Hello everyone!  Yesterday evening we watched the X Factor as we recorded it for my daughter Cathy, but it was worse than ever; the only really decent act which was Danyl was slammed in a round about way by Danni, Cheryl and Louis, so he might be leaving this week.  Even Simon was not as discerning as he can be as a judge, so it was a stressful experience for us.  The talent is one of the poorest at performance, after so much initial promise, so I am not wasting any more time on it. 

 

This morning our service was led by the minister Nick Witham from Starbeck, who captured the children’s attention, when he did the children’s address.  He brought a rucksack which fascinated the children, as he asked them what they considered their most valuable possession, which they would save from a fire; a member of the congregation said family photos, another said his wife, and a child decided on her teddy!  He showed us what he would have saved as a priority, namely his war games comics of which he has 300 and then football brochures from his favourite team and even old newspapers from the 1950’s and 1930’s from a clearout of his grandparents house!!  None of these would be of such value to me, I must admit, but I would want to make sure that my beloved was safely out.  Nick then reminded the children and indeed all of us of how valuable we are to God.

 

For his sermon he again reminded us that we were special and valuable to God, but that has brought some responsibility with it.  He described a shopping expedition with his wife, when he waited ages outside changing rooms whilst she tried on a new outfit for him to tell her how she looked in it.  From this story he reminded us that we are the people of God, as it says in Colossians 3 v 12; ‘You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own.  So then you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.’  We are to ‘clothe’ ourselves with the qualities which Jesus showed us.  As we are loved and accepted by God, he wants us to share that with others, and only as we ‘clothe’ ourselves with compassion, kindness and other such qualities can we draw others to experience God’s unconditional love and realise how valuable they are in his sight.  Although the gifts we are to cultivate may not be considered important to most people they are true signs of those who follow the Lord. 

 

Lunch today was a miracle, especially compared to the last time my beloved prepared diced pork for a meal.  Today the meat melted in the mouth and ample flavour permeated the meal after my beloved used his culinary skills to prepare it.  First he used a rolling pin to flatten and break the toughness of the meat, then he chopped it into smaller pieces, and finally cooked it for longer; the result was delicious tender meat served in a spicy curry sauce with brown saffron rice!  My beloved’s many culinary skills paid off and we had a really tasty lunch; I am so fortunate to have such a talented hubby!  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  This morning I gave 2 people a lift to chapel; one being May who usually comes if she well enough and Molly who just needed a lift to church this morning.  It was a thoughtful and well presented service led by Rev. Christine Gillespie with well chosen hymns.  I was pleased that she came down to talk to the children, as that makes the children’s address so much more accessible for the children.  She asked the children and us for names of Bible people, Moses, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus, Paul and Mary and Joseph were amongst names suggested.  She then went on to say how children’s stories usually had a perfect hero or heroine who was always vindicated in the end and then everyone lived happily ever after.  In the Bible we learnt about the people like Paul who persecuted Christians with a zeal that only ended when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  Peter was an impulsive character who ended up denying he knew Jesus, but Jesus did not give up on him and he became the leader of the church.  Christine showed how God used people who made mistakes but gave them a second chance, in fact he does not stop loving us if we do things wrong and he forgives us and wants us to forgive ourselves.

 

The hymn chosen for us to sing was about Moses no 450 in Methodist Hymns and Psalms and this verse spoke to me about how God is with us in our faith journey:

 

‘No matter what you may do,’

The Lord said,

‘I shall be faithful and true,’

The Lord said.

My love will strengthen you as you go along,

For you’re my travelling, wandering race,

You’re the People of God.’

 

So every day,

We’re on our way,

For we’re a travelling, wandering race,

We’re the people of God.

 

I find it helpful to know that the Lord keeps company with us on our faith journeys, especially as he does not give up on us, even if we make mistakes.

 

In the sermon Christine talked about whether we had ever had nicknames, which had stuck or been painful for us.  I used to hate my middle name as a child as it was an unusual old fashioned name, Gertrude, which apparently sounded lovely when spoken by my Grandpa to his wife, so my mother told me!  I was called ‘Dirty Gerty!’ at school so that did not help me get attached to my second name!  My brother Selwyn used to sometimes call me ‘Nellgen Tootiteka’ although I am not sure how it should be spelt, which I always found affectionate and lovely, but did not become a nickname which stuck.  A family friend, Alice, who was at university with my mother, used to call me ‘Scallywag’ and my younger sister Fran ‘Poppet’, both I felt were endearing names. 

