International Christmas Celebration

On Christmas Day, 25 December, you are welcome to celebrate with us in St. Markus Church that our Lord Jesus Christ was born. At 12 mid day we start the celebration with a multi-language worship service up in the main church sanctuary. Afterwards we share a meal downstairs in the parish hall and enjoy the fellowship.

St. Markus church is the big church between Michael Krohns gt and Lien. The address is Lotheveien 1. This church belongs to the local Church of Norway parish of Løvstakksiden. Bergen International Church is an ecumenical, English language international congregation with ties to Church of Norway.

The worship service will be held in several languages, including English and Norwegian. We shall sing Christmas carols from various traditions, read the Christmas story from the Bible, listen to the sermon and pray together.

The meal afterwards is free and open for anyone who wants to come. Last year we were more than a hundred people gathered, and we had a real good time together. We encourage those who come, to bring some of your favourite Christmas food. In this way, we make sure there is enough food for everyone, and we get a good variety of food.

Would you like to come? It is good for the planning committee to know if you plan to come for the meal, so that we get an idea of how many tables we should have ready. So if you plan to come, please send an email to christmas@bergenchurch.no or call the committee leader, Gerald Kagambirwe on 99450521.

We need many helping hands! If you want to help with anything – decorating the place, setting up tables, serving food, cleaning up afterwards – please contact us on the email address or mobile phone number above.

Den framande Jesus

Innvandring og integrering stod på dagsorden på Kyrkjemøtet i november. Det er på tide, sidan Jesus sjølv var ein flyktning og ein innvandrar. Det passar også svært godt å ta dette opp i julenummeret av Løvstakksidene, sidan preiketeksten på juledag seier om Jesus at ”han kom til sitt eige, og hans eigne tok ikkje imot han”. For oss handlar jula om å ta imot Jesus. Det handlar ikkje berre å ta imot han med trua i hjarta. I dag kjem Jesus også til oss som den framande som bankar på kyrkjedøra

Løvstakksiden menighet er ein av dei kyrkjelydane som har opna dørene og tatt godt imot kristne frå andre kulturar. Innvandrarar er representerte både i staben og i soknerådet. For fem år sidan var Solheim og St. Markus, som det heitte den gongen, med og tok initiativ til å starta Bergen Internasjonale Menighet. Og i begge kyrkjene har kristne etniske kyrkjelydar og fellesskap fått lokale til å ha gudstenester på sine språk. På den måten viser me at kristne frå heile verda høyrer saman.

Kulturkollisjonar og misforståelsar er ikkje til å unngå når ulike kristne grupper skal dela kyrkjerommet. Når folk seier at det er store kulturforskjellar mellom Solheim og St. Markus, kor mykje vanskelegare er det ikkje då å forstå kvarandre når ein ikkje snakkar same språk ein gong? Det er då ein utfordring til oss alle å sjå Jesus i den framande. Det trur eg vil gjera det lettare for oss å strekka oss langt så me kan bera over med kvarandre i kjærleik.

Kyrkjemøtet sitt dokument ”Innvandring og integrering – Den norske kirkes rolle i et flerkulturelt samfunn” tar opp mange viktige ting, og det har mange konkrete utfordringar til kyrkja, med forslag til kva me kan gjera for å opna oss endå meir for kvarandre. Også kyrkjemøtet i fjor kom med ei liknande oppfordring: Kyrkjemøtet bad kyrkjelydane om å ”åpne gudstjenestefeiringen så den gir rom for ulike kulturuttrykk og legge til rette for praktisk deltagelse for alle mennesker, inkludert mennesker med ulik språklig og kulturell bakgrunn.”

Jesus var sjølv flyktning. Josef og Maria tok Jesusbarnet i all hast med seg frå Betlehem til Egypt, der dei fekk ”politisk asyl” til faren var over. Dagens kristne egyptarar føler at Jesus på denne måten velsigna Egypt på ein særskilt måte. Kan me her i Norge tenka på same måten når Jesu brør og søstre kjem til oss som flyktningar eller andre innvandrarar i dag? Sjølv føler eg det iallfall slik. Som prest i Bergen Internasjonale Menighet (BIM) blir eg velsigna på mange måtar av dei kristne frå heile verda som samlast til gudsteneste i St. Markus kyrkje.

