Niddrie Community Church (Page 35)
How to preach the gospel to yourself…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSTc0a_xsCA&feature=player_embedded#at=13] Caveat: It may be confusing as he refers to the fruit of the spirit as the gifts of the spirit, but I think he means that this fruit is a gift per se. Good stuff though in terms of challenging people with the gospel and not with moralism. The key is a change of heart first before a…
Back2Work Project
One of the many issues in an area like Niddrie is long-term unemployment and the general lack of motivation for young (and older) people to find employment opportunities. At NCC we obviously place a premium on proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, but we believe it goes hand in hand with doing good deeds and providing opportunities for members of the community to…
Relaunching NiddriePastor!
Hi to all I have decided to change my tack with regards to this blog. It is becoming tiresome to me (and others) just putting random stuff on here as well as the odd serious article about working in inner city housing chemes. So, I have decided to restructure the way I do things. Mondays – 1 article on a serious subject Tuesdays – Blog Spots from around the…
Do we really appreciate the depth of the gospel?
Most Bible believing Christians probably think they have got a good understanding of the gospel. They could probably give a reasonable answer to the question: ‘What is the gospel’? But, I wonder, how many of us truly appreciate the breathtaking depth of the good news and the diversity…
Why should we serve in inner city housing schemes?
This is a big question and one I get asked often. Another way to ask it is, ‘What is our motivation for service in inner city housing schemes?’ The simple answer is simply this, ‘For the glory and honour of God Almighty.’ There are many reasons WHY we should serve people in…
Tarquin Syndrome (5)
Straight Talk People in Niddrie don’t beat about the bush. One of the lads who comes to our youth café very bluntly went up to a student, who is serving with us for a couple of weeks, whom he had never met before and asked: ‘Are you a virgin? What do you think about sex before marriage?’ The language people use in Niddrie is equally straight down the line. I have never…
Understanding & Connecting to our World (1)
Building Genuine Friendships I was walking down the street this week and I was stopped by a young Asian man looking for directions to the bus stop. Instead of pointing him in the general direction as I would normally do, I decided to walk him to the stop and chat to him on the way. It turns out…
Let’s Get Real (and messy)!
I know it’s a ‘buzz phrase’ but I still like it. I took a meeting last night at the church as we look at reshaping and restructuring our Small Group networks. I set my peeps a couple of questions: Small Group A meets and spends most of the meeting talking about the Bible text and what it means. There is usually a little time left at the end for prayer…
Why people aren’t coming to church (well Niddrie at least)
When I first came to Niddrie 4 years ago several pastors in the area informed me that if they were in charge they would move the Sunday morning service at Niddrie from 11am to the mid afternoon. When I asked them how they had arrive at this ‘scientific’ conclusion they informed me that…
Tarquin Syndrome (3)
Not Sexy As a new Christian I was obsessed with reading biographies about missionaries who went out to preach the gospel to distant lands. Some of my favourite biographies were of people like C.T.Studd, Jim Eliott, Hudson Taylor and Jackie Pullinger. Each one of them gave up everything to share the gospel in unevangelized areas. They were great sources of encouragement…