Pip n Jay Church Life January 2012
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Transcript of Pip n Jay Church Life January 2012
Pip n Jay
Church Life January 2012
NEW issue New year, new challenges New ways of being on mission with Jesus How to be a disciple making new disciples
The
Church Life Pip n Jay
Jesus is working in us to bring new life
to the places in which we work and
live. Everything at Pip n Jay over the
coming months is based around that
simple but challenging idea.
Prayer together For our church life to be defined by
God's will for us, our top priority must
be to develop a culture of fervent
prayer and obedient practice of His
word.
It is vital that we listen and seek God
together, not just individually, to
discern what he is saying to us.
Everyone has a vital role in joining this
prayer, which will shape us as a body.
So please join us at Pip n Jay on
Wednesday 1st February, 8pm (and
the first Wednesday of every month),
to pray about the things the Holy Spirit
is asking each of us to do as part of Pip
n Jay.
Vision for the church At Easter I am looking forward to
sharing a clear God-given vision of the
next season of Pip n Jay's life. This will
be based on the
church I see, taking
into account all that I
have listened to,
observed, loved and
been part of, and it is
being shaped by our
time in prayer.
"Life on mission with Jesus" seems to
be the core of what God has been
calling us to. I believe that this is not
my invention, but simply what Jesus is
asking us to do. The big question
remains: what we do to live on mission
with Jesus in our different spheres of
life - including home, work and other
communities we are part of?
It is probably impossible to work this
out alone. Life on mission with Jesus is
more than anyone's idea of mission. It
is about God’s plan to transform the
world as we are changed by him
through loving relationships. This is
one reason why God has called us to
work this out together.
Sundays I believe that God is calling us to His
mission and bringing of new life to our
communities across the whole week.
On Sundays, we gather together as we
worship Jesus, affirming his priority in
our lives, and we receive resources,
encouragement and inspiration. We
spend all of the week on mission, but
we realise on Sunday that we are not
alone.
Other central meetings Our upcoming Wednesday 8pm meetings on January 18th, February 8th and March 21st are also important to help us clarify who we
are, what we value and where we are
committing to follow Jesus together.
Your taking part helps us grow our
understanding of the communities
God is working in, and helps you
answer the big question of what God
wants you to do, so please join us.
Discipleship and works in progress God brings new life to the world
through disciples, not just meetings!
Jesus made disciples and told them to
make disciples, growing in character,
learning to be more like him. The rest
all follows from this.
So while structural
details are still to be
decided, we are already
trying some new things
so that we can grow in
discipleship together.
For example, Re:source (Mondays 7.30pm from January 9th) is for people who are forming and working
out what it is to be on mission with
Jesus, beginning to gather and disciple
others as we do this.
My role and your role As God works this out with us, my
chief role is not preaching from a pulpit
to attract people in. It is to help you to
obey Jesus' words so that you can be a
disciple who makes disciples, growing
in faith and faithfulness.
If that sounds difficult, please
remember that this is not our idea or
our project. God is not asking us to do
the impossible in our own strength.
This is God's work in and around us,
and it brings new life.
God is calling us to His mission and bringing new life
In this issue 3 Discipleship and Re:source 4 Simple church planting 6 Neighbours and news 7 Prayer and praise 8 Our new publications
on mission with Jesus growing disciples growing churches January 2012
New life The big picture at Pip n Jay
Revd Tim Silk
A new Re:source for discipleship Bern Leckie writes:
No-one said it was easy to
follow Jesus.
Two ways to live (both wrong) From my own life I know how tempting
it is to sit back, comforted that I am
saved by faith alone. But then the Bible
says that real faith is seen through
action, so I’m tempted to overdo the
work and try to impress God. Neither
of these self-centred ways of life are
the way Jesus has called us into.
God has much bigger, better plans for
us, and to live them out we have to get
to know Jesus better, follow him and
become more like him. We call this a
life of discipleship, and it is for all of us.
A better plan Over a number of years I have found
that the best way to learn to be a
disciple of Jesus is to spend time
listening to what he says and putting it
into practice. That might sound easier
said than done, but it’s a fact that God
wants us to do this, Jesus said so, and
that means he can make it happen.