På juledag har du høve til å oppleva ei festgudsteneste utanom det vanlege. I St Markus skal det vera fleirspråkleg festgudsteneste for å feira han som kom for å ta bustad mellom oss. Denne gudstenesta er eit samarbeid mellom BIM og Løvstakksiden menighet. Gudstenesta blir halden på fleire språk – både norsk, engelsk, kinesisk, koreansk og kanskje fleire også. Me skal synga julesongar frå fleire tradisjonar, og sikkert nokre av dei gode gamle norske også. Og mens me ventar på jul, ønsker eg deg ei god adventstid. Vel møtt til dei mange arrangementa både i Solheim og St Markus!

African night at BIC

Here are some pictures from our last worship service, led by some of our African members (and a couple of Brazilians). Sorry we have no means to upload the sound from the service, or the atmosphere!

God's refugees

"To God's elect, strangers in the world". This is how Peter addresses the readers of his first letter to the Christian congregations. Not all of us are refugees, but many of the people in Bergen International Church have left their home country for one reason or another. In one sense all Christians are away from our real home, heaven, and we live our life as strangers in the world.

On Sunday 29 November we start a study on 1 Peter. I quote from the cover of the book 'Homeward Bound', which will be our study guide: "The first letter of Peter is one of the gems of the New Testament. It is packed with glorious truths and teaching about our salvation in Christ, how we are strangers and exiles here on earth, and about our true home in heaven that is to be the focus of our lives. And yet it is equally full of stirring challenge and practical encouragement to live good lives among the unbelievers around us, when that means suffering and heartache."

If you want to get the full value of this study, you should join one of our small groups that meet during the week. In the Sunday worship services we shall have only some 'starters' but the full meal is taken at home in your private study and in the cell group meeetings. The cell groups are always open to new members, but this is a particularly good time to join a group, since we are just finishing our previous study.

Pastor Geir

Purpose-Driven Life

This fall our church is going through the famous book "Purpose Driven Life". Many have found a new perspective on life through the study of his book.
Some of our members sent this interview with Rick Warren:

This is an absolutely incredible interview with Rick Warren , "Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California . His wife now has cancer, and he now has "wealth" from the book sales.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:


"People ask me, "What is the purpose of life?" And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain."

But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD. "

BCCF - a place for the Chinese in Bergen

The Chinese Christians in Bergen have recently organised themselves as BCCF - Bergen Chinese Christian Fellowship. BCCF will increase the number of Chinese worship services to have services on two Saturdays each month, starting from September 26. The services will take place in the parish hall, downstairs in St. Markus Church, Lotheveien 1. They are organised together with Bergen International Church and the Oslo congregation of SCCC - Scandinavia Chinese Christian Church. The leader of BCCF is Dr Liu Tiancun from Beijing.

BKKF
Gruppen av kristne kinesere i Bergen er nå organisert under navnet Bergen Kinesiske Kristne Fellesskap. Det langsiktige målet er å danne en egen kinesisk menighet i Bergen, men foreløpig organiserer BKKF gudstjenester på kinesisk i St. Markus kirke to lørdager i måneden. Dette skjer som et samarbeid mellom Bergen Internasjonale Menighet og den kinesiske menigheten i Oslo, som er en del av SCCC – Scandinavia Chinese Christian Church. Den nye lederen for BKKF heter Liu Tiancun og kommer fra Beijing.

World Cup Mission

Last Sunday we prayed for one of our members who is on a short-term mission trip to the football World Cup in Germany (name withheld), and today we have his report:

"Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Yesterday we had a very good day here. It was a big gathering
at one market here in town. All the churches had joined forces.
They had different activities for the kids, a lot food, and different
groups at the stage.

I felt that I got prayer answered yesterday. I had a very good
conversation with one of the people who visited our stand.
I was very blessed, and I think that he was blessed through
it. And that was exactly what I asked for prayers for.

Saturday we also had a very good visit to one from Ghana.
He shared a lot of interesting things from his life.

I hope the week will have more of this.

blessings to all you."

Keep on praying!
Pastor Geir

Baby Shower

Our youngest member, Selma Marie Joksch Berg, was born to Mona and Dag Erik a month ago, on April 5. Today we had a baby shower for her in the parsonage. Congratulations with the baby!

GOSPEL TRUTH?

A comment on John 20:19-31

Does Jesus want us to be naïve?
When Jesus showed himself to Thomas the sceptic a week after the resurrection, he said to him: “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed” Does Jesus want us to be naïve? Unfortunately, too many people are naïve and believe anything they are told. That is why books like The Da Vinci Code become so popular. They think it is based on thorough research, when it is only a mix of fables. Unlike Thomas, we have never seen the risen Jesus Christ with our physical eyes. The only thing we have is the Bible telling us that it happened. How can we know it is true? Are we naïve to believe these stories? What about these other gospels that have been discovered, like the gospel of Judas?

