Christmas Message - John 1:1-18

Please pray for tomorrow,

when Stefano will preach in San Lazzaro Church

a Christmas message on John 1:1-18!

Who is this Child?

What did He do?

 Why He has done it?

Merry Christmas

We wish all of you a true happy Christmas in the Lord,

Stefano & Jennifer

Our latest newsletter

Dear friends, here is our latest newsletter,
(right-click and open it in a new window to read it in a larger format)

Mid-week Bible Study - 2T2

Please pray for tonight when two men from the 2T2 group will preach on James 1 at the mid-week Bible Study

Young Adults - Bible Study

Tomorrow afternoon in our home we'll have the Young Adults Bible study.

 

There will be 8 men and women in their twenties mostly from non-Christian background.

 

We'll study the book of Packer Knowing God Chapter 5 "God Incarnate",

perfect for Christmas!

Literature Stand @ San Lazzaro weekly market

 

Tomorrow we'll be at the weekly maket in San Lazzaro with our Literature Stand.

We'll offer free Bibles in many languages and Christian literature.

Pray that the Lord will bring people interested to know more about Him and His Word!

My Space - Christmas Party

Tomorrow evening we'll have a special Christmas party for the teens and their parents of the My Space Club.

We'll have a special talk on Christmas based on this video:

Home groups - monthly prayer meeting

 

Tomorrow evening we'll our monthly prayer meeting in homes.

This month we'll pray specifically for Pakistan,
the work of Agape Italia (Campus Crusade for Christ) in Bologna University
and for the Christmas party for the teens and their parents of the My Space project

Men's group 2T2

Tomorrow evening we'll have in our home the men's group 2T2

We will have some feedback from the participants to the Acts29 conference and we'll study togheter the Book of Stuart Olyott: "Preaching Pure and Simple".

"...and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." 2 Timothy 2:2 (ESV)

My Space - Bible Study

Tomorrow we will run the My Space programme for teenagers. 

This week we'll have a Bible Study based on 1 Kings 18:15-39: "Marvels on the Mountain"

Our aim si to encourage them to think about 

when and where they most need to stand up for God. 

We want to encourage them to keep trusting God. 

If things are tough at home, 

they need to stay plugged in to God, 

to keep trusting Him, and 

He will show His love and Power in them!

YfC - Schools Work - Tomorrow High School Aldini

Tomorrow from 9 to 11 Stefano will be with Mark Brucato at the Aldini High School.

Aldini is the biggest high school in Bologna with more than 2.000 students.

Please pray that tomorrow we'll be able to share Christ with these two classes.

What discipling is?

At the Acts29 conference we watched this challenging video that makes us thinking about what really discipling and evangelizing is all about!

Italian version

Missionary Prayer Meeting - Agape Italia

Website

Tonight for the monthly church prayer meeting,
we'll have Jesse Marcos from Agape Italia,
the Italian branch of Campus Crusade,
who will present us the work they are doing
in Bologna University.

How to avoid getting 'hit by air' in Italy - from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15987082

How to avoid getting 'hit by air' in Italy

By Dany Mitzman, Bologna, Italy 
(from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15987082)

3 December 2011 Last updated at 12:04 GMT

Keeping the neck warm is an important part of staying well for Italians

Many Italians, it seems, are prone to a particularly wide range of winter illnesses, helped apparently by an in-depth knowledge of human anatomy.

More than a decade living in this country has led me to a shocking conclusion. Being Italian is bad for your health.

As winter draws in, those around me are suffering from a range of distinctly Italian ailments, that make our limited British colds and flus sound as bland as our food. As I cycle around the medieval streets of my adoptive home town of Bologna, I smile to myself, marvelling at the fact that I am still wearing a light-weight jacket at this time of year.

No translation

My Italian counterparts are less fortunate. They have their woolly scarves and quilted coats out and are rubbing their necks, complaining of my favourite mystery Italian malady "la cervicale". "Soffro di cervicale (I suffer from cervicale)," they tell me, making it sound particularly serious. Most people over the age of 30 seem to have the condition, but I am still at a loss as to what exactly it is and how to translate it. I have looked it up in the dictionary and found "cervical" - an adjective referring to the cervical vertebrae, those little bones in the back of your neck - but as an ailment, there is simply no English translation. We do not have it! The British also do not seem to have the sort of exceptional knowledge of their own anatomy which Italians have. 

