SOUL SURMISE

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY IN FITZROY - 11.11.18

Poppy Art and photo: Gillian Fitch

Tomorrow morning in Fitzroy (11am) we will be remembering the Fitzroy youth who lost their adulthood as a result of the First World War. Exactly 100 years after Armistice Day we will stop to remember. This particular year we are privileged to have members of HMS Duncan at our service. A Fitzroy member, Rev Brent Van Der Linde, is Chaplain of that ship and we are thrilled to have some of his colleagues with us. As a result of their presence we will be including the National Anthem in our act of Remembrance, which we do not usually do.  Gillian Fitch has created a beautiful piece of poppy art around one of our Memorial stones.

In the rest of our morning we will be worshipping God as we do every week. How do you worship God during a World War? How do you worship Good when tough times knock you off your feet? The Lectionary this week is 146. In one commentary I read "Praise of God is sometimes an act of discipline. Under the circumstances of war and destruction, praise is not the result of external happiness, but stubborn belief in the face of evidence to the contrary." We will be looking at how worship puts God in his place in our Creation and therefore we can find our place, no matter what the circumstances. Expect maybe a little Springsteen! 

Rev Brent Van Der Lende will lead us in Communion.

In the evening (7pm) we continue are brilliant and well attended series on Bible Literacy where we will be looking at the content and reason for the writing of the book of Exodus. We are delighted to welcome James McKeown who teaches Old Testament Historical Books and Advanced Hebrew at Union Theological College and supervises postgraduate students. If you are keen to know how to read the Bible then this series is for you.

 

TOMORROW IN FITZROY 4.11.18

Tomorrow morning (11am) we will be having a Family Service in Fitzroy. It will double as a Harvest Service, giving thanks for God's goodness to us but also as one of our One World Lunches where we have a simple bread and soup lunch to stand in solidarity with large parts of our world who do not have all the good things that we so easily take for granted. The service will be filled with youthful energy in the worship band and by contributors. I will be drawing it all together by asking what the balance is between need and greed. celebration and contemplation is one very full but not long morning!

In the evening (7pm) we have the first in a two part series looking at the lessons in reconciliation that we in Northern Ireland might learn from Rwanda. We are delighted to have Clonard/Fitzroy Fellowship partnering with Thrive Ireland to bring us this series. Derek Poole and Diane Holt will be our facilitators. Together we will explore, in the context of Northern Ireland, four essential themes: Forgiveness, Justice, Reconciliation and Repentance. The workshop format will include opportunity for study, reflection and interactive learning.

BARTIMAEUS, EXILE, SHANKILL BOMB & U2 - TOMORROW IN FITZROY 28.10.18

Tomorrow morning (11am) in Fitzroy we will be unpacking sections of Mark 10 and Jeremiah 31 with various contemporary scenarios. U2 are in town and even a casual look at Blind Bartimeaus and the people of God’s Babylonian exile draws you their song The Blackout that will pump out across the SSE arena this evening. 

It is a song that started in Bono’s own personal near death experience but then added Trump and Brexit. I would want to add into this bleakness this week’s memorial to the Shankill bomb and the current state of the Church.

Yet, in the Blackouts of blindness, exile and Bono’s world, personally and globally, there is a light, a love that in the end is all we have left. What are the clues in the Biblical text and in U2’s Songs Of Experience tour that can help us find cheer, hope and consolation? Expect many many more references once I've soaked the texts in the actual concert tonight!

Our worship will be in our traditional Sunday cycle. Usually guitar riff led, tomorrow we will be of a more classical bent. Richard Guthrie’s Ulster Orchestra viola with the David Livingstone’s near New Orleans jazz piano will take us into hymns that have lasted the test of time. 

All Welcome!

THERE IS NO EVENING EVENT TOMORROW!

