Darkness in Downton

There is an unspoken pact between an audience and a film or TV programme: the programme promises to deliver particular satisfactions: warm, family comedy without crudity (The Good Life) or action, exotic locations, gadgets, Aston Martins, beautiful women, elegant tailoring, resourcefulness and a certain wry nonchalance (Bond, James Bond). We come to any artistic event with expectations about the nature of the content and the pleasures it will deliver. As such, the furore over the rape scene in Downton Abbey is not a debate about whether terrible things happened in country estates in the 1920s, or about the 9 o’clock watershed, or about ghastly things being depicted on TV in general; it is about the betrayal of a trust, the breaking of a promise. Et tu Brute?  Downton may have explored disease and demise, killed off its male lead, one unborn heir, and its most appealing young woman. It may have sought to stave off sickly sweetness with the constant presence of at least one malignant canker in the body politic. But to allow the sickening rape of its purest, most generous, honey-hearted character was a stride too far. Like a stream of expletives in a wedding speech, we felt soiled, assaulted.  How could you? I asked for bread and you gave me a stone, for fish and you handed me a serpent. I may have purposed in my heart not to set before my eyes any vile thing (Psalm 101:3), but you put it there anyway. The pact has been broken.  Downton was like a weekly visit to a favourite uncle – and then the uncle attacked us. On the surface this looks like yet another example of the despairing search for ratings – and well it might be. However, at another level it may betray a deeper problem, a broader crisis in the collective artistic imagination. Do we even know how to make goodness attractive, interesting, inspiring anymore in any sustained way?  I have already forgiven Downton, though it will never be quite the same between us. Still, I am hoping that the writer will have found a way to steer us through the minefield of anger, anguish, shame, vengeance, bitterness that he has laid, and offer us a picture of how a community can help one another to find healing after such a cataclysmic event. Redemption is indeed glorious but, oh, that it were not so terribly necessary. Mark GreeneLICC Executive Director

Does the Bible apply to me?

So we kicked off the new series in Philippians on Sunday.

Was amazing to think that Paul was so full of joy, even though he was imprisoned for his faith.

Abraham Lincoln said, "people are generally as happy as they make up their mind to be".
I think this has some truth.

Certainly our response to situations makes such a difference, even if we can't change the circumstances.

Anyway, the bit of my sermon I wanted to comment on was about exegesis and hermeneutics.
Did you get what I was trying to say?

I was basically making the point that the Bible is always addressing a particular situation.
So even though it's God's divine Word, and does speak directly into our lives today -
We have to work hard to "correctly handle" the word (as Paul says in 2 Tim 2:15).

I used the example of receiving a phone bill through your door.
And you open it and it says you owe £300. And you panic thinking "Oh no, that's terrible news"
But then you breathe a sigh of relief as you realise it's actually addressed to your neighbour and was delivered to you by accident!
It's still true, and tells you something about the sender, and the recipient.
But as you understand the context it is addressing, then it helps you know how to understand it properly.

This is the same with the Bible.
Take the 7 churches in Revelation, for example.
Each of the messages was read by each of the 7 churches.
However, the church at Ephesus wasn't meant to read what Jesus says to the church at Smyrna, as it if was speaking to their situation.
The message to them was different, even though all of it was God's word, and all of it is useful for "teaching, correcting, rebuking and training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:16).

So our task in "correctly handling" the word of truth is to first find out what the message meant to the original readers (technically called 'exegesis') - and then to seek to interpret it for us ('hermeneutics').

So over to you...

- Is it ok to open a page of the Bible at random to see what God wants to say to you that day?
- Have you had experiences when this has happened to you?
- Is it ok to read a passage completely out of context, but for God to speak through it anyway?
- What does Paul mean when he tells Timothy to be a 'work man... who can correctly handle the word of truth?'
- What problems in church life, or in church history, can be put down to different ways of reading scripture (e.g. debates about women in ministry, homosexuality, sunday trading etc)

Have a great week!


You can listen again to all sermons at...
www.coshambaptist.org/sermons

Mission-focused Church - 1 Thessalonians

Brilliant to welcome John Risbridger with us on Sunday. His message can be listened to oniline
Audio of John R - here are his slides with a few notes...

Are we as a church like a BMW, left on the forecourt of a petrol station, constantly being filled up , but never being taken for a drive?

For the church to be the church it has to be a mission-focused church

“I will bless you…and you will be a blessing…all people on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:2-3)

The foundations of a mission-focused church (1-6) •

• Authentic spiritual life (2-3)
• Authentic spiritual power (4-5a)
• Authentic spiritual leadership (5b-6)

The impact of a mission focused church (7-10)

• The impact of gospel words (8)
• The impact of transformed lives   (9-10)

“I will bless you…and you will be a blessing…all people on earth will be blessed through you”  (Gen 12:2-3)

PRAYER SPACE!

We're really excited by this year's prayer space - especially our challenge of doing it 24/7!

Here's some info on what prayer spaces are, for those that have never experienced it, and what we will be doing for this year.......

Every year at Easter we hold a prayer space – this is about meeting with God in prayer in new ways. The two main components are:

CREATIVITY – using our whole bodies, senses, artistic abilities

INCLUSIVITY – the space allows access for all abilities/disabilities/ages to engage with God

Basically, part of our church will be transformed into a place where people can experience God in prayer – it’s designed to be a multi-sensory experience, with lots of aids for prayer and reflection but it's also possible to find a quiet corner if you prefer just sitting in God's presence.

THIS YEAR -24/7 PRAYER

We will be joining with other churches in a City wide initiative to pray 24/7 during Holy week.

THEME

This year, the space will be themed for reflection and prayer in WORSHIP, HEALING, MISSION. We are looking to link these three areas with the ‘tree’ imagery contained in the Bible – so the worship room will encourage participants to think about getting their roots down into God’s soil. In the Healing section we will think about how trees are a place for shelter, and God’s love and power shelters us – we will also tie in the imagery that Jesus died on a tree for us. Finally, the Mission room will look to engage people in thinking how they can bear fruit and plant seeds for change where God has placed them.

WHEN?

Mon 25 March 9am to Easter Sunday 6am!

VOLUNTEER

We need lots of help staffing the space - people who will commit to praying in the space and people on duty at reception - please consider getting involved we need all the help we can get! See previous post on what it involves and contact Sam Twine to book in: samantha.twine88@gmail.com . She can also be contacted by phone (weekdays - outside of 8am-5pm): 07719 644 456

To see previous prayer spaces have a look at:

Drawings from Nicki during the Crossing Over Series Part 2

Drawings from Nicki during the Crossing Over Series Part 1

Blessing Jar

It is still not too late to begin a blessing jar! Get a jar - fill it with records of how you or your loved ones have been blessed... at end of year - open it and be oh so thankful!