The following table gives times and venues of the house groups, more information can be obtained by email from the house group contact:-

Monday	11:00am	Rosenithon Farm House, Rosenithon, St. Keverne
Monday	2:00pm	Dynargh, School Hill, St. Keverne
Monday	2:00pm	12,Tregonning Parc, St. Keverne
Monday	7:00 for 7:30pm	Windrush, Penwartha, Coverack
Monday	7:30pm	Melrose House, Commercial Road, St. Keverne
Tuesday	2:30pm	`Battery Cottage`, School Hill, Coverack
Wednesday	7:30pm	Cosy Cottage, School Hill, Porthallow
Thursday	7:45pm	Penmenor, Trelyn Lane, St. Keverne

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Paul was so excited by the way the people in Thessalonica responded to the good news he shared with them when he visited their city. The 'followers of the Way' became known in the city and in the communities around that area of Greece, for their faith and love. We will be thinking about the lessons we can learn from their example.

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Thessalonica Two hundred miles north of Athens, it was an important seaport established in 315BC by the Greek King Cassander of Macedonia. It was the province's capital. In Paul's time it had a population of 200,000 and had become a communication and trade hub of the Roman Empire, situated on the intersection between the Great Egnatian Way and the road to Danube.

There was a Jewish colony there who had established a synagogue.

Paul's 'Second Missionary Journey' We see from Acts 17 that on Paul's 'Second Missionary Journey' he visited Thessalonica with Silas around 50AD and spoke in the Synagogue there on three consecutive Sabbaths. Most commentators believe he was there longer than two to three weeks, possibly as long as six months, but only visited the synagogue on three occasions.

Some Jews believed, but many more 'God Fearing Greeks' – they were probably not full Jewish disciples who had converted to Judaism, but believers in sympathy with the teaching of the Synagogue in Thessalonica. In addition we are told that 'not a few prominent women' believed.

Some Jews reacted with hostility and stirred up 'bad characters' to start a riot – Paul and Silas fled to Berea where again they spoke of the 'Good News' in the Synagogue – Jews from Thessalonica heard of this and came to Berea stirring up trouble – Paul was taken to Athens, and later Silas and Timothy, who had joined them in Berea, followed on later. Later Paul went to Corinth from where he wrote his first letter probably in 51AD to the believers at Thessalonica.

Death is not the end Paul and his original readers were only too conscious of the frailty of life given the physical context but especially as 'Followers of the Way' – many died for their faith. That's why he encouraged them death was not the end. Do we as Christians really believe in resurrection? What is our individual attitude and response when people close to us die, and our collective response especially when Church members die?

How does the truth of resurrection life and Jesus' impending return affect our daily living and act as a spur to us to share our faith?

Keep on going The original recipients of this letter faced opposition for their faith – not apathy or indifference but 'in your face' painful and real persecution. We may not experience this, but how do we keep going in the face of apathy, indifference and unbelief, and when we face illness, financial hardship and life being very difficult and feeling it hard to believe?

Daily living Paul's challenge to the Thessalonians is 100% relevant to us – about our sexual morality; about our love for each other; and about our daily lifestyle as citizens of heaven living in a sinful world.

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Amos is a strange figure to ring bells with our twenty first century mentality: a shepherd from Tekoa who preached around 760BC. He left his home in the Southern Kingdom of Judah to go to the Northern Kingdom of Israel to preach to the crowds who flocked to the shrine at Bethel. There he preached angry sermons to those who gathered to celebrate and the message was about as unpopular then as it is now! Yet despite that fact much of what he says finds echoes in our thinking today.

He was preaching to an affluent society, satisfied with its comfortable way of life. He preached about injustice, about concern for the poor and needy. He called Israel to have a religion that was real, that changed lives, that was not just words. These are the challenges our consciences tell us we need to face in our own society. The injustice of poverty is lurking round the corner and is obvious as we look at the needs in developing nations. Amos' message is just as relevant today; though we do need to read it through Christian eyes. It talks much about judgement, and God still hates and judges sin, but Christ has borne that judgement for us in his death on the cross. There is forgiveness for failure, there is new life; change is possible. We can respond to Amos' message in a way his first hearers could not. There are hints of this in Amos' preaching, especially in the last few verses of the book. It is not all doom and gloom. There are words of hope too as we listen to Amos, the man with a message.

We are facing difficult times as all of us go through the credit crunch together. It could be a temptation on a peninsula on a peninsula, to become so inward looking that we truly are disconnected from injustice and poverty elsewhere. We could lose focus and see our difficulties out of proportion to the rest of the world. We could also lose sight of the gospel imperative to be contra-cultural and radical in every aspect of our discipleship –belief, relationship with God and humankind, worship and lifestyle. Time is running out for the church in general in our nation and for us in St. Keverne too – look at the age profile of our two congregations, look at the decline in the church electoral roll, look to the future – ask the hard questions we must confront. Then look to Amos –this will not be an easy study – it requires work to understand the context in which the book was written and then make meaning for our context. We may also need to hear some challenging words from God and be prepared to repent. We will visit the New Testament each week as we draw on the Old and New Testaments to make meaning in our context.

I remember a story about a church where they stopped all music for several weeks following a study in Amos (see Amos 5:23). The church really felt the power of God at work in their midst and their worship deeply transformed once they returned to using music again. But not only their worship was changed – so was much else about their individual and corporate living. Amos is potentially that sort of book, which can radically impact on individuals and congregations as the Holy Spirit himself blows through the living word and works in power amongst us. It's also a book of hope where God promises: "New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills".