StAG Mag June 2017

StAG MAG June 2017 [email protected] • www.stag.org/mag • Alasdair Paine standrewthegreat • @StAG_Cambridge DEAR FRIENDS... Every year at this time we say goodbye to lots of dear friends who’ve been members at StAG and who are moving on from Cambridge. Some are leaving because they’ve finished their degree or other training; others with their job; others deliberately, in order to join gospel work in other parts of the country or the world. You can read about some of them in this magazine. Rachel and I, and many others who stay, find these farewells painful! If you are one of those moving, we thank God for you, and will miss you. But we are also so thankful that you will be serving Christ elsewhere, in other churches, and so be fulfilling one of our church’s aims, “Gospel workers to the world”. For we long to be used by God to serve the Lord’s work all round the world in this way. We want to be a church to serve other churches. Please pray that all who move on this year would be used by God to take the gospel elsewhere, and that here at StAG the Lord would supply our needs for the work in the absence of all who’ve gone. May He keep us here flat out in training more generations of useful Christians — useful for Christ all over the world. Michael Nicholson DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Church Picnic Sunday 2nd July from 12noon St Faith’s School CENTRAL TEACHING MEETINGS Wednesday 5th & 12th July See back page for more details REVIEW: THE BIG EGO TRIP What makes me worth something? How can we cope with failure and feeling worthless? How should we bring up our children to have a healthy view of themselves and their value? If you want the answer to those questions, The Big Ego Trip is the book for you. Psychiatrist Glynn Harrison tackles self-esteem and what the gospel has to offer in this area. I found this book to be very helpful – it’s readable, insightful and leaves you thinking long after you’ve put it down. Glynn begins by showing how self-esteem ideology is everywhere – so common we may not notice it (“You’re special! You’re worth it! Believe in yourself!”). But while the self-esteem movement promises much, it fails to deliver and may actually cause harm. Glynn’s especially good at showing how Christians all too easily buy into self-esteem ideas without even realising it – and the damaging results that follow. I imagine any parent would be greatly helped by the material on bringing up our kids in a culture of self-esteem. But the highlight is Glynn’s explanation of how the gospel is the answer. The gospel settles the question of my worth by telling me God loves me as his child. And with the question of my worth settled, I’m freed from worrying about my worth – and so freed up to forget about myself and get on serving others. Highly recommended. - 1 - The Big Ego Trip By Glynn Harrison £8.46 from 10ofthose.com