CHAOS?

Wednesday 23rd of Jan... Our first bible study!
You would think that after the 2 month break, we would have had enough time to get everything set and ready?
Mmmh no! Well yes but not 100%!
I remember a long time ago, we used to have these Sacred Cows evenings where a provocative statement or a misunderstood verse of the Bible would be thrown out there and discussed. The one time, Mervyn said "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly". Ah ah!! Now, I apologise in advance, Mervyn, because I don't really remember what he said after that but one thing remained stuck in my mind (probably because not being a perfectionist, it suited me just fine). You see, God being perfect and sinless, He cannot be with sin, which inevitably causes some problems for us, being sinful and all. So the only way to have a relationship with Him is to be seen as perfect - and that can only happen if we are seen through Jesus Christ. So God might see us through Jesus if we have accepted Him as our Saviour and Lord, but that doesn't make us like Jesus. We certainly strive to be like Him but will never get there, until we die.
All this long story to come to the point where Mervyn actually concluded that being a perfectionist is silly because things - and people - here on this earth will never be perfect. Perfection belongs to God only.
...
Now about our Bible Study, organisation was definitely not perfect but the evening was great. Wasn't it? Not heaven perfect, but the atmosphere was filled with christian fellowship and teaching.
We had about 70+ people that came. It's the big bulk of our YA community.
We welcomed the new freshly-out-of-school YA!! Welcome to all of you :)
We've been building over 3 years different Bible studies. Last year, we had a Mark's gospel study usually for the new comers and a Romans study for the rest. This year, we build on them and we now have a Bible Overview study. So far we have 3 tables of each study, with about 7 people per table.
It felt crowded, noisy, overwhelming, exciting, maybe even chaotic but everyone sounded buzzing with joy over the new year to come.
Here are some of our tables, catching up, introducing the new people and just chatting away.









Then Phillip took us into 1 Thessalonians 1 for an introduction of when and why Paul was writing to that church. This church was quickly built by Paul during his missionary voyages but he had to leave shortly after because of persecution. But his heart and his mind stayed with them and he was so worried about them that he finally sent Timothy to get the fresh news. And what news! Paul - who was concerned that they might have fallen away because he didn't really have the time to properly establish the church - was filled with thankfulness to God about the good news. Not only have the Thessalonians stood firm in spite of their sufferings, but their faith has now spread everywhere.
What a testimony to the power of God's Gospel! This is what the Gospel does. It produces faith with good work, labor motivated by love and is rooted in the hope we have in Jesus Christ!!

And that is only chapter 1!!

A NEW BEGINNING

So here we are, in 2008!
It's a new year for the life of our Young Adults at St James. A new year but the same missions. The same as it has always been since the beginning, and that is to learn more about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to understand him better so that we can follow Him in truth and in love.
How do we do that in a world that teaches us that there is no absolute truth, a world where right and wrong is all relative to each other's value system?
For us as Young Adults christians, it means that we turn to the only source of knowledge and wisdom, the Bible written by God's inspired men.
And that is what our Young Adults ministry is made up of:
* weekly Bible Studies where we find ourselves around tables and around God's word to study it and discuss it.
* regular socials (well hopefully with much work and organisation skills!)to get to know and love each other better so that we can spur one another on to good works.
* camps throughout the year where we go on a retreat for a week end to learn some more about our relationship with God and with each other.

In between, we also come together at church on a sunday morning and evening. Evening is particularly designed for us. The sermons are more Young Adults (YA) oriented and the music is loud - well loudER than in the morning!
On a well organised Sunday, there is a programm organised after church - After 8 - where some interesting people come and share what the Lord has done in their life, and how they serve Him. Other times a topic might be discussed. But After 8 is a programm under construction!
So it's a full schedule, full programm, tons of exciting things to look forward to.

This blog is one of the new things happening. It's an exciting project (for me at least!)and I pray firstly for time to manage it but also I pray that it will be a read that will be encouraging to other people to see how amazing and faithful God is and how He can work miracles in our lives by turning our hearts of stones into hearts of flesh, hearts that will have a desire to be living lives pleasing to Him.

So stay tuned!