A Kaleidoscopic View

Kaleidoscope

Sunday, 3 May | Time: 12.30h

Have you ever looked through a kaleidoscope, a small telescope-like tube with multiple lenses? When you point it to the light and look through it colorful bits of glass or plastic produce beautiful forms which delight the eye! I had a simple toy kaleidoscope when I was a child and I could spend hours peering through it, turning it round and round and marveling at what I saw.

Paul’s letter to the Colossian church is in some ways like a kaleidoscope. The more you look, the more beauty you see, the beauty of Jesus Christ in all His majesty. Just when you think you have seen all that is there in the text you blink, and suddenly in your mind’s eye you see more of the magnificence of Christ. It is so much more than a child’s amusement, it is worship and life transformation.

This week we will begin a new sermon series on Colossians. In the coming weeks as we make our way through the letter I am certain you will marvel, not only at what you see in this inexhaustibly rich letter, but also at the hope we have in Christ. Join us this Sunday for a first look through the kaleidoscope of Colossians.

Download Scripture passage

As preparation for the service:

1. Watch this 9 minute video of BibleProject

2. Read the letter! Protip: if you listen to the recording of your Bible-app on your phone, it is both easier and connects you to how the ‘people of the Way’, as Christians were called back then, delved in Paul’s teachings.

 

Warm greetings!

Open Bible

Sunday, 10 May | Time: 12.30h

Who wouldn’t like to receive a message from a friend? Such a message shows that you are in the thoughts of your friend. So you are not alone (- although perhaps you sometimes feel so). A friend has been thinking of you and has taken trouble to send you this message. Wonderful, isn’t it? Upcoming Sunday we will learn how sending messages and greeting each other is used by God to connect us with Him and to build up our faith, hope and love.

As preparation for the service:

Here are a few ideas of what you can do before our service will start:
1) You can (again) read the whole letter to the Colossians to get familiar with it
2) Take 10-15 minutes to just read verses 1-2 and think/meditate over these verses. (boring? hard? just try!)
3) Ask God to bring someone in your mind to send him/her a kind message

Join us for virtual coffee, immediately after the service:

https://tudelft.zoom.us/j/96013042328

Thank God!

Sermon on the mount

Sunday, 17 May | Time: 12.30h

To focus on positive things can help us to overcome the negative. But what if the negative is overwhelming? Then you need greater positive things. Paul discovered these – and shares this in his letters. Upcoming Sunday we read a part from the letter to the Colossians on thanksgiving (Colossians 1: 3-8).

Join us for virtual coffee

Mission (Im)possible?

Mission Impossible

How can you make visible in your daily life that you discovered the love of Jesus? On this the letter of Paul to the Colossians is very practical, as we shall see upcoming Sunday. It all starts at home and at the place where you work. It’s practical. But is it also possible to achieve what he writes? (Colossians 3:17-4:1)

Pastor Jos Slager

ICF Delft Sunday Service registration form (Life Groups)
Click here to fill in the form that enables you to sign up for attending the Sunday service. Read more…

The Children’s Ministry
Sunday, 5 July | Time: 12:30

Grab a virtual Coffee after the service
Sunday, 5 July | Time: 13:30 am

Join us for a virtual coffee after church coming Sunday where we can have fellowship together!

Growing up in Jesus (Colossians 1,12-23)

growing up in Jesus

How can a super-diverse and multi-ethical community grow towards adulthood?
Often this law applies: the more diverse a community, the more different ideas about it.
Through an early Christian hymn, Paul explores the significance of Jesus as the Head of the Church and firstborn of creation. Because Jesus is the ultimate reality, we must grow in Him!

Colossians Bible Study

Bible study Colossians

To go on with our series on Colossians I made a Bible Study video on YouTube.
At times I see that this letter is quite complicated. I am very grateful to my brothers Bob Landon and Yonathan Woldeul for help and insight they shared with me to understand the letter better.

