Summer 11

We Are Loved by a Great Big God

from the blog

Recently I preached from Exodus 5-7 and I

was struck by God’s challenge to the gods of

Egypt. Repeatedly God says that he will show

himself to be LORD – to have all claims on

authority and power and our worship and

service. He tells Moses that his great power

will be displayed, that Pharaoh’s resistance

will simply serve to show God’s power all the

more clearly.

As I reflected on the magnitude of God’s

works in the Exodus – the scale of the

miracles that were about to unfold – I couldn’t

help but be reminded of the magnitude of

God’s great works in creation. God was able

to turn the Nile to blood—and to plunge part

of Egypt into darkness while another part

enjoyed normal daylight—and even to part

the red sea. He was able to do all that be-

cause those elements were his own creation;

he controls them absolutely.

In exercising his power over Egypt like that

God was simply demonstrating his rule over

his creation. He alone is God and ruler of

creation. In the face of competing gods he

was asserting his claim to his world.

We know the events of the Exodus, and even

how they were fulfilled and surpassed in

Jesus’ death and resurrection. And yet we so

easily fall into the mindset of the Israelites in

thinking that God is too small and powerless

to help us (they ask God to curse Moses for

making trouble with Pharaoh, rather than

asking God to deliver them from

Pharaoh!). Or the mindset of the Egyptians,

thinking that God is too small to stop us and

call us to account (Pharaoh: I do not know the

LORD and I will not let Israel go! – i.e.. there

is no God, your imaginary God won’t stop me

doing exactly what I want).

We could use a moment’s reflection on how

big God really is; he made all that is and it

was as easy as opening his mouth and com-

manding it into being. And what he made is

still being revealed to us in unimaginable

scale. The universe God made is vast beyond

our comprehension. If we were travelling at

the speed of light (671 million miles an hour)

it would take billions of years to reach the

edge of the known universe – billions of

years; that is simply beyond imagining.

Thankfully we live in a digital age and people

can put those numbers into a form we can

see and after that sermon someone kindly

sent me a couple of videos that show the

scale of God’s works. If you’ve got a few

minutes watch this and this and reflect that

the God who comes to us personally, who

makes himself known through his Son, who

invites us to approach him as Father and who

personally provides for all our needs is the

same God who holds our vast universe in his

hand.

God isn’t too small to help us, and we

shouldn’t be too timid to ask him.

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contents

Nutritional Information

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page 1 foreword a few words from Rod 3 am teaching series fixing a broken church

5 pm teaching series the unstoppable message continues 7 upcoming easter, ce, weekend away, holiday club

11 homegroups what and when we’ll be studying together this term 12 spotlight Rich Blayney tells us about 20s&30s

14 staff who’s who?

1 Corinthians—fixing a broken church

am

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Paul wrote this letter in Ephesus sometime between 53 and 57AD to the church at Corinth which he had planted three years earlier. So Paul is writing to a three year old church plant, just like us! This term we’ll be looking at the first three chapters, chapters in which Paul joyfully gives thanks for the Corinthians but must fight hard to re-establish unity in a church which has become deeply divided.

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Apr 3 God at Work 1.1-9 Dan Martin Mother’s day

Apr 10 A Church Divided 1.10-17 Rob Frame Holy Communion

Apr 17 Palm Sunday Family Service Dan Martin

Apr 24 Easter Sunday Rod Earnshaw

May 1 The Defeat of Wisdom 1.18-25 Rich Blayney

May 8 How to Boast 1.26-31 Dan Martin Holy Communion

May 15 Family Service Rob Frame Infant Baptism

May 22 Resting on God’s Power 2.1-5 Rod Earnshaw

May 29 God’s Secret Wisdom 2.6-10a Rob Frame

Jun 5 Family Service Rod Earnshaw

Jun 12 The Mind of Christ 2.10b-16 Rod Earnshaw Holy Communion

Jun 19 God Gives the Growth 3.1-9 Matt King Father’s Day

Jun 26 Foolishness vs Wisdom 3.1-23 Rob Frame

1 Corinthians fixing—a broken church

am

acts—the unstoppable message

pm

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In the evenings this term we’re picking up our series in Acts again: the unstoppable message. As we rejoin chapter 14 the Gospel is continuing to explode from it’s epicentre in Jerusalem, penetrating deep into the Gentile world; we’ll even witness the first conversion in Europe. Though not without difficulty, this part of Acts is a joy-filled, action-packed description of the early Christian church rapidly expanding; and God achieving his purposes in the world he has made.

