Resilient Joy

ChristChurch was planted in the midst of economic up turn by a group of friends with an average age in the early 40’s, resulting in a lower than average pastoral care workload and a healthy ability to respond to the financial challenges facing us.
Now, having walked these last 12 years together, we are experiencing the changes and challenges of a different era. Some of us have been bereaved, some have become carers, some of us have been badly affected by the economic downturn, some of us have struggled with health issues and some of us have huge employment challenges. We are experiencing what we all knew in theory – that our world is not stable, and that the inevitable crises of life will come to us all at some time.
And here comes the big challenge – will our Joy remain intact through these difficulties? I chose the word ‘Joy’ instead of ‘Faith’ because it speaks to the emotional dimension of our lives in God, in other words – how we feel.
Paul writes to the Philippians from a prison cell to do two things – firstly to thank this church for their financial support, and secondly to encourage them to continue to rejoice regardless of their circumstances and regardless of the outcome of those circumstances.
‘Joy’ sums up the book of Philippians. But this Joy is not a crossing of their fingers that everything will turn out ok. It is a Joy that becomes even more important in the depths of difficulty and uncertainty. It is a Joy that comes from deep within us that that laments sorrow and suffering. It is a Joy that can become even stronger as a result of difficult circumstances – whatever they are – even imprisonment or death. It is a gritty joy – Resilient Joy.
We hope to see from Philippians how Joy is deepened. We will see that although it is really good to rejoice in our fellowship with each other, and it is good to rejoice in the preaching of the gospel, and it is good to rejoice when we are delivered from our difficulties, and it is good to rejoice in the healthy sacrificial lifestyles we see in each other, and it is good to rejoice in our healing of relationships, as good as all of that is, the true source of our Joy is in The Lord. The implication for us is that even if these things were not to be, we are still able to rejoice in the Lord – because Joy in the Lord is real Joy – it arises from God’s unfailing love, it surrounds the believer and is more than able to equip us for the turmoil we face. Pray that God will use the powerful message of Resilient Joy to build us up, and help us to glorify him whatever we face.

Derick's Teaching

Over the years Derick gave many hundreds of talks to thousands of people. These had a huge impact on many lives, some of the more recent ones which he gave in his home church, ChristChurch Belfast are listed here.

Malachi God will be Honoured

We may call Malachi a minor prophet but God didn’t seem to think he was minor. He was God’s scribe writing down for us a message directly from God! Out of a total of 55 verses, 47 of them are in the first person – God speaking. This is an encounter of God with people, second to none in any other part of the Bible.

God declares His love for His people, and His desire is to bless them with everything that is good. He wants them to find true satisfaction and accept daily His gifts of life and peace, and naturally He expects them to respond with awe to the privilege of belonging to Him and in turn pass on to others the good things they enjoy. It is a living relationship to be utterly enjoyed.

Amazingly, instead of responding with warmth and spontaneity, people responded with apathy, they were bored with worship and mean in their giving. They despised God, cheated Him of vows and robbed Him of dues. This broken relationship with God led inevitably to broken relationships with one another, in society, in marriage, and in family.

God is the Almighty God, He is a loving God but he is also a God of Justice – and He will be honoured!

Just Jesus

On the face of it, they were unremarkable events: a rabbi and his disciples sharing a Passover meal, a prayer time in the darkness, an arrest and trial. Jerusalem had seen them all before, as well as the inevitable execution. They involved a seemingly unremarkable man, one who experienced fatigue and hunger, felt pain and exhaustion, who knew all about compassion and rejection. But the events that unfolded over three days would change everything, for this was no ordinary man. This was God Himself.

As God the Son, He had replaced Infinite Deity for the confines of a human body. Now, as man, he would experience death. These events would reach into the unseen world, from a shattering of the perfect unity of the Trinity to the depths of Hell. They would end in a resurrection, usher in a new Way by which man could find God, and replace death and fear with life and purpose. They would preface the return of the God-Man to Heaven and provide a burning, enduring hope that, one day, he would return.

But what were those events like? What did Jesus think and feel as the Creator submitted to the evil plans of His creatures? How did he react to the anguish and pressure? To the horror of separation from His Father? For seven weeks, we will spend those last few days with Jesus. Our desire reflects that of the Greeks who approached Philip with a simple, heartfelt request: “Sir, we would see Jesus” (John 12:21).

November
01 upper room Andy
08 garden Jackie
15 trial Darrell
22 crucifixion Darrell
29 resurrection Jackie

December
06 ascension Andrew Morrell
13 coming Andy

Building Relationships with Love

This September ChristChurch have embarked on a new 40 days series entitled Building Relationships with God's Love. The aim is to learn how to allow God's love to redeem and transform us and our relationships. The planned schedule is as follows:

6 September What Matters Most
13 September Love is Kind
20 September Love does not envy
27 September Love is humble
4 October Love is respectful
11 October Love is Patient
18 October Love is forgiving


You can listen online, download or get a web link to the audio file by clicking on the blue arrow to the right of each sermon.

A Culture of Grace

ChristChurch seeks to be a community held together by Christ; loving God,
supporting one another & bringing hope to the world. We engaged in some teaching in May and June 2009 on how this looks for our church. the programme was:


You can listen online, download or get a web link to the audio file by clicking on the blue arrow to the right of each sermon.

School's Out

NOW DO WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TAUGHT. SCHOOL'S OUT;
QUIT STUDYING THE SUBJECT AND START LIVING IT! AND LET YOUR LIVING SPILL OVER INTO THANKSGIVING. COL. 2:6-7 (MSG)

This was the series delivered from January to April 2009 on the book of Colossians.

You can listen online, download or get a web link to the audio file by clicking on the blue arrow to the right of each sermon.