Other Services Archive

This morning we welcome all the boys of our BB Company along with their families who join us for their annual service of enrolment.

This morning we celebrate God's goodness towards us in our youth and children's ministries and thank God for the children in our congregation.

In Luke 18:15-30, we encounter two strikingly different interactions with Jesus that reveals to us the truth about entry into the Kingdom of God.

First, we see Jesus welcoming the little children. He not only receives them with open arms but declares that the Kingdom of God belongs to those who come like them—empty-handed, fully dependent, and trusting entirely in Him for salvation.

Here Paul continues his practical instruction to the Roman church. With an eye on some of the tensions within this early Christian community, he gives them two very important pieces of advice. First, following the tradition set by Jesus, he points them to the great command to love one's neighbour. This command sums up all other commands regulating human relationships. But what does it actually entail in practice? Second, he exhorts them to clothe themselves with Christ and not follow the desires of the flesh. How are these two instructions related to one another?

John the Baptist did not just talk the talk when it came to telling people about Jesus; he walked the walk. When some of John's followers come to him, concerned about the impact of Jesus' disciples now baptising people too, John's answer exposes the heart problem of pride that they are still carrying. Instead, John models joyful contentment and humility in the purpose God has for his life, summed up in the famous words of verse 30: 'He must become greater, I must become less.'

Join us for our Easter Sunday family service as we celebrate the amazing good news that Christ is risen!.

In Matthew 21, we see Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is a scene I'm sure most of us are familiar with, as we see Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Jesus is entering Jerusalem at a time where the city would be teeming with Jews who have travelled from near and far for Passover week.

This morning we welcome back Peter Todd as he preaches on Psalm 2.

When we see life and all its resources as a gift given to us by God we can either respond in bold faith or craven fear.

Faith sees the trust for which we will be held accountable; the privilege for which we should be thankful; the opportunity in which we can be ambitious.

John the Baptist can seem like an elusive Biblical character, cropping up at some key moments but otherwise a bit of an unknown. In reality, we know quite a lot about John from across the gospels: his birth, his (very public) death, and several other key moments when he played his part in the gospel narrative.

Connecting John's story together is a purpose: a purpose announced before John was even born, that he would 'bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God', and that he would 'go on before the Lord… to make a ready a people prepared for the Lord' (Luke 1:16-17).

This morning all ages in our church family are staying together throughout the service as we look at Jesus' Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25.

As we reach the end of another year, we can look back on all we have each experienced over the times that have gone as well as look forward to those things that are yet to be. We live in a culture where we have come to expect everything to happen almost instantly yet that is often not the case when it comes to living as members of God's family. It is often hard for us to wait and to do so trusting in our Heavenly Father as we seek to understand His will for us as individuals and as a church family. In our passage today we are thinking about Simeon and Anna, two of the characters who feature at the end of Luke's account of the Christmas story, to see what they can teach us about waiting for God's timing.

Back in May 2022 our newly formed GB company was affiliated as the 375th NI Railway Street Presbyterian Girls' Brigade. Since then our GB has continued to prosper and this year we have 77 girls registered. Welcome to our third annual Girls Brigade Enrolment service.

For over 100 years 1st Lisburn Boys Brigade Company has been an integral part of the life and witness of Railway Street Presbyterian Church. It is a joy every autumn to have the members of our BB Company and their families join us for their annual service of Enrolment.

Members of the Company will be taking part in the service and we will hear from 1st Lisburn BB's very own Olympian - Matthew Nelson about his recent experiences playing for the Irish Hockey Tea. The speaker will be 1st Lisburn BB Chaplain - Michael Davidson who is also the minister of Railway Street Presbyterian Church.

Few people living in urban settings will be closely involved in the harvest process. Nevertheless, it is a time to gives thanks to God, in humility, and to acknowledge that “all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above” and to “praise God from whom all blessing flow”. Paul reminds his young mentee, Timothy, that he must have a proper view of living in a material world; it is fraught with dangers. Against that background, Paul tells Timothy that true mega-wealth is the contentment that issues from true godliness, which Timothy must pursue.

Today we welcome back Brian Gibson who will be taking our Communion Service.

Today we welcome back Leslie Addis who will be preaching on Ephesians 4:17-32.

Today we welcome back John Dixon who will be preaching on Matthew 17:1-13 and will be thinking about how this event was totally unique to Christ

Today we hope to share with you something of what God is doing in West Belfast through the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. We begin by looking at Matthew 9v35-38, where Jesus declares that the Harvest is plentiful. We will look at what the passage meant in its original context, how we see that applying at present in West Belfast, and ask what it may mean for you in your context.

Together we will think a little but about who the Holy Spirit is, and what He does - turning dead sinners into living saints; convicting the lost; comforting, leading, empowering, sanctifying the people of God, and much more. Perhaps most amazing of all, He indwells us!