The key is not to limit ourselves to
what we can do on our own, dipping
into some teaching or trying a bit of
prayer and fasting, for example.
Instead we need to become more and
more open to what God is saying to us,
What’s new with you?
Where we are, where we’re going: from our central meetings so far
A process in progress... Where we saw ourselves
Why is God’s kingdom like LEGO? Find out at Re:source
and increasingly ready to put his word
into practice, even though we will find
this hard and make mistakes.
This is not something we can manage
on our own, so what can we do?
Learning together Re:source is a way to get together, share our experiences of following
Jesus, discover discipleship practices
which help us become more like him,
and be equipped not just to be
disciples but to make disciples.
Re:source is a practical programme, designed to help us learn through
experience and not just fill our heads
with ideas. We also want it to be so
inspiring and shareable that, if you join
in, it will be more of a struggle to keep
it to yourself than to pass it on!
Over six months we will meet Jesus in
a fresh way, growing in relationship
with him, each other and our friends
and work colleagues as we put word
into action. We will practice a wide
variety of worship, prayer and bible
reading styles, and aim for you to
discover more about what God is
calling you to do next.
You are invited! Please join us: Mondays 7.30-9.30pm from January 9th in the lounge. To book your place see Charlie Gardiner
Our daughter, Annie,
will be going
Secondary school this year. I
think she's the only child at
church who will this year. She'll
only just have reached her 11th
birthday 2 weeks before
starting. Pretty daunting!
Voirrey Guy
I am praising God for
the healing of my
brain lesion. My prayer for this
coming year is for God to
completely heal all remaining
tumours I have.
Rita Allen
I've a film coming up,
my first as a solo
producer! I can already see God
in the detail. Still need to raise a
bit more finance, but am
prayerfully watching and
expecting enough to shoot it at
the end of February!
Geoff Hall
Greg Sharples talks to Church Life about a new
way of doing church - or is
it an old way?
CL: What are you doing? Greg: Half of my week is spent training
for ordination—one day a week at St
Mellitus College in London, and the
rest of the time in self directed study.
The other half of the week, I am
supported by Pip n Jay to reach out to
neighbours and explore the planting of
simple church.
So what does that involve? Right now I spend one morning a week
in the Wild Goose crisis centre,
reading scripture with someone who
has committed to coming, and with
others interested. We read a chapter
of Mark’s gospel and ask:
• What most caught your attention?
• What does the passage show you
about God?
• What difference is that going to
make to your life now? and
• Who are you going to share what
you have learned with?
We talk about how things are going
with our faith, our friends and family,
and our work and productivity. We
share accountability about how God is
working in our lives - what are we
wanting, what are we committing to,
how is it going, and praying about the
things which are going on.
That sounds very structured... It sounds more structured than it is.
It's really quite a
chaotic
environment, not
the bible study
environment
church people are
used to.
Phones go off,
people get into
other
conversations, and they ask very
random questions like “What if aliens
created us?" It’s very different from
our church culture.
Who else do you spend time with? Ian Webb, manager of the Methodist
Centre on Midland Road, invited me to
spend time there. They take care of
vulnerable people’s physical needs, but
wanted help for their spiritual needs.
We do not run a tangible group there
yet, but there is a network of people,
and I am starting to see relationships
forming. People are saying they feel
valued because someone is taking an
interest. It is all about gently sowing
seeds right now - maybe being more
overt about studying scripture soon.
So how is it all going? I’m meeting people who are interested
in God. It turns out that most people
have some interest in God or a
spirituality or
something more
than they can see.
They are often put
off by religion or a
sense of what they
have to do - going to
church, stop doing
whatever... I am
asking the questions
of what does it look like to be all you
can be, and would God be part of that?
If God is full of love for us and has
freedom for us to live in, how does that
start to work out in our lives? What
does it mean to be a group of people
following Jesus?
Aren’t people interested in that already going to church? Most people have a concept of church
which is detached from relevance to
their lives. You can be engaged with
the reality of God and be in a pub and
have fun. There are lots of interested
people who are not in a church.
Most people have some interest in God or something more than they can see
What does it mean to plant
simple church?
What do you end up talking about? I ask different questions to different
groups of people. On campus, we have
talked about living life without limits,
and Jesus' role in that to minister hope
to the people around us. For them, the
access point to the gospel may be
being involved with something
significant.