TOMORROW IN FITZROY 21.10.18

Tomorrow morning (11am) in Fitzroy we will try again! Last week's service was so jam packed with goodness that we did not have time for the sermon. So we will be looking at MONEY! The Lectionary takes us into the heart, literally, of the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10 and the heart of the nation in Amos 5. Can't Buy Me Love sang The Beatles and it would seem that God is suggesting, rather strongly, that it cannot buy the most crucial thing. In fact it distracts us from and tempts us away. We are rich. These texts are strong critique. We need to hear. 

In the evening (7pm) we will have a Prayer & Blues night led by, the theologian of the blues, Gary Burnett. We will be using blues songs to lead us into prayerfulness. Expect stunning performances of good songs and a lesson in prayerfulness too!

TOMORROW IN FITZROY 14.10.18

Tomorrow morning (11am) in Fitzroy we will be looking at MONEY! The Lectionary takes us into the heart, literally, of the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10 and the heart of the nation in Amos 5. Can't Buy Me Love sang The Beatles and it would seem that God is suggesting, rather strongly, that it cannot buy the most crucial thing. In fact it distracts us from and tempts us away. We are rich. These texts are strong critique. We need to hear. We will also hear some blues, some confession and gather around The Lord's Table for communion, should we find some hope of redemption after the judgement descending on our wealth!

Tomorrow evening (7pm) we are back in our Bible Literacy Course. After Paul Lutton's brilliant introduction in September, Desi Alexander will tell us the point of Genesis. Desi is a world recognised Old Testament theologians. Even Tim Kellor's Twitter account has recommended his work. This will be an informative night. As a congregation we will be reading as a community the books of the Old Testament that are part of this year's section of the Bible Literacy Course. Biblica, by seeming coincidence, has published these books under the title History of The Covenant. Books will be available to purchase at £5 if you wish to follow join our communal reading.

Details of the BIBLE LITERACY COURSE

LESSONS FROM RWANDA: Biblical Reflections for the Church in Northern Ireland

The Clonard-Fitzroy Fellowship

 

invites you to

 

Thrive Ireland’s

 

Lessons from Rwanda: Biblical Reflections for the Church in Northern Ireland

 

with Derek Poole and Diane Holt

 

November 4th and 25th at 7.00pm

 

Fitzroy, 77 University Street, Belfast BT7 1HL

 

As we continue our own slow journey towards reconciliation, Thrive Ireland, in partnership with Contemporary Christianity has produced a peace and reconciliation resource for churches in Northern Ireland. 

The material is based on the Rwandan churches response to the need for post-conflict National healing following the Genocide. 

The resource is designed to facilitate biblical reflection with Christians from an evangelical background to consider how the Rwandan experience might inspire and inform our commitment to peace building.

The resource will explore, in the context of Northern Ireland, four essential themes: Forgiveness, Justice, Reconciliation and Repentance. The workshop format will include opportunity for study, reflection and interactive learning.

For further information please contact Thrive Ireland (see details below) or Fitzroy (02890319710)

Thrive Ireland: Transforming Churches and Communities

241, Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 1AF

Office: 028 9073 0068

Mobile: 07749056403

DO YOU WANNA GO BACK TO EGYPT? - TOMORROW IN FITZROY 30.9.18

Tomorrow morning (11am) in Fitzroy the Lectionary takes us into the wilderness. We will be journeying with the Children of Israel as they seek to live between slavery and the Promised Land. They are starting to grumble and the question needs to be asked, "Do You Wanna Go Back To Egypt?" Singer Keith Green sang about this back in the 80s:

So you wanna go back to Egypt
Where it's warm and secure
Are sorry you bought the one way ticket
When you thought you were sure
You wanted to live in the land of promise
But now it's getting so hard
Are you sorry you're out here in the desert
Instead of your own back yard

Around the same time another Christian singer Bryn Haworth:

Hey child do you remember
All those things that you used to do
All those empty so called pleasures
Well they still keep calling you,
And the voice that comes to tempt you
It just won't let the old man die,
So when he asks those same old
questions
You just give him the same reply.

I don't wanna go back to Egypt
I wanna live in the Promised Land.
I don't wanna go back to Egypt
I wanna live in the Promised Land.

We will look at what we have left behind, what is up ahead and in this strange land we meander, how we are called to live. 