pm

acts—the unstoppable message

Apr 3 In Iconium 14.1-7 Rob Frame

Apr 10 Easter Music Rod Earnshaw Invitation Service

Apr 17 In Lystra + Derbe 14.8-20 Rich Blayney

Apr 24 Antioch : The Return 14.21-28 Dan Martin Holy Communion

May 1 The Jerusalem Council 15.1-21 Rod Earnshaw

May 8 Letter to the Gentiles 15.22-35 Rob Frame

May 15 Paul + Barnabas Split 15.36-41 Rod Earnshaw

May 22 Timothy Joins Paul 16.1-5 Dan Martin Holy Communion

May 29 Europe 16.6-15 Rich Blayney

Jun 5 A Slave Girl Freed 16.16-24 Ben Tanner

Jun 12 What must I do to be saved? 16.25-40 Dan Martin Invitation Service

Jun 19 In Thessalonica 17.1-9 Dave Hewer

Jun 26 In Berea 17.10-15 Rich Blayney

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Easter 10,21,22 and 24 April

upcoming Easter starts early at HTG this year! We hope to build on the success of our Christmas Carol Services by hosting an Easter Music invitation service on April 10th (6.30pm). We hope that it will be a great opportunity to celebrate Easter as well as a chance to invite those who wouldn’t normally come to church to hear the real message of Easter. Following that, during Easter Week, we’ll be running several services from the meditative through to a more celebratory service on Easter Sunday, details below: 10 Apr Easter Music 6.30pm 21 Apr Maundy Thursday Holy Communion 8pm 22 Apr Good Friday Family Service 10.15am Hour of Guided Meditation 2pm 24 Apr Easter Sunday 9.15 and 11.15am

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upcoming

CE Taster Session May 5th

Christianity Explored is an informal course for those interested in finding out more about the Christian faith or who just want to brush up on the basics. The course explores the Gospel of Mark and asks the questions at the heart of Christianity: Who is Jesus? Why did he come? What does it mean to follow him? You don’t need to know anything about the Bible. You won’t be asked to read aloud, pray or sing. You can ask any questions you want. The course runs on Thursday nights for 10 weeks beginning May 12th. Find out more about Christianity Explored by joining us on May 5th for a free slap-up meal followed by a short video presentation describing what the course will be like. www.holytrinitygateshead.org.uk/christianityexplored 8

Weekend Away1-3 July

upcoming

The Weekend Away is a chance for all of us to get away from it all, spend some time together as a church family, enjoy the beautiful Lake District and most importantly learn from God together. The theme this year is living by faith, Jonathan Pryke from Jesmond Parish Church will be leading the three teaching sessions. We’ll also sing, pray and have chances to digest God’s word in small groups. Saturday afternoon can be spent scaling the heights pictured above or less strenuously scaling the heights of a scone topped with jam and cream in Keswick. We’ll be staying at Blaithwaite House—a converted farmhouse located to the north of the Lakes. It offers easy access to Keswick and the stunning Lake District. The house is situated in thirty acres of beautiful fields, woodland and gardens. You can stay in the house or enjoy views stretching over open countryside on the camp site (a lot more appealing now the weekend away is in July) which even includes hot showers and a drying room. It’s the perfect place to relax and get away from it all. For more details look out for the booking form in church or keep an eye on www.holytrinitygateshead.org.uk/events

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upcoming

Holiday Club 1-5 Aug Summer is on its way (no, really) and before you know it, it will be time for HTG’s annual Holiday Club. Holiday Club provides an opportunity for dozens of kids to have fun, play crazy games, build friendships but most importantly it introduces children to King Jesus. This year’s theme is super-heroes and the club runs in the first week of August. Please consider being part of the team that makes holiday club possible, whether that is becom-ing one of the leaders, helping in the café and crèche which run alongside Holiday Club or most significantly by praying; asking God that he would help these children under-stand that Jesus is the real hero. For more information or to become part of the holiday club team contact Jason Cochrane: jason.cochrane@talktalk.net

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1 Corinthians—fixing a broken church

home groups

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Home groups will again be following the morning teaching program this term but we’ll be taking a five week break , this will include the Easter holidays but also make time for some social time together . We also want to clear some space for the next Christianity Explored taster session on May 5th and another evangelistic curry night before that on April 12th. Why not plan for your homegroup to ‘own’ a table at the taster session and get praying and inviting. If you want to get a step ahead then we rec-ommend Paul Barnett’s commentary: 1 Corinthians: Holiness and Hope of a Rescued People.