Others with more
difficult
backgrounds are
less about
ambition and
more about peace
for themselves,
and they meet
Jesus through
being accepted.
Discipleship doesn't happen through
one conversation. The important thing
isn't the questions I ask, but how do we
move towards ongoing relationship
and friendship.
I'm trying to be sensitive to what the
spirit is saying in a situation, but the
bigger challenge is prioritising time to
build relationships and seeing that the
seed of God's word planted in
someone's life - a tiny encounter they
may have had with Jesus - doesn't get
robbed away or suffocated by other
things.
Who is responding to this? For some, the word looks like it has no
effect—for these people life is great,
and they don't think they need
anything more than they already have.
But most people have a desire for
more peace.
When I share testimony, it's not
stories of healings and miracles which
are most effective, but sharing
experience of finding peace for the
first time. People say that they would
like to be able to go to bed at night and
not be riddled with tension.
You have talked in church about finding “people of peace” - what does that mean? This is really important—it’s someone
who is open and responsive to Jesus,
and it comes straight from Jesus’
teaching about how to reach out to
others (Matthew 10, Mark 6, Luke 9
and 10). “Peace” here means a spiritual
greeting, and Jesus instructs disciples
to look for a person on whom their
peace rests. This is someone who is
responsive to God’s kingdom.
How do you find a person of peace? I might ask something spiritual like
“Can I pray with you?” More people
want to be prayed for, but a person of
peace will take a bigger spiritual leap.
It takes a bit of effort to discern people
of peace over time, and it is often
unexpected and
surprising. One of our
neighbours said they
would like prayer for
their knee when we
went carol singing—
they might be a
person of peace.
Another person was
quite aloof while we
talked but
conversation came alive when they
heard a bit about God’s kingdom. That
is what I’m watching out for.
The important thing is recognising that
this is about people’s responsiveness
to God and not us. We should pursue
relationships in a way which doesn’t
put people off, but we are looking for
where God is working with people. In a
person of peace, a word is sown and
they feed back about the difference
that it makes over a period of time.
What are your biggest challenges? It is hard to remember everyone I have
met in cold contact and pursue
relationships with them.
This is vital for lots of reasons. For one,
the enemy steals seeds which have
been planted - I know we need to do
more warfare on their behalf, praying
protection over them regularly.
I find myself asking “Am I the kind of
disciple I would want to see
reproduced?” And it can be hard
working out of a church culture where
some think we need a critical mass of
other Christians before we can start to
disciple others and join mission.
Isn’t it hard to do mission without much support? We need to understand that being on
God’s mission is not a special thing for
evangelists, but everyone.
If we only focus on God and Christians,
life gets stagnant. We miss out on part
of the life Jesus means us to have.
We can also misunderstand what
mission is. God’s kingdom is always
unfolding—it’s not a project we initiate.
It’s actually a lot easier to join in God’s
mission and find his people of peace
than to try and build a church by
If we only focus on God and Christians, we miss out on life Jesus meant for us
attracting people ourselves.
What keeps you going on a tough day? Fitness, and building up fitness when
I’m not fit enough. By that I mean I
need to live out of God's story of
scripture. A bad day is defined by my
fear, a good day by God's story.
There is something about this which I
don't look forward to - just like
exercise - but, like exercise, once done
it is life-giving. There is something
good about being obedient to God.
How can Pip n Jay people see you working locally or join in? I do a prayer walk in the Dings once a
week, claiming ground and seeking
what Jesus is saying and doing here.
My wife Sophie and I regularly go door
to door in the Dings, and you will often
find us at community events like the
Barley Mow pub quiz.
Increasingly when people ask to meet
up with me, I suggest we do it around
the Dings and work together.
We also run simple church training on
a Tuesday night. We get together at
home and share what we would expect
discipling people to look like. Then we
try it during the week, then feed back.
Our focus here is outwards, on mission
and things God is doing.
Some people we have met, who may be
people of peace, are people we might
not be able to grow a close relationship
with—including some older women
who are interested in a prayer life.
Serving and discipling them may
involve calling others, and people at
church may be able to help.
