New Year's Eve Family Time & Celebration with Budrio Community

Tomorrow we'll have a special New Year's Eve Family Time hosted by a family from the church for a traditional New Year bring & share dinner.

We'll have a time of prayer and Stefano will give a talk from Psalm 98 focusing for this end of 2018 and beginning of 2019 on verses 1-2:
"Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations!"

At 11.30pm we'll join Budrio community
for the traditional bonfire by the Christmas tree in the main square.

At midnight we'll celebrate the arrival of 2019 with panettone and spumante & mulled wine.

This is a great opportunity to celebrate with our community and to strengthen many relationships and friendships!

Sunday Service: Exodus 5:1-21 - Who is your God?

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






We are glad for the Lord's provision of the main room in
Le Torri dell'Acqua, the theatre&modern art-gallery right at the centre of Budrio, well known as a cultural meeting point.

At 10.00 we'll start our service with our series on The Book of Exodus.
With Giovanni we'll engage with 
Exodus 5:1-21 - Who is your God?
Together we'll see the beauty of Christ,
who sends us as his ambassadors into
His world to proclaim His message of reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:20
 


Jenny & Raffaela will lead our children's programme
based on The Gospel Project for kids,
in which week by week kids engage with the same
Bible passage and families will have activities
to keep interacting with God's Word during the week.

Boxing Day - A box to give Thanks

This morning we had our Boxing Day Project as a church.
We went to the fire station,
the two local police stations, the army barracks, the on-call pharmacy, the hospital A&E department and the ambulance service. In each place we presented a box of chocolates with a card explaining the meaning of Boxing Day
with a comment from Philippians 2:3-9 about Jesus' sacrificial love on
the Cross and expressing our appreciation for those who sacrificially work to serve our community during the
Christmas season.

Everywhere we went we were very warmly received and everyone was very surprised to be thanked for their work. We are very thankful for this opportunity to live and share the Gospel in a simple way in our community, getting to know different contexts in our town.

Boxing Day Project

Tomorrow we'll have a special Boxing Day 
Project in our community!
A few years ago we've read this good article from answersingenesis.org explaining the history
and meaning of Boxing Day!

History of Boxing Day
The origins of Boxing Day are somewhat debated. The most likely story dates back hundreds of years to Britain. When on December 26 wealthy families would give their servants and tradespeople a gratuity of either money or a “Christmas box” full of food and gifts to thank them for their service and for working all day Christmas Day. 
Historically, Boxing Day was about recognizing those who serve and thanking them for their service. Holidays, such as Boxing Day, can be used for the glory of God. Even if Boxing Day isn’t a traditional holiday where you come from, perhaps consider incorporating the idea of thanking those who serve into your Christmastime celebrations. In doing so you will show others the love of Christ and open up doors to share with them the real meaning of the season—Jesus Christ, the greatest gift ever given to this world.

As church in Budrio, we really liked this idea,
so tomorrow we'll spend the morning giving a simple box of chocolates to those who serve in our community and work during these days.

We'll visit the traffic wardens office,
the firemen station, the army barracks,
the emergency room of the hospital and
the police station of Budrio, handing them this card with the explanation of Boxing Day and a comment from Philippians 2:3-9
to share our appreciation for their work in our town and how this is a picture of Jesus' sacrificial love on the Cross!

This is the real meaning of Christmas
we want to live and share in our community!

Buon Natale - Merry Christmas

Christmas Family Service

Tomorrow we'll have a special  
Christmas Family Service
to worship God together and to proclaim
His Word in Budrio.






We are glad for the Lord's provision of the main room in
Le Torri dell'Acqua, the theatre&modern art-gallery right at the centre of Budrio, well known as a cultural meeting point.

At 10.00 we'll start our service                          little ones and grown ups together,   engaging with Luke 2:8-20 especially verses 10-11 "And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

With Stefano and the help of Linus we'll discover the real meaning of Christmas and how Jesus' birth is a call to "Fear not" and to share the Good News to all the people!

Rugby Clinic Outreach with under-age asylum seekers

This morning we continued with our outreach programme for kids at the HUB 
for under-age asylum seekers in Budrio, in partnership with YfC Italy.

In a village next to Budrio, three years ago was opened the second biggest centre of the Bologna area, to host under-age migrants landed in Italy. At the moment they host
14 kids, mostly Muslim, from various African countries, Albania and Pakistan.

A door was opened to offer a series of Rugby Clinics with Coach Colin White, a former professional rugby player for Scotland, now part of the Bologna staff of YfC Italy.
We are very excited for this opportunity for our church to reach out these kids and for the partnership with the manager of the Mezzolara Sport Centre.





