Conferences, workshops and courses

Ian led worship on 23 February supported by Amanda Amy and Mark. Very powerful service with Ian sharing some of the issues he deals with and his reliance on God to lead him.

Amanda asked people to recall those moments when your Mam takes you by the hand . You don’t where you going, you just have to trust she knows what she is doing. The disciples had that experience on the mountaintop, going into the unknown but with moments of terror.

Matthew 16:13 Jesus asked who do people say the son is. Peter had declared Jesus to be the son of the living god, Peter could not understand that Jesus was to die, Peter was a tough diamond, maybe he’d have been from West View or the Manor if he’d been born in Hartlepool. Jesus rebuked Peter saying that it was foretold. By Elijah. Amanda then read Matthew 17 where Peter offers to put up the three tents for Elijah, Moses and Jesus. God speaks and tells of his love for his son. Again they are told not to tell anyone.

Six days passed since Peter had declared Jesus to be the son of the the living god. Why did Jesus takes these disciples up the mountain. Maybe it’s because they were the strongest, and they needed to be prepared for what was to come.

Amanda wondered what was going through the disciples mind when they were preparing to go . Why do we climb a mountain? Where are we going, what do we need What’s the weather going to be like?

Amanda reminded the church of the trip to Keswick that her and I did after we got married. She shared how I prepared with hiking sticks and a bag that weighed a ton. I needed a pack horse. But I wanted to take everything I thought we might need.

Imagine the scene, did they walk together or did they follow Jesus and maybe like me grumble all the way up!

They met with Moses and Elijah. And they were in the presence of God. We’d be flat on our faces as well . Peter did. He was before God and terrified . They were direct witnesses to the care of the Father for his Son.
Don’t be afraid, get up I am with you is the message Jesus shares.

We need the same space for contemplation and conversation with God. We need our mountaintop with God.

As we head into Lent Fasting and praying brings us before God. Amanda shared that she had affirmation. of this but reminded people that even if yiu can’t do a full fast you can do a Daniel fast , rather than giving up all food Daniel asked for vegetables only . God fulfilled Daniels statement.
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When your at the top of the mountain you see gods splendour . Amanda climbed a stepladder to illustrate the point. She shared her journey up Roseberry Topping with her Mam. She then shared the fact that you have to come down the mountain. She followed her Mam down the rocky side of the mountain. It was scary and it was difficult but they got down. Falls and trips may feel inevitable but if we keep our eyes fixed on Him he’ll take us down safely. Maybe that’s why Jesus took the three disciples , he needed to give them strength for when they got frightened and ran away , denied Jesus before he rose again.

We ended with a time of quiet reflecting on our own needs.

On 16 February 2020 Tim and Amanda led worship.

1 Corinthians 3 1-9

Tim reflected on the film Big where the lead character Josh is great at the invention of toys but no good at the relationship stuff as he’s not adult enough to understand.

The Corinthians seem to have been stuck in the past. At the beginning of this very long letter Paul touched on the old leaders of the various factions of the church. Paul has been criticising the outside world but then he starts talking about them in v13 of Chapter 2. They probably thought they were included. But now Paul’s is taking about them and me.. they’re using the world’s ways of scoring points . They don’t realise how the Gospel of the Cross has brought about a new creation. They’re acting like little children and it’s now Paul telling them that it is time to grow up. This should resonate with us. Churches can distracted by the past hurts, past leaders or simply doing things the way we have already done things.

We need to be shaped by the wisdom of the cross. Paul in verse 6 puts it into perspective…. But god… Paul’s favourite phrase.God was giving the growth. Without god all this is fruitless. Everything we do needs to be defined by this idea. God will be at work in everything we do. What an encouragement. But if we’re doing things to be better than the church down the road we will fail. We don’t have to be the superchurch or the best religious deal on the high street. We simply need to be a cross shaped church! Our calling is to plant the seeds, not to guess where god goes with them. We plant gods seeds of compassion and mercy.

We are God’s co-workers. Planting seeds, watering with compassion and love and then leaving the growth and the glory to God. We are in God’s field, God’s building along with all the other churches in the area. None of this belongs to us, to a particular denomination. The church is called to see that God is the one bringing the growth. This challenge but also encouragement! Tim said that the preaching doesn’t depend on him. Filling Station might be challenging and we might struggle to see the difference we make . Yet we get thanks like on Friday when someone put their order in but then also wrote a note if thanks at the bottom. Let God grow and nurture the seeds we plant.

On 12 January 2020 Ian led worship with Amanda and Jonny.

Tim preached on Isiah 42.

The servant of the Lord is the title of the passage.. Isiah is living in difficult times. Jesus is the fulfilment of the prophesy.

You need to know what was going on at the time. We’re familiar with the journey of the nation of Israel. They stray from God’s covenant and God’s prophets bring them back to God. But then in the 6th century before Christ the Babylonians come and capture Israel and enslave the people. That’s the background to this passage. Most of us have not been forced out of our homes by conflict. Imagine what it feels like, Israel abandoned to the enemy. Was God still God they wondered as they sat and wept by the rivers of Babylon. Stormer describes these as meaning making literature for people under siege.

Sometimes we need such words. We help to live in the midst of chaos. In v13 God is depicted as both a warrior and a women in the labour. This imagery of a suffering servant, a bruised reed, a burning wick. Yet not broken, not extinguished.

In these words the servant comes with a different power not that of the Babylonians. What you see is how people who have been traumatised are called, not to put up walls or engage in nationalism, but to be a light to the nations. Our songs and the psalm Ian read at the start of service are all appropriate.


We sit safe from these issues in our warm church.

