“Evangelism requires wisdom more than a script...” This is so good, especially in light of what we’ve been thinking about in our times together lately. Really helpful wisdom to help us in how we do evangelism.

"I have one message: that Jesus Christ came, he died on a cross, he rose again, and he asked us to repent of our sins and receive him by faith as Lord and Savior, and if we do, we have forgiveness of all of our sins." - Billy Graham

This Wed in The Living Room at Amazing Grace we’ll be asking what comes to your mind when you hear word’s like God, Jesus, Christianity & church. We’ll also have a box for you to put your questions into (questions we hope to wrestle with in future months). Sean McDonnell from Castlebar will be sharing his story of coming to faith & we’ll have tea/coffee & munchies for everyone with plenty of time for a bit of craic! We’d love to see you there.

This coming Wednesday evening begins a new monthly opportunity to explore Christian faith in a fresh way. It’ll be on the 3rd Wed of each month. Why not join us. In his book Sacrilege, Finding Life in the Unorthodox Ways of Jesus, Hugh Halter writes; "People want to believe, and they want to talk and process their evolving thoughts aloud without fear of being shut down... Most people, whatever their faith, would love a safe place to simply converse, explore, and share without judgment or fear." The Living Room is all about creating such a space. It’s a chance to chat, hear stories of faith & wrestle with life’s big questions. This month Sean McDonnell from Castlebar will be sharing his story. Come along & bring someone with you.

This Sunday morning we welcome John Oliver to minister at Amazing Grace. John visited a couple of years ago. He is part of Elim Ireland’s Ignite Evangelism team. Also very recently he has launched a new ministry called New Ground Ireland which has evangelism & church planting as its focus. https://m.facebook.com/NewGroundIreland/ Be great to have you with us as we gather at 11am.

#Advent Day 22 - Luke 1:39-45 Today is the fourth Sunday & final day of Advent this year. This evening we had our Carol Service at Amazing Grace & this is the message from the service. It's an expanded version of day 17. Song - Joy To The World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqjzpWYFJfc This song we sing every Christmas was actually written with Christ's second coming in view. So it's the perfect note to complete Advent on! Happy Christmas everyone & may you experience the joy that comes from recognising Jesus.

Please note we have no 11am morning service this Sunday/Christmas Eve. Instead we have our Carols On Christmas Eve at 6pm at Amazing Grace. We'd love you to join us as we reflect on & celebrate the birth of Christ together. #Christmas

#Advent Day 21 - Luke 1:57-66 Christmas Is For Sceptics Too For over nine months Zechariah had been unable to speak. The angel Gabriel, God's messenger, had muted him for his unbelief (1:5-25). Yet in spite of his unbelief God's will still came to pass & his son called John was born. The expected thing would have been for his son to take his name, hence the confusion around him being called John. It was as soon as Zechariah wrote "his name is John" on the tablet that his voice came back & the first thing he did was praise God. He didn't get his voice back the day the baby was born, he got his voice back when he named the child John - when he obeyed God & showed faith in his promise. In a similar way God works in hearts & lives to bring people to the point they learn to trust his promise of salvation. At first Zechariah doubted, but God in mercy disciplined him in a way that taught him to trust & obey. Zechariah's initial skepticism did not change God's mind about favouring him. In this first chapter of Luke's Gospel the angel Gabriel appears to both Mary & Zechariah. Mary believed quickly, Zechariah took more convincing. Yet doesn't this beautifully reveal God's heart for the sceptical as well as the believing? In the end Zechariah joined Mary in singing praise to God (1:67-80). Reading https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A57-80&version=ESV Song - Zechariah's Song https://youtu.be/kwavglPhNGA

#Advent Day 19 - Matthew 1:18-21 You Shall Call His Name Jesus There is much encouragement to be found in the two names given in this passage. “Jesus” means God saves & “Immanuel” means God with us! Firstly he is “Jesus”. Specifically he is called Jesus because he saves his people from their sins (v21). We can all see the world needs saved from evil but can we see that we personally need saved from sin. Can we see that the same evil at work in the world is at work in our hearts? We may be able to recognise the sin of greed driving the exploitation of the poor in the world, but do we recognise the sin of coveting in our own hearts which can lead us to resent or envy others? And can we see that this root sin of coveting is actually what is behind the greed & exploitation of the poor? One of the most important discoveries we can make is that the same evil at work in the world is at work in our hearts. We need Jesus to save us from our sins. He is secondly “Immanuel”. Jesus not only saves people, he identifies with people. He is God with us identifying with us in our humanness. He is not a distant & passive God he is present & involved. In Acts 17:27 Paul says; “God is actually not far from each one of us.” He is near, he is present, he is within reach of every person in this world. Do you realise there is no physical distance at all between you & God? However because of 'sin' there comes relational distance. Yet isn't that specifically what Jesus saves his people from! For this very reason in Jesus we can know Immanuel (God With Us) in the fullest possible way! Jesus came, died & rose again to make this possible to all who believe. Reading https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1%3A18-21&version=ESV Song - What A Beautiful Name https://youtu.be/nQWFzMvCfLE

#Advent Day 18 – Luke 1:46-56 Mary’s Song Mary's song of praise contains the fruitful praise of a young woman who truly knew God! Instead of being overwhelmed by the responsibility entrusted to her she enlarged her vision of God & sang these beautiful words in which I count 21 things she declares about God. In this heartfelt song of praise she pulled together many great truths about her God. The reason Mary was able to do so was because she stored his word in her heart! This is evident from her song saturated in Scripture! There are echoes from Hannah in 1 Sam chapter 2. There are also references to verses from Genesis, Deuteronomy, 1 and 2 Samuel, Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Micah, Habakkuk and Zephaniah. For such a young woman Mary had a wonderful knowledge of God & therefore was able to offer the most beautiful worship. What makes this more striking is that as a woman of her time & culture she wouldn’t have been permitted to study. She would have had to store what she heard, at home & at Synagogue, in her heart. We can be prone to think that to truly know God we need to be a theologian or scribe. However Mary knew God more than most of the wise & learned of her day. Mary exhibited both a childlike faith (1:38) & deep knowledge of God (1:46-55)! This shows that all of us can know God deeply if we only treasure his word & Son like Mary did (2:19, 5)! It’s not the smartest who know God best, but the humblest. Reading https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A46-56&version=ESV https://youtu.be/StFAiPzHflY Song - Holy Is His Name