Today most of the kids were defeated by the cold Italian winter but we had a good time playing soccer with two teens.
Colin talked on how in sport and in life we aim at a perfection we cannot achieve. He then shared how we can look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

Christmas Outreach with team from Bethel Church of Houston

We've just completed a week of outreach with the team from Bethel Church from Houston, Texas. We had a great time of fellowship with the church!!!

Over a few days we're able to interact with many generations and cultural contexts in Budrio, from the elderly to middle school teens, from high-school students to migrant kids.

We rejoice for the many Gospel seeds have been sown and pray the Lord of the Harvest for a great work in Budrio and to the end of the earth! 

This is a video summary of these days

This is a video interview with Suzanne, Kelly and Rodney from Bethel Church of Houston

Christmas Outreach - Day 4 - Christmas Party @ LightHouse Club

Tomorrow afternoon with the team from Bethel Church from Houston, Texas, will be @ the outreach programme: LightHouse Club, reaching out teenagers of all nations!
@ the HUB  for under age asylum seekers, in partnership with YfC Italia.

 

 

 

We'll have an afternoon of fun games, we'll make gingerbread biscuits and have some real Scottish Dance and Santa telling the real story of Christmas from  

Luke 2:10-11 -  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Sunday Service: Visiting Preacher - Rod Bohls

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






We are glad for the Lord's provision of the main room in
Le Torri dell'Acqua, the theatre&modern art-gallery right at the centre of Budrio, well known as a cultural meeting point.

At 10.00 we'll start our service and Rod Bohls from Bethel Church, Houston, Texas, will preach from Matthew 1:23 - "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).



 

Tony & Simona will lead our children's programme
based on The Gospel Project for kids,
in which week by week kids engage with the same
Bible passage and families will have activities
to keep interacting with God's Word during the week.

Christmas Outreach - Day 3 - Reformation lesson: Luther & Christmas!

Tomorrow morning,
Stefano & with the team from 

Bethel Church from Houston, Texas,

will be @ Budrio High School.

We'll speak to two 4th year classes
during their English lesson
about the history of Reformation -
Luther & Christmas

We'll start our presentation with some clips from the Luther movie, when in 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg door.
 
Yet, our main goal is to engage students with the 5 Solas of Reformation which still today is a great summary of who we are and what we believe!

Then we'll explain how Jesus' extraordinary Gospel of Grace transform ordinary people who live ordinary lives to have a passion for sharing Jesus' love to their community till today!

Luther loved Christmas because it mirrors so many elements of the gospel story itself. To him, the tradition of giving gifts to children on Christmas Eve was an opportunity to educate them on the gift of grace that God had wrapped in a little human baby delivered to - and also in - a manger… just for them. It was a perfect moment to emphasize the miracle of incarnation. It still is.

MySpace Club 4 Teens - Unwrapping Christmas

Tomorrow afternoon we'll have
our My Space Club 4 Teens
for this school-year.

We organize this club for local kids,
in partnership with Budrio Town Hall
as part of their after-school programme.

In this way we have a fantastic room
with a courtyard in Budrio Library
and the social workers are sending
some of the kids they follow.
As part of our club, we also offer help
with their English home-works.



    


We'll have our friends from Bethel Church of Houston, Texas,
together we'll engage the theme: Unwrapping Christmas!

 

We'll play lots of fun games like: 
Unwrapping Christmas, 
Human Christmas tree,
Santa's coming to town, 
The Real Christmas Deal,
Snow ball race, Michelangelo's Christmas,
which will serve as illustrations to the Talk given by Suzanne from Luke 2:10-11,
where we'll see how Jesus' birth is
the good news for every nation!

Family Time rejoicing in Gospel partnership!

Tomorrow evening we'll have a special Family Time with our friends from Bethel Church of Houston, Texas.

We'll have a time of testimonies and prayer to rejoice in our Gospel partnership across the ocean, and to be reciprocally enriched by the Lord's work in our churches and communities!

Christmas Outreach - Day 1 - elderly social programme - A Coffee Together

Tomorrow morning, for our Christmas outreach week with the team from 

Bethel Church from Houston, Texas, 

we'll be @ the elderly citizens programme.

This is the second time we're able to work with this age group and we're excited
about the warm welcome of these elderly, their relatives and the social workers who run this project - A Coffee Together.




The team will offer some traditional handmade gingerbread cookies and the staff will prepare some typical Italian Christmas cakes.


We'll sing together a Christmas Carol and
we'll have the special visit of Santa, who will
remind us the Reason for the Season,
since Christmas starts with Christ!