It zooms to the wider view. Isiah relocated the purpose of the people not as a defeated beaten broken people but people who share God’s light. God gives breath and spirit to every living person. On the planet. This is the God of the expansive universe.

This bruised reed who will not break is a liberator who will bring justice.

All the way to the edges of the known world is where this Word is to go. God calls them to bring sight to the blind free the prisoners. The passage is full of energy, God is still God. God’s people have not been forgotten.

Isiah shifts Israel from themselves to the wider world.

Who is the servant, ultimately Jesus fulfils this . Unbroken and not dimmed by the cross.

Is God speaking of a community though? We’re meant to hear this as both. The community that Jesus ultimately brings into being following him. Look at the news at the moment, chaos is rampant at the moment.

Leonard Cohen in his song Anthem says
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.”

The imagery is present in Corinthians in the clay jars.

When we feel helpless and out of control we can see the power that grows out of compassion, to look beyond our problems and do good and share light.

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On 5 January 2020 Jonny led worship supported by Jacob and Amanda. Tim preached from Isiah 60 1:6

Have you ever felt like an outsider, not getting the joke. The magi were summoned as outsiders . They were invited to celebrate the light that had come into the world. By the time that Matthew is writing the story of the magi, the message of Christ is being broadcast around the known world. Jesus is the light of the world that has come amongst us. The nations will come to be included in the blessing. It comes at a time when people are struggling And Isiah speaks into this darkness .

The cloud over the people reflects the separation of the people from Israel. The things going on in the world seems to reflect the similar situation. We’ve put away the lights and January often feels dark in any case.

But remember what we celebrate at Christmas.

For a time it would be pitch dark in the lower regions of Jerusalem but the temples where higher on the hill and lit first and last at sunrise and sunset.

This part seems to have been written as the people are returning to a broken Jerusalem.aybe their hopes hadn’t been fulfilled in the return so the prophet looked forward to a time of light.

Matthew describes Jesus as God with us Emmanuel! It’s no accident that the wise men were drawn by the light of a star.

Johns gospel reflects that in Jesus was life and that in Him was light for all.

Imagine that it is possible to move from darkness into light. If we follow Jesus there is no need for us to stay in darkness we can have the light of life.

Light drAws people in. The Old Testament says that when god returns it will be for the benefit of all peoples. We see this in the passage today. People coming to learn rather than to conquer.

The wise men who came to Jesus were the first of thousands of gentiles. Our church needs to be a beacon and we need to share the light. Isiah reverses this a little . God remains at work in our world despite the darkness. If we lift up our eyes we will find God ahead of us in the world. The church has to arise to its mission. Take heart that the light has come. We can arise out of despair and get on. Jesus used the symbol of light, as the light of the world,

As you pack away your lights, with all that’s going on it’s easy to think that darkness is winning. But remember the light always wins. Darkness is defeated by the smallest glimmer of light. The gospel writers reflect this all the time. On the cross darkness is defeated, light wins! In 2020 be the light in your everyday things.

Nations will walk in the light, God’s dwelling will be among people.

Jesus tells us we are the light of the world, flawed as we are. Lots of people are hungry for spirituality. Let them see the light through us.

Let us go and share that light with others.

Tim and Jonny led today and Penny brought us some news on the BMS work planned in Africa . 

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

A letter to Christians not unlike us. Paul seems a little harsh here. Tim compares this to the professional performers in Strictly where people are all in sync. Imagine the Red Arrows all in sync. 

What happens when things go wrong. It looks a mess. Verse 6 says watch out for those who step out of line. The display is being spoilt, the flow is damaged, the outsiders see something is wrong. “I command you” from Paul is a strong message. 

This passage is a call to work, to be busy. The idlers may be those who think God is coming soon so why bother. There are those today who think that working for justice today is a waste of time and God isn’t bothered about this little planet .. God is before all things and reconciles everything in the passage edris read today. Think about the issues affecting our planet climate change etc. 

Maybe it also refers to people taking advantage of an incredibly generous community. 

Not so sure these are who Paul is talking about. 

Third possibility is the wealthy who expect others to do things for them.

We don’t know who Paul is referring to. This scripture has been used to deny help to others. The key to interpretation of this is really the last phrase focussing in on “do not weary”. 

An alternative interpretation is that those being referenced are trouble makers. V11 the word play is even true in the Greek, busy bodies causing grief and trouble using their efforts for chaos rather than serving the community. This is nothing to do with who deserve help, but simply saying do not stop helping. Expectations that people would follow what the disciples had handed on to them. Tradition is a tough word in churches, pew vs chair, modern versed established ways. If we limit our view to this letter think of the encouragement of verse 1. The grace, the relationship with the father, the relationship with Jesus and the disciples, follow the ways of Jesus. Jesus will speak the truth and annihilate the liar. 

This can be the reality in our society. What does our dance look like? 

Common life of the disciples is essential to the well being of the community. 

Reminder is to be the kind of community life that focussed on the good of all and not the individual. Charity at times was not very loving. Do people in need deserve help? Of course we believe they do but we have had experience where sometimes it’s not received with gracefulness. 

Don’t give up! Don’t give up! 

If you are unwilling to help then shouldn’t be fed! Maybe this isn’t as harsh as it sounds. Maybe what it is saying is if you don’t get involved you can’t grow. Think about our own experience with Filling Station. Think about the unlikely friendships we now have with people we might not have got the chance to meet.

Tim shared an image of people’s vests in the Durham cathedral art installations. As we sit together as God’s church this is us! Nothing more workmanlike than a vest. This is us filled with God’s Light, a church in step together. 

We are part of the dance encouraging others whether in Africa or simply going to school and college. Never stop doing good, don’t be discouraged, as we perform this dance together.Let’s stay in formation. Let’s never tire of doing good.