Lent Groups this year are following a booklet entitled "I have called you friends"
Sermons on the following Sunday will follow the theme of the previous weeks Lent Group subject throughout Lent
Please see Arthur if you wish to join a group - either just for Lent or on a permanent basis. You do not need to be very knowledgeable or have been a Christian all your life. The Groups are friendly, fun and are aimed at all-comers.

Part of growing in Christian life and growing a church is involvement in House Groups or other kind of non-service meeting. If you want to know what a group is like, please talk to Mary Herbert or Sheelagh Kavanagh
 

I have called you friends.

Friends learn to know each other, enjoy each other's company and are prepared to put up with the pain and problems as well as the joys that can go along with the friendship.

It was the same for those friends of Jesus who wandered around the hills and villages of Israel with him. When they were sent off to tell others, including their families, about everything they were learning, and although we don't know how they initially felt about this, they came back quite excited about the effect they had! (Luke 10v17) These same men and women later on had the courage to do the so even when their own lives were at risk. They were convicted by Jesus as their saviour but also their friend.

Friends are not hidden away, not kept a secret or 'just for us'. Most of us talk about things we have done with friends; good times we have had.

Jesus calls us his friends and therefore we can share with others a new way of seeing life and relationships that we learn from him. We are still who we are, we can be ourselves, but aware that what he teaches us is really important in life.

Sometimes we need to be able to talk about our friendship with Jesus and how it affects what we do and believe to help others have the chance to get to know him. But we are not always sure what to say or how. But. ..

Matt 10v 19 tells us 'But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say ... '

Each of us is unique and so is each person we meet or talk to; we are all on a journey of faith and discovery. Over the next few weeks will look at ways of thinking and talking about the things of God in relation to the world and the things of the world in relation God by looking at various aspects of what being a friend of Jesus means to us or meant to those in the past. How do we put our faith into words?

There are no right or wrong answers!

Week 1: Friendship

Week 2: Knowing Jesus

Week 3: Living with Jesus