The Bethel - Old Trafford Christadelphian Church

The opening of Ephesians reminds us our lives must be centred on Christ. Paul’s making it clear that Jesus isn’t a twist in the story or the latest gimmick. Jesus is the Centre of what God is and will always be about. In the same letter, we are told that we are the completeness of Christ: as essential parts of the body we make up the full complement of the church of Jesus.

We are far more blessed than the material possessions that we accumulate through life. Colin discovered, after recently acquiring an electric bike, that he had a mouse problem in an outbuilding. This led him to realise just how he had become lazy, and forgetful of his real treasure. Refocusing on our real blessings, Colin reminds us that where our treasure is, our heart will be also.

Taking spiritual challenges is a big part of our relationship with God. We have got to challenge ourselves otherwise we won’t grow. Reflecting upon his own recent mountain challenge, David shows us some examples of characters from the Bible who had their own mountain challenges and the impact this had on their faith.

At the time of Zechariah the temple in Jerusalem was ransacked and the nation of Israel were dragged from their land. Ashamed, the ordinary people seek to rebuild their extraordinary temple. We ourselves are ordinary, but we have been given a real religion, a faith that makes us extraordinary. Zechariah shows the ordinary people that with prayer an extraordinary restoration can take place. Our God is extraordinary, and all he wishes is for us to turn our ordinary faces to Him.

Judgement can be about how we feel about something. God's focus is not on our sin but on us and how he feels about us, and so there is a link between mercy and judgement in us and in God. Mike explores these ideas based on scriptures from Jeremiah 31 and Luke 6

David explores some reasons why Jesus died and why it had to happen that way.

In 2 Kings 5, Naaman, the Assyrian army commander, comes up against the immovable force of Elisha, the prophet of God. It brings him up short and he has to change his direction. For us, coming into contact with the power of the presence of Jesus should have the same effect on our lives. Richard unpacks how this might look.

Taking a small section from Revelation 5, Maurice expands and umpacks what it means for Jesus to be worthy and how that should affect us in our everyday lives.

Charles proposes that the opposite of trust is superstition. There’s a story in Judges about someone claiming to trust in God, but who in fact followed superstitions. We are encouraged, that despite not being able to see Jesus, we put our trust in Him. This is because we trust his name and what it stands for. We don’t have a physical Jesus we can reach out and touch - but we do have each other as role models. Not to copy, but to learn from. And so - in everything you do set an example.

Richard takes a fresh look at the lost and found stories of Luke 15 and reveals some uncomfortable yet encouraging gems below the surface of Jesus' parables.