An informal gathering over mulled wine, festive food and live acoustic music from Maria Nickolay. Featuring an interview and a short talk with Dave Jensen (All Saints Church of Ireland, University Avenue) addressing the question, “Christmas is fine, but why do they need to spoil it with Jesus?”
Lunchtime Carol Service, 1-1:45pm, Tuesday 10th December 2019
A traditional service of lessons and well-known carols. With music from the Salvation Army brass band and seasonal treats, and a talk on the meaning of Christmas by Lee Campbell (Strandtown Baptist Church).
Time for a change: Haggai
This autumn, we’re going back in time to the year 520BC, as we look at four sermons preached by the prophet Haggai. In a world where God’s people have lots on their plates, and God doesn’t seem to be doing very much, Haggai helps us to get our priorities straight.
Title
Consider your ways
The desire of the nations
The pathway to blessing
How to be on the right side of history
Passage
Haggai 1
Haggai 2.1-9
Haggai 2.10-19
Haggai 2.20-23
Date
4th September
11th September
18th September
25th September
Our speakers for this series are Sam Bostock (Gospel in the City) and Steve Auld (Great Victoria Street Baptist Church).
We meet each Wednesday lunchtime, 1.00-1.30pm. Our venue is the restaurant of the Clayton hotel, just a few minutes walk south of City Hall. Turn left immediately after you enter the hotel and our area is usually at the far end of the restaurant.
Sandwiches and hot drinks are available (suggested donation £3/£1).
We look forward to seeing you!
Faithfulness on the frontline
At Gospel in the City one of our aims is to equip Christians to be faithful followers of Jesus in their workplaces – we can think of them as one of our ‘frontlines’ – places where we interact with people who don’t share our faith. The Scriptures have a number of examples that show how the people of God can faithfully live for him in their work environments. One great example is the work life of Joseph.
Joseph is a character well known to many of us, but we’ve probably never thought much about Joseph as a worker. The interesting thing about Joseph is we see almost nothing of Joseph’s relationship with God: all we and those who interact with Joseph see are the results of his clear faithfulness. Those who interact with us on a daily basis may never see our prayer and devotional lives. They may never see us in church. But do people notice the difference faith makes in our lives as we face difficult and dead end jobs, and as we react to promotion and success?
Come along over the next four weeks as we explore how Joseph was faithful in his work and see what God might be calling you to in your work.
20/03 Faithfulness in a dead-end job Gen 39: 1-6
27/03 Faithfulness in promotion Gen 41: 1-40
03/04 Faithfulness in success Gen 41: 41-57
10/04 Faithfulness used by God Gen 50: 15-26
A New Start
The New Year is about new beginnings. At least, we often hope so!
At Gospel in the City we are going to be spending the opening weeks of this new year looking at the genuinely new beginning that Jesus’ coming brings.
We’ll start off with the water becoming wine at Cana and the cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem, before turning to Jesus’ conversations about the new birth and the living water. In all these episodes we’ll see that the one who is the Word of God in the flesh offers us a radically life-changing new start. Good news for our workplaces. Good news for our working lives. Good news for us.
We meet on Wednesday lunchtimes, 1.10-1.45pm. Each meeting features a change to get a sandwich or a hot drink and to listen to a short talk on the Bible passage for the week. Our venue is the restaurant of the Clayton hotel, just a few minutes walk south of City Hall. Turn right immediately after you enter the hotel and our area is usually at the far end of the restaurant.
Sandwiches and hot drinks are available. Suggested donation £3.
Workplace Christmas Carol Service
Our annual workplace Christmas carol service is a traditional service of lessons and carols.
This year we will have music from the Salvation Army and we are delighted that our speaker is Steve Auld, pastor of Great Victoria Street Baptist Church.
All are very warmly welcome to join us on Weds 19th December, 1:10-1:50pm in Assembly Buildings Conference Centre, entrance opposite Jury’s Inn Hotel.
This photo of Spires Mall and Conference Centre is courtesy of TripAdvisor
The Word became Flesh
Next week we start our Advent series. We will be going slowly through one of the most beautiful and rich passages in the Scriptures – the opening to John’s Gospel. Many of us may well be familiar with this passage from Christmases past. For example: John 1 is the final lesson every year at Carols from Kings.