Benefits of ignorance

Soon after I moved here, I remember a friend telling me he was not feeling very well. "My liver hurts," he said. I have since been assured by doctors that you cannot actually feel your liver, but what really struck me was the fact that he knew where his liver was. Could knowledge of anatomy be bad for your health? We British, in contrast, are a nation staggeringly ignorant of our anatomy. Italians can also tell you if the pain is in their stomach or intestine - and can even specify whether it is colic or colitis - but to us it is all just "tummy ache". Yet although I should feel embarrassed about my inability to point out the exact location of my gall bladder, I am not. Why? Because I think it makes me healthier. After years of first-hand experience of the delicate Italian constitution, I have come up with a theory about why we British are so much sturdier. If you cannot name it, you cannot suffer from it. If you do not know where it is, it cannot hurt you. Among my Italian friends I am considered something of an immuno-superhuman. I can leave the gym sweaty to have my shower at home and not catch a chill en route. I can swim after eating and not get congestion or cramp. I can walk around with wet hair and not get "la cervicale". I even brag about it. At restaurants I will say: "Let me sit in the draught. I'll be fine. I'm English."

'Mustn't grumble'

I ran my theory past a Sicilian psychoanalyst and he said I had a point. For example, the British do not have a term for a "colpo d'aria". It literally translates as a "hit of air" and seems to be incredibly dangerous for Italians. They can get one in their eye, their ear, their head or any part of their abdomen. To avoid getting a colpo d'aria, until at least April, they must never go out without wearing a woollen vest, known as a "maglia della salute" (a shirt of health). British mums hold their kids' jackets so they will not get hot and sweaty while they run around and play. In contrast, the parks here in Italy are filled with pint-sized, quilted Michelin men, zipped up to their noses to stop the air getting in and hitting them.Italians are brought up to be afraid of these health risks, while our ignorance of their very existence makes us strong and fearless. It is a question of etiquette too. We are a nation that "mustn't grumble", trained from an early age that the only answer to "How are you?" is "Fine, thank you." Our vocabulary reflects this. Whether we have had a cold or spent six weeks in intensive care, we will tell you we have been "a bit poorly". 

'Change of season'

But last week I experienced a moment of panic. I woke up feeling weak and nauseous. What if that cultural difference was actually contagious? What if years in the country had changed my constitution and I too was suffering from another common Italian health hazard, "the change of season"? I tried to convince myself that lack of sleep was to blame, but I was not certain. Later that day, I bumped into a neighbour and confessed that I was feeling "a bit poorly". "Ooh," she said, looking concerned. "I went to the doctor yesterday and he told me there's a 48-hour stomach flu going around." Then her face brightened up. "But don't worry, you're English so it'll only last 24 hours for you!" 

www.bbc.co.uk/news

Tonight planning meeting about My Space for 2012

Please pray for tonight when we'll have a planning meeting with all the helpers about My Space for 2012 and how to serve these kids and their families while we present them the love of Christ!

Christianity Explored - 05/12/2011

Please pray for tonight when we'll have a  

Christianity Explored meeting at our home!

Video Interview with Brian Wilson from "The Crowded House" Australia

Video Interview with Brian Wilson from
"The Crowded House" Australia during the first Acts29 Italy conference about church-planting and creating gospel communities shaped by the gospel word!

The gospel word creates the gospel community;
the gospel community displays and declares the gospel word.

Titus 2 Ladies Group - Friday 02/12/2011

Tomorrow night Jenny will lead the Titus 2 Ladies Group where we'll be starting our new season of Bible studies on ladies from the New Testament whose lives were transformed by Jesus. 

This time we'll be looking at Mary Maddelene.

To introduce this new series, we'll watch this video by a well-known Italian singer, 

which speaks about the futility of life for many women.

This is the same song with English subtitles

Acts 29 Italy - Milan Conference 1-2-3/12/2011

Acts 29 Western Europe

Tomorrow Stefano will participate to 

the first 3-days Acts 29 Italian Conference 

in Milan.

He will also bring with him 3 men from San Lazzaro church who will come as a starting point for their training with the Porterbrook course.

About 70 pastors, church planters and students will participate from all of Italy.

Mission and Vision of Acts 29 

The Mission of Acts 29 is to band together Christian, Evangelical, Missional & Reformed churches, who, for the sake of Jesus and the gospel, plant new churches and replant dead and dying churches across the world. This work is done in obedience to the great commission (Matt. 28:18-20), with the goal of seeing millions of lives changed by the power of the gospel.

