Carolyn's Story

On Sunday we’re celebrating 10 years of meeting together as a Church in Donabate. It’s the story of God in people’s lives. Here’s a taste of Carolyn’s story.

We're celebrating 10 years since our Church began in Donabate. It's the story of God in people's lives. This is a taste of Carolyn's story.

Celebrating 10 Years - Bláithín's Story

Next month we celebrate 10 years as a Church community. The celebration is the story of God at work in people's lives over these years. Here's Bláithín’s story.

We're celebrating 10 years as a Church in November. Our celebration is about what God has done in people's lives. Here's Bláithín's story.

Learning to walk with God everyday

We’ve been learning over the summer that for Christians to grow in the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, faithfulness and gentleness), it means walking in step with God’s Spirit. That, we learned, means creating patterns and routines in our lives that allow for daily Bible reading, praying and worship of God. Below are some resources for walking in step with the Spirit in this way.

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Daily Bible Reading

Read the whole Bible in a year or the New Testament in a year plans using plans found here.

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland produces short daily Bible readings and reflections that go straight to your inbox. They call them ‘Tides’ and you can sign up here.

Bible in One Year App - Search Google Play Store or iTunes Store, entering ‘BIOY’. From the creators of the Alpha Course this offers a series of readings that take you through the Bible in a year. It includes a daily reflection and guide to pray. Included is the bible passages read by Hercule Poirot himself (okay, it’s his actor David Suchet).

Our Daily Bread booklets. These are daily notes available for three month chunks with Bible passages and short reflections. Please pick up a copy at the back of Church each Sunday.

Bible Podcasts and Apps

Bible Project Podcasts: weekly podcasts from the people at The Bible Project on topics to help with understanding the Bible. There are episodes on the New Testament; the character of God and a whole lot more. https://bibleproject.com/podcasts/the-bible-project-podcast/

The Gospel Coalition Q&A podcast. Search ‘TGC Q&A’ on any podcast app. Recent topics include: Has Christianity done more harm than good? How do I find hope in Suffering? What does God say to those struggling with addiction? What does God say to those who struggle with body image? How do I overcome Anxiety and Depression?

For Bible talks from the Scottish Bible teacher, Alistair Begg, search ‘Truth for Life’ on podcast apps.

Music

Search Spotify or other music streaming apps for a multitude of versions of your favourite worship songs or hymns.

CityAlight from Australia are producing some of the best modern worship songs at the moment. Find them with a simple search.

Sovereign Grace Music also have numerous edifying songs.

Keith & Kristyn Getty are probably (ok, certainly) responsible for more songs we sing at Church than anyone else. Their music is available in the usual places.

Books to inspire and help with prayer

We’ll be reading 'Enjoying God’ by Tim Chester as a Church. Please e-mail Andy before Monday 31 August if you’d like a copy (cost €9).

‘Help, Thanks, Wow - the three essential prayers’', Anne Lamott

‘Invitations from God: Accepting God’s Offer to Rest, Weep, Forgive, Wait, Remember and More’, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

‘Prayer, Experiencing Awe & Intimacy with God’, by Tim Keller.

For practical help on devotional life, ‘The practice of the presence of God’, Brother Lawrence

‘Everyday Prayers’, Scotty Smith.



The Bible Project - a brilliant resource to grow in Bible study and knowledge of God

Have you ever thought: “I wish I could grow in my Bible study”? Have you ever said to yourself: “I know there’s more I could be getting out of reading the Bible?” Loads of us have thought like this at one time or another.

I’m not sure there’s a better resource for getting an overview of what the Bible says than ‘The Bible Project’. Let me encourage you to take a few minutes this week to peruse the Bible Project website. It’s a wonderful free resource of 5-8 minute videos, giving overviews of all of the books of the Bible, major biblical themes and explanations on how to read the Bible. It’s superb.

You can check out the website by clicking here.

Here’s an example video on the theme of ‘The Image of God’,

This video traces the idea of humans as co-rulers alongside God, who are commissioned to develop the world and its resources and take it into new horizons. H...

My faith during Lockdown - Evelyn Hamilton

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

So begins the book “A Tale of Two Cities” going some way to summarising our experience of the Pandemic which impacted us this year. The announcement of schools closing initially was met with a hurrah by students heralding it as the “best of times.” However, after several months it became the “worst of times” with end of year and graduating not being the experience students hoped for.

We had wisdom from experts but sadly foolishness too in not protecting vulnerable health workers and those in nursing homes. There was light as we enjoyed a time of sunny days and darkness as we saw the numbers and the faces of those who had lost their lives. For us it meant long days studying for David as he finished his Masters in Applied Theology, made all the more challenging due to lack of personal contact with mentors. We spent time with our grandchildren most days. There was some home-schooling and lots of outdoor activities where Riloh learned to fly a kite and Luna learned to ride her bike!

As the weeks passed I longed to be able to meet up with loved ones again. I was struck recently that with God we can come near “with unveiled (unmasked?) faces” and approach His throne with confidence because of Jesus. We are moving towards winter, but not the winter of despair because we are a people of hope, In quoting from Isaiah 61 Jesus promised His believers “a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair”, so we look to Him and continue to praise and believe!

 

Sunday 26 July 2020

It was great to be back last Sunday meeting in person for the first time in 19 weeks. God promises that he shows himself in a particular way when we meet together to worship and there was a real sense of him being with us as we gathered.

This Sunday, 26 July, there will be two gatherings. We’d love to see you there. You must register to on the eventbrite platform as we have a maximum capacity of 50 at each one. We have the ability to meet in two spaces at once if necessary to increase our capacity so there’s plenty of room for everyone.

10am - 10.30am Gathering - This is aimed primarily at adults and teenagers. There will be a couple of songs and a 20 minute Bible talk. The Bile talk will be recorded and posted to the Church’s website.

Please register at this link: Sunday 10am

11am - 11.40am Gathering - This is suitable for all ages. There will be three songs, a kids talk and a younger-people friendly 10-minute talk. There’ll be tables with colouring and a treat for kids.

Please register at this link: Sunday 11am

Someone asked me, ‘Can I go to both services?’ Here’s how we’ll work this. Please register yourself and any who will come with you for one service. Then after 12pm on Saturday afternoon check back to see if there’s room in the other service. If there is, then please go ahead and book yourself and others into that one.

We also hold back a little space each week especially for new people. Please invite your family and friends along. If they can register that’s best for us but we will do everything we can to accommodate new people who have not registered.

See you on Sunday!