Tomorrow for the Easter service,
Stefano will continue the series
on the 7 "I am" sayings of Jesus in the
Gospel of John engaging with John 11:25:
"I am the resurrection and the life"
To introduce this sermon we'll interact with the question: "What I'm scared of?"
These will then be the two main points of the sermon:
1. I don't want to die, and you?
2. Do you believe this?
Jesus said: "I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.
Do you believe this?"
This evening we'll continue the Christianity Explored course we are doing with a couple from Sasso Marconi Church.
Tonight we'll deal with Mark 11:1 to 13:37 focusing primarily on Mark 12:1-11: "Jesus' Resurrection"
"And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."
Tomorrow we'll be at the Chiesa Forte Torre.
Forte Torre is a church-plant right at the centre of Bologna serving the community there and aiming to reach out the university students.
Stefano will preach from John 6:25-44.
"Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me shall not hunger,
and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."
Tonight we'll have our monthly
Home-groups Prayer Meeting.
During this meetings we pray for Italy
and our region Emilia-Romagna,
for World Evangelism,
and
for the missionary work in Senegal
in which we are involved.
This month we'll pray specifically for the cooperation on the evangelical churches in our area and for the Gospel partnership with the mission agencies operating in the Bologna area.
"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
Philippians 3:1-6 (ESV)
This month we'll also pray specifically for the Persecuted Church in Sudan.
From Operation World: The persistence of slaveryin
Sudan is a serious issue.Almost all slaves are from the south and the Nuba Mountains.
Northern militias are the main perpetrators, but inter-tribal raiders
and even the SPLA also take captives for enforced labour. Pray
that all such wrongs may end, and pray that world leaders may prevail
upon all involved to end this wickedness. Shari’alaw in the north and the impunity with which northern militias act help perpetuate this barbarism.
Tomorrow evening Stefano will continue the series
of mid-week Bible Studies on Ecclesiastes preaching from Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3.
Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.
Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 (ESV)
To introduce this study we'll interact with the thought that we are too involved in promoting suffering and wickedness instead than justice and righteousness.
For this purpose we'll talk about the BBC Three series:Blood, Sweat and Luxuries where six British consumers swap their lives for the mud
huts and shanty towns of Africa and Asia to work alongside the people
who mine, manufacture, process luxury goods, and Blood, Sweat and Takeaways, where six British food consumers go to live and work alongside the workers in SE Asian food industries.
Today we'll be with Coach Billy Goss
and the team from Arkansas Baptist School
at the Liceo Giordano Bruno, the High-School in Bologna where Jenny teaches English.
Coach Billy will teach Italian kids to play baseball through a clicnic and then they'll play with the American teens.
This is the very first time we're able to do a project in this school, so please do pray that kids and teachers will like the way the American teens will interact with them and sharing the Gospel informally with them!
Tomorrow we'll be with Coach Billy Goss
and the team from Arkansas Baptist School
at the Istituto Aldini-Valeriani, the biggest High-School in Bologna.
Coach Billy will teach Italian kids to play baseball through a clicnic and then they'll play with the American teens.
The team will then do an evangelistic drama for the Italians and they'll have many opportunities to share informally the Gospel wit them.
Tomorrow we'll host in Bologna a team from the US. They are a group of Christian teens and their leaders from Arkansas Baptist School.
One of their leaders, Coach Billy Goss, Athletic Director of the School, spends every year part of his summer helping at the Christian Camp in Florence Campo Sport.
Coach Billy and the team will come on Wednesday and Thursday in two High-Schools, the first in Bologna and the second in Budrio, to do a baseball clinic for Italian teens.
It will be an amazing opportunity for the American teens to share informally their faith in Jesus with Italian kids!
In the morning Giovanni will preach on the meaning of Baptism and in the afternoon he'll give a talk on the significance of Baptism.
Giovanni and his wife Fiorella are associated with Italian Ministries and are both actively involved in reaching out the area surrounding Vasto. Out of Giovanni's ministry, five gospel communities are lead by men from his church.
The meeting will be held in Forte Torre Church and we expect
about 25 students
from 5 different churches in Bologna.
We'll continue the first and fourth modules of the 3rd volume foundation course.
The first module is Gospel Change, taught by Mark Brucato,
co-pastor of Nuova Vita Church.
In this session, students will interact with these units:
7. Holiness: relationships 8. Holiness: conversations 9. Holiness: thankfulness
"Bridging the gap between what we are and what we ought to be is one
of God‘s great interests, and it ought to be ours as well. We need to
change. Therefore it is
critical that we understand how change takes place in our own lives and
in the lives of those around us. This module looks at how the Gospel helps us to change. You will look
at issues around repentance, faith, the head and heart and how the
Bible, prayer and community relate to Gospel change. You will also take
an indepth look at the issue of holiness – what it is and how it
expresses itself in relationships, conversation and thankfulness."
The fourth module is Culture, taught by Stefano.
In this session, students will interact with these units:
4. Life Styles
5. Defining products
6. Film: Juno
"The goal of this module is to help students to 'engage with culture' in:
1. Understanding what culture is;
2. Looking at the typical Christian approaches to culture;
3. Exploring how the Gospel interact with culture.
The intention of this module is to help students to analyse their
culture in the light of the Gospel. Particular attention will be given
to analyse more 'products' (films, novels, etc.) than 'structures'
(business, politics, etc.). We want to learn at how to share the Gospel
in a more meaningful way
to our own culture. So we'll look at tools that will help us to relate
the Gospel in normal conversations at pubs, children's clubs, offices,
etc.!
For the final unit we'll interact with clips from the 2007 film Juno:
Tomorrow evening Jenny & Tina will lead the Titus 2 Ladies Group of our church, continuing the Bible studies series on women from the New
Testament whose lives were transformed by Jesus.
The goal of this group is to challenge women from our church to
encourage one another in the fear of the Lord and to learn to be
missional in their workplaces, homes and families!
This time they'll be looking at the Canaanite woman meeting Jesus in Matthew 15:21-28.
In this interactive Bible Study women will be challenged to understand the Canaanite woman's faith in who Jesus was and how this motivated her prayer for the healing of her daughter.
How do we react when it seems that God doesn't answer our prayers immediately?
In which ways does the example of this woman encourages us to persevere in trusting the Jesus that has mercy on us interdependently from whom we are?
"And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon"."
"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
Tomorrow afternoon we'll be with our friends from our village at the Sunday afternoon meeting & Bible Study in Budrio.
This meeting is held in cooperation with a local group of Christians
from Nuova Vita Church in Bologna who are all living in or near Budrio. We expect to be about 20 adults plus kids!!! In this group we'll interact with the "Gospel Living" module of Porterbrook, and tomorrow we'll interact with 3 units: Looking back: to the cross; Looking around: at the Christian community; Looking forward: to eternity
"Starting from the position that all life is for the Glory of God, this
module looks at what it means to live a life for that glory. It will
mean loving God and loving others, shaped by the cross and looking to
the future glory that we will share with Jesus. Having laid this
foundation the module then examines how this impacts daily issues such
as decisions, friendship and possessions."
Stefano will preach in the morning on Hebrews 11:7
"Christ in the faith of Noah".
"By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."
Tonight we'll participate at a Book panel discussion in the local library of our village.
The Book: "Fuoco&Neve, Fire&Snow" is set in the area where we live between the two World Wars and deals with matters of life & death, youth & old age.
This book has also been turned into a play by a famous Italian actor.
At this meeting the Major of Budrio will be present and we'll have chance to interact and befriend with many locals from Budrio and the surrounding villages.
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