The Bethel - Old Trafford Christadelphian Church

Colin paints the picture of us as sheep, called by our shepherd through trials and challenges, and it is he who pulls us through even if we resist. As we reflect on sharing the eucharist together, Colin reminds us that we continuously stand in a state of grace, that the symbols remind us that Jesus died to draw all sheep to God and that our response of righteous acts is from a place of gratitude.

Altruism - placing the well-being of others above your own well-being. David spends some time this morning showing us the kind of true altruism that flows from God, for which we are the vessels and why we should be motivated to show that altruism. But is there such a thing as true altruism?

Richard III, arrows and flared nostrils. Just a few of the pictures that can help us understand the nuances of our responsibility for sin and help us understand God’s reaction. Exodus 34 as you’ve never seen it before.

Jesus was magnetically drawn to the temple as a young boy. Charles suggests that it was for safety, worship and conversation about God. We should also be drawn to community and congregation around the same things. None of them is a quick-fix option, they all require time and commitment. Charles expanded the three areas with suggestions and thoughts of how we can better engage with God's story.

We aren't looking at developing superpowers like the Marvel super heroes. We are interested in exploring the superpowers that Jesus demonstrated and the greatest of all of them - Love. Pete and Liz explore how to get plugged into the main power source and some basic spiritual disciplines to help us on our journey.

Philippians 2 tells us that we are supposed to be seen bright and obvious in this world, to 'shine like stars'. Our lives on this planet are supposed to make a difference, people should see Jesus at work in us. Tony used examples from his life to show that Jesus can change us, he can change our habits if we allow ourselves to be changed.

As we take time at the start of a new week to focus on God, Mike revisits the subject of prayer. He reminds us that Jesus desperately needed to take time alone to pray in secret and in our busy lives, it's important that we too stop, pull the car over to the side of the road, turn the engine off and take our hands off the wheel. In the silence, in secret, let's try to find more time for God.

This morning Trevor introduces us to a confident and ambitious Trevor, as well as a Trevor that struggled to achieve the things he hoped for. Sound familiar? Trevor then introduces us to Jesus and shows us that sometimes we have to stop absorbing and release, and remember that Jesus is someone like you.

As Martyn leads the whole service this morning, he talks to us in our desert places and guides us through Bible stories of others in their desert places, and shows us with the poetry about the day that the desert will bloom. If we're feeling lost and desolate, we can take heart in the knowledge that Jesus is always at hand.

What can we learn from Rahab? She was a woman as flawed as we could imagine. Yet, in the coupling of her faith and actions, she was saved. Tony encouraged us to demonstrate our faith by how we live, lettin gour faith inspire us to change and be different.

This morning Alex takes us back to the days of the reign of David, a man who's faith was strong, but parenting skills were weak. One of David's sons kills another son and in so doing banishes himself. Alex uses this to illustrate that we banish ourselves from God, and it is up to us to allow ourselves to let God draw us closer to him again.

This morning Malcolm brings into focus the life and work of Isaiah. With lots of lovely one-line wisdoms from Malcolm and poetry from the Prince of Prophets, Isaiah, we are taught to seek God, endure change, and look to a bright and glorious future centred around the wondrous example of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Charles walks us through the parable of the bad stewards, reminding us the we have the same forces at work in us as in the bad stewards. If we can combat those forces and nurture the fresh branches, we will look after the Jesus connection to the rest of our lives.

Reading the bible without open hearts and minds will inevitably lead to a dulling of the experience of God's presence in our lives. When did the bible last set your heart racing? Opening up to God and looking for the surprises he has for us will sharpen our sense of God's personal involvement.

In a special Sunday morning following our Bethel 2017 fellowship day, Charles Crawford finishes the title verse and words of Jesus: “Always at His work… to this very day, and I too am working.” In this service, Charles helps us consider the presence of Jesus in our lives now, the role of the Comforter, and the significance of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension.

Jesus said 'Why seek the living among the dead'. Andrew drew thoughts FROM the beginning of Luke 24, considering where the focus of our lives lie.

There are so many perspectives on the death and resurrection of Jesus in the bible accounts, but one thread runs through them all. David tells the redemption story that binds all the varied people and their interactions with Jesus together.

A Journey through Good Friday with some of the characters in the story.

Pete has a problem that he thinks he shares with other people. It boils down to how we react when we see other people doing things that we think are wrong. In unpacking the ideas, Pete encouraged us to see everyone as made in God's image and afford the same generosity of judgement as we would wish extended to us. If 'neither death nor life, angels nor rulers, things present nor things to come, hos...

Joe has spoken before about the yearning of God to connect with Man, as depicted by Michaelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Cisteen chapel. Today, inspiration in the form of Holman Hunt’s painting, 'Jesus Knocking at the Door'. The knocking of Jesus is happening and real, what are we going to do? Do we respond or not? Some insightful thoughts from Joe about the picture help us to explore ou...

Mike explored the links between forgiveness and forgiving and the contrast of the unpayable debt depicted in the parable of the unmerciful servant, compared to the 'pocket change' debt that the other servant had to him. We make the mistake of challenging people and often looking down at them at the same time. These should not be linked in the same way that Jesus was able to challenge people withou...

Before everything else in the list, Love is Patient! We can all admit that we struggle a lot with patience. When we have less than enough time and expectations that are higher than we can cope with, patience is stretched and often we don't have enough. The literal translation of the word Patience in 1 Corinthians 13 is 'takes a long time to boil'. LOve takes a long time to boil! Patience is borne...

Jesus proclaimed that there was no man greater than John the baptist. Then John says, referring to Jesus that 'there is one who comes who's sandals I am not worthy to untie'. John was a great man but Jesus was greater. MAurice guides us as we explore how great Jesus was and how we can use him as a measuring stick to inform how we live, now that Christ's greatness has destroyed the power of sin and...

It is a human trait to judge people and attribute some kind of value to them before we really know them. We also often find that the people we don't give time to and judge most harshly are those on the fringes, the difficult ones, the outcasts. Jesus approach was different. He viewed everyone through the lens of evryone being made in the image of God. When we copy his example, we start to value th...

David discusses the event that is commonly known as ‘Communion’ - the service we meet for every Sunday that involves sharing bread and wine amongst Jesus’ followers. Where did it come from, and how did we come to the ceremony we now know? How did it go from being the remembrance of a nations escape from slavery to being a celebration of mankind’s salvation from sin and death?