Holiday Bible Club finished last night! We had a brilliant week and were so encouraged by the number of children that came along and how they engaged with us. Tomorrow we're having a special family service in church and we'll be thinking about some of the stories we've looked at this week. We'd love you to join us from 11am tomorrow.
Yesterday at Holiday Bible Club both Supa Scuba Searchers and iWorld had slightly different programmes because of our Parents' Evening. We were really encouraged by the amount of parents and family relations that joined us in the upper hall last night. Below are some photos of our evening together.
Tonight is the last night of club but we are having a family service on Sunday where we'll be thinking about the big story of the Bible together. We'd love you to join us at that service - it starts at 11am and will be finished around 12pm.
Here is the third blog post from Holiday Bible Club. We'd just like to remind you that it's Parents' Night tonight and we would love you to join us as we see and hear what your boys and girls have been getting up to. Please feel free to bring other family members as well and there will be some refreshments served too. Parent's Evening will be in the upper hall and it starts at 7.45pm and will run until 8.30pm. Enjoy the photos below!
Wednesday
at Supa Scuba Search
Click on the photos below to scroll through them.
Wednesday
at iWorld
Click on the photos below to scroll through them.
We had our second night of Holiday Bible Club last night and again we were really encouraged by all that went on. Below are the key teaching points from both Supa Scuba Search and iWorld.
Tuesday
at Supa Scuba Search
Tuesday
at iWorld
This Thursday we're holding a Holiday Bible Club parent's evening. It will be held in the top hall and will run from 7.45pm - 8.30pm. This is open to all parents and family members who want to come along. There will be a short programme to share what the boys and girls have been doing through the week. We'd love you to join us for this special evening!
Holiday Bible Club began last night in Hill Street. We were delighted to see so many children come along and we were really encouraged by how they participated during club. After each day at club, we're going to put together a short blog post with the key teaching points from Supa Scuba Search and iWorld. We'll also include some of the best photos too!
Monday
at Supa Scuba Search
Monday
at iWorld
This Thursday we're holding a Holiday Bible Club parent's evening. It will be held in the top hall and will run from 7.45pm - 8.30pm. This is open to all parents and family members who want to come along. There will be a short programme to share what the boys and girls have been doing through the week. We'd love you to join us for this special evening!
We were blessed to have Rico Tice with us in Hill Street last night. He was speaking about the why and how of evangelism and challenged us and spurred us on to tell others about the good news of the Lord Jesus.
Last night's talk from Rico was recorded and you can download it or listen to it again through our church podcast. This is available through iTunes or other podcast apps by simply searching for 'Hill Street Presbyterian Church.' If you would prefer to listen to the talk on a laptop or tablet, you can click here to access it. Please feel free to share this recording with family members or friends who weren't able to come along.
There was also a bookstall at last night's event were copies of Rico's books Honest Evangelism and Capturing God were available. If you weren't able to get a copy of either book but would like to, please speak to Stephen Dundas as there are copies still available.
We're delighted to be able to tell you that Rico Tice will be speaking in Hill Street on Tuesday 14th March. He's going to speak on the topic of 'Evangelism: Why and How?' and will be helping us think through how we make Jesus known to those around us.
Rico will be a familiar face to many of us. He is on the staff of All Souls Church in London and has been involved in authoring the Christianity Explored and Life Explored courses. He has also written a book on evangelism called Honest Evangelism which is widely available online and in Christian bookshops.
We would love you to join us and would encourage you to invite friends along as well. If you'd like some more information you can watch the video below. Please feel free to share this post with your friends on social media as well.
On Sunday evening we looked at a catechism question relating to the message of Christmas. Over the past number of months, we have dipped in and out of the Shorter Catechism at our evening services to help us understand more fully the Christian faith. Here is the question and answer we looked at together:
Q. 22: How did Christ the Son of God become man?
A. 22: Christ, the Son of God, became man by taking to Himself a body and a soul like ours, being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
This question in the catechism covers what is commonly called Christ’s incarnation. Often we talk about why Jesus came to earth but this question of the catechism is concerned with how He came to earth.
This question and answer is one of the most profound in the entire catechism. We move into deep theological waters when we begin to talk about the incarnation of Christ. Throughout church history, people have gone wrong because of their view of how Jesus came into the world. One person says, “Among the many mysteries in the Christian religion, the incarnation is, with the trinity, the most wondrous.”
