be is back (8th Jan) & new just be book!
Posted by Andy | January 5, 2012
So, Christmas is over… 2012 is here… and Be is back!
We will be meeting again from this Sunday at 7pm at our new location The Morden Brook (in their function room). You are welcome to order some food and buy drinks at the bar! We will be having a block of sung worship and do some reflecting on the year that has been. A full rota for the term ahead will be available very soon.
The next Be book is… Practising Resurrection by Cris Rogers. You can check out what the book is about by watching this short video. We’ll be starting our read through in the Raynes Park Tavern on Monday 9th Jan from 7.30pm and in the Alex in Wimbledon on Tuesday 10th Jan from 7.30pm. If you would like a copy of the book, email andy@be-church.org and he’ll get one in the post to you free of charge. Come join us!
The dates for future chapters are:
Chapter Dates (RP/Wim)
- The Alternative 9th/10th Jan
- The Problem 16th/17th Jan
- The Day that changed… 23rd/24th Jan
- Born to Die 30th/31st Jan
- The Resurrection Community 6th/7th Feb
- People of the Resurrection 13th/14th Feb
- Being the Answer… 20th/21st Feb
- Prophets and Kings 27th/28th Feb
- Epilogue 5th/6th Mar
Carols in the Tavern
Posted by Andy | December 13, 2011
And here is the obligatory facebook group.
Winter Update (Dec & Jan)
Posted by Jo | December 10, 2011
Hi all!
Here’s a brief run down of all that’s happening in December and January for be church:
just be: There will be no Tuesday night just be at the Alexander, however Monday nights will continue until the 19th – we will be reading, discussing and reflecting our way through the newspapers. There will be no just be on Boxing day or on Jan 2nd. We will be starting a new book on January 9th/10th.
Sundays: There are no Sunday night gatherings in December, but don’t forget the Carols at the Tavern on Dec 20th! We will be back in January, starting on January 8th. For the month of January we will be meeting at the Morden Brook pub from 7pm.
On Sunday 15th January we will be holding our annual vision day. We’ll kick off with breakfast and worship at the Frosts at 10.30am and move onto the Morden Brook from 12-6pm (there will be no Sunday evening gathering).
That’s it from me! See you all soon!
xx
Christmas comes but once a year….
Posted by Jo | November 27, 2011
Advent has come and to mark the beginning of the Christmas season we had a Christmas-y be taught this week.
Andy chef-ed up some awesome meatballs, sausages and cheesey mash, which went down a treat! After which we settled down on the sofas with mugs of mulled wine to watch Jesus the Underdog.
The DVD explores the story of Jesus starting at his lowly, outcast, gritty beginnings that set the precedent for the entirety of his life. As a leader Jesus was consistently the underdog, born into homelessness, raised in the ghetto and ministering on the fringes. He also called underdogs to follow him. The DVD asks whether we can become so fixated on success and prestige that actually we miss the opportunities Jesus has for each of us, to follow Him, just as we are and be used by him even if we are underdogs too.
Be ended with a good ol’ sing song of Christmas carols followed by a celtic prayer. In this time of Advent we are committing to remember that how Jesus came into the world, reveals much about how He sees the world, and how He still is at work to change the world. As we look to Christmas, our prayer is that we will focus on seeing beyond the image and the status, instead ask God to show us what he sees and where he is at work:
Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me
Christ as a shield
overshadow me
Christ under me
Christ over me
Christ beside me
on my left and my right
This day be with and without me,
lowly and meek yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speak unto me,
lowly and meek yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
Amen.
Also: during advent we will be following the 24-7 prayer daily spaces, get them here: www.24-7prayer.com/spaces
Advent begins with mincepies & mulled wine
Posted by Andy | November 21, 2011
be church welcomes you this Sunday (27th Nov) from 7pm to start getting all festive. We will be having a very chilled evening of food (a full meal, no less) & music & conversation with a short video telling the Christmas story and a few thoughts from Jo. Come and hang out with us!
Does worshipping really need to involve singing?
Posted by Andy | November 20, 2011
Tonight we had the wonderful Ioannis Dekas with us from Doxa Deo Church exploring ‘worship’. Over 40 minutes he gave an excellent overview for why we Christians love to sing!
Not all worship is music but all music is worship
He began by explaining that every movement and nation has a song. The song is a key way of confirming the content of the story that we find ourselves in. And often the way in which we sing that song (eg loud and proud) identifies how we feel about that story.
The song of Christianity has always declared Gods victory. But the first song in Scripture comes from Miriam after Moses has just led the Israelites through the Red Sea. The song is a re-enactment of what God had done. David reflects upon this in Psalm 106:8-12 – we don’t sing about how incredible we are but how incredible God is – this is worship!
The content of the story goes further than the style of the song
We worship in different ways but the evidence of the power of a story is in how far it travels. The importance of the song is determined by the importance of the story. Globally the Church worships in many different styles. If you deny any generation to worship God in their style, you deny them to truly worship.
Worship is this acknowledgement of the incredible God that has seen such value in me that he would give his life for me – this is the story conveyed in Christian worship.
Acts 16: Paul & Silas in the lock-up
Leading us through this fantastic story of injustice, persecution and redemption, Ioannis stopped to explore two thoughts:
1. How did the prison guard know Paul and Silas had caused the earthquake?
2. Why did the prison guard ask to be saved?
The answer is that Paul and Silas, although they had been flogged and imprisoned, had been singing these songs of worship. These songs had not been about their desperation but about the God of eternity who had transformed their lives!
Paul and Silas were confessing who God was…
Ioannis went on to explain that we often confuse two Greek words that are both translated into English as confess. There is a confession that is about speaking out (the same thing again and again) that God is God. Then there is a confession that is about speaking out to each other how we have fallen short of God’s plans for our lives.
Worship is this first kind of confession – speaking out of who God is (his character), no mater what our circumstances!
How does this translate to our working week? How can we confess more regularly?
Worship restores perspective and perspective brings healing to the heart.
The night finished with a time of sung worship 