In Mark's fast-paced gospel, the first parable he records is the parable of the sower. In the first three chapters, we see the popularity of Jesus increase and hundreds begin to listen to him and follow him. Unlike today when people crave the most followers on social media, Jesus wasn't concerned about how many were following him, but that people heard and understood his message.

As Jesus is sitting in the midst of tax collectors and sinners, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law are disgusted by Jesus as He associates himself with these religious outsiders. The Pharisees grumble and mutter “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

This evening we are delighted to be holding Steven Woods' service of licensing as a probationer for the Christian ministry. This means that Steven has completed his three years of study at Union Theological College and will now take up the position of full time assistant minister in Dundonald Presbyterian Church. He will then be eligible for a call to his congregation in September 2025.

This morning we celebrate God's goodness towards us in our youth and children's ministries and thank God for the children in our congregation.

We all have times in our lives where we hit a low point, those times when we are worn out, when nothing seems to be going as we had hoped and the pressure of life seem to become bigger and more overwhelming, no matter what we try to do to improve our situation. This was the situation God's people found themselves in when the prophet Isaiah was writing. They had been defeated by the Babylonians, Jerusalem had been destroyed and many of the people carried off into exile. Their faith in God was under strain and the people were utterly demoralised, asking where God was in the middle of their difficulties. We are going to consider the message that Isaiah brought to God's people in their day and see what it teaches us about living for Jesus in ours as we think about:

The physical desert is a dangerous and unforgiving place to be. The same can be said of the times of spiritual desert experiences that we find ourselves having from time to time. It would be easy to react and blame God for how we are feeling yet as we study Isaiah 35 we find that God meets us at the point of our need as we find:

This wonderful encounter puts flesh and blood on the heartwarming truth that Jesus is the 'Friend of Sinners.' The 'leading lady' discovers that though her sins are indeed many, God's mercy is more, and her experience of God's wonderful forgiveness, overflows in love for Jesus. We'll be reminded that, all have sinned; we'll see again, that love is the fruit, not the root of forgiveness; and we'll celebrate the great Gospel conviction, 'if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.'

During the week we have been thinking about 'Words from the Cross.' Today we move our focus to 'Words from the Empty Tomb,' as we celebrate the Good News of great joy message that was heard on that first Easter morning.

Jesus' friends face disappointment when their brother Lazarus dies, and it seems like He has done nothing. However, Jesus shows up in the most unexpected and amazing way, as He frequently does.

Jesus says 'I am the resurrection and the life', showing that He has power over death, giving Lazarus life. Jesus tells us that if we believe in Him, and accept His invitation to follow Him we will never die, but have life with Him Forever. Will you accept His invitation?

Welcome today to our annual Presbyterian Women service in RSPC.

Presbyterian Women is an organisation within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland that enables, encourages and equips women to become disciples of Christ.

Today, we are delighted to welcome Rebekah Armstrong back from Scripture Union. She is here to impart the wonderful lesson that God knows everything, and she will also provide us with an update on her work from the past year.

Today we are looking at the book Genesis with a focus on Genesis 12:1-9 with the theme 'Leave And Go'.

Coming to the end of a year is often a time when so many pause to reflect on the past and also to consider what may come along in the future.
It is important that we do so with a sense of God's perspective on the direction we are looking - giving thanks for what He has done in the past and trusting Him as we step into the unknown of the future.

We live in a world where we hear of fake news and alternative facts daily as so many try to manipulate information to match their world view. This is nothing new with humanity having struggled from the earliest times to know what the truth is and what to do with it. Discovering what truth is and how we relate to it has occupied many of the greatest philosophical minds from ancient times until the present day. The standards, patterns of thought and their outworking in behaviours and culture in our society today are very similar to those of the time of the early church. It was into this environment that the Apostle John wrote his three short letters, to help and to guide believers as they sought to live out their faith in their day.

Join us for our annual service of enrolment for our Girls' Brigade company.

This Sunday is our Harvest Thanksgiving Service. This is a time of the year where we consider God's creation and give thanks to Him for all that He has done for us. We will be considering Psalm 111 together. In this Psalm, we are told that the works of the Lord are great, and that his deeds are glorious. His great works and his glorious deeds call us to respond to him with awe and obedience, thanksgiving and praise.

Today is our annual Boys Brigade enrolment service. It is great to have our captain, leaders, Anchor Boys, Juniors and Company Section along with their parents, family and friends.

We also welcome our special guest today - Jamie Meaklim from Made For More.

This morning we want to take time to think about going Back to School with God. This is a significant time of year for many in our church family as they start a place of learning for the first time or as they return to education after the school holidays. It is a time for getting ready to step out into something new. So, as a church family, we want to focus today on our children and young people and those who work in our schools. You are all very important to us and we want to encourage you and to pray for you.

