Clowne Christadelphian Ecclesia
WELCOME
Find out more about this subject at our hall at
5pm on 5th April, God willing,
when we will have a talk on
“Why should we remember the death of Jesus?”
We look forward to welcoming you.
Remember!
March 2026
Do you have a particular method of remembering things? Visual cues can be very effective, for example the cool bag by the front door reminding you to take your packed lunch out of the fridge before you set off on a journey. Plaques and monuments are common reminders of people and events and you can probably think of one that you see regularly. God doesn’t need visual cues to help Him remember things, but he gives them to His people. The first one mentioned in the Bible is after the great flood that God sent upon the earth in the days of Noah, a faithful man. When the waters had drained away and Noah and his family were able to come out of the ark that had saved their lives, God told them: “I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.” (Genesis 9:13-15) God didn’t need the rainbow to remind Him not to flood the earth, but He was giving Noah and his family something to remind them what He had said to them. Even now, when we see a rainbow in the sky, we can remember that God put it there for a reason. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses was reminding God’s people about their journey from Egypt towards the Promised Land, and the word “remember” comes in throughout the book. God wanted them to remember where they had come from and what He had done for them. Sadly, many of them remembered the wrong things, for example the food they had enjoyed in Egypt, although as slaves they had probably gone hungry a lot. They forgot how God had fed them every day as they travelled from Egypt. Jesus knew that we need reminders to keep us on track. The last meal he shared with his disciples before he was cruelly killed was a special one, often referred to as “The Last Supper”. This meal took place in an upper room in Jerusalem at Passover time, when they remembered how their ancestors had been rescued from slavery in Egypt. God had told them to keep this feast every year so that they would not forget what had been done for them. Now Jesus was using the meal as a reminder for his disciples. He took bread and gave thanks for it, then, “… broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me”. (Luke 22:19). They also shared a cup of wine. After Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, his disciples never forgot that special meal. As Jesus had instructed, they regularly shared bread and wine in remembrance of him. This still happens today. It is so important to remember what Jesus did for his disciples. Jesus did not tell them that they had to share this special meal on a particular day of the week, or in a particular place, only that they must do it in remembrance of him. Usually Christadelphians hold a “breaking of bread” service weekly. In the book of Acts, we read of disciples gathering to break bread together on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). Sunday has become the usual day for us to do this, when we are more likely to be able to get together. However, it can take place on any day of the week. The important thing is to follow what Jesus told us to do: remember him. It is a quiet time, when we can think about him and what he did for us in giving his life and we can think about how we want to follow him in the coming week. When Jesus introduced this meal, he spoke about the kingdom that was to come when he returned to the earth. Remembering is not only about the past!
Hope in a Hopeless world
February 2026
“It's a mad world”, say the lyrics of the 1982 song by Tears for Fears. The song was about mental illness, but the sentiment of our world being mad is one most people would agree with. Who is in control, or is anyone in control? President Trump, and President Putin think that, as major players on the world stage, they can control what happens in the world. The European Union like to think that the federation of European states can be a major influence on world events. So too do China, India, North Korea, and several others. The media report on great natural disasters, often citing climate change caused by the actions of mankind, famine, disease, and wars, and now openly discuss the potential for World War 3. Is it any wonder that many people are worried and even scared about what the future holds? Is there any hope in this hopeless world? The answer is a resounding yes! There is a message of hope, but to find it we have to open the Bible. The Old Testament prophet Daniel stated that “... the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Daniel 4:25 ESV). It’s an amazing and comforting thought that every leader, past, present and future, has been placed there by God to further his purpose with this world and mankind upon it. In the same chapter it is also stated” ... that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will, and sets over it the lowliest of men.” (Daniel 4:17 ESV). Who is being described as “the lowliest of men”? There is only one person this could be; it has to be the Lord Jesus Christ. In the first chapter of the New Testament book of Acts, we read how the disciples were told, as they watched Jesus ascend to heaven, that he would return. The Bible tells us that Jesus will return to end the madness and establish God’s kingdom on earth, fulfilling the words of Daniel 4:17 and many other Bible prophecies too. Whilst not giving us an exact time when Jesus will return, it does indicate what the state of the world will be when Jesus returns. The Gospel of Matthew chapter 24 verses 4 – 14 record what are known as “the signs of the times”. These include, wars, threats of war, famine, earthquakes, lawlessness and others, all of which we witness today. These are the things that cause many to feel there is no hope in this hopeless mad world. Clowne Christadelphians invite you to join us on Sundays at 5.00pm to open the Bible and explore with us and understand the great message of hope it contains.
