St Barnabas, Cambridge

29th September 2019

St Barnabas Church

Talk: Continue

Series: Preparing the Ground

Speaker: Danny Driver

Reading: Luke 18:1-8

Continuing in prayer is to do with our faithful, ongoing relationship with God, who, unlike the unjust judge, does care for us and responds. God calls us to participate with him sometimes in ways we can’t fully understand, including in the call to pray. Given that we’re fallible human beings, how can we persist in prayer? How can prayer move from being an activity to being a lifestyle? We’ll explore some practical prayer disciplines that we can engage with both on our own and in communities, including a call to pray all together in the week up to Vision Sunday.

22nd September 2019

St Barnabas Church

Talk: Contend

Series: Preparing the Ground

Speaker: James Neal

Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20

8th September 2019

St Barnabas Church

Talk: Connect

Series: Preparing the Ground

Speaker: Anne Maclaurin

Reading: Psalm 32

Prayer is not transactional - it is deeply relational. People connect with God in different ways but even the act of prayer itself is a sign of trusting in God’s unfailing love and stepping into relationship with Him. We dive into Psalm 32, which, like the Psalms as a whole, points to the whole range of the ways we connect with God, from cries of lament to outpourings of joy. However we pray, we learn to be authentic with God and find that He is completely authentic with us.

15th September 2019

St Barnabas Church

Talk: Confess

Series: Preparing the Ground

Speaker: David Hunt

Readings: Philippians 4:4-9

The discipline of thanksgiving is important in the life of prayer. We lament and make our requests to God in the context of thanking Him. As we do this, we are praying about the reality of who God is - confessing what is true - however we feel. Not only does this honour God but, through it, we find ourselves transformed and our perspective on life itself changes. Our thanksgiving becomes a confession that Jesus is Lord, whatever our situation, and so we participate here and now in the glorious future vision of every tongue confessing the Lordship of Christ (Philippians 2:11).

13th October 2019

St Barnabas Church

Talk: Idols and the Glory of God

Speaker: Keld Dahlmann

3rd November 2019

St Barnabas Church

Talk: Identity: Who Do I Say That I Am?

Speaker: Paul Weston

10th November 2019

St Barnabas Church

Talk: Evangelists - See Passion

Series: Equipped to Pioneer: Vision 2020

Speaker: Helen Jackson

Reading: Acts 8:4-8, 26-40

Discussion Questions:

“as Christians we have become introspective at just managing Christians…how do we help people have a vision for the lost?”

Whilst all of us who are Christians should be ready to speak of the Good News of Jesus at the drop of a hat (2Tim. 4:2), there are particular people who have a real gift to connect with others regularly and share the gospel with them. One clear example in Acts is of Phillip who, in the face of persecution of the most severe kind, still spoke of Jesus as he sat down with the Ethiopian eunuch, talked and opened the Scriptures. Evangelists are great encouragers and are observant, consequently they see what people’s passions are. They also observe how things work around them by spotting what people spend their money on and want to gather where people are at. They are people magnets…people gather around them and they are willing to sit down and discuss with people their questions about life and faith. They stir curiosity and desire to know Jesus. Their life is a living invitation to all to join the family of God. As a result they are well connected and see how people in different circumstances can be linked together. People who are naturally hardwired evangelists are not just those tele-evangelists! There will be people in St Barnabas who are hardwired this way and telling people about the Good News of Jesus is what gets them pumped up! Encourage people with this gift to use it well and train others.

Does this description resonate with you? If not – can you see this gift in others you know including your people of peace?

27th October 2019

St Barnabas Church

Talk: Prophets - See Problems: Agabus

Series: Equipped to Pioneer: Vision 2020

Speaker: James Neal

Readings: Acts 11:27-30; 21:7-14

Discussion Questions:

- “everyone ought to grow in hearing God and responding to what God is saying…how do we help them?”

- A broad Biblical view of a prophet is someone who hears and speaks what God says. The word ‘prophet’ in NT Greek literally means a “foreteller and an inspired speaker”. We see an example of a prophet in the early church with Agabus, who on two recorded occasions heard what God said and shared it. In doing so he brought an awareness to people listening and called people back to God.

- People who are prophets often have their hearts broken for what breaks God’s heart and are particularly attuned to God and his truth for today. They bring correction and challenge the dominant assumptions we inherit from the culture. They hold that the community obey what God has commanded. They question the status quo. They are effective in revealing God’s heart for His people where ever they go. They can accurately discern God’s heart for a situation. As a result they have often a boldness about them to speak truth to power (in the church and the world).

- Prophets are people who are problem spotters, see where the gaps are and see where there’s no life. Their desire to be intimate in worship and passionate in prayer is infectious. They help people experience God’s voice for the very first time and help them to develop hearing the voice of God in their own life.

- For people in St Barnabas to whom this may apply, we want to encourage them speak about what God has put on their heart and call others into community and to action. We want people to take confidence in knowing that their prophetic gift to the church and society is valued and needed.

- Does this description resonate with you? If not – can you see this gift in others you know including your people of peace?

20th October 2019

St Barnabas Church

Talk: Apostles - See Potential

Series: Equipped to Pioneer: Vision 2020

Speaker: Ian Marlow

Readings: Rom.1:1-7 (also 1Cor.1:1, 2Cor.1:1, Gal.1:1, Eph.1:1, Col.1:1, 1Tim1:1, 2Tim1:1, Tit1:1)

Discussion Questions:

- “things are too settled at the moment and are a bit stale…how do we mix things up, break new ground?”

- The word apostle in Greek literally means “one being sent out”. Perhaps no greater example of one being sent out in the New Testament is Paul. In almost all of the letters Paul writes to churches his opening words tell us of his name and his authority in Jesus’ name to do what Jesus commanded him to do “Paul an apostle”.

- Modern day equivalents that have similar traits to someone like Paul are entrepreneurs, innovators or visionaries. They are people always looking to establish new and innovative ideas and break new ground bridging barriers, they forge new paths in the Kingdom and are a catalysts for change wherever they go. They awaken people to their God designed potential. Their attitude is one of anything is possible and to think outside the box is something that comes naturally to them.

- There may be people in our church who are naturally hardwired entrepreneurs, always thinking innovatively, with a can do approach. The way they see home life, work and church may sometimes feel that there is never an opportunity to start something new.

- We want to give people the confidence to say, with the same confidence of Paul, “I am a sent one of Jesus”, “I can start something new” and maybe for some people in particular “I’m an entrepreneur”

- Does this description resonate with you?

- If not – can you see this gift in others you know including your people of peace?

13th October 2019

St Barnabas Church

Talk: Introduction to the APEST Gifts - Everyone Has a Part to Play

Series: Equipped to Pioneer: Vision 2020

Speaker: Keld Dahlmann

Readings: Ephesians 4:1-16

We see, in the life of Jesus, the manifestation of all five of these gifts. Through his death and resurrection Jesus graces these gifts to us, the church, the body of Christ. Therefore, the gifts impact us personally and as a whole church as we seek to move together towards maturity in Christ. They help us discern our purpose in our Barnabas Communities and in our everyday lives and connect us with God’s overall purpose for his church.

These gifts are evident in society too. With people who don’t know Jesus yet, it’s possible to affirm these gifts as living out kingdom values without yet knowing the King. This gives great opportunities to connect people with identifying that God is at work within them.

Which gift do you think you have and which one do you want to receive in a greater measure?