Sunday Service: Reformation Sunday - Joshua 4 – "Stones with a Story"

Tomorrow we'll have our morning service to worship God together and to proclaim His Word at the social center Magnolia, a well known cultural meeting point right at the centre of Budrio.

At 10.15 we'll start our service celebrating Reformation Sunday, with a time of prayer dedicated to global evangelisation on the 60th anniversary of the 1966 Berlin Congress on World Evangelism.

 

We will then continue our series on the Book of Joshua, exploring Joshua 4 – "Stones with a Story". We will also have our Children's Club, where children will engage with a talk on the same biblical text, followed by a programme for the different age groups.

"«For every New Testament doctrine, there is an Old Testament picture.» The doctrinal teaching of inheritance gazed upon in the New Testament letters of Ephesians and Hebrews is glimpsed in the Old Testament book of Joshua. Jesus is the hero of both the Old Testament and the New Testament... The Bible is a HIMBOOK and must be seen and understood through the lens of Christ. It was Christ who, «beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, … interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures» (Luke 24:27; see also v. 44). During Jesus’s conversation with his two disciples on the Emmaus road, after a bit, he exposited the Hebrew Bible to them. He revealed how the volume bears witness to his essence and his eventual bodily presence on earth in the incarnation. Never does the Bible foreshadow Jesus more than in the book of Joshua." Robert Smith Jr., Exalting Jesus in Joshua, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Brentwood, TN: Holman Reference, 2023), pp.3–4.

Sunday Service: Joshua 3 - "Going across the Flow!"

Tomorrow we'll have our morning service to worship God together and to proclaim His Word at the social center Magnolia, a well known cultural meeting point right at the centre of Budrio.

At 10.15 we will continue our series on the Book of Joshua, exploring Joshua 3 - "Going across the Flow!"

We will also have our Children's Club, where children will engage with a talk on the same biblical text, followed by a programme for the different age groups.

"«For every New Testament doctrine, there is an Old Testament picture.» The doctrinal teaching of inheritance gazed upon in the New Testament letters of Ephesians and Hebrews is glimpsed in the Old Testament book of Joshua. Jesus is the hero of both the Old Testament and the New Testament... The Bible is a HIMBOOK and must be seen and understood through the lens of Christ. It was Christ who, «beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, … interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures» (Luke 24:27; see also v. 44). During Jesus’s conversation with his two disciples on the Emmaus road, after a bit, he exposited the Hebrew Bible to them. He revealed how the volume bears witness to his essence and his eventual bodily presence on earth in the incarnation. Never does the Bible foreshadow Jesus more than in the book of Joshua." Robert Smith Jr., Exalting Jesus in Joshua, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Brentwood, TN: Holman Reference, 2023), pp.3–4.

House Concert with David L. Ward

 

Tomorrow evening, in partnership with The Masterpiece Project we'll organize an evening of live music and stories of life and faith.

David L. Ward is a musician and singer-songwriter from Nashville, USA, a city where music and the art of storytelling hold a special place.

It promises to be a memorable evening in which, through his music and the stories behind it, David will lead us to reflect on the questions we all share and on a hope that can truly surprise us.

Sunday Service: Joshua 2 - "God’s Promise for the nations: Rahab!"

Tomorrow we'll have our morning service to worship God together and to proclaim His Word at the social center Magnolia, a well known cultural meeting point right at the centre of Budrio.

At 10.15 we will continue our series on the Book of Joshua, exploring Joshua 2 - "God’s Promise for the nations: Rahab!"

We will also have our Children's Club, where children will engage with a talk on the same biblical text, followed by a programme for the different age groups.

"«For every New Testament doctrine, there is an Old Testament picture.» The doctrinal teaching of inheritance gazed upon in the New Testament letters of Ephesians and Hebrews is glimpsed in the Old Testament book of Joshua. Jesus is the hero of both the Old Testament and the New Testament... The Bible is a HIMBOOK and must be seen and understood through the lens of Christ. It was Christ who, «beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, … interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures» (Luke 24:27; see also v. 44). During Jesus’s conversation with his two disciples on the Emmaus road, after a bit, he exposited the Hebrew Bible to them. He revealed how the volume bears witness to his essence and his eventual bodily presence on earth in the incarnation. Never does the Bible foreshadow Jesus more than in the book of Joshua." Robert Smith Jr., Exalting Jesus in Joshua, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Brentwood, TN: Holman Reference, 2023), pp.3–4.

