As promised, here's the answer to Stu's question:

If man is made in God’s image and man is imperfect, is God imperfect?

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created man
in his own image,
in the image of God
he created him;
male and female
he created them.”
[Genesis 1.26-27]

So, man was created in God’s likeness and image, these two words have similar meanings, but image includes characteristics like holiness and righteousness. It isn’t so much that we look like God, physically, more that we are similar to Him in our ability to think, learn, understand, develop – things that we can do far better than apes, insects, birds and so on.

Imagine a world where nothing causes embarrassment, where you can say anything, do anything and be anyone you want without having to worry about other people’s criticism. Well, that’s what life was like in the Garden of Eden: Adam and Eve could strut around in the nude without any shame or self-consciousness. Why? Because they were innocent, righteous and in the image of God.

Then the serpent comes along, the sneaky, crafty Devil in snake’s clothing. He twists the truth, blatantly denies God’s instructions (not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil), and tricks Adam and Eve into taking a bite from the fruit.

This is the point in the Bible where things go horribly wrong: if Adam had said to Eve “no thanks love, I don’t want any fruit right now,” we might never have introduced sin into our world and we would all be enjoying life in Eden. Eden, where there was no need to work hard to grow food, where no-one would have to suffer in childbirth, and where we could be whoever we wanted without feeling ashamed.

But they did eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and suddenly they knew what shame and fear and suffering were, they knew that being naked could be embarrassing, and so they hid from God (after a quick bit of sewing to make fig leaf undies!). They were no longer protected from the terrors of the world, and the rest of the Bible story charts man’s attempts (and failures) to get back to that state of innocence.

So what we’re really saying is, man and woman were created in the likeness of God, but that by their own actions – by not following God’s simple instructions – they made themselves less like God. We all start out perfect – I know this every time I look at Faith Emma Jane – but eventually we begin making our own choices, and these take us further and further away from God.

The next question to be answered is a doozie:

How do you get people to like you?

Might take a while to answer that one...

All comments welcome.

Evening folks,

It's about an hour since our meeting and this is a little report of what we did -- I hope to do the same thing after each session, so that those who were paying attention can refresh their memories, and those who weren't can pretend they're still in church and try again lol.

So, tonight we started with a game -- football without feet -- which helped us think what it might be like to be physically disadvantaged, and ruined Lucy's white jeans (oh crumbs!).

Then we talked about the blog, and looked at designs for a logo -- more on that next time.

We ended the night with a song: Come, now is the time to worship, and agreed that we would practice it in future weeks -- so bring your musical talent and instruments next time (Sunday, 3rd Feb)

In the meantime, here's the lyrics to think about:

Come, now is the time to worship.
Come, now is the time to give your heart.
Come, just as you are to worship.
Come, just as you are before your God.
Come.

One day every tongue will confess You are God.
One day every knee will bow.
Still, the greatest treasure remains for those
Who gladly choose You now.

Toodles

Easter Sleepover 2007

Remember this?

Doesn't seem five minutes ago, but this photo was taken at Easter last year.








It was all smiles here (at 10pm), but it was a totally different story at 5am as we got ready to walk up Shore Hill...

Of course some of us felt great, cos we had a good four hours' sleep.

Ah, great times... No really

Welcome to the blog, guys.

This space is for you, with a few guidelines for use...

If you want to post a comment, let me know and I'll invite you to join; you can put what you like on here -- so long as its not rude(!); and if you want to link to your own sites feel free.

You might remember (but probably not 'cos it was last year) that you came up with some questions about Christianity, and we promised to answer the best ones. Well, we're going to start answering them on here, so if you think of anything else you want to ask, just post it here.

Btw, we also said that we would get some t-shirts made up, but we need a logo. So get drawing, best design goes on all our stuff (Note I said our stuff, it's not to be graffittied all over the place, we don't want to get a reputation).

TTFN

ἰδοὺ ἡ κληρονομία κυρίου υἱοί, ὁ μισθὸς τοῦ καρποῦ τῆς γαστρός.

ὡσεὶ βέλη ἐν χειρὶ δυνατοῦ, οὕτως οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἐκτετιναγμένων.

μακάριος ἄνθρωπος, ὃς πληρώσει τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν αὐτοῦ ἐξ αὐτῶν,

οὐ καταισχυνθήσονται, ὅταν λαλῶσι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς αὐτῶν ἐν πύλῃ.

Greetings, Felicitations, Hiya

Hello to everyone.

Not a bad party last night.

Sam Mc, James and Danielle proved to be the three wise men (and women), and won the star prizes. Jacko never turned up (either 'cos he forgot or 'cos he didn't think the prizes would be any good). Stuart got disqualified for cheating - twice.

So a typical night all round really.

Remember guys, we're back on 20th Jan @ 7.00pm

Welcome to the weblog of St. Mary's One-Twenty Seven Church.

Feel free to browse around, perhaps you'll learn something about us, and what we do. You might even want to visit sometime. Everyone's welcome.