Faith

When impactful Christian living gets twisted

Have you ever felt a gap between your life and what you believe that the life of a Christian should look like? A gap between the church as it is now and as it might have been intended? That is nothing strange! Original Christianity, the message of the Gospel, is not only a life saving faith. It is also a life changing faith. Those who have received it become active, they change, their lives and their fellowships are transformed. Unless… the message is changed. When the original message is swapped for a subtly twisted version, wherein the Gospel is blurred, then gradually the original impact on believers lives will disappear. Upcoming Sunday you can hear more about this, when we continue to read from II Peter 1. We will read chapter 1 until verse 12 and we will pay special attention to verses 5-11.

You are very welcome to join physically!

 

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Resources to face awkward situations

Donations - ICF

Perplexities in life and awkward situations don’t disappear when someone believes in God. They are part of life with or without God. But faith in God gives you resources to face the most awkward and perplexing situations. We will hear from one of the greatest leaders of the church ever, the apostle Peter, how to face these situations with the resources God has made available to us in Christ.

Looking forward to being with ICF Delft again!  We will read 1 Peter 2:1-10

 

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The Result of Gospel Faith: True Rest

It seems the most alarming situation one can imagine: a child that is nearly dying. Not a single second can be lost! But when Jesus is underway to heal a twelve years old girl, there is someone else who gets his attention. The father of the girl is totally desperate. But Jesus shows: where He comes, He brings true rest. Whatever the circumstances are in our lives, we always can have full faith in the Gospel. Jesus brings true rest, also to us!

 

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Where is God when my life gets hard?

Wisdom from James

Where is God when my life gets hard? James, the brother of Jesus, wrote a
practical letter to young Christians. The first thing he has to say is about
the importance of prayer in periods of trial. We’ll talk about it in
the Sunday service of ICF.

Alpha Course: Explore Life, Faith & Meaning 17 September 2018

Alpha Course: Explore Life, Faith & Meaning

Alpha Course is a series of sessions exploring the Christian faith. Each talk looks at a different question around faith and is designed to create conversation. Alpha is run all around the globe, and everyone’s welcome!

When   :  Monday evenings, starting on September 17 at 19:00 (12 weeks)
Where  :  in the Chapel of the Old Church, Heilige Geestkerkhof 25, Delft

Are you interested in learning more about the Christian faith? Think about it and get in contact with derek.gerber1@gmail.com.

Watch Alpha Stories

 

 

 

Prosperity Gospel?, July 15

Prosperity Gospel?

Prosperity theology is a religious belief among some Christians, who hold that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one’s material wealth. Prosperity theology says: if humans have faith in God, he will deliver security and prosperity. Coming Sunday we will read Psalm 144. Is speaks about prospering sons and daughters, filled barns, increasing flocks etc. Is this an example of this kind of Gospel? To sing this song here in the Netherlands or in the slums of India, does it make a difference? 

See you this Sunday at 12 hrs 15 in the Génestetchurch.

Pastor Simon van der Lugt

Dealing with yourself – Service on Sunday, Feb. 25

Dealing with yourself

How do you look at yourself? Are you satisfied with yourself or struggling with your personality? It is a far from an easy question. Some of us suffer from inferiority feelings, or from killing perfectionism. A recent survey among international students in Delft showed that nearly 25 % seriously struggles with this kind of questions. Expectations of others like peers, teachers or parents can produce a lot of stress. In the service coming Sunday we continue our series of theme sermons on relationships, focusing on the relationship with ourselves.

Together we look in the true mirror of God’s image – how God meant us to be. But there are also a lot of false mirrors that distort our self-image.

How can the beautiful image of God be restored in us? Accepting and believing the Good News of Jesus has great impact on the relationship with myself. In three ways:

1. The Gospel gives a new basis to accept myself.
2. The Gospel is a new incentive to develop myself.
3. The Gospel gives the promise to find myself.

Be most welcome on Sunday at 12:15pm and find out more about this important topic!

Pastor Niek Tramper

Religion in secret? – Service Sunday Feb. 11

Religion in secret?

Christian faith is a private matter. That is the general opinion about religion in Dutch society. You can believe whatever you want, but do not reach out to convince another person. Is that not exactly what Jesus says: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6)?

What does Jesus mean, why do we have to pray in secret? This Sunday the sermon will be about this statement of Jesus! You are most welcome to join and find out more!

Pastor Simon van der Lugt

Read your Bible, pray every day!

