Alpha Course and Sunday Services

Things have been very busy around here lately, life has become very full, and I have been blessed with a whole host of new experiences, doing the Alpha Course, going to Church every Sunday, being involved in the autism support group committee, and being able to sing and play in the folk band. God has enriched my life in so many ways!

I've also been reading my Bible every night. I've finished the first five books of the Old Testament, and it was then recommended (by the host of the Alpha Course) that I move on to the New Testament next, and so I have just finished the book of Matthew. There is a big difference, reading the Bible as an adult, compared to as a child, and I am very much enjoying it.

And so today, I thought I'd update my blog on how my journey has been progressing over the past few weeks.

Alpha Course

I've just completed Week 4 of the Alpha Course. Week 1, as I posted before, was an introductory session which had us getting to know each other and finding out about the course.

Week 2 was centred around the question 'Who Is Jesus?' and focused on the great wealth of documentary evidence proving His existence, and proving that He most definitely WAS the Son of God, who died to save us from our sins.

There were the Roman historians, Tacitus and Suetonius, the Jewish historian, Josephus who wrote about Him, and, of course, the evidence within the New Testament, which shows us that He was fully human, with a human body, human emotions and human experiences.

We also learned about what Jesus said about Himself, and then thought about the ramifications of what He said. As C.S. Lewis said, Jesus was either the Son of God, or He was insane or evil, which He clearly wasn't. "It is clear that however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God."

We also learned about the evidence to support what He said, such as His teachings, His works, His character, His fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy, and His conquest of death. And the evidence of His resurrection - His absence from the tomb, His presence with the disciples, the immediate effects, ie the birth and growth of the Christian church, and the effect down the ages, ie the experiences of Christians down the ages.

It was an interesting week, but for me, it was pretty academic, as I've never doubted the existence of Jesus, having grown up in the Church.

Week 3 was much more involving, as it focused on 'Why Did Jesus Die?' We learned about the problem of the world's sin, which separated us from God, and His solution to the problem - sending His Son to die for us on the cross, so that all our sins could be forgiven and we could have eternal life with God.

It was awful to hear exactly what happened to Jesus during his torture and crucifixion, to realise all over again just how awfully Jesus suffered for us, but it was amazing to realise just how much He loved us, that He would do that for us, so that we could be saved. Wow.

This week, Week 4, focused on 'How Can We Have Faith?' which was again, a fascinating talk. Nicky Gumbel compared the relationship between us and God to the relationship between a husband and wife, which made things much easier to understand. We don't just believe that we are married to each other, we have faith that we are married to each other, and we had to make a leap of faith when we did get married.

And that is the difference between belief and faith - the difference between believing God exists, and actually having a relationship with Him through faith. Faith is taking God's promises and daring to believe them.

And when we become a Christian, when we pray our prayer to Jesus, asking him to forgive our sins and to come into our hearts, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us, and He transforms us from within, transforming our characters and our relationships; and He brings a deep, personal conviction that we are God's children.

I am really loving the Alpha Course, and I am developing genuine friendships with the lovely people on the course with me, and our hosts, who are fabulously inspiring Christians.

Sunday Services

And I have been loving our Sunday morning services in the Church too! There is always a message in the service, just for me, and everything always makes such sense. And oh, how I love the worship songs! We have sung some fantastic ones recently.

One a couple of weeks ago had me literally fighting back tears. It was the day before Seren and I were due to go to see the CF specialist in Norwich, and only minutes before we left the house for Church that Sunday morning, she had confessed that she was terrified about going to see the specialist. She was scared of the train ride, and even more scared that her lung function would be bad, or that she wouldn't have put on much weight.

I reassured her quickly, and then we had to leave for Church, and when we sat down, and heard that that morning's service was going to focus on FEAR, well, WOW! I gave Seren a hug and told her that Jesus was speaking directly to her that morning. She was SO touched by it, and the sermon about how to count on Jesus and pray to Jesus and to draw strength from Jesus when we are afraid really really really helped her.

But I felt that the service also spoke directly to me too, about my fears for the childrens' health, or about my Dad's cancer battle, or Adrian's Nan's poor health, or even the small fears like having to sing/play in public.

And this song, which I can't find on YouTube, only the lyrics on this site, had me frantically wiping the tears from my eyes.

Wonderful Lord, Wonderful God,
You are my shield, my protector.
I can lie down, Go off to sleep,
Knowing you're watching over me.

Wonderful Lord, Wonderful God,
Help me to trust you forever.
I need not fear 'Cos you are near,
I can lie down and sleep in peace.

Doug Horley
based on Psalm 4:8

I thought of all the nights when I've lain awake worrying frantically, and to sing that line 'I can lie down, go off to sleep, knowing you're watching over me', oh, that was an incredible comfort.

There are other incredibly beautiful songs which touch my soul, but I am very sad to find that I can't find them on YouTube, so I can't share them with you.

Today's service (like the past two weeks) have been focusing on The Beatitudes, in the book of Matthew, and we also had communion today. We sang two beautiful songs (among others) which were Thank You Lord You Love Us (my favourite part goes something like: "We just wanna say we love You, we just wanna shout YOU'RE THE BEST!") and another one which I'm guessing is called Lean on Me, which was so uplifting and inspiring. I wish I could share it, but I can't find it at the moment. If anyone does find it, let me know!

I'll leave you for today with today's text of the week:

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5 v 11-12.