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Alpha Blog
| Oct29 |
Alpha Overnight Recap0 CommentsThis past weekend, approximately 70 of us participated on the Alpha Overnight. What a wonderful time! I had the privilege of giving two of the talks (Who is the Holy Spirit? and Who is God? Who is Man?). Robin came up on Saturday and gave the What Does the Holy Spirit Do? and How Can I Be Filled with the Holy Spirit? We had fun together, enjoyed meaningful discussion, and many were touched in powerful ways by the Holy Spirit. At least three people turned from their sins and trusted in Christ! The Bible tells us that the angels in heaven rejoice when just one sinner repents (Luke 15:7,10 – page 874). How much more when there are three! I look forward to seeing all of you tonight at Alpha as we look at the Bible’s perspective on suffering and evil in the world. 
Mark Mitchell
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Alpha tonight
1 CommentsWell, we’re at Week 6 of Alpha. Tonight we’ll be discussing, “How Does God Guide Us?” and I’ll be giving away one of my favorite books, Knowing God.
We’re looking forward to seeing you tonight for dinner. We’ll be having Chicken Caesar salads with croissants.
See you soon!
Mark Mitchell
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Jody Belknap wrote on Oct 23 2008 at 7:54 am:
How awesome was Alpha last night!?!?! I truly enjoyed the message as I am a “to-do list” type of person and the outline in the book gave me a few more steps on my path that really hit home for me.
Alpha Week 4 - Why and How do we Pray?
2 CommentsWeren’t we so well served by our guest speaker, Zak Jones! This young man who grew up at Covenant Life Church and is now in the Pastors’ College, challenged me and all of us with his transparency, relatable illustrations, and joyous faith. His story of God’s powerful answers to the prayers of his mother for his older sister, sparked faith for prayer in our discussion group.
One guest commented before the message that he came with several pressing questions on prayer. After the talk, he said each question had been directly addressed and clearly answered.
Zak began by explaining that most prayer grows out of knowing our need for outside help. Most of us could relate. He then defined Christian prayer as—to the Father, through His son Jesus, with the help of the Spirit. Wasn’t his story helpful about the dejected civil war soldier getting direct and immediate access to President Lincoln through the President’s son, Tad?
Did you have time to share prayer requests with your group? John Wesley said that “prayer changes things, beginning with us.” Come back next week prepared to consider how prayer may have changed things.
Remember, while Alpha is a “Homework Free Zone” if you want to go deeper in the subject of prayer, or any subject taught at Alpha, take the list of Bible references with pages numbers that is passed out each week and look up some of them in your Alpha Bible.
What questions do you have about prayer that may not have been addressed or fully answered by the talk or discussion time? Please consider submitting those on this blog or writing them out on the Questions Card.
Mark Mitchell
Comments
Jody Belknap wrote on Oct 16 2008 at 8:14 am:
Our group had good dialogue regarding praying as many even myself are reluctant at times to pray out loud to a group. A suggestion was given that when you pray by yourself to say them out loud so you might get used to hearing yourself.
ccc wrote on Oct 13 2008 at 12:52 pm:
I wanted to get clarification on a statement that our guest speaker spoke about. He stated that “only if we are forgiven will God answer your prayers.” can you share your thoughts??
Alpha Week 4
0 CommentsTonight is our fourth week of the Alpha Course and our focus is on prayer. Specifically, the topic is “Why and How do I Pray?”
Have you had any prayers answered in your life? We’d love to hear your stories.
The menu is Parmesan Crusted Chicken, noodles, and salad and we’ll be giving away another great book. We look forward to seeing you there!
Mark Mitchell
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Alpha Week 3
0 CommentsIt’s hard to believe we’ve already completed three weeks of Alpha! I hope you are enjoying your experience as much as I am. What a joy is has been getting to know many of you personally and hearing of how you’re benefiting from Alpha.
Well… last night we talked about how one can be sure of their faith? We drew attention to three essential bases of genuine faith – the Word of God, the work of Jesus, and the witness of the Holy Spirit. We concluded by highlighting the importance of both repentance of sin and faith in Christ. Finally, we showed that a genuine faith is always demonstrated in action, illustrated through the story of Jean Blondin walking a wheelbarrow on a tightrope over Niagara Falls.
