Belfast OutReach

"I was brought up knowing the Gospel from a young age. My mum's side were Presbyterian and my Dad's side Reformed Presbyterian (Covenantors)! We attended Dromara RP Church and I was sent religiously to Sunday School and also Midweek Brethren meetings in Garvaghy Orange Hall. But I wasn't saved. I even rhymed off prayers before bed at night and read Christian literature, but I wasn't saved. At High School I attended Scripture Union and hung around with some Christians, but I also got into trouble plenty and if there was mischief, I wasn't far away! My Christianity was all in my head. I knew it all, but I didn't know Him (Jesus) personally. If one asked me if I was a Christian, I would have said 'Yes', but in my heart I knew I was a fraud and a fake. At the age of 16 I attended a Christian Youth weekend in Portrush. I only went for the craic and the girls! I even brought along my heavy metal tapes, which I was dabbling in. T...

Each year when I read the Christmas story, I am impressed with the role that the angels play in it. When I return to these wonderful chapters of Matthew and Luke in order to prepare my Christmas messages, I always seem to find a detail that I had over looked before and which therefore speaks to me in a new way. It struck me, as I began to read this story once again, that apart from the angels, no one would have understood what the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ meant — not the shepherds, not Joseph, not even Mary. Oh, it would have been quite a puzzle to Mary! She would have wondered how she could have conceived without having slept with a man. But the significance of it would have passed her by. Would she have guessed what was happening because of her familiarity with the Old Testament prophecies, such as Isaiah's prophecy that "the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son" ( Isaiah 7...