Brunel Christian Union

As a Christian Union we meet all together every Tuesday evening at 7.30pm in the Meeting House. It is a chance to be taught the Bible, pray together and praise God. Please feel free to join us on any occasion.

This term we are looking at a book called ‘Distinctives’, by Vaughan Roberts to see how the Bible calls us to live as God wants us to. Below is what we are looking at each week.

Week 16 - 13th Jan : Grace

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12v9

It is only through God’s grace and faith in Him that we are saved and, as Christians, welcomed into heaven. Our best attempts at being “good people” are like “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and we are unable to make ourselves any better as we are all sinners. However, God takes us as we are and we become a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) in Christ.

We need to be willing to take a stand against this world as Christians and be willing to be different – this is a hard thing to do but we can take encouragement from Peter and Paul who were far from perfect but God still used them in order for His name to be praised and lots of people to be saved.

Week 17 - 20th Jan : Introduction - Romans 12v1-2

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12v1-2

As Christians we are called to live differently, and not conform to the norm. Other people watch us and see how we live as Christians as see the difference that God makes in our lives. The band dc Talk said, ‘The greatest sinlge cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle.’

There is no way that we are good enough for God, but God loved us so much that He sent His son to die for us, the “ungodly” and the “sinners” (Romans 5: 6-8). However we have to remember that it is not what we do that gets us into heaven - that is down to God’s love and mercy for us. We should want to show our grateful thanks for this mercy by living the way God wants us to. The only way that we can change to be the way God wants us to be is through His Word - the Bible. That is the only thing that has the power to change our minds, and as a result, our feelings and behaviour.

Things to think about:
Are you joyful and excited by God’s mercy? If not, why not?
How can we live differently - the way God wants us to - through our subjects?
How have world values skewered our lives away from God’s way?

Week 18 - 27th Jan : Prayer & Praise evening

Week 19 - 3rd Feb : Perspective in a world that lives for the moment - Titus 2v11-14

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

Never forget that Jesus is enough and that there is nothing more or less that we can do that will earn favour. However, since God has forgiven us then how can we be lazy about it - shouldn’t we be accepting the challenge to respond to Jesus in living for Him and showing the world that He makes a difference in our lives? Surely we should have a sense of urgency about heaven and Jesus’ return, wanting to live for Him and showing others through our actions that God’s way is the only way to heaven. We are designed for worshipping; this is seen in the way that people worship celebrities or sport or shopping. These are the wrong things to worship as God designed us for worshipping Him in order to give His name glory.

So do you stand out as a Christian in this world - live for God and not for the moment? One way to maybe do this is to hold yourself accountable with other Christians, maybe at church. Challenge yourself and others on their actions asking whether it is for God’s glory or not. Falling away from the Christian life for God is easy, so help each other and they’ll
help you. Hebrews 10v24-25 says: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Things to think about:
Do you feel that there is anything in your life that God can’t forgive?
How much pressure do you feel from the world to live for the moment?
What are those pressures?
How have unbelievers commented on how you stand out?
What are your big dreams in God? What are your aspirations for the future?

Week 20 - 10th Feb : Service in a world that looks after number one - Mark 10v32-45

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (v43-45)

The world’s view about pursuing greatness is very different than Jesus’ way. Jesus is known as King and was given the authority to be by God, yet He came to serve the world as it’s ransom payment in order to get us back on track with God. Jesus knew that He was going to be betrayed and killed by one of His people but still led the way to Jerusalem to be killed and serve as the sacrifice.

James and John asked to be great out of selfish ambition and at the expense of their friends. The friends, when they found out their request, were indignant because they had been slow to ask the same question.

Jesus says in order to be great we have to be slave to all. Ambition isn’t wrong, just the world’s way of seeking greatness for ourselves is wrong – we should be seeking greatness for God’s glory, to be more like Jesus and be the servant. If Jesus – King Jesus – could be a servant then we have no excuse not to be.

Things to think about:
What ambitions do you have and how are these affected by Christ’s death?
In what ways can you serve others – course mates, flat mates, other Christians?

Week 21 - 17th Feb : Contentment in a world that never has enough - Matthew 6v19-34

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money…Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (v24 & 34)

The first part of this passage (verses 19-24) talks about building up treasures in heaven rather than on earth. The metaphor in the middle (v22-23) gives hints at how to do this - by looking at God and having His love for us change us from the inside out, to live the way that He wants us to, therefore giving Him glory and building up treasures in heaven. It is a prompt for us to think about where our treasures are, for example, where we spend most of our time: maybe on Facebook. It is God that gives us security and our identity that we may seek from treasures here and now.

The second part of the passage (verses 25-34) talks about not worrying. God looks after the birds and grass, and as we are more valuable surely He would look after us too. It’s about placing our trust in God rather than ourselves. It’s a prompt to get our perspective on life right: putting God first and then letting everything else fall into place behind Him.

Week 22 - 24th Feb : Shrove Tuesday - Pancake Night

“Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?
Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.” Mark 2v18-20

There are 3 reasons that people fast (go without food): 1) to score “brownie” points: give up food so that God will be pleased and do something special for me. However this gives the impression that God is only happy when He spoils our fun; God created food for us to eat so it must be good. 2) self-improvement: the idea that our moral discipline will improve as our physical discipline does; this is like saying that if I murder your brother and then fast everything will be alright – not how it works, is it? 3) showing that God is better than food and wanting to get closer to Him, putting aside food to save our appetite for God. In this passage, Jesus is referring to Himself as the Bridegroom, He is saying that when He rises into heaven after He has died that is when His followers will fast so as to stay close to God and get to know Him better.When Jesus died on the cross He took all of God’s judgement on Himself and made a bridge for us to get to know God; God’s pleasure with Jesus then came onto us. In that way we already know something of God and fasting is
a way in which to know Him better. We can’t do anything to increase His pleasure with us. The cross is a gift to us of God’s grace and love. It is a call to trust in Jesus and receive the free gift.