Acts 29 Network exists to build a unifying and an uncommon alliance of smaller networks to advance the mission of Jesus through church planting churches. We are planting churches that are missionaries in their respective communities sent by Jesus with the gospel (John 20:21). It is our commitment to focus our efforts on planting multiplying churches and training leaders. 

The main speacker will be Brian Wilson from The Crowded House in Tasmania, Australia and we'll have a series of video messages of  Steve Timmis who was unable to come due to health reasons.

The main theme will be Total Church

Steve Timmis is the co-founder of 

The Crowded House, 

an international group of church planting networks, and the co-director of the  

Porterbrook Network, 

an initiative that trains church planters. 

He's also the director of Acts 29 in Western Europe and the co-author of Total Church.

Info about the book

Total Church pleads for two key principles for church and mission. First, the gospel as content: being word-centred (for the gospel is truth) and being mission-centred (for the gospel is truth to be proclaimed). Secondly, the community as context: sharing our lives as Christians and offering a place of belonging to unbelievers.

 

Watch more videos of Steve Timmis on Total Church

Mid-week Bible Study - Who Evangelizes Who?

Please pray for tomorrow as Stefano will lead his series of Mid-week Bible Studies on Ethical Issues. 

We will focus especially on Matthew 10:1-15

We will ask ourselves: Is ethically correct, from a biblical perspective, to involve children from Christian families or contacts who didn't yet made any profession of faith in evangelistic events promoted by the church?

Interdenominational Prayer meeting with Pastors from the Bologna area

Tonight Stefano will participate at 

Bologna Evangelica Prayer Meeting,

an interdenominational prayer meeting for 

church and mission leaders from the Bologna Area

Young Adults - Bible Study

Tomorrow afternoon in our home we'll have the Young Adults Bible study.

We expect about 8 people in their twenties mostly from non-Christian background.

We'll study the book of J. I. Packer Knowing God - Chapter 4 

"The Only True God"!

Sunday 27/11/2011 - Imola

Church Web Link

 
Tomorrow Stefano is invited to preach at the morning service at  

Chiesa Cristiana Evangelica Luce sul Santerno, Imola.

Late Thanksgiving Evangelistic Meal

Please pray for tonight when we'll bring some friends at a Thanksgiving Evangelistic Meal organised by some of our dear american friends in Bologna!

 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, 

and his courts with praise! 

Give thanks to him; bless his name! 

 Psalm 100:4 (ESV)

20/11/2011 Series on the Parables of our Lord – 30 “Do You have a Conflict of Interest?” Luke 14:1, 13-24

Tomorrow Stefano is continuing 
the series on the Parables taught by our Lord,
preaching on Luke 14:1, 13-24 "The Great Supper."

Do you have an 

undivided heart for God 

and for His Mission?

My Space - Saturday Outing

This afternoon we'll have a Saturday Outing with the teenagers of the My Space Club.

We'll go Ice Skating in the PalaGhiaccio (Ice Palace) of Bologna, so please pray for protection and that in having fun together will be able to be a light for this kids that are mostly coming from non-Christian homes.

Later on Stefano will give a talk on Psalm 22!

Literature Stand @ San Lazzaro weekly market

We are just back from the weekly market in San Lazzaro where we had our Literature Stand.

We offered free Bibles in many languages and Christian literature.

Pray for the couple that received an Italian Bible and for the Moroccan man who took a bilingual Gospel in Arabic & French!

YfC Italy November Newsletter

IDOP 2011 report - International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

On Sunday we held in the public library of San Lazzaro IDOP 2011, the 16th edition of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

The townhall of San Lazzaro sponsored the event and we had a talk from Dr. Dassi, the counselor for integration.

Dr. Dassi is originally from Cameroun and he told us that he was born in the local ospital run by evangelicals and he studied at the primary and middle school run by an evangelical mission.

 

The project of the townhall is to make a twinning with  the home town of Dr. Dassi and we could be involved in twinning our church with the local evangelical school.

On the left, Pastor He Xin Yi

 

We invited also Rev. He Xin Yi, pastor of the Evangelical Chinese Church of Bologna who spoke about the growth of the church in China and the challenges that house-churches are still facing. 

He invited us to pray specifically for the young men who are bringing the Gospel to the remote country areas.

We divided into small groups and we prayed specifically for Senegal, where an Italian missionary from Bologna is serving there.

For China, India and Pakistan.

It was encouraging to see people from 8 local churches from different denominations joining together to pray for our persecuted brethren.

Closing prayer with all the pastors and missionaries present at the event.