This morning we say thank you to God for all His goodness to us among our children and young people this year, and look forward to all the summer teams and camps. We will also be handing out gifts to the children in our church family and presenting Boy's Brigade Presidents and Queens badges to those who achieved them this year.

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday when believers remember the coming of the Holy spirit in power on the early Church. He, being in a personal relationship with believers, can be "grieved" and "quenched" Paul sets out in Ephesians 4, attitudes and actions that we must avoid if we are to live in a way that avoids causing Him offense.

This morning the members of the Exodus work team who recently returned from the Exodus Centre in Sutor Romania will report back to the congregation on the work that they were able to complete and the experiences that they enjoyed.

Today we take a short break from our series on the Life of Jacob in order to mark the significance of this Coronation Weekend.

The theme for this family service is 'Who Will Be King?'

We will be looking back at the King's Coronation and then reflecting on what the Bible says about the need to accept the one we are all called to make King of our lives.

Our Easter Services reach their joyful conclusion this morning as we unite to worship our risen and ever living Lord. Over the course of our Holy Week services we have thought about Jesus as 'the Way, the Truth and the Life.'
Today we return to this theme once more as we think about what these word means in the light of that first glorious Easter morning.

Today we return to think about the second half of our Mission Plan. Last time we looked at the change to, 'Go Deep' - as we seek to make all age discipleship one of our key priorities.

Now we want to think about what it means to, 'Go Wide', as we endeavour to make outward and intentional evangelism our other key priority as we seek to move forward together as Railway Street church.

Join us for our annual PW service.

Whether you have been a member of Railway Street for years or whether you have only started coming more recently this is an important morning for all of you to be present with us.

We will be thinking about our Mission Plan for the next few years.

Join us as we study Isaiah 43 to see how this encourages us and reveals more of who God is.

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Today we begin the process of electing a new Congregational Committee. As Presbyterians we believe that our form of church government is founded on and agreeable with the scriptures.
This morning we turn to the scriptures to see what we can learn about the purpose and responsibilities of the Congregational Committee and the sort of people we should elect to serve on it.

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As we come to the beginning of 2023 we may well be wondering what the new year will hold for each of us. There may well be times of joy and opportunity as well as times of challenge and sadness ahead - none of us knows what lies before us but, just like our nose, it is in front of us. In James 5 v 17 we read that Elijah was a man just like us, an ordinary person called and equipped by God to live for Him.

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Welcome to the annual enrolment service of the 375th NI Railway Street Presbyterian Girls' Brigade. We welcome our captain, officers, leaders and all our girls. We welcome the families of our GB members and the members of our church family in Railway Street.

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Join us for our service of thanksgiving and dedication for the Link Development project.

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Welcome to Railway Street Meeting House for this annual Remembrance Service. Our theme today is, 'A Tale of Two Cities.' Following that theme we will find ourselves looking back and then looking forward. We look back to a city that had experienced the shattering consequences of war - the city of Jerusalem. Perhaps no other city in the world has been fought over as much as this one. But then we will look forward to the coming of another city - an eternal city, not built by human hands - the New Jerusalem. And as we do that we will also see we what, or more accurately, who it is that brings about that transformation from the old Jerusalem to the New Jerusalem.

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This Sunday we will be hearing of how God was at work among our young people over the summer months. We will hear from our Exodus teams and their time in Romania, as well as about our Ganaway summer camp. Andrew Johnston will be encouraging us from God's word as we reflect on God's faithfulness over the summer and look ahead to the next.

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Enoch is one of the most intriguing characters we read of in the Bible. He was one of the Patriarchs, those ancient men we read of in the early chapters of Genesis, yet somehow he was very different to all the others. We are going to think about this man who so different from the others whose names we find in the early Biblical record and see what he can teach us about having a right relationship with God.

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It is a joy to welcome you all to our first Boys Brigade enrolment service since 2019. It is great to have our captain, leaders, Anchor Boys, Juniors and Company Section along with their parents, family and friends.

We also welcome our special guest today - former Ulster scrum half Paul Marshall. The message today will be shared by our own local hockey legend and BB officer Daniel Nelson.

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Harvest is a time when we stop and consciously take time to reflect on God's promises and celebrate His provision for our daily bread. But it is also a time when need to reflect on the needs of others and God's challenge to His people to help provide for those needs. This is part of what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and what it means to love our neighbour as ourselves. This morning we think about who is our neighbour as we look at the needs of others internationally and locally.

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Welcome to our Back to School with God service. Another school year has just begun, with lots of us going to nursery, school, college, or university.