Things to think about:
If the resurrection did not happen then Christianity is a waste of time as it does not show that Jesus is God. However if it is true, then it shows that Jesus is God and He died for our wrong doings. It needs faith and trust.

Week 23 - 3rd Mar : Purity in a world obsessed with sex - 1 Thessalonians 4v3-5

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’, for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (v.23-24)

All of us have failed in this area in one way or another and we have to remember that God has granted our forgiveness through Jesus dying once and for all sin upon the cross. We can be assured that we are forgiven no matter what we do (Romans 8:1-2).

Our culture says that sex is free, that it’s ok as long as both partners are consenting and safe, that it can be uncomplicated. The Bible has a different view on it.1) the Bible says that sex is good, a precious gift from God – the book Song of Songs in the Old Testament is completely devoted to sex.
2) the Bible says that sex has 2 purposes: procreation and relationship; therefore casual sex, which is without a relationship in mind, is a contradiction to the Bible. Both pornography and masturbation detach and divorce sex from a relationship, neither is an expression of love and they cheapen sex.
Three ways in which we can battle such issues could be: a) be accountable to others, maybe an older Christian, be honest about it and work it through together. b) ‘Bounce your eyes’ – “say no to every lustful thought in 5 seconds with the authority of Jesus, strike fast, and be immovable, tough and warlike” (John Piper). c) remember Grace and how God has forgiven all sins.
3) the Bible says that sex is for marriage – as it says above “For this reason a man will leave…and be united to his wife” therefore creating a new family unit before sex is introduced. The Bible says that sex is an expression of relationship and so if the relationship is good so will the sex; it is not a case of ‘try before you buy’ to see if you are sexually compatible.

So there should be no guilt if we have already failed in this area as wehave God’s forgiveness through the cross and Jesus dying on it. As Christians we may be different but we are not wrong.

Things to think about:
How do you feel about the Bible’s teaching on sex? Is it liberating or unnecessarily strict?
How do you feel about being so different, so distinctive, in a student environment that follows culture not God’s word?
Are you willing to be different to your culture and your friends?
Why is the Christian Gospel good news for us all when it comes to sex?

Week 24 - 10th Mar : Certainty in a world in which everything is relative - John 14v6

Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”Life is uncertain and shaky at times, for example, now in the economic crisis with share prices frequently changing; also when opinions seem to be thought more important than facts. People believe in relativity rather than absolute truth.
However we have had one absolute truth revealed to us through Jesus coming: He has shown us that God is real and true. God has revealed Himself to us through Jesus. We have the truth of Jesus in our hands when picking up a Bible. Jesus also sent the Holy Spirit in order to be with us and help us and guide us (John 16:12-13).As Christians we are called to do 4 things: Know the truth, Live the truth, Contend for the truth and Proclaim the truth. For without knowing the truth we cannot grow; without living the truth our faith is dead; we need to stand up for the truth; and in Matthew 28:19-20 we are sent out into the world to make disciples of all nations and proclaim the truth.

Things to think about:
How can we as Christians know that we have the truth?
What are some specific ways in which you, in your life, can more actively live the truth and contend for the truth?
How can you better communicate the truth of the Gospel in your relativistic university?

Week 25 - 17th Mar : Holiness in a world where anything goes - Galatians 5v16-26

“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want” (v16-17)There is a battle within all of us between our sinful nature and the Spirit that God has given us to guide us to becoming more like Him. It is the battle between becoming more like Jesus and the reversion to our sinful natures before we became Christians. These are the two ways to live: to gratify the Spirit or to gratify the sinful nature. We are called to crucify the sinful nature – never to return to it. It is the difference between continually living the sinful life and the momentary lapse of resolve. Then we are called to live by the Spirit: to be a picture of holiness and a picture of Jesus. The battle against the sinful nature is continuous but not impossible as we have the Holy Spirit of God residing in us.

Two questions we can keep in mind when deciding how to act are:
Will that decision feed my sinful nature?
Will this decision destroy some of the fruit of the Spirit (v22-23)?

Things to think about:
On this campus what are the greatest challenges to holiness?
What are your greatest weapons for maintaining a holy life?

Week 26 - 24th Mar: Wholeheartedness in a world that can’t be bothered - Hebrews 11v24-26

“Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward” (v25-26)The world in which we live tells us that nothing matters and consequently asks “why bother?” But as Christians we do have a reason to be bothered, God. Verse 25 states that Moses chose God over the fleeting pleasures of sin for the sake of Christ, this is living wholeheartedly for God and this is what we should be aiming for. On Tuesday we heard that if we are living for God then we will be transformed and will want to continue living for God and in doing that love others.

Mark 12:30 tells us to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ As we strive to achieve this we should love our neighbours as we love ourselves and in giving up ourselves for others we will gain so much more in the future. We also heard that we should be looking to the future and the rewards in store for us and not looking at what we have in the present as this does not matter.In living for God wholeheartedly we can show non-Christians that we are different and we have reason to our life. In this we can be a witness for God. We have to be wholehearted in everything we do and truly give ourselves to God because if we can’t do this how can we expect him to accept us totally.

Things to think about:
How will living totally for God affect you?
What promises have been made to you by God? How does this affect your life?
Looking back over the series this term how does what we have heard challenge us?