Read your Bible, pray every day!

You might be familiar with this children’s song. Children always like to sing it and they make movements with their arms and hands while singing!
The truth in this children’s song is less easy to put in practice for adults. Most of us are very busy with study, work, family issues and much more.
Therefore, for the honour of God and for keeping ourselves healthy spiritually we should not forget to feed ourselves from the Word of God and to express our thankfulness and dependency in prayer. 

There is a wealth of websites and materials to help you with it. Especially when you are new to Christian faith and want to grow in Christian understanding and practice, here is a number of recommendations for you. (If a link may not work, copy it and paste it into your browser.)

We hope and pray that it will help you to discover more about the beauty and truth of Christian faith!
Pastor Niek

If you want to use a good guide to read the Bible, we recommend:

* Alan M Stibbs ‘A devotional guide to the Bible’
* Ro Willoughby ‘Quiet time Companion’
* Chronical Life Application Bible
You can order by www.amazon.com or (in Dutch) by: www.bol.com
Click on ‘Look inside’ and you can read quite a few days to get an idea how it works and try it out. Also recommended: www.bibleinoneyear.org

If you want some tools on how to study the Bible, you can go to:

http://www.desiringgod.org/topics/suffering/labs Watch 9 minute sessions on how to study the Bible inductively.
www.biblegateway.com/resources/scripture-engagement

You can also listen to the Bible being read,

if you find it hard to sit still and read:
www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Gen.1 or on the Olive Tree App (see below)

Websites that give you many more tools for studying the Bible,

like different translations, Greek and Hebrew original text, more elaborated Bible studies about different subjects and Bible commentaries:
www.biblehub.com
www.olivetree.com
www.bible.com/reading-plans-collection/423

For Chinese speakers:
www.csmn.nl  (Go to ‘resources’ – several resources in Mandarin/Chinese)
www.bridgeschinesenetwork.com/resources
www.biblegateway.com/app/ Bible Study App. You can also find the Bible in many different languages here, so if you ever want to show someone something in their language you can find the text in their language.

Devotional Bible reading guides

www.biblegateway.com/devotionals
http://www.g4er.tk/books/my-utmost-for-his-highest.pdf

Special: The Bible Project

The Bible Project is a plan for reading through the Bible. It is very helpful for people who don’t find it easy to get into reading. It is a unique series of short videos (6-8 minutes long) giving an overview of each book of the Bible, plus short films on other Bible themes.

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH0Szn1yYNeeVFodkI9J_WEATHQCwRZ0u
-> Read through Scripture – Old Testament
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dv4-n6OYGI&list=PLH0Szn1yYNecanpQqdixWAm3zHdhY2kPR
-> Read through Scripture – New Testament
Get it printed here: drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0RzviGbbYgVWmh4aEdaYnRlZW8

For signing up for weekly newsletters which give you the reading plan and videos to watch plus a blog with extra teaching about the reading for that week: thebibleproject.com/reading-plan

Week of Prayer for Unity – Saturday, Jan. 27

Week of Prayer for Unity

When: Saturday 27 January 2018, 7:30 PM
Where: Mount Zion Int, Krakeelpolderweg, Delft

Program

19.30 – 19.35           Prayer of thanks and mercy of God            Mount Zion Int
19.35 – 19.45           Praise and worship
19.45 – 20.00           Exhortation                                                      Pastor Hyacinth Nwosu
20.00 – 20.05          Prayer for Churches                                      ICF

  • Prayer for unity among churches in Delft and the grace to remain focused on Jesus Christ.
  • Ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to fall on us and cause revival in Delft-salvation of souls.
  • Pray for our persecuted brethren in various places in the world

20.05 – 20.10         Praise and worship
20.10 – 20.15          Prayer for Delft                                                Evangelist Solomon

  • Ask God to destroy every stronghold in our city
  • Those in authority in Delft city and Netherlands for Godly wisdom
  • Pray for institutions in Delft and students (TU, IHE)

20.15 – 20.20          Worship
20.20 – 20.25         Prayer for families                                         Mount Zion Int.

  • Pray for the family-peace, against the spirit of divorce.
  • Pray for our children and youth, that they may know Christ.
  • Pray for protection of families against evil
  • Pray that God may raise up the Christian families and that they become light in the city of Delft

20.25 – 20.30           Closing remarks and closing prayer            ICF

Time to have fellowship with each other!