland, Portugal and Spain all in the relegation zone. The finest brains among the most advanced nations in the world struggle with the complexities of how to unravel the crisis in the world’s financial systems that has been brought about by human greed.

I wonder in the midst of this entire crisis is there a ‘God dimension’ to consider? Could this help? I believe there is a moral law that is woven into the fabric of creation, which we ignore at our peril. It is as immutable as the laws of nature and its consequences are as inevitable as defying the law of gravity. The writer Paul, in the New Testament says that ‘greed is idolatry’ – is it the worship of wealth brought about through selfish desire that cares for no one else? Is it this selfish drive for personal gain that lies behind the present predicament in the world's economy?

Would we have never got into these problems if it was not for greed, maybe this is being recognised by some, hence the protest movements. How do we change the whole basis of our individualistic, materialistic, self-centred culture?

The only way I know is through the message of Jesus who turned the world’s values upside down. After 2000 years of trying every other way, is it time we took a closer look at the teaching of Jesus. Could it be that he made it possible for human beings to be released from the social and moral forces that enslave us and he enabled us to experience a radical change of mindset and lifestyle?

Remember remember

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...

Words of "Remember Remember" refer to Guy Fawkes with origins in 17th century English history. On the 5th November 1605 Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with several dozen barrels of gunpowder. The following year in 1606 it became an annual custom for the King and Parliament to commission a sermon to commemorate the event. This practice, together with the nursery rhyme, ensured that this crime would never be forgotten!

Then on Remembrance Day, the 11^th November, this day was chosen because this is the day that World War One ended in 1918, when the armistice was signed in Northern France, at 5am. Six hours later, the fighting stopped, and to commemorate this there is a two minute silence in the UK at 11am, every 11 November. The nearest Sunday to the 11th is called Remembrance Sunday, when church services are held in honour of those involved in wars, and wreaths are laid on the memorials, which have a place in every town. A poem called 'For the Fallen' is often read aloud on the occasion; the most famous stanza of which reads:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

I don’t know if you’ve ever given any thought to the fact that God remembers. God is omniscient, by definition. That means He knows everything there is to know. He knows everything that have happened in the past. He knows what is happening at present. And He knows what will happen in the future. This means that all we have done, good and bad, are all known to Him. He has perfect memory of each and every thing including the wrong that we've committed.  When we remember some memories we will have feelings of regret and remorse, sometimes we would wish we could change something that was said or done by us or to us. By experiencing God’s forgiveness we can ‘move on’ from these feelings. God does not mysteriously and suddenly "forget" all the bad and wrong things but because of the death of Jesus he chooses to remember them no more – this is the hope of the Christian faith, forgiveness from God via the experience of knowing Jesus enables us to forgive and be forgiven so that we can be free from the effects of some of the bad memories that we so easily remember and become entrapped within the emotions of these memories.