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Steve steals a phrase from a friend who in his artist entrepreneurism always advises that only Jesus can be deep and wide, as the old children's chorus taught. He helped us look at those who spoke about who this baby was going to be before he was born and in the birth narratives to discover the apocalyptic reach of this baby in the straw. Perhaps wider than deeper...

In our first Advent service of 2019 Steve makes clear that whatever Steve Turner said in a poem about Christmas being for the children it most certainly isn't. In our Matthew reading, a baby is escaping from military death squads as a refugee. Nothing warm and fuzzy there. He then sets the scene for the rest of advent by suggesting that everything that Jesus would say and do can be found in these birth stories.

As Steve concludes the 'Being with…' series, we hear how society struggles to be still, and are encouraged to find the space in busy lives to listen to both ourselves and God,

How can we BE WITH The Troubles? How can we BE WITH victims? How can we BE WITH the consequences that the past has on the now? How can we build a better future? How can we hold sensitivity towards those who still suffer from the Troubles while looking at forgiveness and a compromising of justice that all conflicts have to deal with to move forward?

Steve talks of living the way Christ lived, as Paul sets out in Romans 12, in a culture that can't be fixed, but can be redeemed

As Paul needs to find relevant ways to explain the Gospel to a culture in Athens not familiar with Jewish ideas, so Steve reasons that we need to listen critically to the culture around us for insight into new ways to help it hear the good news of Jesus.

Steve uses Winnie the Pooh and Snow Patrol to help enflesh Being with Jesus

We continue our series on the incarnation call of Jesus to BEING WITH. This week Steve got us thinking of being with "the other". By "the other" he means anyone that seems to be different than you. Anyone across the borderlines of tension whether colour or race or religion or class. In Northern Ireland that has been traditionally in our relationships with the Nationalist/Republican/Catholic community

We were thinking mainly of Uganda this morning. We heard from our Summer Mission teams and their experiences. The majority went to Onialkeu in Uganda. What were their highlights and what did they learn? Steve also asked us how we should BE WITH Onialeku in our on going BEING WITH series. You will hear the "Aftica" song by Jonny fitch, if you like it go to https://jonnyfitch.bandcamp.com/. Proceeds are going to help build a Nursery in Onialkeu.

What is it to be human? Steve talks Ubuntu, togetherness, relationship, and the church as God's resource for community