Sandyknowes Blog

Living beside the busiest roundabout in Northern Ireland gives plenty of opportunity for watching the world go by. Sandyknowes Blog is the personal blog of Niall Lockhart (minister of Ballyhenry). Pull in and have a read…

This Sunday we meet for morning worship at 11am. This week we will be looking at 2 Samuel chapters 11and 12. Over the past number of weeks we have traced the character development of David - man after God's heart - from humble shepherd boy to King of Israel. But now comes a crash, a fall. David commits adultery with Bathsheba, an act likened by the prophet Nathan to a rich man stealing a poor man's lamb. Read the chapters for yourself as we prepare for Sunday. The service includes supervised creche / children's provision / and Bible Class.

Visitors are always welcome in Ballyhenry - this Sunday we welcome Philip Houston as guest speaker at both our 11am and 7pm services. Philip lives locally and is studying to become a minister, at Union Theological College in Belfast. He was with us back in November and we look forward to welcoming him again. As usual we have a supervised crèche, full children's provision and a teenager Bible Class. As we prepare for Sunday do pray that God will point each us to Jesus, and that His Holy Spirit will be at work among us.

The Bible doesn't hurry away from Easter. John's Gospel in particular gives us opportunity to see Easter through the eyes of someone who struggled to make sense of it all - Thomas. This Sunday morning we will be looking at John chapter 20 vs 24-31 - as Thomas comes face to face with the risen Lord Jesus. Our service will include supervised creche, and children's provision.

This weekend we join together to remember and celebrate Easter in Ballyhenry. 'Easter' is a time of the year that means many different things to different people - holidays, time off work, bunnies, eggs, commemorations, time with the family - and so the list goes on. But in behind it all - what is the truth at the heart of Easter? It will be this question that we will be exploring over the course of three special services this weekend.

This Sunday our series on 'The David Story' takes us into 2 Samuel 9 and the story of Mephibosheth. I remember first hearing this story when I was at primary school. The image of Mephibosheth has stuck in my mind since then - a young boy injured as a child, lame in both feet throughout his life, and then as a man sought out by David and invited to sit at the king's table. There are many echoes of the gospel in this story, on Sunday we will be exploring how this episode highlights the Christian virtue of kindness.

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