Theology for Breakfast

Tomorrow we'll continue our series of meetings of Theology for Breakfast!
Following Luther's Table Talks example, we'll meet from 9am to 11am at Central Café in Mezzolara where, while enjoying a breakfast with capuccino & croissants, we'll engage with God's Word discovering the beauty of theology in our everyday life!
Together we'll interact with the module: Union with Christ, starting Unit 9: Press on with the mission
 

Union with Christ is the centre of the gospel. It’s been called the central doctrine of salvation. This course will teach you how the profound truth of a Christian's union and identity with Christ drives us to mission and joy in him. All that Christ has achieved for his people is ours through our union with him. Heart change and mission flow out of who Jesus is, and how we are bound to him by faith. This course will teach you to understand and enjoy your relationship with Jesus in everyday life on mission.

Sunday Service: Visiting Preacher - Stefano Squitieri

 

Tomorrow we'll have our morning service to worship God together and to proclaim His Word at the social center Magnolia, a well known cultural meeting point right at the centre of Budrio.

At 10.15 we'll start our service and our visiting preacher, Stefano Squitieri, will be preaching on: “The Good Fight of Faith!”

We'll have our Children's Club, where children will engage with a talk on the same biblical text, followed by a programme for the different age groups..

During the service, we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper, proclaiming the death and resurrection of the Lord until His return!

After the service we'll enjoy a bring and share fellowship lunch to celebrate the Lord's goodness and generosity!

AppJoshua - Mid-Week Bible Study

Tomorrow evening we'll have our AppJoshua (Applying the Book of Joshua), our series of Mid-Week Bible Studies in which we'll keep interacting with what we're learning through the preaching in our Sunday services.  
We'll meet at Caffé Filopanti, in Budrio, where we'll engage with Joshua Chapter 1.

Preaching at Evangelical Church in Reggio Emilia

Tomorrow Stefano will be with our friends from the Evangelical Church in Reggio Emilia for their Sunday service and will preach from Psalm 41 - The Lord who raises up the oppressed! 

The reformer John Calvin, in the preface to his commentary on the Psalms, wrote: "I have been accustomed to call this book, I think not inappropriately, “An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul;” for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror." 
Indeed the Psalms speak of hope and fear, of love and hate, of discouragement and thanksgiving, but above all, the Psalms speak to us of Christ (Luke 24:44) and lead us to Christ: the Servant-King, the Messiah-Redeemer! The Psalms are not poems to thrill us in private, but are the powerful praise that the united people of the church, with missional passion sing to their Lord. Each Psalm therefore asks us for an answer: will you remain in the audience of the fools who say that 'there is no God', or will you join the chorus of those justified by Jesus? 

Sunday Service: Joshua 1:10-18 - "Strong and Courageous in God’s Promise!"

Tomorrow we'll have our morning service to worship God together and to proclaim His Word at the social center Magnolia, a well known cultural meeting point right at the centre of Budrio.

At 10.15 we will continue our series on the Book of Joshua, exploring Joshua 1:10-18 - "Strong and Courageous in God’s Promise!"

We will also have our Children's Club, where children will engage with a talk on the same biblical text, followed by a programme for the different age groups.

"«For every New Testament doctrine, there is an Old Testament picture.» The doctrinal teaching of inheritance gazed upon in the New Testament letters of Ephesians and Hebrews is glimpsed in the Old Testament book of Joshua. Jesus is the hero of both the Old Testament and the New Testament... The Bible is a HIMBOOK and must be seen and understood through the lens of Christ. It was Christ who, «beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, … interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures» (Luke 24:27; see also v. 44). During Jesus’s conversation with his two disciples on the Emmaus road, after a bit, he exposited the Hebrew Bible to them. He revealed how the volume bears witness to his essence and his eventual bodily presence on earth in the incarnation. Never does the Bible foreshadow Jesus more than in the book of Joshua." Robert Smith Jr., Exalting Jesus in Joshua, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Brentwood, TN: Holman Reference, 2023), pp.3–4.

