Messy Church

In our house meal times are usually fairly messy and noisy affairs! But what do you expect with three children under five!


Part of growing up is an increasing independence, which when you are almost one means that you are no longer happy to be fed and the only way food is going to enter your mouth is if you put it there yourself. But when you are not quite one that usually results in quite a mess.

I have a book on my shelf called 'Messy Church' - which talks about a style of doing church which involves children and incorporates craft activities. The 'messy' refers to painting and sticking and cutting etc.

But I wonder if there isn't another kind of messy that church is supposed to be. Children will not learn to eat for themselves unless they are allowed to make a mess as a part of the learning process. If all Christians are supposed to contribute to the life of the local church, using the talents and abilities that God has given them, then surely church will be a messy place as people learn and develop their gifts. I wonder whether we would rather continue with the spoon feeding because that's a lot quicker and certainly a lot cleaner - but it doesn't lead to maturity. Maybe as a church leader I need to be prepared for a bit more mess. What's the sign of a growing church? Maybe it is a place where people make a mess - and a place where people are allowed to make a mess.

To be honest...

One of the things that makes the film 'The Invention of Lying' work is that many of us can identify with the number of little 'non' lies that we tell everyday - so much so that we can't imagine a life in which we only told the truth.

Yesterday, as we continued our series on the Sermon on the Mount we came to the section in Matthew 5:33-37 in which Jesus instructs his disciples that they should be the sort of people who are totally honest and trustworthy. The sort of person who doesn't need to say 'I absolutely promise to ...' or 'cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye' (or whatever the words are for that particular playground rhyme). Not even the sort of person who needs to sign a contract. Instead a disciple should be the sort of person who if they say 'yes' means 'yes'. Not 'maybe', not 'if I feel like it on the day'. The sort of person who if they say they will do something - you know they will do it. If they've said they'll be somewhere, they'll be there. The sort of person who does not lie.

Imagine the world of advertising where only the truth could be told!



In the service yesterday we got into groups and considered a list of eight lies - and then ranked them from the most serious to the least serious. You can find this list on our notice sheet for yesterday. One answer to this question is that they are all as serious as each other because a lie is a lie is a lie, and the disciple of Jesus should not have a part in telling lies. But it's interesting to see the mental gymnastics we go through to justify some lies but not others.

It is important not to lie because lies break down trust and relationships are built on trust. We saw in last week's passage just how important healthy relationships are.

Also a number of verses in the Bible tell us that truth comes from God whereas lies are from the devil. For example, John 14:6, John 8:44, and Hebrews 6:18.

But having said all that I still wonder if there are any (extreme) circumstances in which the right thing to do is to lie. And if so what criteria do we use to distinguish between a lie that is right and one which is not.

Answers on a post card please...

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Mobile Phone or Bible?

Here's something I came across the other day...

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our mobile phone?

What if we carried it around in our bags or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we left it at home?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to our children as a gift?

What if we used it when we travelled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go…..hmm……. where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our mobile phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected, out of battery, or somewhere where there is no signal because Jesus already paid the bill, and the power and the signal come from the Holy Spirit.

Makes you stop and think ‘where are my priorities?

Trust in the Lord and *ASAP (Always Say A Prayer)

Shaken faith?

As Christians we often talk of hope, peace, joy and thankfulness in the midst of crisis. This evening there was a report on Channel 4 news from Haiti revealing how Christians are still praising God, even in temporary camps, and how this disaster has actually deepened the faith of many, and caused others to turn from alternative religions to Christianity.