What can we pray about for you? There is lots of potential and
uncertainty at the moment. Most of
all, we need prayer that Sophie and I
would be able to discern people of
peace, and be obedient in growing
relationships with them. We also want
prayer that we would see a team come
together for this work, either from
church or from the harvest field.
Recommended reading for more information
“Organic Church” by Neil Cole,
published by John
Wiley & Sons.
Available from
pipnjay.org/books
Christmas presence Pip n Jay experimented with a lot of new things this Christmas. There were
dedicated Christmas services every week in December, featuring carols, thought
provoking videos made by Dan Gardner, and lots of testimonies about the difference God has made in our lives.
Reaching out, Bern Leckie told the Christmas story online through a daily “Advent Calendar” which attracted over 2,000 page views. We also met lots of neighbours
through craft events organised by Sheila March in church and Jo Wright at Knowle Community Centre, carol singing in the Dings and the city centre, and the
giving away of nearly 15 kilos of chocolates, mince pies and other presents to
shoppers as tokens of God’s love. We found some people of peace and will carry on
building relationships with them this year.
Chris Perkins organised the transformation of the inside of the church building, helped by many others, but the most talked about feature was probably the upside
down tree with Coke cans attached. What did it mean? Geoff Hall made it, and may share his thoughts if you ask him, but he will also be keen to hear yours.
We are very interested to hear your feedback about what went well this Christmas
and what could go better. You can email [email protected] or speak with Tim Silk, and you can revisit all our Christmas media at pipnjay.org/christmas
Most at Knowle Community Centre were not from church
Tower testimony
Part of Pip n Jay’s responsibility is
looking after a landmark building
which has housed worship in Bristol
for over 800 years.
When surveys of the centuries-old
tower showed that broken and
loosening pieces of stone on the
spirelets threatened to fall 80 feet to
the ground, work needed to be done to
stabilise the structure. At the same
time, other conservation was carried
out with a view not to need further
work here for around 50 years.
Martin Joinson prepared the plans, helped by church architect Chris Bond and wardens Bruce McKay and Simon Thorne. Over £130,000 was needed for the work and Ruth Richardson helped find much of this from donors including English
Heritage and the Gloucestershire
Historic Churches Trust.
Church members provided substantial
funding for this too, and now that the
cracks have been repaired, the
cleaning is done and about 100 new
pieces of Bath stone have been set in
by Wells Cathedral Stonemasons, it is
time to celebrate and thank you for
your vital contribution.
Bruce McKay said, “It has been a
tremendous team effort. If we didn’t
meet in this church we would meet in
some other building, but it is God’s
doing rather than ours that we have a
name and a building entrusted to us.
This is where we use the gifts God has
given us, and it is part of our testimony
that we look after what God has given
us. This is an outworking of God’s
purpose, and I hope to see God’s
kingdom expand from here in years to
come.”
On the Pip n Jay Prayer Radar...On the Pip n Jay Prayer Radar...On the Pip n Jay Prayer Radar...
Prayer for the UK Every Tuesday evening from 8 to 9.30pm in the lounge there is prayer for our nation. See Sheila McKay for details. Currently prayer is being directed to see Christ glorified in the church, and for Christians to speak out and not be deceived.
Close to home Gareth Williams, 30, came to Bristol nine years ago when he needed a fresh start and took a step of faith to develop a
career in catering.
Starting as a bartender and plate waiter, his skills and
contacts grew, and so did the responsibilities and high
profile of clientele - including high budget corporate
functions, serving celebrities such as Noel Edmonds, Carol
Vorderman, Lord Archer and Barry from Eastenders.
However, recent financial pressures have made a lot of corporate clients pull
out of organising functions, and Gareth has been faced with a challenge to
live on less, or find other work.
"Trying to develop a new skill is difficult when you are so used to the work -
and besides, my heart is in catering," Gareth said. So his perseverance
brought him work at Bristol Airport, the SS Great Britain and a range of
Christmas functions recently.
Stretching to meet the demands of these roles has led to long journeys,
unsociable hours and high pressure at the seasonal peaks. "I worked 88
hours in one week before Christmas - it felt good at the time but tiring like I
had hit a wall as soon as I stopped." Adding to the stress, January brings very
little seasonal work, and there is no guarantee of last summer's work being
renewed this year.