Acts29 Italy churches online prayer meeting

 

Tomorrow evening, we’ll be meeting on Zoom from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm for the online prayer meeting Impatto Prega, together with our family of Acts29 churches in Italy.

Sunday Service: Joshua 1:1-9 - "A New Beginnig!"

Tomorrow we'll have our morning service to worship God together and to proclaim His Word at the social center Magnolia, a well known cultural meeting point right at the centre of Budrio.

At 10.15 we will begin our new series on the Book of Joshua, exploring Joshua 1:1–9, “A New Beginning!”

We will also have our Children's Club, where children will engage with a talk on the same biblical text, followed by a programme for the different age groups.

"«For every New Testament doctrine, there is an Old Testament picture.» The doctrinal teaching of inheritance gazed upon in the New Testament letters of Ephesians and Hebrews is glimpsed in the Old Testament book of Joshua. Jesus is the hero of both the Old Testament and the New Testament... The Bible is a HIMBOOK and must be seen and understood through the lens of Christ. It was Christ who, «beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, … interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures» (Luke 24:27; see also v. 44). During Jesus’s conversation with his two disciples on the Emmaus road, after a bit, he exposited the Hebrew Bible to them. He revealed how the volume bears witness to his essence and his eventual bodily presence on earth in the incarnation. Never does the Bible foreshadow Jesus more than in the book of Joshua." Robert Smith Jr., Exalting Jesus in Joshua, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Brentwood, TN: Holman Reference, 2023), pp.3–4.

Serving & Celebrating with our community at the Onion Fair

The last two weekends of September we'll be at the Mezzolara di Budrio Onion Fair.

Italian history is full of harvest festivals, which have become the typical fairs of today' rural Italy, and which still provide a moment of community for families and friends at the end of summer. It is therefore common to see families with young kids enjoying good food and good music together, as well as parents and teenage children cooking and serving together at tables.

This reminds us of God's missional generosity, in the sowing and harvesting of both the produce of the earth and the Gospel of grace: "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11 

As a church family, we will be taking part in the Onion Fair in various ways: some serving at the tables, others enjoying dinner with family and friends at the food stall.

This is one of the many ways we want to serve and celebrate with our local community, make new friends and strengthen existing ones, live out and share the joy of the Gospel!

Joint Service for the Beginning of the School and Church Year

Tomorrow we'll have a Joint Sunday Service in Bologna, with these churches New Life, New Life Down Town, Strong Tower, and Anchor of Hope from Bologna; Alive in Him from San Lazzaro di Savena; The Market Square from Budrio; and New Hope from Casalecchio di Reno.

To mark the start of the new academic year, we will hear from Youth for Christ Italy, who work with teenagers, as well as IFES Italy and Campus Crusade Italy, who work with university students. This will be followed by a time of prayer dedicated to our young people.

Stefano will be preaching from Philippians 1:1–11, 27–30, exploring how, united in our missional identity as servants and saints in Christ Jesus, He sends us out as citizens of his Kingdom into schools and universities, working together across local churches as a single team for the defence and advancement of the Gospel in our region!

School Stationery Collection

Tomorrow we'll be present alongside other volunteers for the annual "School Stationery Collection": a solidarity collection initiative for school supplies organised by the Municipality of Budrio and the Subsidiarity Board, of which we are a member as church charity.

As a church family, we have been involved right from the very first edition of these wonderful community initiatives. The collected items will be distributed by the local council to support associations tackling school drop-outs and providing aid to families in need with school-aged children.

Sunday Service: Not why Jesus came! (John 3:1-21)

Tomorrow we'll have our morning service to worship God together and to proclaim His Word in Budrio.

 

As a church family, we will have three special Vision and Mission Sundays where we'll interact with the book: "Mission: Your place in God's plan for the nations" by Alan Purser, published by The Good Book Company.