Apr 6 Prayer Meeting Apr 13 no meeting (Curry Night on the 12th) Apr 20 no meeting Apr 27 no meeting May 4 Prayer Meeting (Taster Session on the 5th) May 11 Home Group May 18 Home Group May 25 Home Group Jun 1 Prayer Meeting Jun 8 Home Group Jun 15 Home Group Jun 22 Home Group Jun 29 Prayer Meeting Any questions or for more info email rob.frame@holytrinitygateshead.org.uk

spotlight

20s&30s

Hi Rich, can you tell us a bit about yourself and the ministry you’re involved in?

Sure. I'm one of the church workers here at HTG, with particular responsibility for music, PA and data projection and planning Sun-day services, and I've also recently started up a 20s&30s group. I also regularly find myself preaching, leading services and pitching in with Scramblers and Women's Fellowship crèche. What things are happening at the moment?

Well the 20s&30s group is pretty new, so in some ways not a great deal! Saying that, on the last Sunday of every month we head round to someone's house after the evening service and enjoy each other's company and some food like pizzas or desserts. We had a games night in February at the church and are planning a walk at the coast soon. Later in the year we hope to have a weekend away to spend a bit of quality time and work through some bible teaching together. What examples of God’s grace have you seen in 20s & 30s?

Well, like I said, 20s&30s is new, but for our first ever event we took a Saturday morning trip to Wheelbirks farm in Northumberland.

We pitched it as a drop-in-if-you-can sort of event, one of the implications of which was that we didn't know how many people to expect. As it happens, we took about 35 people to a venue that holds around 100, and Wheelbirks was quieter than I've seen it before or since. In fact we almost had the place to ourselves. It certainly would have been different if we'd taken 50+ along on a busy morning! What are the particular challenges that you face at the moment?

Personally, I'm probably still settling into working for church and find myself busy all the time. Quite often I feel that 20s&30s receives less of my attention than it should. I'm becoming more convinced all the time that it's a key area for strengthening relationships in the church and welcoming new people, so it's a big challenge to the 20s&30s to help own the group and make those things happen. What can we pray for you?

I'd love people to pray that I can improve the way I juggle various responsibilities and that my commitment to all the people who are part of 20s&30s will grow. It'd be great for people to pray that the 20s&30s members and the events we put on will help to grow relationships in the group and in the wider church, from the old hands right through to welcoming new faces.

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contacts

Rev Rod Earnshaw Senior Minister rod.earnshaw@holytrinitygateshead.org.uk

Rob Frame Church Worker rob.frame@holytrinitygateshead.org.uk

Dan Martin Church Worker dan.martin@holytrnitygateshead.org.uk

Rich Blayney Church Worker richard.blayney@holytrinitygateshead.org.uk

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contacts

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Mums, Babies + Toddlers Julia King juliacking@gmail.com

Women’s Fellowship Sarah Brown sarahandgeoffbrown@talktalk.net

Mums, Bumps + Babies Clare Talbot-Jones ctalbotjones@yahoo.co.uk

Prayer Link Pat Gray 488 7827 Janet Nicolls 281 8048

Random Acts of Kindness Seth + Helen Beckreck helen.beckreck @gmail.com

Creche Steph Blayney/Becky Brown stephanie.blayney@gmail.com jamesandbeckybrown@blueyonder.co.uk

April 10 Easter Music 6.30pm 12 Curry Night 8pm 21 Maundy Thursday Holy Communion 8pm 22 Good Friday Family Service10.15am Guided Meditation 2pm 24 Easter Sunday 9.15 and 11.15am

May 1 Adult Baptism 6.30pm 5 Christianity Explored Taster Session 7.30pm 15 Infant Baptism am

June 12 Pentecost am 26 Invitation Service pm