Why were some books not included in the New Testament?
One of the claims in The da Vinci code is that at the time of the Roman emperor Constantine, there were many gospels in circulation. Dan Brown says that Constantine authorised just four of the gospels and had all the others burned. And when this so-called gospel of Judas becomes known to us, people start believing that they can’t trust our Bible anymore. So what really happened? Let me first give you a short answer and then a long one: The short answer is that there are three main reasons why they were not included: Firstly, they were not written by eye witnesses. Secondly, they were not in general use across the Christian church. Thirdly, they were not in accordance with the teaching of the apostles. Although Constantine, the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity, had an interest in church politics, there is no evidence that he burnt any Christian books, and he did not authorise a particular list of books.

A long process
The gathering of the scriptures of the New Testament was not the choice of one man or one particular church synod. It was a long process, and it involved all the churches in the Christian world. The first Christians did not have the New Testament. They had something better: the New Testament writers themselves. They had Jesus Christ himself, who is in person the Word of God. They had the apostles, who remembered what he did and what he said, and who had received the Spirit of truth from Jesus.

The next generation of Christians had the scriptures of these apostles and the evangelists. They used these eye witness accounts in their worship services, along with the holy scriptures from the Old Testament. They also had a whole lot of other scriptures. These were widely used as literature, but they were not regarded as holy scripture on the same level as the gospels and the letters of Paul. The most famous of these scriptures have been gathered in a collection called “The apostolic fathers”.

The first known list of recognised New Testament books dates from around AD 170-200. It mentions all the books in our New Testament. The famous bishop Athanasius of Alexandria listed our twenty seven books in the year 365. A few years later, Gerome translated the Bible into Latin and gave the West its standard text, the Vulgate. These lists were then finally confirmed in two general synods in 397 and 418. My point is that this was not the accidental choice of one or two men. The whole Christian church was involved in this long process, and they used very strict criteria: The scriptures had to be eye witness accounts that were in accordance with the apostolic teaching and in common use in the worship services all across the Christian church.

What about the apocryphic gospels or acts?
A number of scriptures were written too late to be regarded as authoritative holy scripture on the same level as the scriptures that were included in our New Testament. These are sometimes called apocryphic books. Some of them are in accordance with the apostolic teaching while others represent heretic teachings like gnostisism. Common for these scriptures is that they try to fill in the gaps where the New Testament scriptures keep silent, for example about the childhood years of Jesus and the stories of the apostles not mentioned in Acts. It was common to give the book a name after a famous person. But even though the intention was good, this wasn’t always reliable.


The Gnostic gospels
Gnostisism was a syncretistic religious system that blended Christian beliefs with Greek philosophy and Eastern mysticism, and very much opposed to Jewish beliefs. It was a dualistic system where everything physical was regarded as evil and only the spiritual was good. The Greek word gnosis means “knowledge”. The idea was that Jesus gave secret knowledge to some of his disciples, who in turn passed it secretly on to others. In the Gnostic gospels the villain of the Biblical stories becomes the hero. The creator god of Genesis becomes the villain, while the serpent is the hero.

What about the gospel of Judas?
This was presented to the public just before Easter this year. It was found in Egypt around 1970 and smuggled to the USA. The fragmented manuscript is a Coptic (Egyptian) translation from Greek, dated to around AD 300. Scholars say that it does not give us new knowledge about Jesus Christ or Judas, but it does give us interesting knowledge about Gnostisism. The original Greek text was probably written around AD 150, so it was not written by Judas. The Church father Irenaus mentions it in AD 185. The text gives us the typical Gnostic picture of Jesus: Divine but not really human. Quite typically it makes the villain into a hero. Judas is the only one who understands who Jesus really is. When Judas betrays Jesus, he is only freeing him of his human “clothing”, so he is actually doing Jesus a favour.

Not naïve
Perhaps some of you also have begun to doubt if the gospels we have in our Bible are true, or perhaps you think they are there by coincidence. Let me tell you that they are not there by coincidence. God has been in control of the process. Our Lord Jesus Christ breathed his Holy Spirit on his disciples. He gave them insight. He spent 40 days with them, teaching them what was written about him in the scriptures of the OT. He gave his disciples authority to pass on this knowledge. And they did so. They wrote down their stories, and the first Christians took great care in passing the scriptures on to those following after them. We are not naïve if we trust them.

