Being Easter time I have been pondering the fact that I actually believe about 2000 years ago Jesus died but then came back to life and has not died since!

When I say it like that I realise something of the magnitude of the claim!  If I am wrong on this I have really got it wrong, like I might be going mad wrong.  On the other hand if I am right surely it changes everything, absolutely everything!

The fact is I am either right or I am wrong.  This is either true or it is not, Jesus is either alive or he isn’t.  You may already have an opinion one way or the other.  You may not have thought about it before or even care.  Could I encourage you that if anything is worth investigating fully this is!

I admit at first glance it is easy to just dismiss without further thought as too crazy a suggestion to be true.  But is there actually a viable alternative explanation of the happenings and claim that started Christianity 2000 years ago?

I have become convinced in my thinking and in my feelings that he actually, really is alive.  Maybe I am deluded and even going slightly mad. Or maybe not.  Only you can decide what you think about this huge claim!

This Easter may be the perfect time to start seriously looking into Jesus and the claim of his resurrection.  One way of doing this would be to read one of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).  They are basically four different biographies of Jesus.

Another way would be to go on an ’Alpha’.  Our next Alpha starts with an Alpha Taster on June 4th at the Black Horse Pub http://redeemerbirmingham.org.uk/alpha/ all are welcome.

Happy Easter to you all!

Even though we have been meeting together on a Sunday publicly since September, we have maintained doing something a bit different on the first weekend of the month instead of the normal meeting.  This may be an event on the Sunday or something on the Saturday (or both).  We have done such things as a bbq, a story telling event, watching sporting events together, games nights, going for a drink at the pub and watching The Voice final.

We do this for two main reasons:
1.  As we are only small putting on a Sunday meeting involves a number of us each week with a specific job to make it happen.  So not meeting in this way once a month gives all of us in the church plant a rest, helping to prevent burn out and slipping into just going through the motions.

2.  It allows us to have time to get to know each other and have fun together in different settings.  It also allows for friends to come along and have fun with us and for us to be a blessing to the wider community.

Last week one of our people put on an event called Bish, Bash, Bosh!  It was a drumming and den making workshop, which involved a lot of noise and a lot of fun!  A number of children and parents came along and had a great time.

Whether as we a grow we will continue with this monthly set up I don’t know but for now it seems to be a good idea.

We continue to move forward with a full on March.  The month started well with a fantastic story telling family event which people seemed to really enjoy.  Then off the back of the success of our weekly Friday stay ‘n’ play Little Treasures, we thought it would be good to try and run something specifically for the Dad’s.  Although Dad’s and male carers are very welcome (and a few are able to make it to Little Treasures) many are not free on a Friday morning.

So at the same venue (The Black Horse) but on a Saturday morning we put on ’Happy Hour!’ a stay ’n’ play for Dad’s and their kids.  For the kid’s; toys, snacks, a craft rocket to make and some parachute games to finish off with.  For the Dad’s there was tea & coffee, a free bacon buttie and football on in the background (although due to a technical fault this only lasted 5 mins, we will get this sorted for next time). There was 12 Dad’s and 18 kid’s.  Everybody seemed to have a good time and be up for running it again.  We are thinking maybe bimonthly would be good.

In March we also had the huge event that was our first Baptism!  This was a wonderful time and a real marker for the church.  A number of friends also made it along to witness this public statement of trust in Jesus.  It was actually a combined meeting as we also publicly gave thanks for the daughter of the young woman being baptised.

We are now building up to our next Alpha Taster on June the 4th at 8:00pm.  Again the Taster will be in the Black Horse but this time in the side bar with a free curry.  Watch this space for more posts in regards to this.