21 Nov In the beginning John 1:1-5 Sam Bostock
28 Nov The true light John 1:6-14 Frank Sellar
5 Dec The Word became flesh John 1:15-18 Steve Auld
12 Dec God made known John 1:19-20 Steve Auld
Each week will feature a Bible reading and a 20 minute talk over lunch or a hot drink.
Everyone working in the city centre is very welcome to join us on Wednesday lunchtimes from 1:10-1:45pm, in the restaurant of the Clayton Hotel Belfast 22-26 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast, BT2 8HS.
(On entering the building turn left, you’ll find us at the far end of the restaurant.)
Sandwiches and hot drinks are available (suggested donation £3).
Please feel free to share this with anyone you know who may be interested in coming along.
Becoming Like Jesus- Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit
God wants to fill the world with people who look like Jesus, “little Christs” as CS Lewis liked to call them. He does this by giving us his Spirit and helping us to grow the Jesus–like qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self–control. Over the next four Wednesday afternoons, we’re going to be thinking about some of these “fruit of the Spirit” and how cultivating them means we’ll become more like Jesus.
Christoph Ebbinghaus and Stephen Kerr will be sharing with us over the next few weeks as we consider this fruit the Spirit of God wants to grow in our everyday lives.
Weds lunchtime Series Topic/Title Passage
24-Oct Love 1 John 4 7-21
31-Oct Joy 1 Peter 1 3-9
07-Nov Kindness Titus 3 3-8
14-Nov Self control Titus 2 1-8
Everyone who is in the city centre is very welcome to join us on Wednesday lunchtimes from 1:10-1:45pm, in the restaurant of the Clayton Hotel Belfast 22-26 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast, BT2 8HS. (On entering the building turn left, you’ll find us at the far end of the restaurant.) Sandwiches and hot drinks are available (suggested donation £3).
Please feel free to share this with anyone you know who may be interested in coming along.
Good News For The Just About Managing
Andy Hambleton, Christoph Ebbinghaus and Sam Bostock will be joining us over the coming weeks to help us think through the truth and challenge of these Gospel stories for us today.
Weds lunchtime Series Topic/Title Passage
30-May Good News for the Failing Luke 18:9-17
06-June Bad News for Mr Big Luke 18:18-30
13-June Seeing and Believing Luke 18:31-43
20-June A Big Change in a Little Man Luke 19:1-10
27-June Escape to the Country Luke 19:11-27
Everyone who is in the city centre is very welcome to join us on Wednesday lunchtimes from 1:10-1:45pm, in the restaurant of the Clayton Hotel Belfast 22-26 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast, BT2 8HS. (On entering the building turn left, you’ll find us at the far end of the restaurant.) Sandwiches and hot drinks are available (suggested donation £3).
Please feel free to share this with anyone you know who may be interested in coming along.
Gospel in the city…of Ninevah?
As we begin a new season at Gospel in the city we are going to take a look back at the story of Jonah a reluctant Prophet, and the incredible grace God showed to him and to those he sent him to.
Jonah was called to serve God in the city of Nineveh, but he’d have rather gone anywhere else. Steve Ould, pastor of Great Victoria Street Baptist Church, will be joining us to help us consider how Jonah might challenge us to serve God in the city of Belfast.
Weds lunchtime Series Topic/Title Passage
18-April There’s Grace In That Storm Jonah 1
25-April Grace That Goes Deeper Jonah 2
02-May A Great Challenge, A Greater God Jonah 3
09-May Sharing God’s Heart For The City Jonah 4
Everyone who is in the city centre is very welcome to join us on Wednesday lunchtimes from 1:10-1:45pm, in the restaurant of the Clayton Hotel Belfast 22-26 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast, BT2 8HS. (On entering the building turn left, you’ll find us at the far end of the restaurant.) Sandwiches and hot drinks are available (suggested donation £3).
Please feel free to share this with anyone you know who may be interested in coming along.