So how did Christ become man? Well, the catechism answer can be broken into three parts. It first of all tells us He became man by taking to Himself a body and a soul like ours. Here the language of the catechism is very careful and precise. It is careful not to make God into a man or man into God. It insists that the eternal Son of God assumed a human nature, not a human person. Jesus was a man - He had a real human nature which included a reasonable soul like ours. But He was never a person considered apart from the Son of God.
The technical term for the union between Jesus human nature and His divine nature is the hypostatic union. That sounds complex - and in many ways it is complex - but this is the term that theologians have used when speaking of Jesus taking to Himself a body and a soul like ours.
The second thing the catechism goes on to say is that Jesus was “conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her.” This is really just a paraphrase of what we read at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew 1:18 says:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18 ESV)
What is implied through this statement in the catechism is that the Trinity was at work when Jesus was born. It was the plan of the Father to send Jesus to earth and it was the work of the Holy Spirit to make it happen. One writer called Mark Jones uses this helpful illustration:
“If the Father was responsible, as the master architect, for ‘designing’ and ‘preparing’ the body the Son would assume, the Holy Spirit, like a master builder, was responsible for the actual formation of the human nature of Christ in the womb of Mary.”
Mark Jones, Knowing Christ, p.27
The other important thing to notice in this catechism answer is are the final three words: “yet without sin.” Jesus came to earth and assumed a human nature in order to save the bodies and souls of His people. There was no sin involved in His birth and there was no sin in His life.
The Bible, though, does point us to the idea that human nature of Christ was sinless, but that it suffered from the infirmities that were a part of the curse of man’s fall into sin. Theologians have made the distinction between painful infirmities and sinful infirmities. Jesus had no sinful infirmities. As far as painful infirmities - such as disease, pain, grief and sorrow - the Bible tells us that He was “a man of sorrows acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). It doesn't tell us that He suffered from disease but of course we read of Him weeping at the news of the death of His friend Lazarus (John 11:28-37).
Why is all of this important for us to know? Well, very simply, because Jesus came as one of us and experienced things that we experience, He is a more than able Saviour. If He is anything less than what we’re told in this catechism answer, then He no longer someone who can save us. Heaven kisses earth as Jesus comes among us.
This subject is a deep mystery and there is much more we could say about it. One quote that helps depict the wonder of this mystery comes from Stephen Charnock, a Puritan preacher and writer. He says:
“What a wonder it is, that two natures infinitely distant, should be more intimately suited than anything in the world; and yet without any confusion! That the same person should have both a glory and a grief; an infinite joy in the Deity, and an inexpressible sorrow in the humanity! That a God upon a throne should be an infant in a cradle; the thundering Creator be a weeping babe and a suffering man, are such expressions of mighty power, as well as condescending love, that they astonish men upon earth, and angels in heaven.”
Stephen Charnock, 'The Existence and Attributes of God' in Works, 5 Vols, 2:60
What a message we have at Christmas time. That someone so unlike us would come among us to bring us into His family. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became man by taking to Himself a body and a soul like ours, being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin for us.
If you’d like to do some reading on this subject there helpful resources listed below. All of these would be great stocking fillers this Christmas!
This is an article written by David Mathis which is available on the Desiring God website. If you’ve never heard the phrase ‘hypostatic union’ before this would be worth reading.
A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Jesus Christ, Mark Jones
This is a short book - only 81 pages long - but it is extremely useful in explaining key concepts surrounding the person and work of Jesus in simple form.
This is one of the most significant Christian books ever written. In chapter five, Packer writes specifically about the incarnation but the whole book would be worth reading.
This is a longer book by Mark Jones and in it here works through different facets of Christ’s birth, life and death. The chapters are relatively short and the book would make for good devotional reading.
Silent Witnesses, Gary J. Williams
This book tells the story of a selection of figures from the Christian past, followers of Jesus whose lips have now fallen silent but who speak through their writings and examples. Notable figures covered include William Tyndale, John Owen and Jonathan Edwards. The book also covers some of what we’ve been talking about above in its chapter on the Council of Chalcedon.
Last night, we held our second community carol service. We were joined by local schools and local businesses as we thought about the message of Christmas together. Below is the responsive prayer that Nigel lead us through during the service. It’s perhaps a prayer that you would like to pray for our community over the next few weeks. Please feel free to share it with others.
Lord we come to you this evening, grateful for the opportunity to come together as a community. Lord, we pray for those who provide services to our community. We remember those who keep us safe, those who make the community work, those who maintain and develop our area and those who represent us in local government. We remember our local hospital and our local Fire and Rescue services especially. So we pray:
Lord hear our prayer. Bless us and bless our community.
