Worshipping God in the darkness of a student pub

Last night, Monday 26^th March, after our regular Christian Union meeting (which reached a record length of 2.5 hours), Sam asked me did I want to perform a Christian song in the Stables, the on-campus student pub, which is right beside where the CU is held. The Stables had an open mic night, so this was the perfect opportunity.

Of course, I being a man of little faith, spend two minutes trying to think of excuses not to do it – I was very tired, my voice was slightly gone, and there probably wouldn't be any slots for me to sing in any way. Praise God, I somehow realised that I was just trying to think of excuses, so I eventually said, "ok, let's go".

So we basically headed over to the Stables, where about 10 others from the CU joined us. Just to set the scene, there were over 100 students in the pub, all of them drinking and “having a laugh”. Eventually, after a half hour wait, I got on stage, my friends from CU formed a small crowd in front of the stage, I plugged in my guitar, and sang Chris Tomlin's Enough to all the students in the pub. Then we did Marvelous Light by Charlie Hall, finishing with Matt Redman's Blessed be Your Name.

In the midst of the darkness of a student pub, God's people gathered to worship and praise our mighty Father with song. I am convinced nothing like this has ever happened at University of Limerick. There is an open mic night every Monday night, so God-willing, we will continue worshiping in the Stables every Monday night. We have faith that by the power of God, our worship will draw students to the life and forgiveness of sin that can only be found in Christ Jesus our Lord.

May this inspire you to think big, to have dreams, and to truly believe that God can do the impossible. Five weeks ago, we began talking to people about Jesus in the Stables, this Monday we sang worship songs with a PA system to over 100 students socialising in a pub. God is waiting for people to step up and humbly say, "Lord, here I am. I will do whatever you ask, no matter how impossible it may seem. Send me." With those people, He will change the world and draw men unto Him.

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

You are my supply
My breath of life
And still more awesome than I know
You are my reward
worth living for
And still more awesome than I know

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

You’re my sacrifice
Of greatest price
And still more awesome than I know
You’re the coming King
You are everything
And still more awesome than I know

More than all I want
More than all I need
You are more than enough for me
More than all I know
More than all I can say
You are more than enough for me

Does He Exist?

This is a poem a good friend of mine at college wrote. Up until five months ago, she was a stout atheist. Then God began calling to her, and after three months of searching, she wrote this:

He has no alpha
He has no omega
So you say ‘No’
But
No alpha
And no omega
Mean Yes!!!
Mean absolute
Mean infinite
Mean eternal

I know my logic is flawed
Sure I’m only a child
But My Lord loves me
And I know He is there

My logic:
We only know it is dark
because the light is gone
Our bones know the chill of cold
because they miss the heat
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Let me explain, the best that I can.

We wouldn’t know despair
unless our deepest soul knew peace beyond peace
We couldn’t fear
unless our spirit knew hope beyond hope
Pain wouldn’t hurt so much
if our inner heart didn’t secretly know,
secretly hold, secretly feel love beyond love

Our deepest soul
Our spirit
Our inner heart
All know He is there

I know my logic ain’t perfect
It’s nowhere near perfect
But it is one outlook
I don’t know if it’s right
I don’t know if it’s wrong
But I know the conclusion
And I know the conclusion
Is real,
Is true,
Is beyond doubt
I know He is there
I know He loves me, imperfect me.

I know that He holds
Peace beyond peace for me, for us
I know that He keeps
Hope beyond hope for me, for us
I know that He has
Love beyond love for me, for us

He is there
He is here
He is everywhere
And He is good
He is forgiving
He is merciful
He does exist

But
You cannot blame Him
for disasters, for evil,
Anymore than your cells
can blame you for illness, for disease
because just as each of your cells
affect your health
Each act by each person
affects the world

Peace, Hope and Love
He has them for each of us
Some say ‘All He asks is that you believe’
Response: ‘Sure,
lets see you jump off an
unimaginably high cliff
with no safety net’
More of my logic:
True belief comes with time, take small steps but remember
You’ve gotta take a risk, you gotta jump at some point
Yeah, it’s scary, it’s petrifying
But you gotta remember and this is beyond important,
Believing in Him
Following Him
Is worth it.

He does exist
He is powerful
And He loves you!!!

by Tracy Slevin - 6th March '07