We want to remind each other that whatever this year holds, you don't go back to school on your own, you go back with God. Whether you are a staff member or a student, you also go with the encouragement and prayers of us all - your church family.

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What does a Christian look like? We probably all have some stereotypes and images in our mind based on television and personal experience.
Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians gives us some very clear teaching. According to Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1, a Christian is a person who has heard God's Word and responded with a faith that works, a love that labours and a hope that endures.
A Christian doesn't only hear the gospel, it is something they believe and changes their whole life.

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Today we join together for our Youth and Children's service to celebrate God's goodness to us over the last year. We will hear God's word explained to us by Andrew Gray and have young people taking part in the service.

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Join us for our service of thanksgiving for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

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Today is a very special day as we welcome the leaders, girls and their families to the Affiliation & Enrolment of the 375th NI Railway Street Presbyterian Girls' Brigade.

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In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

On Good Friday we thought about the old things in terms of how humanity previously had no access to God and was held captive by sin and death. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross changed that. We now have free access to God and freedom from death.
If Good Friday speaks to us about how the old is gone then Easter morning speaks to us of how the new has come.

In this family service we want to think about what this new life looks like.

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In this short section of the final chapter of Acts, we read of the last stage of Paul's journey to Rome. As he and those with him leave Malta they visit several places on the Italian coast and meet several groups of believers as they make their way to their final destination. These places and people can teach us lessons that apply just as much to our church today as it did to those we read of in this passage.

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Today we are making use of Tear Fund’s Harvest Resources for 2021. We want to once again celebrate God’s faithfulness and provision in providing our harvest but we also want to think about our responsibility as Christians to care for the earth God created and entrusted to us.
Finally we want to remember and seek to help those whose harvest is threatened by climate change.

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The Christian hope is inseparably bound up with the saving work of Jesus Christ. The grounds of our hope in the present and for the future is based on what God has done in the past. And surely few things remind us of that hope more powerfully than the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
This is a hope filled sacrament

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Welcome to our 'Back To School With God' service.
The start of a new school year is always a milestone. Schools and further education have been badly disrupted during these past year and a half, the going has been hard. It is good therefore to come together as a church family today to draw strength from God, to express our love and care, and to support those involved with schools.

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During our GanaHOME summer program, we spent each morning in our 'Beacon Sessions' looked at the theme of 'THRIVE'. We discovered how God has designed us to thrive, called us to thrive and given us a hope that enables us to thrive.

This morning as we celebrate our week together we will also discover, just like Zacchaeus did, that Jesus sees our potential to thrive. Despite our past or present circumstances, Jesus focuses on our future, knowing that in his power and strength we can thrive when we place our trust in him.

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This evening’s service marks the happy end of what has been a long process for us as a congregation. We are delighted to be finally ordaining and installing our six new elders. We extend our congratulations to Adam, Alan, Charlie, Daniel, Diarmid & John and assure them of our prayers as they join our Kirk Session.

The service is being conducted by a Commission of ministers and elders from the Presbytery of Dromore of which Railway Street Congregation is a part. The preacher will be Rev Kenny Hanna, minister of 2nd Dromara Presbyterian Church.

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At this year's 'Youth Sunday' family service, our BB Captain David Cleland leads us through John 10:1-10, where Jesus reminds us that He is kind and gracious and if we follow Him we can enjoy life to the full.

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For the apostle Paul, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has been front and centre of his ministry. The believers at Philippi have been his faithful mission partners, supporting him even in his imprisonment. As Paul realises his own missionary travels may have drawn to a close, he is urging the Philippians to stand side by side for the faith of the gospel in a spirit of unity, love and humility.

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Today is Saint Valentine’s Day. Is this just a marketing gimmick created by card shops, florists and chocolate makers? Or is there something more significant behind it all? Who was Valentine anyway? In our Family Service today we are going to explore the history and significance of Saint Valentine’s Day and see whether it has any relevance for disciples of Jesus Christ today.

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Join us as Right Rev. Dr David Bruce leads us through the 'Immanuel' prohecy in Isaiah for our first service of 2021.

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Join us for our harvest thanksgiving family service, as today we give thanks to God for His goodness and faithfulness to us.

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Join us live for the commissioning of Heidi England as Railway Street's Deaconess.

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After this long period when children and school staff have not been at school, we believe it is even more important than usual to mark the start of the new school year. Many will be anxious at this time; a routine has been broken; the school community needs prayer.
With its theme, ‘Prayer Shapes, Prayer Saves’, our Back to School with God service is a great reminder that God is the one who truly hears us and is close to those who pray (Isaiah 145:18-19).
Our all-age service explores the Bible story of Daniel. Daniel faced huge challenges - but his character was shaped by spending time with God in prayer. Prayer not only shaped Daniel: it saved his life.