Lord we pray for the schools in our area. We pray for staff and pupils. Help our schools be centres of learning and development while at the same time being places of care and nurture. Thank you for the work of Reach in our local schools – help them as they seek to make a difference to many young lives. Bless the young people of our area with strong friendships and supportive relationships. Help them to find their path in life, to find employment and make good choices. So we pray:
Lord hear our prayer. Bless us and bless our community.
Lord we pray for local businesses. We realise that for many these recent years have been challenging and we realise that political developments raise questions about the future. We pray however that local businesses would thrive. Help them make good decisions, help them find good staff, bless them with good working relationships and prosper their efforts we pray. So we pray:
Lord hear our prayer. Bless us and bless our community.
Lord, we pray for the people who live in our area. We pray that there will be a growing sense of good neighbourliness in our area. We remember those who are finding life tough going just now. We pray for those who are struggling with health issues, with challenging relationships, with financial concerns, with worries of all kinds that might rob them of hope and joy. May they know something of your presence this Christmas time. So we pray:
Lord hear our prayer. Bless us and bless our community.
And finally Lord we pray for ourselves. You know Lord that many of us have joys that we are thankful for and sorrows that are a burden for us. Help us to be thankful for our blessings and dependent in our troubles. And help us to know that whatever our circumstances, the news that Christ has come into our world is good news for us for it tells us that you care for us. So we pray:
Lord hear our prayer. Bless us and bless our community. Amen.
In Hill Street in December we’re celebrating the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world. As you’re perhaps aware, we’re holding two carol services - one this Sunday and one on 18th December. This Sunday is our community carol service where members of our local Hill Street community will join with us as we read about, sing about and reflect on the message of Christmas.
On Sunday 18th December we’re having a family service in the morning and our traditional family carol service in the evening.
There are more details in the graphic below. We’d love you to join us for any of these services!
It was a real privilege and pleasure for us to have Jonty Rhodes and his family with us yesterday. Jonty spoke from Luke 19 at our morning service and from Luke 18 at our evening service. If you’d like to listen to the talks again or share them with a friend you can find them here and here. They’re available through our podcast as well.
Yesterday morning, Jonty told us of his work in Derby and about the work he is planning to begin in Leeds. We’ve uploaded the audio of his interview with Nigel below. The things Ps that Jonty particularly wanted us to pray for were for people, a place and for provision. We would encourage you to pray for him and his wife Georgina and their family as they move to Leeds in 2017 and plant a church there.
We’re going to follow his work over the next few months and will keep you updated with how it is progressing.
We’re delighted to be able to tell you that Jonty Rhodes will be preaching in Hill Street this Sunday morning and evening. Jonty is an Englishman who is involved in Christ Church Derby, which is part of the International Presbyterian Church. He is married to Georgina and they have two children. He has also a really helpful book on covenant theology called Raiding the Lost Ark (2013).
In 2017, Jonty is going to begin a new work in Leeds, which is the third largest city in England. He is going to plant a church there and on Sunday we’re going to hear about the plans for that.
We’re very much looking forward to having Jonty with us on Sunday. Before then, he is speaking at Cornhill Belfast, Union Theological College in Belfast and to our elders on Saturday morning. We would love you to pray for him as he is involved in so many different speaking engagements and for his family as they stay in Northern Ireland.
As you will know, we’re currently working our way through the book of 1 Samuel at our evening services in church. Over the past couple of years, we have looked at the books of Joshua, Judges and Ruth. The book of 1 Samuel is the beginning of a new era in the history of God’s people and contains lots of famous stories - including the account of the life of David, Israel’s greatest king.
We thought it might be helpful to put together a post about some of the books that we’re using as we prepare talks on 1 Samuel. The books listed below are widely available at Christian bookstores and might help you to get to grips with this important Old Testament book.
This is part of the ‘For You’ series that The Good Book Company publish. Other titles in the series include ‘Judges For You’ and ‘Galatians For You’ by Tim Keller (books that we have used in recent years in Hill Street).
In this book on 1 Samuel, Tim Chester looks at the whole book in 13 chapters. One of the benefits of this is that he gives a big picture look at the book and helpfully points out some of the big themes that run through it.
It is accessible and easy to read and also includes study questions at the end of each chapter.
Dale Ralph Davis is an American pastor who has written a lot of material on the Old Testament.
His book on 1 Samuel is very readable. It is broken up into three parts with each part looking at the three main chapters of 1 Samuel: Samuel, Saul and David.