Welcome on (the) board, Gerald!

New member of the church council:

”Bergen is my second home,” says Gerald Kagambirwe Karyeija, (33) Ph.D. student living at Fantoft. In Bergen International Church we are glad to have Gerald as a part of our church family, and we welcome him as a new member of the church council.

- My part of Uganda is also mountainous, so I feel at home in Bergen. I like this city because it is not so fast and hectic as the other European cities. It is less crowded. It is also very safe at night. Bergen hasn’t got the typical city life. Here people retain their family relations. It is a modern city, but with a strong rural dimension.

Last year Gerald took a master degree in public administration at the University of Bergen, and he has recently returned from Uganda to start his work on a Ph.D. on how culture can influence parliamentary decision-making. Uganda is a country with a mix of cultures that result in conflicting views on many things. Muslims, for example oppose a law against polygamy, and Catholics are against laws for family planning.

What was your first impression of Norway?
- Norwegians were cold people! I felt that they didn’t want to relate to me and that they preferred to keep a distance. I also noticed that the living-standard is very high. And I was shocked by the way people express their intimacy in public. But I was pleased to find that it was so easy to relate with people in authority, like my teachers. They treat us as their equals.
Has this impression changed since then?
- Yes, I have found that Norwegians actually want to get to know you, although they are shy, and this may be misinterpreted by foreigners. I have also corrected the stereotype of Europeans. You are told that religion has died in Europe. But I have found so many faithful and spirit-filled people who are serving the Lord. This was better than I had expected.

Why did you join Bergen International Church?
- I went to a number of churches first, and then I found myself at home in BIC for a number of reasons: The services are in English, so I can understand what’s going on. You can find people from all ages in the congregation, from the very young to the very old. And the way the services are conducted suits my personality. Orderly, not noisy, yet not boring! It is truly an International church with people from so many backgrounds. It is homely. You find yourself welcome and involved at once. To me all this was very satisfying.

Do you have any vision for the church?
- I think it can grow, especially in terms of number. There are also many gifts that are not yet discovered and used.
We wish Gerald luck in his work on the Ph.D. and hope his wife Faustine, who is still in Uganda, can join him in Bergen soon.

Ellen Eliassen and Gunnlaug Bøyum were re-elected to a new term on the council at the Annual General Meeting on 26th of February.

Candidates for Church Council

The list of candidates for the BIC church council is ready.

The current council (names with country of origin):

• Hee-Chan Seo, Korea (chair)
• Gunnlaug Bøyum, Norway, (vice chair)
• Brenda Robertson, Scotland, (secretary
• Ellen Eliassen, Norway, (treasurer)
• Mona Joksch Berg, Norway
• Sumihar Silalahi, Indonesia (left Bergen summer of 2005)

The candidates

The Annual General Meeting on 26 February will elect three members for a two year period. The candidates are:

• Ellen Eliassen (70). Ellen is the current treasurer of BIC. She has been on the council since 2003. She is born in Bergen and has spent most of her adult life in Cameroun as a missionary for the Norwegian Missionary Society.

• Gunnlaug Bøyum (60). Gunnlaug is the current vice chair of BIC, and has also been on the council since 2004. She is from Bergen and has spent many years as missionary in Japan. Currently she works as a teacher. Gunnlaug sometimes plays the piano in the worship services. (Sorry, no picture of her.)

• Gerald Kagambirwe is from Uganda. He is married and a student of public administration. Gerald is also in the board of Fantoft Christian Fellowship. He has recently returned from field research.

• Ronald Semyalo is also from Uganda. He is married and studies marine biology. Currently he is in his home country for field research, but plans to join us again in June.

• Bocong Sun, (20), usually called Bo, is from Beijing in China. He is an active member of our church and of the Chinese Christian fellowship in Bergen. Bo is a high-school student.

Please pray about this and give your vote on Sunday after the service at 17.00.

Pastor Geir

The Muhammad Cartoons

The last week people in Europe have witnessed with astonishment how a few simple drawings have sparked a fire in the Muslim world – a fire that is still raging. It has the potential to develop into something really nasty, much worse than the burning of flags and diplomatic missions. As I write this, news about the first deaths have already reached us. How do we as Christians respond to this violence? And can we criticize the prophet of Islam without risking violent reactions?