We have seen that for growth and maturity we must look at the greatness of Jesus Christ more and more, rather than to look elsewhere for our growth and maturity. If He is so supreme that everything was created by and for and through Him, so supreme that He brought redemption on the cross and saved us, than wouldn’t He be sufficient for our growth? When He was able to reconcile us to God, will He not be able to mature us and bring us as mature and fruitful believers in His Kingdom? The way you can be saved is: by faith in Christ (and not in any other way, for instance by your own works). Now we must learn that the way we will grow and become mature is also: by faith, by staying in the hope that the Gospel offers us. This old message is still of great relevance today. This is what the Bible study is about.

Pastor Jos Slager

Greetings from others

Greetings from others

About staying strong in the family and the challenge of putting good theology into good practice  | Paul concludes his letter to the Colossians with a series of greetings. This is how his message really comes to life. An adult faith requires living messengers, a close-knit family of brothers and sisters and the willingness to put good theology into good practice!

Pastor Hans-Jan Roosenbrand

If you want to visit the Nieuwe Kerk, please register here beforehand.

The celebration of Holy Communion

This Sunday we also celebrate the Holy Communion during the second part of the service. It is a special celebration and reminder of what Jesus did for us. A little piece of bread and a tiny cup of wine remind us of his broken body and his shed blood. All who confess Him as their Saviour and Lord are welcome to participate. If you search to know God or if you are unsure about (Christian) faith, very welcome in the service. You may let Holy Communion pass, but we warmly invite you for a talk or personal prayer after the service.

Joy in Suffering?!

Although trouble and suffering are unavoidable in life, we don’t like them – do we? And if possible, we avoid them. However, sometimes we are grateful since others were willing to suffer for us, in order to help us. Then it is important for us to know whether they were really willing to suffer so much for us.

Coming Sunday we read Colossians 1:24-2:5 and we will see how Paul expresses joy in suffering on behalf of the Colossians. And we will learn a lot about the Gospel, ministry and about the strange combination of joy and pain.

Pastor Jos Slager

The Children’s Ministry

The (kids) theme for 7th June is “Paul rejoicing in his suffering for the gospel”, from the passage Col. 1:24-2:5. Pastor Jos will speak to the kids about this. The song is “God’s People Aren’t Super Brave, Super Heroes!” by John Hardwick.

 

Join for virtual coffee: https://tudelft.zoom.us/j/93905371751

Finding Fullness, Freedom and Firm Ground

Finding Fullness, Freedom and Firm Ground

Why do we act and feel the way we do? We often don’t realise ourselves that our acts and feelings flow from stories, narratives that we believe about ourselves and our situation. Our culture influences us deeply concerning the narratives we believe to be true. Discovering `the mystery of the Gospel’ has to do with a deep change in narrative, with great implications for what we will do and feel. We find deep fullness, freedom and firm ground in Christ. However, the old narratives still try to regain their influence… Upcoming Sunday we read Colossians 2 : 6 -19. Here we see how Paul promotes and protects the growing mature in Christ of those who discovered the joy of faith in Christ and in the Gospel.

Pastor Jos Slager

 

The Children’s Ministry

Sunday, 14 June | Time: 12:30 am

The song for coming Sunday Children’s Ministry is “For by Him All Things Were Created”. Word for Word Scripture taken from Colossians 1:16-17. This video will get our kids worshiping God while memorizing His Word!

Download here the Sunday School Coloring Page, kids can colour it in during the sermon.

 

Grab a virtual Coffee after the service

Sunday, 14 June | Time: 13:30 am

Click here and join us for a virtual coffee after church coming Sunday where we can have fellowship together!

New Past, New Future, New Practises

New practices

We might think our past is unchangeable. However, who receives Jesus as Lord, receives a new past and a new future perspective. This should have a huge impact on our practises in the present. Upcoming Sunday we will read Colossians 2:20-3:11 and will learn more about this.

Pastor Jos Slager

 

Celebrating the Lord’s Supper

Upcoming Sunday the Lord’s supper will be celebrated. It will distributed at the Nieuwe Kerk, with the Life Groups that are present. And it will also be celebrated with other Life Groups at home. If you are a member of the Church and want to participate, but not yet having a group that will celebrate it, please let us know by sending an e-mail to info@icfdelft.nl

 

Children’s Song

Sunday, 21 June | Time: 12:30 am
The children’s song for upcoming Sunday will be `Our God is a holy God’ – if you have children and want to learn the song before the service, you can do it with the YouTube-link.