Christian Union Prayer Dear God, We praise and glorify you. Help us overcome our fears and follow your teachings with love and courage. Give us the strength to face the challenges and endeavours that exist in our daily lives. As we grow in faith together, help us to overcome the trivialities, distractions and the darkness in our lives and focus on you, the giver of life. Forgive us for all that we should have done but did not do, and all that we should not have done but did. Help us to forgive others who have gone against us, and we thank you for all the blessings you have given us throughout our lives. Help us to share the love that you have given us with others, and to spread the teachings of Christ in our world. We pray for all those without Christ, without light, and without hope, and we pray for all the Christians in the world who need your strength and love. Amen

Doubt and Diversity: 21 st Century Faith Should we stay true to our ideals/beliefs in a world where many people disagree? Should we compromise or adapt? Are we certain?

What’s wrong with doubt? What’s right with doubt?

What is this about? ?

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“If ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt. If doubt is…eventually justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing. But if doubt is…answered, our faith has grown stronger. It knows God more certainly and it can enjoy God…more deeply.” CS Lewis “Doubt has its benefits. It asks questions that can lead to progress and growth. But the dark side of doubt is when it stops the person from actually living the kind of life she wants to live. It’s one thing to have cerebral doubts about whether love is anything more than a set of chemical reactions in the brain; it’s much more severe problem to let those doubts actually stop you from living a life of love.” RESPONSES TO DOUBT “And Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.’” Mathew 21:21 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Romans 14:23 “Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life and have mercy on those who doubt. Save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” Jude 1:21-23

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“I believe: help my unbelief.” Mark 9:24 Christians with doubts: How should we respond? Why do they doubt? e.g. painful/difficult time What exactly do they have doubts about? What can we do to help them? (physically/practically emotionally, spiritually) How would Jesus respond? What are the consequences of their doubts? What are the recerpussions for the Church? Have we had doubts? How did we deal with them? Can those experiences help us to respond in an appropriate manner? “Any faith system that gives a “neat” answer to such complex situations [e.g suffering] is going to be too simplistic for an intelligent hurting person to believe. In the midst of that kind of pain and complexity, faith is going to largely come down to trust in a Person. Those who hold to their faith in the midst of hardship most often do so out of relationship more than rationality.” Brad Hambrick

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Jesus and Doubt: Mark 9 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. 19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. 20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. 21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. 26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. 27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. 28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? 29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

Jesus and Doubt: The Cross Mark 9 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. 44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Mathew 27 They said: “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” 44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 9

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Diversity o Of faith o Of standards o Of ethics o Of politics o Of beliefs In the Church Today How should we respond o To the twice-divorcee...? o To the muslim...? o To the mormon...? o To the agnostic/atheist friend...? o To the one with opposing views on abortion, homosexuality, Afghanistan or immigration...? o To the one who votes the ‘wrong way’...?

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How should we treat people of other faiths? Behind the Stereotype Often we can stereotype people of other faiths e.g. Judge all Muslims by the fact that many Muslims around the world persecute Christians or judge all Mormon worship as silly because of certain beliefs e.g. in clothing etc. For example, I have recently got to know a Muslim who described his faith to me in a way that completely redefined how I thought of Muslims (not all are bearded and scary!) More in common with people of faith than people without faith? Often we can share certain ideas (e.g. The idea of God and following ethics which our society today often mocks) more easily with those of faith. We may also find overlap e.g. all religions of the abrhamic tradition share certain books/values. Many people of other faiths find goodness and peace within their religion and lead good, productive and active lives. But... Christianity is different to other religions We believe that Christ (God) died on the cross as a human. No other religion teaches of a God who came down to Earth in order to suffer and die that we may be redeemed. No other religion teaches so much of grace, love and mercy in relation to crucifixion. No other religion can respond to suffering with the idea that God knows how you feel ‘because he suffered too’. So with all this in mind... How should we respond to people of different faiths?

“The world does not consist of 100 per cent Christians and 100 per cent non-Christians. There are people who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but who still call themselves by that name.... There are other people who are slowly becoming Christians though they do not yet call themselves so. There are people who do not accept the full Christian doctrine about Christ but who are so strongly attracted by him that they are his in a much deeper sense than they themselves understand. There are people in other religions who are being led by God's secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it.” CS Lewis

Christians with different beliefs: How should we respond? The Bible "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” ” And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

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“The Apologist’s Evening Prayer”: Sometimes, we can be too proud, thinking that we are the chosen few to be saved and forgetting that the basis of faith is grace. The Grace of God allows us to share a relationship with him – and if we were judged on our own deeds, we would all fail. So with that in mind, this poetic prayer by CS Lewis, seeks to redress the balance and come back to a humble relationship with God not merely based on scientific reasoning and arguing with atheists – but on love and the awareness of God’s miraculous touch in our lives. From all my lame defeats and oh! much more From all the victories that I seemed to score; From cleverness shot forth on Thy behalf At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh; From all my proofs of Thy divinity, Thou, who wouldst give no sign, deliver me. Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, instead Of Thee, their thin-worn image of Thy head. From all my thoughts, even from my thoughts of Thee O thou fair Silence, fall, and set me free. Lord of the narrow gate and the needle’s eye, Take from me all my trumpery lest I die. God Bless us all, Amen.

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