Revive 2012

‘One more sleep’! And it wasn’t just Digby who was excited.

Revive has come around again. It’s Co-Mission Festival time. It’s fun. It’s relaxing. It’s encouraging. And it’s one of the highlights in the year for me and my family. The kids love it. I love it. And Rosslyn loves it. By the end of the weekend as we drive home together towards the big smoke, we’re absolutely shattered but deeply satisfied. In trying to articulate the reasons why it’s such a good time for us, I’ll not be able to do it justice. But let me have a stab at it. I love Revive for these three reasons. And they’re all to do with time.

1. Revive is time together

The weekend offers us time to be together with others in our own congregation and with others from Co-Mission, our network of churches. We’re often not able to spend as much time as we’d like to with other people. Life is hectic. There are lots of urgent things that we feel that we have to do. And we probably do have to do. But there are so many more important things that we’d like to do that we simply don’t get round to. And chatting to others at church and others in other churches seems so less pressing a need than whatever else we end up doing instead. Having Revive is like an annual insurance policy to remind us on a yearly basis just how kind God has been in giving us others with whom to live the Christian life. And so, at Revive we can chat with the person sat next to us in the main meeting, whichever congregation they come from. And as long as we’re not meant to be collecting small children from kids’ club we can allow that conversation to extend and deepen over coffee. We can share meals together with others in our flat as we move the tables and chairs outside to watch the sun set and talk late into the night about whatever is occupying our minds at the moment. Or we can walk round the grounds with a pushchair as we talk with another Dad about the joys and challenges of fatherhood as our weary one year old decides it’s time for a kip. It’s this sort of quality time together that’s so valuable.

2. Revive is time away

This weekend offers us the opportunity to enjoy time away from the busyness of London life. Our time is pressured in London. Lots of things and people and activities have claims on it. At Revive we can be insulated from those demands (as long as we didn’t bring our work with us). Revive can force us to slow down and relax. Apparently even David Cameron feels the need to ‘chillax’. And who can blame him; it must be taxing telling the newspapers that Jimmy Carr that he’s immoral. At Revive we can sit and listen to gifted musicians as they entertain us. This year we might even be entertained by the comedy that’s being provided by Jam Cary. Yes people, ‘The Canterbury Tales’ is back in a new and much improved format. Rosie has procured a man with fireworks fro Saturday night so that we can ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ as we used to in Portsmouth (where we were when we were smaller). Saturday afternoon offers a gamut of sporting activities ranging from hockey to soccer, from ‘ultimate’ (frisbee) to cricket, from cycling to running. And you can even choose to be involved in a game of touch rugby with overly competitive South Africans. Or just join me on the grass and simply watch the kids play cricket with a cool drink in one hand! Revive offers us time away from the normal hectic schedule of an exciting but demanding life in this great city of London.

3. Revive is time out

This weekend offers us the opportunity to benefit from time out to consider the state of our Christian life. We’re often not able to give the attention we’d like to our spiritual health. Our Christian life can often feel that it’s been patched together with duck tape. We survive on a diet of sermons and the occasional home group we can get to. If we’re honest, we don’t pray as much as we’d like;  with our spouse (if we have one), with our triplet (even though we mean to meet up fortnightly), with the kids (if we’re back in time) and on our own. Time. We just don’t seem to have it. And our Bible reading is little more than trying to look at the new Good Book Company App on our iPhone on the commute up the northern line. It’s hardly conducive to becoming the mature Christian disciple we’d love to be. But at Revive we get time out. There are clear times when we have no other need than to listen to some great talks. This year they’re coming from Sydney’s David Cook and Chelsea’s Andy Mason. We can attend some extraordinarily varied seminars. And by that I mean varied in their subject matter, not in their quality! We can be encouraged by substantial conversations with others and make resolutions, plans and strategies for this year to be different. And find time for a walk and a pray with the Lord around the vast campus at the University of Kent. We all need this sort of time out to make sure that we don’t neglect our spiritual health. And we get it at Revive.

My prayer is that we’ll benefit enormously from time together, time away and time out. I think we will.

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Small Things – Christianity Explored

In a previous post I wrote,

Every now and again, no more frequently than that, God makes little things happen that make ministry sustainable. He sends encouragements that take me out of my despondency and stop me from wallowing in self pity! I thought it’d be a good thing to mention them when they happen. And so I’m hoping that this becomes a regular feature.

Passing over the fact that I’ve started quoting myself in blog posts and instead continuing the theme of small things that God sends my way with unerring regularity, I thought I’d tell you about Christianity Explored. We’re only two weeks in and so we’re only just getting going. But there’s already a relaxed vibe, genuine engagement with the issues and a developing relational warmth. Is it any surprise that Tuesday nights are fast becoming my favourite night of the week! It’s not a large course (though it’s the largest we’ve had for a while). We were eleven last time, which is a good number for us. And we’re holding it for the first time in our new church centre, which is exciting. We feel almost professional with our own round tables, flat screen TV, kitchen area and contemporary conference room feel!

Having it at Falcon Mews means that I haven’t had to host it whilst trying to get the kids to bed, waiting for Rosslyn to get back from work. And I don’t have to ‘impose’ on anyone else who can host it instead of us. We start with a delicious meal cooked by someone in the congregation. After about 40 minutes we’ll deal with any questions arising from the previous week’s ‘homework’. Last time someone wanted help understanding Jesus’ response to the question about fasting in chapter two. We then looked at the designated Bible passage, which was Mark’s account of Jesus calming of the storm (though not the disciples’ anxiety) in Mark 4:35-41. We answered the set questions but also had a good discussion concerning the contemporary application to us. It felt inadequate to suggest that this passage was simply teaching that Jesus is powerful enough to rule over creation. There’s so much more to it than that. We had to think about what that actually means if we follow him. And so we talked about Jesus’ view that if we have him in our lives (like the disciples had him in the boat) then no matter what creation throws at us (as it threw the fearsome storm at them) we can face reality without fear when we put our faith in Christ. You can’t pass over that (even if the course book doesn’t mention it). We watched the DVD of Rico’s talk (the recently re-packaged one with him in a flattering dark suit!). This works well for us because it allows people to interact with whatever Rico has said without risk of feeling that they might offend him. It’s also less work for me! The discussion rarely stays on the suggested topics and, within reason, we don’t mind that. As usual I say far too much in response to any question, which is why I’ve put two less talkative people in charge of the table groups. But I get up at the end and respond to anything the groups feel has been inadequately dealt with. We wash up and people linger, chatting before heading home to allow their thoughts to drift to what they’ve learnt as they close their eyes in sleep.

It’s an extra evening in the already busy schedule but I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s just so encouraging to see people who wouldn’t describe themselves as Christians willing to engage with the gospel. They’re willing to listen because they have open minds. And they want to close them on something substantial. And Christianity Explored provides them with something of substance to chew on; namely the great news concerning Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1).

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