Marquee, Mark and the Funky Bunch! (a.k.a. RUCU Events Week 09) Day 1

The first proper day of Events Week has been encouraging, although fairly hectic. So much so that I only remembered to take one photo. Here it is...



This picture was taken at prayer breakfast - we had a pretty good turnout considering the 8am start (although it was still dark when I got up, so no-one could really moan!). We spent the morning sorting out the tea stand, the question board and various things, including tucking into a Super Seven breakfast.

Finally we got everything on track, and the lunch bar started. We had about 50 people there, with about 1/3 non-CU people. There were some good discussions going on, and at least one person signed up already to study Mark's gospel. Hopefully numbers will grow as the week goes on...

Right now the small groups are holding events in their halls. I didn't get invited to one :( but I'm giving my testimony tomorrow night, and a series of international invitations (slightly more detailed invitations at Small World Cafe, with a few hints about the talk to entice people along). So I'm sadly not taking the night off! I'll let you know how the hall events went tomorrow.

The Gospel Way

This morning I read a prayer in an excellent book I bought this week - Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers. With my thoughts almost completely on RUCU's Events Week this week, I found a prayer called, "The Gospel Way." I think it's quality, so I decided it was worth sharing (and the effort of typing it out).

Blessed Lord Jesus,
No human mind could conceive or invent the gospel.
Acting in eternal grace, thou art both its messenger and its message,
lived out on earth through infinite compassion,
applying thy life to insult, injury, death,
that I might be redeemed, ransomed, freed.
Blessed be thou, O Father, for contriving this way,
Eternal thanks to thee, O Lamb of God, for opening this way,
Praise everlasting to thee, O Holy Spirit,
for applying this way to my heart.
Glorious Trinity, impress the gospel on my soul,
until its virtue diffuses every faculty;
Let it be heard, acknowledged, professed, felt.
Teach me to secure this mighty blessing;
Help me to give up every darling lust,
to submit heart and life to its command,
to have it in my will,
controlling my affections,
moulding my understanding;
to adhere strictly to the rules of true religion,
not departing from them in any instance,
nor for any advantage in order to escape evil,
inconvenience or danger.
Take me to the cross to seek glory from its infamy;
Strip me of every pleasing pretence of righteousness by my own doings.
O gracious redeemer,
I have neglected thee too long,
often crucified thee,
crucified thee afresh by my impenitence,
put thee to open shame.
I thank thee for the patience that has borne with me so long,
and for the grace that now makes me willing to be thine.
O unite me to thyself with inseperable bonds,
that nothing may ever draw me back from thee, my Lord, my Saviour.

Share Mark

In preparation for Events Week at the University of Reading, I'm running 3 sessions for RUCU to help them prepare. I finished provisional versions of the handouts today, so I thought I'd stick them on the website. Keenos might look at them beforehand, but I doubt it. Feel free to nick anything useful, although bear in mind they are handouts for seminars I'm going to be giving (the overview in particular might be a bit confusing without a white shirt and a marker pen...)!

Wednesay: Mark in Minutes - an overview of Mark's gospel.
Thursday: Mark and Your Mates - looking at the FREE gospels with your mates. Some easy tools and top tips.
Friday: Making the Most of Events Week - what to do (and what not to do) during Events Week.

And to help people to make the most events week, this is a (nearly) fool-proof guide to hosting a meal-with-a-message (recipe included): Meal with a Message