Ralph Davis’ strong point is application and illustration. He is able to bring the message of the text to life and insightfully points out where it has application for Christians today.
This commentary is a longer work on 1 Samuel. It is written by Richard D. Phillips who again is an American pastor.
The series this commentary features in has become very well-known. Other books in the Reformed Expository series include Daniel by Iain M. Duguid and Ephesians by Bryan Chapell.
Phillips takes an in-depth look at 1 Samuel and covers the whole book in 43 chapters. It is slightly heavier than the previous two books but Phillips is very good at setting 1 Samuel in the context of the big story of the Bible and pointing his readers back to Jesus.
This is part of the ‘Preaching the Word’ series which is another well-known commentary series.
John Woodhouse is an Australian evangelical who was principal of Moore Theological College in Sydney for over ten years.
His book is longer but not much heavier than Richard D. Phillips’. Like Ralph Davis, he breaks his commentary into three sections on Samuel, Saul and David. He goes through each chapter of 1 Samuel on a verse by verse basis, explaining some of the background and meaning of the text. If this kind of work interests you then this book would an excellent addition to your bookshelf.
One other resource we have found helpful is a video that we posted on our Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. It is a Read Scripture video on 1 Samuel which explains the big themes of the book in a really creative way. A link to the video is below so you can watch it again or for the first time!
If you'd like to listen to some of our 1 Samuel sermons or catch up on one you've missed, you can find the whole series so far here.
We were delighted to have Bryan Chapell with us on both Sunday morning and evening. He spoke from Philippians 1 and greatly encouraged us with his explanation of that chapter. We’ve uploaded the audio from both services so you can listen to it again. We’ve also uploaded his talk to the boys and girls from our morning service. Please feel free to share these sermons with others.
Bryan is the senior pastor at Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois, in the United States and we’d really encourage you to have a look at their church website. There are lots of helpful resources and their weekly church services are streamed or can be downloaded as both audio and video files.
As we also mentioned on Sunday, Bryan is a well-known author and some of his books would be beneficial for you as you seek to follow Jesus. On our bookstand we had copies of Praying Backwards, Holiness by Grace, Christ-Centred Preaching and The Gospel According to Daniel. These books are widely accessible and are available at all Christian bookstores.
We’re delighted to be able to tell you that Bryan Chapell will be preaching in Hill Street on Sunday 25th September 2016 at both our morning and evening services. Bryan is a leading American evangelical who is the Senior Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois. He has been involved in theological education in the United States over many years and has also been involved in some of the work of The Gospel Coalition.
Along with this, he has written an influential book on preaching called Christ-Centred Preaching. This is widely regarded as one of the standard books on preaching in theological colleges all over the world. His other books include Praying Backwards and Holiness by Grace.
Bryan is in Northern Ireland in September because he is speaking to and teaching the ministry students at Union Theological College. He will also be the main speaker at a day conference being held in Assembly Buildings, Belfast. The conference, Preaching with Colour, will highlight the need for ‘colour’ or ‘savour’ in sermons - the need to build on faithful exegesis with appropriate application, helpful illustration and good communication.
Bryan is married to his wife of 34 years, Kathy, who is a flautist, music director, and choir master. They have three married children (Colin, Jordan, and Corinne Mather), and a daughter (Kaitlin) who is a college student.
We’re very much looking forward to Bryan’s ministry to us. We would encourage you to pray for him as he would come to Northern Ireland and be involved in so many different speaking engagements.
With Big Night In less than a week away, we've uploaded a consent form below so you're able to fill it out for us before your little ones come along. We'd really appreciate it is you could come with it already completed as it will save time on the evening. You can download the image by right clicking on it and selecting the "Save Image" option.
After introducing the new Big Breakfast Club helper, Elmo, Peter's friend Toby tells some elephant jokes. Big Breakfast Club continues this Sunday morning in Hill Street and is open to all boys and girls who are at primary school.
The Keswick Convention has been taking place in the Lake District for almost 150 years. Today it provides excellent Bible teaching and is a great resource for the church in the British Isles and beyond.
Some of the best of Keswick is now available on the internet and for the first time the main Bible readings are being live streamed.
You can find these resources at www.clayton.tv/keswick
Peter introduces a new friend who will be helping out at Big Breakfast Club - Elmo the Elephant. The introduction doesn't quite go according to plan though...
Below are some photos of our church fun day held at Carrick Primary School. As you're able to see, it was a great afternoon!