In the last few days, Gareth thought that he would have to sell his flat in the
Dings to make it through to summer, but he shared his situation and prayer
needs on Pip n Jay's Facebook group as well as with friends locally. Gareth
believes that God answered those prayers as he then received an offer of
financial help from his dad, as well as finding a lodger to help pay the bills at
home.
"What keeps me going in the stressful times is my journey with the Lord,
friends who stand by me, and people praying for me. If I didn't have faith I
would be hiding in a corner somewhere trying to struggle with it all by
myself."
Gareth's ideal goal now is to find a suitable full time job, and he would like
people to pray for this for him.
His other prayer requests are "for the Lord's strength to continue working
through me. I got really low two weeks ago but felt the Lord say to keep
going - he is holding onto me. I also need people to be understanding and
considerate of my situation. I need to work but also need time off and to
recharge by myself. I like to be with people, though I am not very outgoing
sometimes - I need people to accept me as I am."
Prayer for church Wednesday 1 February, 8pm is our next central prayer meeting for the church. Please put it in your diary and come!
Prayer for work and the city Every Tuesday lunchtime between 12 and 1 there is prayer in the lounge for our own work, our colleagues and the city. See Bern Leckie or Johnny Owen for details.
Madagascar Caroline
Thomas needs
prayer for
• wisdom in
all decision
making.
• financial provision - enough money
to run the base each month as they
look after orphaned and abandoned
childen
• health and protection for all their
children and staff
• that the process of registering as an
adoption centre goes smoothly and
well, with no problems
• for God's presence to transform
and change Madagascar, that they
get a legitimate elected President
soon who will run the country well.
What are you praying for? We believe prayer changes things and brings us closer to knowing God’s will.
You can share your prayer requests with others on our Facebook group or in the next edition of Church Life—email [email protected]
If you also have an urgent practical need, you can contact the Care Links team via Cilla Weir on 0117 924 7301.
Waiting for Waiting for your storiesyour stories Pip n Jay’s publications are changing. This is in response to your feedback
about how we share stories and information, and how well we reflect who
we are as a church.
Pip n Jay Diary is our new weekly sheet of vital information about what is happening each week. It’s all about what you need to know right now, from
“what’s on” information to the most important and urgent church notices.
Rose Taylor edits this, and needs your contributions by close of play on Wednesday for each new edition.
Pip n Jay Church Life is what you are reading right now. Every month we aim to bring you stories about people whose lives are being changed as we
follow Jesus. Bern Leckie is the editor, with Mark Butt, Ellen Haggan and Sheila McKay on the production team. Each new issue will be published on the first Sunday of the month, and we need your ideas and contributions a
week before that. We want this to be a bit like a newspaper, where if you
have a story you can just let us know, we’ll chat with you and write it up.
The church noticeboards are coming back into fashion! They will be increasingly used for things which might not be urgent enough for the
Diary but aren’t stories for Church Life. If you want to promote a concert or conference, for example, the best way will be to get a poster and ask the
wardens (Bern Leckie or Simon Thorne) to put it on the noticeboards.
If you are online, the fastest and best way to reach lots of other Pip n Jay people with your news, prayer requests or stories is on our Facebook group. No deadlines, instant posting and feedback—just remember it’s a public space, just like our building on a Sunday.
We are also redeveloping our website, which will mainly be for neighbours and visitors, sharing what God is calling us to be and do
together, and so they know how to join in if they would like to. The new
design will be released around Easter.
Why do all of these things? We believe that communication is increasingly important in our busy world, and that we expect high
standards in a media-rich culture. But most importantly, we want to glorify
God who has amazing news for us and our neighbours, and we want to
share that with all the talent, imagination and creativity he has given us.
Get in touch Email: [email protected]
Editor: Bern Leckie Production team: Mark Butt, Ellen Haggan, Sheila McKay
facebook.com/pipnjay
@pipnjay
Next month The LOVE Issue Out Sunday 5 February Story ideas and contributions
needed by Sunday 29 January
What’s new with you?
Just started a new job
after 4 1/2 years
being at home with girls. Very
much from God so praying He
will enable me to be a good
manager and one that staff will
respect and see God in me.
Jill Willoughby