Church notes - 5th May 2019

5th May
Isaiah 40:18 - 28

Communion
Luke 16:19 - 31
The rich man - in a place of torment.
Through Jesus, God has provided a way for us to avoid it. Only through Him can we be saved.

Scripture Union
Began with 15 children in London in 1867
Josiah Spiers
His aim was to tell children and youth about Jesus.
SUFM - beach missions
Missionary families
Teaching children that being Christian is essentially missional.

http://www.sunsw.org.au/

Acts 17:16 - 32
The world is changing. Christianity is more distrusted; society has a negative view of it. We are coming full circle to the experience Paul had.

Paul in Athens - He was in distress that the city was full of idols.
He talked about Jesus.
1. In the Synagogue
- A place where the Jewish minority gathered to worship in a majority Pagan city.
Ministry here is only going to reach a minority of people.
2. In the Marketplace
A place where people gathered, publically
A place where believers and non-believers mixed naturally.
e.g. Social media, sport, community events. A shared space.
The Aeropagus
The public sphere were thinking occurred, and public policy was decided. The Government and/or media. Universities.
We have a place in the pluralistic society.

These three can be summed up as:
Our Space
Shared Space
Public Space
All three are valid and necessary places to share the Word, but in only one of these do we have the right to set the rules.
Changing times may mean changing methods, but it's been done before.
It is still valid to invite people into our space to hear about Jesus.
But with those who are less sympathetic we have to find ways to share in Shared Space.
We need to look for more opportunities to share in the Shared Space.
And we will have to continue to express our ideals in the Public Space, but with out the sense of entitlement or authority that came with Christendom.
We need to have the right attitude.

How are we going to connect?