You are here: Home / Archives for Community Life

Best 60 Minutes – Seize the Day

31/10/2010 By

Life will be easier when…

Turn and talk to someone next to you about when life might be easier…….

Don’t get me wrong there are times when we all spend some time wishing that life was easier. In fact there might be times when we feel like giving up completely.

Firstly, let me make it clear there are no easy answers to the traumas of family life, whether that is at home or within a community like this one at the Bridge.

Secondly , for most of us the number one need is for us not have ‘answers’, but to know that we are not alone.  What can often keep us going in the tough time is hope: the belief that because others have come through experiences like ours – we can too.

A psychologist once said that:

 “Most people believe that a future event will make them happy. They say, ‘when I get married I’ll be happy’ or ‘When I get a new job ….’ Or maybe even something like ‘When the weekend comes I will be happy’.  The psychologist went to on to say ‘really happy people don’t think about their lives that way – even though life maybe far from perfect, they learn to appreciate the good bits.  They grasp happiness – however small – NOW’.

But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith.  Seize  the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses
1 Timothy 6:11-12 (The Message)

Anyone any idea of the importance of these two numbers?
6 570, 2 964 turn and see if they ring any bells with you

A man in his late mid life did a little math’s one day.  He knew that the average age to which he might live was 75 years. He then multiplied that by 52 to give him a figure of 2 964 – the number of Saturday his life would hold.  He was already 55 and so he had just 1040 Saturdays left. He went out and toured the toy shops in his town ‘til he managed to buy a 1040 marbles. When he got home he put them all in a large jar – each representing one of the Saturdays he had left in his life.  As time passed every Saturday he took a marble out every week.  One day he was chatting with a younger man who was struggling to make ends meet when it came to time. There just did not seem to be enough and his family was loosing out.  He told the younger man that it helped him to focus on the important things in his life.  He went to fetch the jar and the young man saw that is was empty.  The older man said , “Today I am 75 any Saturday from now on is a bonus” 
(Taken from The Sixty Minutes Family by Rob Parsons)

There are no easy answers
You are not alone
Seize the moment, now.  Talk to someone, buy some marbles, count the days, find happiness now.

Jesus said to another, “Follow me.”
He said, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.” Jesus refused.
“First things first, your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!” Then another said, “I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home.”
Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”
Luke 9: 59-62 (The Message)



Filed Under: Presentations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Best 60 Minutes – The Extended Family

24/10/2010 By

Game of cards
And then the disciples are trying to prevent Jesus from going back because they are worried for his safety. He was chased out of town last time he was there.

There are several packs of cards on your tables.  Some of them are normal cards, others are happy families.  Please play a game using them.

I don’t know about you but sometimes families are anything but happy

Activity

Everyone will need a piece of paper and a felt tip pen.
Please draw round your hand.  Make it so you can see the pen line on the other side of the paper. Then turn the piece of paper over and trace over the hand you should just about be able to see on the other side. Mark an L and an R on one side of the paper and the other to show which is left and which is right.

Now everyone knows that sometimes the hand that we get dealt is not the one we always would want it to be.  Sometimes we look at the hand of cards we have and really wish we had someone else’s.

Life sometimes deals us a hand that we are not very impressed with, it might be the way we look or feel about a part of our body, it might be about some people that are in our life, it might be some circumstances in which we find ourselves.  It might an arch enemy or a team your team has to play against and always get beat by…

We would like you to come up with 5 things, one for each digit on your hand that you wish had not been dealt to you.  You might like to talk someone else about it or you are happy just to write down the 5 things that you are not impressed with.

When you have done that, turn your piece of paper over and write down 5 things that you are glad have been dealt to you, Things, people, teams, looks, circumstances that you are glad to have In your life,…when you have finished just share with someone else on your team.

Take the piece of paper and match up your right hand, now match up your left hand…

It looks like you are all praying.
Remember no matter what happens in life, which hand you might have been dealt, God is always more ready to listen to us than we are ready to talk.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
A man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord’s feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick.  So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Master, the one you love so very much is sick.”  When Jesus got the message, he said, “This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God’s glory by glorifying God’s Son.”
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days.  After the two days, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”  They said, “Rabbi, you can’t do that. The Jews are out to kill you, and you’re going back?”