It is natural to feel disgust towards people who resort to the kind of violence we have seen on TV lately. Yes, the cartoons were an unneccesary provocation. Yet, to us, the reactions seem way out of proportion. We ask ourselves if this reaction is merely political or stem from the root of Islam itself. In this situation we must not answer with more violence and provocation. Now is the time for us to pray for peace and to meet our Muslim fellow citizens with love and respect.

Muslims in the Middle East put the blame on all Danes, all Norwegians and in turn all Westerners for what was done by a couple of newspapers. We already see that some Norwegians do the same and blame all Muslims for what is now going on in some areas. Sadly, also here in Bergen stones have been thrown at one of the mosques, although the leaders of Muslims in Norway have renounced the violent acts in Syria and elsewhere.
A better reaction is to show Christian love to the Muslims you meet in Bergen, whether it is at work, at school or in your neighbourhood.

Also for the sake of our Christian brothers and sisters who live as minorities in Muslim countries, it is now of utmost importance that we do what we can to calm the situation. Diplomats are protected by armed guards. Tourists can get on an airplane and leave. But most local Christians have no other option than to stay and to pray that they will not be the next target of sectarian violence.

The issue of press freedom, however, is something we should continue to debate. It is understandable that Muslims feel offended by the less than respectful drawings of their prophet. Unfortunately, however, criticism of Muhammad has always been met with violence in the Muslim camp. This is not a new development. It goes back to the time when the prophet himself lived in Medina and ordered the murder of a poet who had insulted him. All experience shows us that if we want to communicate with Muslims, it us usually counter-productive to criticise their prophet. It is better to point in a positive way to Jesus, and present him to our Muslim friends and let them think for themselves. Still, the current situation makes it relevant to ask: Is the Muslim community able to accept scrutinizing, honest questions about their prophet without resorting to violence?

Pastor Geir Sakseid

Norwegian summary:
Karikaturteikningane av Muhammad var ein unødig provokasjon, men reaksjonane frå muslimsk hald var skræmande store. Det er no viktig at me ikkje svarar med same mynt og stiller norske muslimar kollektivt til ansvar for det som skjer i delar av den muslimske verda, også med tanke på kva konsekvensar det kan få for kristne minoritetar i muslimske land. Situasjonen gjer det likevel naturleg å stilla spørsmål til om det i det heile tatt er mogleg å stilla kritiske spørsmål til profeten Muhammed utan at det blir svara med vald.

Thank you, bishop Ole!

Our bishop, Ole D. Hagesæther of the diocese of Bjørgvin, has given us clear, biblically based advice on the issue of homosexuality. In a statement on our diocese’s webpage here (in Norwegian) he clarifies his own views. This comes as the report written by the Church of Norway’s Doctrinal Committee was released on Friday. Half of the committee recommends the ordination of clergy living in homosexual relationships, whereas our bishop remains on the restrictive side. For the last twelve years he has worked with this issue but has only been strengthened in his views. It is evident that our bishop has a loving heart also towards the homosexuals. We need to meet all people with generosity and respect, just as Jesus did. “But we must, in order to be truthful, also remember that in those same stories Jesus calls people to repentance and a new lifestyle,” he writes.

Pastor Geir Sakseid

The Attitudes of Discipleship

Having just completed last fall's Bible study on Paul's letter to the Ephesians, we now try something different. Actually, from one perspective it's rather traditional: We will use the Revised Common Lectionary in our worship services. This is a system of Bible readings for the whole year, and it is used by many denominations.

To help us get into the texts we have found an online tool on the ELCA's (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) web pages for evangelism. The tool, called Daily Discipleship is a series of downloadable files for individuals or small groups who want to study the Sunday gospel passages during the week.

This is what we do: On Sunday we introduce the topic of the week in the worship service. Then we use the same topic in the cell group during the week. This helps us get deeper into the texts, and perhaps Jesus can challenge us in a more personal way.

Currently, the topic of these studies is called "Attitudes of Discipleship". This winter and spring most of the texts will be from the gospel of Mark and of John.

To check out the studies, follow this link: http://www.elca.org/evangelism/dailydiscipleship/

Denne vinteren og våren bruker vi de internasjonale tekstrekkene fra "Revised Common Lectionary", som er brukt av flere kirkesamfunn. Tema akkurat nå er "Disippelsinn". Vi ser på ulike holdninger en Jesus-etterfølger skal ha. Tekstene og hjelp til bibelstudium finnes på lenken over.

Pastor Geir