In the evening (7pm) we begin a wonderful new series on How To Read The Bible. We will be looking at all the books, their context and purpose. This will be monthly series. Please see it as a resource for all. We begin with Paul Lutton's Introduction to the series under the title: The Surprises In Scripture. Details Here

 

BIBLE LITERACY COURSE IN FITZROY

 

Northern Ireland evangelicalism, our predominant strain of Protestantism, has a strong feeling about the Bible. The Bible has the final authority. Some would even wish to say Sola Scriptura, that the Bible is the only influence on our doctrine and discipleship. Even though the role of Scripture is central, to imagine that outside factors of culture don't taint our reading says something of the possible naivety of that position.

 

Yet, in a country that reads the Bible so much we seem to understand it so little. Reading verses out of context. Reading it like it is all one book without understanding that there are different contexts, genres of writing and intentions of different editors.

 

We read daily verses like they are Chinese fortune cookies, looking for a hopeful wish rather than substantial truth. We read passages in daily devotions without reference to what happens before and after the verses we are studying. We use it as if it has magic powers which is more like the Islamic view of the Koran than any Judeo- Christian theology. 

 

One of the benefits I have found in my ministry in Fitzroy has been that while preaching from The Lectionary I have had to better understand the context of passages and the editor's intention for them and the entire book. Like many in Northern Ireland I had a lazy approach to Scripture, treating it as one seamless whole rather than 66 books over hundreds of years, every book being different. 

 

So I am excited about a new series we are doing in Fitzroy that aims to increase our Bible literacy. This series will take us through the books of the Bible and help us understand the context and purpose of the book. I am thrilled with the calibre of our contributors. They are Biblically literate and theologically articulate. 

 

Please see it as a resource to all. They will all be at 7.00pm in Fitzroy. It would be great to see you.

 

September 30 - How to Read the Bible; An Introduction - Paul Lutton 

October 14 - Genesis - Desi Alexander

November 11 - Exodus - James McKeown

December 2 - Leviticus - David Livingstone

January 13 - Numbers - Graham McGeown.

February 10 - Deuteronomy - Kim Walsh

March 10, Joshua - Stephen Williams

April 7 - Judges/Ruth - Roz Stirling

May 12 - 1 & 2 Samuel - Cindy Brown

June 9 - 1 & 2 Kings - Stephen McIlwaine.

TOMORROW IN FITZROY - 23.9.18

Tomorrow morning (11am) in Fitzroy we will be asking a question that not only defines how effective our Jesus discipleship is going to be but also a question that society needs to as as well. What is greatness? We will then see that God's model for this is utter insane madness. It flies in the face of our cultural norm. It turns it all upside down. With a close look at Mark 9 we will be seeking clues for a more Christlike life within us and what the Jesus paradigm might do if politicians or anyone else for that matter implemented it. 

In the evening (7pm) we are delighted to have Kiran Young Wimberly accompanied by the McGrath family playing their Psalms. This will be a reflective evening where we will bask in the sound of Irish traditional tunes underlaying the poetry of the Psalms. It will be soothing balm for the soul within and a subversive statement about the riches of our differences in our divided society. Suggested £7 donation.

LET US TAKE YOU TO AFRICA... TOMORROW IN FITZROY 16.9.18

Come to Africa with us tomorrow morning in Fitzroy (11am). We will take you to the Pearl of Africa, drive you 10 hours north from Kampala, past the wildlife of Murchison Falls National Park, find a muram road on the other side of Arua town and finally into a blessed few acres full of fun and laughter and the smile of God. 

Yes, tomorrow we will be looking back and celebrating our summer short term mission trip to Onialeku Primary School in West Nile, right up on the north west edge of Uganda. You will see and hear the colour of Uganda and meet hundreds of children who have become very precious to us. 

It will not be the normal (if Fitzroy is ever normal) order of service. You will hear snippets from team members about what we did and how we felt. There will be songs and videos, puppet shows and reflections. There might even be shorts! Come willing to be inspired... and don't be surprised if you end up in Africa next summer!