John 11;1-8 (The Message)
 
Sometimes people in our family do not do things how we would like, or at the speed we would like,…Can you imagine how Martha and Mary might have felt?  Jesus said, Oh don’t worry I will be along in a bit…But Lazarus is sick, and we are not sure how long he will last…!

Why is it that we think we can treat our own family members worse than a stranger sometimes?

Sometimes we are dealt a bad hand – people will not do as they are asked. Sometimes we get to see the real person inside and begin to wish that we hadn’t.

Can you ever remember saying in the playground to the bully that My Dad is bigger than your Dad, and if you don’t stop it I am going to go and get him…
We use it in our house, but it is not my dad or Jack and Daniel’s dad.  You see our family extends to a Dad who is powerful and resourceful beyond our own. Our Dad is the same Dad that Jesus knew.  The same dad that meant he could deal with whatever hand he was dealt.  The same Dad who was always more ready to listen than we are talk.

You see with the extended Christian family we can “My Dad is bigger than your Dad”

And if you think that means you can go around bullying other people because of the size of your dad read this;

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.  Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.  And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.  Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness.

Col 3;12-15 (The Message)

Being part of God’s extended family, with having the Father of all creation as dad comes responsibility.



Filed Under: Presentations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Best 60 Minutes (6) – The ‘C’ Word – Resolving Conflict

10/10/2010 By

 

Bible reading: Acts 6:1-7 (The Message)

During this time, as the disciples were increasing in numbers by leaps and bounds, hard feelings developed among the Greek-speaking believers—”Hellenists”—toward the Hebrew-speaking believers because their widows were being discriminated against in the daily food lines. So the Twelve called a meeting of the disciples. They said, “It wouldn’t be right for us to abandon our responsibilities for preaching and teaching the Word of God to help with the care of the poor. So, friends, choose seven men from among you whom everyone trusts, men full of the Holy Spirit and good sense, and we’ll assign them this task. Meanwhile, we’ll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God’s Word.” The congregation thought this was a great idea. They went ahead and chose—

   Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit,
   Philip,
   Procorus,
   Nicanor,
   Timon,
   Parmenas,
   Nicolas, a convert from Antioch.
Then they presented them to the apostles. Praying, the apostles laid on hands and commissioned them for their task. The Word of God prospered. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased dramatically. Not least, a great many priests submitted themselves to the faith.

 

Video – From the film The Water boy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZpDnXYIFjo)

 

 

Conflict will happen.  There is no way we can avoid it.  

It can be at home, in the workplace, here at the Bridge.  What matters is how we might go about resolving the conflict?  Here are some dos and don’ts.

 

1.  Don’t attack the person.  If you say to a child “Pull your socks up you are going to be a loser for the rest of your life.” it will scar them for life.

2.  Don’t make comparisons between people.  “I wish you were more like Carol’s husband” You brother always does it so much better than you”, will not help.

3.  Don’t exaggerate.

4.  Don’t trivialize. Make sure the other person knows you are trying to understand. You will need to balance this with putting things into perspective.

5.  Don’t avoid discussion.  Give the other person chance to speak without interrupting – and listen to them.  Let people know how their behaviour has made you feel.

6.  Do stick to the issue. Don’t be an elephant or archaeologist – always trying to dig up the past.

7.  Do try to find creative solutions.  A win-win situation is ideal

8.  Do try to cut each other some slack at times of stress, e.g. exams, illness, loss of a job, broken friendships etc.

9.  Do remember loves means always having to say sorry.

10.  Do focus on developing trust.  Go for honesty and be prepared to forgive.

 

YouTube clip – Something Beautiful by the News Boys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkdMOauMAys)

 

 

Filed Under: Presentations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Best 60 Minutes Ever – (1) Making Time

05/09/2010 By

 

 Welcome

Good to see you this evening.  My name is Tim and I will be leading this evening’s presentation.

