The Bethel - Old Trafford Christadelphian Church

We always find ourselves somewhere in between the mountain tops and the valley in life. Many bible characters also saw the valleys but we learn from so many of them that they looked to God to help them rise again. Malcolm encouraged us not to go to the valleys without visiting the mountain tops, not to blame God for people's failings and to look to the mountain mover, not the mountain as we learn...

As a church of believers, there are many things we’re great at, but often one thing we’re slow to recognise is our own divisions. Do you find yourself gravitating towards a select few, and not engaging with the rest? Do we shy away from talking to someone new? John challenges us with these questions and more, as he shows us the problem is nothing new, and even the very thing that is meant to bind...

We may think we know what a scapegoat is, but did you know its origin is from the Bible? In Leviticus, the Israelites put their sins onto two goats, one was killed as an offering and the other was set free - this one was called the scapegoat. This may be different from our understanding of the word today, but, as Aaron as shows us, it has thought-provoking implications in the context of Barrabas,...

To glorify is to fulfil the exact function the creator intended for the object. It is related to giving dignity to the creator. Philip reminds us that the way we give glory is important, that grace, mercy, humility, forgiveness and bringing praise and honour are all part of our glorification of God. The most important revelation Jesus gave to us was that he, and by inference God, provide the highe...

What makes a meal memorable? Is it the people, the place, the food or event? Is it the outcome of the meal or some meaning behind it? Meals can be about nutrition or extending hospitality to travellers, they can be about marking a faetivity or watershed moment, a landmark or special occasion. Whatever a meal signifies, meals are an important part of our shared lives together.

The apostle James encourages believers to confess their sins to one another. In his encouragement, Tom explores the potential benefits of such confession and why confession might be "good for the soul". He concludes with some thoughts about how such confession might be done in practice.

An exposition on the enduring nature of our God.

Jigsaws have many spiritual parallels. The Greens walk us through some of them and explore how we can use the lessons to life better lives of praise to God.

If we have chosen to be a follower of Jesus, we are called to be Christ-like, to put on Christ, to imitate Jesus. But how easy is this day-to-day? Andrew challenges us to measure ourselves against Jesus’ example - remembering that God doesn’t count our efforts towards our salvation, but instead sees our efforts as a response to His grace, His mercy and His love.

Crash barriers are put in safe zones to protect vehicles from entering danger zones. They direct and protect traffic and are designed to prevent the people being too badly damaged. We need to put similar protection into our lives, often, protection from ourselves. Trevor encourages us to put in place preventative measures that help us not to stray out of our safety zones into danger zones.

When you are about to give birth, arriving at substandard acommodation after a long journey could be seen as being badly prepared. But, Mary and Joseph were ideally prepared by being where God wanted them to be. Martyn introduces us to other characters in the Christmas story and explores how they were, sometimes unexpectedly, ideally prepared for the birth of Jesus.

Tim contrasts and compates different types of people and aske us how, as people of Jesus we see ourselves and what choices we need to make to accurately demonstrate our 'wearing' of love.

When we close our eyes to who we are, or allow our open eyes to see who we are and end up wracked with guilt, we end up hurtiong ourselves and others. It is encouraging that God still forgives us even though he knows us better than we know ourselves. We slso have a responsibility to ourselves and others to seek out places to be encouraged and ways to encourage each other.

It is easy to wonder why people can not just get along and work together doing things the right way, until we remember that they may also be thinking the same. Our right way may not be right for someone else which is why the encouragment and tools to use to deal with conflict and disagreements given to us by JAmes are so valuable.

Life’s little things can be quite distracting at times, but this morning, Jack gives us an insight into a few of life’s ‘moments’ where just a little spark has ignited something big and illuminating in his mind. We travel from a lost sheep in Yorkshire, to the last supper with Jesus, from Pilate’s judgement seat to a baptism in Ashton-under-Lyme.

The Encounter Nicodemus has with Jesus was all about a man persistently seeking truth. This provides a good example and great model and foundation for baptism and faith. It is something we can do well to continue to follow. With great joy, we baptise and welcome a new yet not so new member to our family at The Bethel.

Was it really a group of hungry widows in the first century that meant the gospel message was spread to us in 2017 or was something else going on? When we are weak and vulnerable, we do stupid and wrong things unless we are truly rooted in God. Stephen was a man grounded in God with godly power running through him like a Van-De-Graff generator. His experiences demonstrate to us how religiousness i...

Do we understand the language of the Bible, especially those words that we don’t use in everyday language? This morning, Pete asks this question of the word ‘glory’. What is glory? How does Jesus glorify God, and how do we bring glory to God and to Jesus? Pete explains why we should constantly acknowledge and confess, and give them greater importance in our lives.

Part three of three from David's thoughts for the Old Trafford Youth Weekend 2017. David rounds up his ideas on Faith and Hope by talking about how Love should be our overwhelming response to everything, good or bad.

We say we want to see God. Jesus showed us what God was like and in sharing bread and wine together, we are reminded of the life he led in selfless service to us all. We say we want the kindom of God to come, but current world events can make us scared and distracted and we forget to see God's hand at work all around us. Trevor's encouragement was to refocus on JEsus and remember that he did what...

Is 'sin' a dirty word? Is it too readily associated with Christianity's past judgement of fringe society? Martyn reminds us of the complacency that comes with avoiding the subject. Are we in danger of becoming less aware of when we sin or when we are causing others to sin? Martyn encourages us to remember that we are all each other's role models, and that forgiveness in Jesus knows no bounds - som...

How about a modern day parable with a familiar theme? Mike relays his recent visit to a sheep herding competition and translates from it God’s plan for us, our lives, and our final sheepfold. But there’s more to it than that - the sheep, like us, respond in different ways. How do we choose to respond - are we refusing, confused, or willing to obey? God knows best - as His plan is always for our go...

As John marvels with us at the incredible ability of a banana tree that has managed to blossom in his South Manchester garden, he shows us that throughout the natural world, we too can see the constancy of God. John goes onto to discuss the constancy in our relationship with God, and our understanding of sin and forgiveness. “God’s forgiveness is there, for us to accept, and to recognise that by s...

Although listening is sometimes hard to do, do you get angry or sad when people are not listened to? How about when it is God that is not lisened to? Not to be listenend to is devaluing, yet it habitually happened throughout the history of Israel. Chris explores how there are always consequences to not listening; and when crisis comes, there is no support or resources to guide and protect us. Chri...

Following Howarths of Flixton (@jonthesausage) may give you the drop on knowing the latest offers on their award winning sausages. Following Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) might give you stunning pictures of your city from space and a sense that you haven't really done anything with your life. But both are superficial when compared to the face to face invitation to follow Jesus. Martyn rails, onc...