Beginings and Endings
January 2026
Imagine what it would be like if you could tell the future. You could make the right financial investments, perhaps avoid particular health problems, and always be in the right place at the right time. But in reality nobody knows what will happen in the next few minutes, let alone in the next few years. God can declare “the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done.” (Isaiah 46:10). He knows what is going to happen, while those in power in the various governments have no idea. It might seem that God is not involved in what is happening in the world, because so many things have gone wrong. But the Bible tells us that He has a plan and it is not going to fail, unlike the plans made by humans. “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness”, He says. “I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory”. These words in the prophecy of Isaiah were written at a time when Israel had forsaken their God. They were going to be taken captive by other nations. In fact, before they had been taken away, God told them how they would be brought back to their land. He even told them the name of the king who would allow them to return – Cyrus, king of Persia. (Isaiah 44 & 45). That vision of the future would have seemed completely unrealistic when the prophet Isaiah told people about it. They just couldn’t look ahead that far. God has given us prophecies about what will happen in the time leading up to the return of the Lord Jesus to the earth. Jesus himself warned that the days before his return would be very troubled. He described a world where people would be “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage”, just as it had been before the flood in Noah’s time. Many people try to distract themselves from the terrible things that are going on by focusing on food, drink and relationships. Others don’t have that option, because life is so hard. When Jesus was teaching his disciples, he warned them of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (which happened in AD70), but told them “when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once”. He told them to get out of Jerusalem before it was destroyed, and when it happened there were some who remembered and took heed to his words. The warnings he gave for our generation are just as reliable. “… watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth”. (Luke 21:34,35). The Kingdom of God is near and it is time to get ready. God wants us to know about it, so let’s find out as much as we can while there is still time.
Putting Christ back into Christmas
December 2025
It is that time of year again, when, however much we want to, we cannot escape Christmas. The songs on the radio, adverts for Christmas goods, and the list goes on. Do you think of Christmas as a time to enjoy getting together with family and friends? Or is it an excusable time of over indulgence in food, drink and gifts? Sadly, for some it’s a time of dread, of loneliness with no friends or family to share the time with, or of unaffordable expense. Is this all Christmas is about, or is there something else? The churches see Christmas as a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Whilst there is strong evidence that Jesus was born around September rather than in December, and that Christianity relabelled the pagan feast of Saturnalia as a celebration of the birth of Jesus, surely it cannot be wrong to spend a while thinking about what the birth of Jesus means. In the gospel of Luke, we read of the message of the angel Gabriel to Mary, where she was told that she would have a son and call his name Jesus. He would inherit the throne of his ancestor King David and would reign for ever. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah, speaking of the Lord Jesus, says, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore …” (Isaiah 9:7 ESV). In the world in which we live, peace seems unachievable. The Bible tells us that the world will be in turmoil when God decides to intervene in man’s affairs once more by sending Jesus back to the earth to set up an everlasting kingdom, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies and the words of the angel to Mary. So, at this season, let us pause for a short while and put Christ back into Christmas and consider how his birth fulfilled the words of the prophets, and open our Bibles and see how his work is to be completed, and how we may become citizens of that eternal kingdom. Clowne Christadelphians invite you to join us on Sundays at 5.00 pm at our hall on Creswell Road, to open the Bible and hear about Gods plan and purpose for this world, and the wonderful offer that he has made to each one of us.
What is the Gospel
November 2025
What is the Gospel? It’s a well-known word, used to describe something that can be trusted, for example, “Take it as gospel…” Perhaps the word makes you think of a style of music, or the first four books of the New Testament in the Bible, which are called the four gospels. What does the word gospel mean? It’s from the Greek euangelion, which means “good news”. The first time we come across it in the Bible is in the book of Matthew 4:23, describing what Jesus did: “he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom…” In fact, the phrase “the gospel of the kingdom” is mentioned twice more in Matthew. It’s also described elsewhere in the Bible as “the gospel of God” and “the gospel of Jesus Christ”. Although it’s a word that only appears in the New Testament, it is mentioned in relation to an Old Testament character. Galatians 3:8 describes how the gospel was preached to Abraham, who lived many years before the birth of Jesus. So what was this “good news”? We don’t hear much good news these days, and it was the same in Israel when Jesus was there. They were under Roman occupation, and although they were allowed to continue worshipping their God, they were in a very vulnerable position. Many of them were looking for a Messiah, a King who would come and restore their kingdom, because the Old Testament prophets had foretold this. When Jesus began teaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, it attracted a lot of attention. The Jewish religious leaders saw him as a threat, because they were in a comfortable position. But ordinary people flocked to Jesus because he could heal disease and his teaching made sense. He didn’t ask them for money and he really cared about them. However, some struggled to commit themselves and eventually stopped following him. He asked his closest disciples, “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:67). Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”. So Peter understood the good news. Jesus was teaching about eternal life in God’s kingdom. The Old Testament prophets had foretold that Jesus would come as King, but the disciples didn’t want to accept that he would have to die first. He would not be King in Jerusalem during their lifetime. But, like Abraham, they had heard the gospel and believed it, so they could look forward to a time when Jesus will come back to the earth as King and raise the dead. The same gospel is still there for us to learn about, over 2,000 years later. Now that is good news!
The Christadelphians in Clowne hold a Bible-based talk at 5.00pm each Sunday.
Come and explore the Bible message with us and see how this message remains unchanged and is both important and relevant today.
Christadelphian Hall,
Creswell Road, Clowne S43 4LS.
See the 'What's on' page for details.
Contact us to request a free Bible Reading Course
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