17 Jan
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- James
Keep Loving Your Uni
It’s cliché, I know, but it only feels like yesterday when I stepped out into the sun at the end of my exams and into the recently graduated world. So many activities that were part of my weekly routine have now faded into memories. From the days spent in the Pilkington to the many practical jokes; even the setting up of a fake burglary to scare my housemates out of their skins (ask me if you want some tips), already feel like a lifetime ago. However, some incidents feel just as vivid today as they were three years ago.
One incident in particular; a time that I still revisit today, is the birth of what has come to be known as ‘Club Mission’. Since I left uni, I’ve been working for a charity called Fusion. We help to resource, equip and inspire hundreds of local churches all over the country; helping them work with students to share their faith with their friends. The birth of Club Mission is still vivid in my memory, because it’s a story that I continue to tell today.
23 Nov
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- Sam
40 days until 2011
In 40 days time it will be a new year, two thousand and eleven. In the history of God and his people 40 days has been a significant length of time...
- It rained for 40 days and 40 nights when God wanted to cleanse the world and start over
- Noah waited another 40 days after it rained before he opened the window in the Ark
- Moses was on the mountain with God for 40 days (twice)
- It took the spies 40 days to search out the promised land and bring back fruit
- The Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness, one year for each day they explored the Promised Land
- Goliath came for forty days before being killed by David
- Elijah strengthened by one angelic meal went for forty days to Mount Horeb where the Lord passed by and he heard the voice of God
- Jonah warned the City of Nineveh they had 40 days until God would overthrow the city. The people repented in those 40 days and God spared the city
- Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness
- Jesus was seen in the earth 40 days after His crucifixion
Over the next 40 days what are you going to do to reflect on the year just passing and the new one approaching? Consider some of these questions:
13 Jul
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- Ness
Work Matters
Over the summer we're looking at a series called 'Work Matters'. Our aims for this teaching series are twofold. Firstly, that we all gain a deep recognition that our work matters to God - that it is deeply spiritual, reflecting the image of God the Worker that is within us. Secondly that we'll know our work also matters to our church community at Open Heaven.
09 Jun
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- Phil
Why Does Everyone Need Their Own Lawn Mower?
This question prompted the idea of a database of the items people have available that they don't mind sharing with the rest of church. It was a good idea that gave birth to OH bay.
Great, but perhaps a little bit exclusive. Jesus did say we'd be known by the love we showed each other as his disciples, but also called us to bring others into this love and open it up to all. So what about sharing that lawn mower with others on your street, maybe even people we don't know yet?
04 May
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- Caroline
Lobbying Andy Reed
On 1st March I joined around 100 members of the Speak Network, a Christian network of students and young adults who campaign and pray about issues of global injustice, to visit parliament to lobby our MPs about government support for the arms companies.
Speak recently launched a new arms trade campaign which is asking the government to do two things:
01 Feb
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- Jez
A New Year. A New Decade
At the start of a new year and a new decade Rich Wilson shares something of God's heart for Open Heaven. This is a really significant message for the church and we want to encourage everyone to take some time to listen to it.
Where are we going? Who are we becoming? What will the church in Loughborough look like in 10 years time?
04 Dec
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- Sam
Grace for Growth
Growth begins and ends with grace. Deep down, we all want to grow, but growth requires the overcoming of challenges and for this, we need God’s grace to keep us going.
02 Dec
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- Stu
God and Dualisms
At the leaders' weekend earlier in the year, we heard quite a lot about how dualistic thinking works in our lives. We tend to divide the world into binary pairs, like right and wrong, dark and light, truth and error, and so on. And part of the reason for this is that this often helps us to understand things, and act confidently.
What the teaching at the weekend tried to show was that very often these dualisms can become ways of trying to control our relationship to the world around us, or ways of judging ourselves and other people. This can be psychologically imprisoning, because we can end up assessing everything according to one set of criteria which seem to help us make sense of things, but don’t help us pay real attention to what is actually going on.
01 Dec
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- Ness
A Big Thank You
Over the last few weeks we referred to Nov 22nd 09 as the day we would come together to raise thousands and thousands of pounds. Well, we did just that.
£118,737 to be exact, which with Gift Aid, results in £137,363 being raised in one day!
06 May
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- Jez
Stories from Encounter
The Encounter Weekend continues to be one of my highlights in the year. Over the bank holiday weekend a group of 50 of us went away to encounter God. It was an amazing weekend where we experienced the reality and presence of a God who loves us and longs to be with us. A God whose heart burns to see us free from the wounds and hurts the world can bring.
It was a beautiful picture of the church, being honest with our brokenness, sharing our lives together, letting God draw near to heal and free us and finding fresh purpose and passion to follow Jesus courageously.
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