Tomorrow we'll engage with Not why Jesus came! (John 3:1-21)

Why study mission? Mission is the heartbeat of the Bible. From the time of Adam and Eve’s rebellion until the promised new heaven and new earth, God is on a mission: to call rebellious people into a reconciled relationship with him. God’s plan to bring salvation to the ends of the earth was spelled out by his prophets in the Old Testament and proclaimed by his apostles in the New Testament. At the centre of this mission plan is God’s anointed Saviour King, the Lord Jesus Christ: it is Jesus who makes atonement for sin and who brings in the kingdom of God.
Our desire is that as church family we’ll be spurred on to engage in mission in our comunity; and we’ll be better equipped to support and pray for the work of mission in other cities and countries, as well as get a fresh grasp of God’s mission, and a renewed engagement in his plan for the nations.

Sunday Service: It's God's mission! (Isaiah 66:18-24)

Tomorrow we'll have our morning service to worship God together and to proclaim His Word in Budrio.

 

As a church family, we will have three special Vision and Mission Sundays where we'll interact with the book: "Mission: Your place in God's plan for the nations" by Alan Purser, published by The Good Book Company.

Tomorrow we'll engage with It's God's mission! (Isaiah 66:18-24)

Why study mission? Mission is the heartbeat of the Bible. From the time of Adam and Eve’s rebellion until the promised new heaven and new earth, God is on a mission: to call rebellious people into a reconciled relationship with him. God’s plan to bring salvation to the ends of the earth was spelled out by his prophets in the Old Testament and proclaimed by his apostles in the New Testament. At the centre of this mission plan is God’s anointed Saviour King, the Lord Jesus Christ: it is Jesus who makes atonement for sin and who brings in the kingdom of God.
Our desire is that as church family we’ll be spurred on to engage in mission in our comunity; and we’ll be better equipped to support and pray for the work of mission in other cities and countries, as well as get a fresh grasp of God’s mission, and a renewed engagement in his plan for the nations.

Home Family Groups

Tomorrow evening we'll have only one joint Home Group in Budrio.

We'll have a family time where, while enjoying a good ice cream, we'll read God's Word, we'll pray for one another, and we'll listen at how Jesus works in our lives, following the steps of Psalm 145:4!

"I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. " Psalm 145:1-5

Sunday Service: Ruth: The Lord Provides!

Tomorrow we'll have our morning service to worship God together and to proclaim His Word in Budrio.

 

 

 

Every Sunday in July and August, we interacted with the Good Book Company book Ruth: The Lord Provides, by Tony Merida.

Tomorrow we'll be concluding this series with a special service. Several of our church family will be sharing some of the lessons they've learned this summer from the Book of Ruth.

 

Ruth is one of the best short stories ever written. We are drawn to the characters: grieving Naomi, loyal Ruth, and compassionate Boaz. The setting is also intriguing, as it takes place during the time of the judges. The plot is a story of redemption which is part of the grand story of redemption. And at the heart of the resolution is Boaz, a figure who points to David’s greatest son, Jesus.

Sunday Service: The Promised Son! (Ruth 4:13-22)

Tomorrow we'll have our morning service to worship God together and to proclaim His Word in Budrio.

 

 

 

Every Sunday in July and August, we'll interact with the Good Book Company book Ruth: The Lord Provides, by Tony Merida.

Tomorrow we'll engage with "The Promised Son! (Ruth 4:13-22)".

Ruth is one of the best short stories ever written. We are drawn to the characters: grieving Naomi, loyal Ruth, and compassionate Boaz. The setting is also intriguing, as it takes place during the time of the judges. The plot is a story of redemption which is part of the grand story of redemption. And at the heart of the resolution is Boaz, a figure who points to David’s greatest son, Jesus.

Gospel Living - Summer in Budrio

As a church family, we want to be "in the middle of the square", at the centre of our community life, to serve and welcome, to celebrate and love, to live and share the Gospel (Acts 17:17), the good news of salvation by grace in Jesus Christ, with everyone!

So tomorrow evening we'll join our community for "Biking Under the Stars", the traditional cycle ride to gaze at the stars, followed by a watermelon feast in the park in Mezzolara.

 

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." Psalm 19:1