How were you affected by last night’s talk? Did anything change in your understanding of faith? If so, what changed?
I’d love to hear from you.
Mark Mitchell
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Tonight at Alpha - Week 3
0 CommentsTonight is our third week of the Alpha Course and our focus is on faith. Specifically, the topic is “How can I be sure of my faith?”
How would you answer this question? I’d love to hear your perspective as well as how it may have changed after tonight’s talk.
The menu is Mac and Cheese with a great salad and I’ll be featuring another very good book tonight. I look forward to seeing you there!
Mark Mitchell
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The First Night at Alpha
5 CommentsWhat a wonderful first night of Alpha! I’m so grateful for all the guests who came for the first time last night as well as those who returned from the Intro Dinner last week. We’re so glad you’ve joined us!
I sat in on one of the groups for dinner and discussion just to get to know some of the folks. We had a couple from Brazil, a gentleman from Germany, and the rest right here from the U.S. They were down-to-earth, fun to get to know and jumped right in with some very good questions.
Here were some of the questions they raised:
• How can Jesus claim to be God when God was the one who sent him?
• Why is God God? Who made him God?
• How does Christianity compare with other religions? Which one is right?
• Is God a man or a woman? How do we know?
• When Jesus overturned tables in the temple (see page 847 in your Alpha bible) was that OK? I thought anger was sinful, yet Jesus is supposed to be sinless. How can that be?
This is EXACTLY what Alpha is about – exploring meaningful answers from the Bible to meaningful questions.
What about you? If you were there last night, what were some of the questions your group raised? What were your questions?
I’d love to hear from you!
Mark Mitchell
Comments
Mark Mitchell wrote on Sep 25 2008 at 2:04 pm:
These are all great questions! Thanks for posting them.
The most important thing I’d like to say in response is to keep coming out to Alpha. Questions like these (and many more!) are welcome in our discussion groups and each of the talks build on each other as we go. Though the talks may not directly answer every question, we do trust the Bible’s basic message (the gospel) will become progressively clearer and we’ll know how to apply its truth to the very specific areas of our lives. This is why Alpha is 10 weeks long. It takes time to ponder, digest, and apply what Scripture has to say in these areas. Please keep coming!
My goal in asking for your questions right after week 1 was to hear about the kind of things you’re wondering about. All of these questions are best dealt with in the context of friendly conversation rather than impersonal words on a screen. That being said, here are a few very brief thoughts regarding each question:
(The Right to Choose) - Our week 5 topic on “What about the Bible?” is most relevant to this question. This talk will help you understand how the Bible is meant to function in our lives and will point you in the direction of how to think about topics like this.
(What does the Church say about being gay?) - I’m not sure if your question is on what the Church believes or what the Bible says. Either way, this is a great question, and I’d love to address it in person at Alpha. It’s much better addressed in a personal conversation rather than a blog post. Thanks for asking it and I hope you’ll find me!
(Married at Young Age) Well… Not everyone is married here at a young age. I’ve had the privilege of officiating the weddings of many friends in their 30s and 40s. Nonetheless, it’s a blessing when a man and a woman commit to the covenant of marriage while young!
(Moral Nature) I took a few minutes to address this question last night at Alpha. Also, Robin touched on this during his talk on “Why Did Jesus Die?” If for any reason you missed it, please talk to your host or come find me next Wednesday night.
Maria wrote on Sep 18 2008 at 11:14 pm:
Why is the right to choose such a big political issue? I think women should have a right to choose - where in the Bible does it say it is wrong to choose? Is this not the free will God bestows upon us?
Peter wrote on Sep 18 2008 at 11:11 pm:
What does the church say about being gay?
Sophie wrote on Sep 18 2008 at 11:11 pm:
Why is everyone at Covenant Life married at such a young age? Does God or the Bible say we should marry young?
Pilar wrote on Sep 18 2008 at 10:42 pm:
Is there such a thing as a “Moral Nature.” Meaning, are we born with a sense of what is right and wrong? Did God instill in us a sense of ‘innate’ morality? I’ve wondered when I act in a certain way and after the fact feel guilt, remorse, a sense of unease - is this God speaking to me? Is this the way God tells me I have sinned and should ask for forgiveness? How does HE communicate with us? I wonder… too many questions. :-)
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