 

If you are new and have not been to the Bridge before welcome, our presentation will last for about an hour, and there are activities for the children and young people a little later on.  We are also happy if they want to stay in – so no pressure!

 

We may do some things this evening that you are not comfortable with.  If you don’t feel comfortable please do not feel that you have to join in…

 

Afterwards we spend time together with eating and drinking.  Don’t worry if you haven’t bought anything with you, plenty to eat.

 

Introduction

We start a new series this week making the most of 60 minutes of family and community life

 

Video clip – US Airbus flown by Captain Chelsey Sullenberger takes off and crash lands on Hudson River

 

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45381000/jpg/_45381047_jex_266655_de27-1.jpg

What would you do?

The plane took off and then immediately flew through a flock of birds.  The plane lost both engines.  What would have done next if you had been one of the 155 passengers on board the US Airways Airbus plane?

 

Talk & Bible reading

We live in a strange culture if you think about it.

We have never had so many time saving gadgets yet so many seem to have so little time.

Why is it that 1 in 3 people will now live on their own in a house?

In 2004 one in every 2 meals was eaten alone.

The average life expectancy is increasing with 20-25% of those born in 2001 expected to live to over 100.  We have more time that ever, but….

 

Question: “This programme is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world,[1] and as the “most successful” science fiction series of all time, in terms of its overall broadcast ratings, DVD and book sales, iTunes traffic, and “illegal downloads”.”

Which programme is it?

 

Answer: Dr Who

 

What is Dr Who? He is a time lord, he can move and control time.

 

And so to our theme of Making time,…

last time I checked I was unable to make time.  Not sure if anyone else here is able to?  But if you had limited time what would you do?  What would be your priorities?

One of the ladies on that ill fated Airbus told her story, “As soon as I knew we were in trouble I rang my family on my cell phone to say “I love you”.  She made time. You might want to argue that she had no choice as she had nothing else to do apart from wait, but,….she made time for the important people in her life.  She focused on her priorities.

It is often said that people will focus on their priorities on their death bed.  Strange but people never seem to say “I wish I had spent more time at the office.”  An awful lot of them, as they review their lives reflect they wish they spent more time with their family, the people that matter most to them.

I might not be able to make time, but I can prioritise how I use it.  How someone uses their time can tell you a lot about their priorities.

A father was sitting at his desk with his diary and his daughter came up to him and asked “What are you doing?”  He replied he was putting some dates  and times in his diary to meet some important people.  She wanted to know if here name was in the diary.

 

Many of us will perhaps have a picture of God as someone who is distant, remote, disinterested and who certainly does not have the time for me of for you.  In fact the bible says exactly the opposite.

 

The Word became flesh and blood,

and moved into the neighbourhood.

We saw the glory with our own eyes,

the one-of-a-kind glory,

like Father, like Son,

Generous inside and out,

true from start to finish.

John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

We all live off his generous bounty,

gift after gift after gift.

We got the basics from Moses,

and then this exuberant giving and receiving,

This endless knowing and understanding—

all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.

No one has ever seen God,

not so much as a glimpse.

This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,

who exists at the very heart of the Father,

has made him plain as day.

John 1:15-18 (The Message)

 

Christians would say that God made time itself.  You might think him as the original Time Lord.

But more he did more than that. He decided that we, humans, would be top of his priority list.  He made a choice to come and spend time with us, he decided to make time for us,……

We are in the diary, there are dates and times with our names on in his diary.  Sometimes though we just don’t turn up,..we might confess to not even knowing we are in the diary,…we might angrily say that we did know we had an appointment.

 

We are top of God’s priorities

But more than that he believes we are a priority.  If you believe you will do something it will often make the difference when you don’t really want to. 

 

God also planned. He made plans to be with us, he did that uniquely in the person of Jesus Christ, who our readings talks about as coming and living in our neighbourhood.  But that was not just about the past, about 200 years.  Jesus is no longer around today, so how does that help me today?  It does because he left his agent, his helper with us so he can be with us anytime.  The diary is always open if you like.   

I think we can learn from the nature of God about our own relationships.

 

1.    Priorities

2.    Believe

3.    Plan

 

Filed Under: Presentations Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,