 

Anyway I have got a bit sidetracked; back to Christine’s sermon.  She talked about a person in the Bible who was known not by his real name, Joseph, but by a nickname, namely Barnabus, which meant that he was an encourager, and the name stuck.  He was the disciple who introduced Saul to the apostles after he had become a Christian and thought he would be the right person to bring to Antioch to lead the church there.  Later they went together on missionary journeys, he and Paul.  Barnabus was happy to take second place when Paul became a more prominent leader in the church.  Barnabus was not perfect either as he and Paul had a strong disagreement about John Mark.  On the previous missionary journey John Mark had left and gone home early in the journey, so he had let them down.  Paul was not prepared to let him come with them on another missionary journey but Barnabus, the encourager, was prepared to give him a second chance.  So Barnabus split from Paul and set off with John Mark, whereas Paul set off with Silas.  The good news is that God still used the two groups to spread the faith, although they had had a quarrel and later we find that Paul found John Mark a reliable companion on his missionary journeys.  Barnabus’ faith in John Mark was vindicated, but he did not share Paul’s limelight and worked as an encourager in the background of the church’s mission, which was a vital part of the mission.  We all have an important role we can have in the church and with all we meet if we like Barnabus can be encouragers of others.  Let us all be encouragers and in that way strengthen all we come in contact with.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  This morning I walked down to church, as May was unwell, but I ended up arriving at the last minute as the procession for Remembrance Sunday was filling the whole square near the Cenotaph, where quite a crowd of people were applauding the soldiers arriving; I had to turn round and then go behind the banks to be able to get to church!  As always our service was begun with the prayer for peace.  A retired minister Gordon Lister led the start of our service until our deacon was able to join us from the Cenotaph Service; our opening hymn was ‘O God our help in ages past’, which is often chosen today.  I was struck by Gordon’s opening prayers, which drew attention not only to service men who suffer and die but also to those innocent civilians caught up in the horror of war.  These verses from the next hymn written by Fred Kaan are pertinent I feel;

 

We turn to you, that we may be forgiven

For crucifying Christ on earth again;

We know that we have never wholly striven,

Forgetting self, to love the other man.

 

Free every heart from pride and self-reliance;

Our ways of thought inspire with simple grace;

Break down among us barriers of defiance;

Speak to the soul of all the human race.

 

Teach us, good Lord, to serve the need of others;

Help us to give and not to count the cost;

Unite us all, for we are born as brothers;

Defeat our Babel with your Pentecost.

 

The Bible reading from Micah reminded us of the hope that swords could be made into ploughshares. In the reading from Romans Paul assured his readers when he said, ‘For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love; neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above or the world below – there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord’ – Romans 8v38-39 In life there would be struggles and suffering but God was in the suffering with them.

 

The words of the last verse of the next hymn by F. Pratt Green could help us build a better world if we took note:

 

He (God) reminds us every sunrise that the world is ours on lease:

For the sake of life tomorrow may our love for it increase;

May all races live together, share its riches, be at peace:

May the living God be praised!

 

Gordon announced the hymn in the hope that our deacon would make it in time to deliver the sermon, planned to follow it!  Sure enough he walked up to the pulpit during that hymn and gave a thoughtful sermon, reflecting on what he had learnt from his parents and grandparents about the reality of war.  He then went on to say that we could only give a proper tribute to those who fell in war, both in the armed forces and in civilian populations, if we work for peace and justice and love another; that task should start here and right now.  Maybe we could dream that the world has made an end to war, so that no more money is spent on the military or weapons but instead the hungry are fed and the poor have a good quality of life.  Let there, as David Hunt our deacon said in the words of the song, be peace on earth and let it begin with me.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

 

Hello everyone!  It is so lovely to be relaxing now with my beloved snuggled under my Snuggle Blanket with the horrid day shut outside!  I set off to church this morning in torrential rain in my wellington boots, clutching my umbrella with both hands, as I carefully dodged the splashes from passing cars!  My trousers were wet on my right hand side as the umbrella could not protect all of me from the driving rain.  I was relieved to see that a number of other people had also managed to make it to church as I had wondered if the weather would have put them off.  I could have driven of course, but I don’t like to drive to church if I have no one who needs a lift there, so I walked.  I was relieved to get home although I did enjoy the exercise. 

My beloved produced delicious chicken curry, based on Jalfrezi, but as always it has my beloved’s extras which make it really special, especially with his saffron rice.  I had some of the blackberry and apple sponge I had made with our own apples and blackberries yesterday and cheese and biscuits for my special Sunday lunch treat! 

I have felt a bit flat today after the X Factor yesterday evening, as the comments of the judges were over critical, in my opinion, about two of the acts with talent, namely Jamie Archer and Danyl Johnson; perhaps the 2 female judges fear their talent and that is why they are so nasty at times. Simon is the only judge who is consistently fair in his criticisms and comments; he is the only one I respect.  I shall now just be recording it for Cathy but not watching it anymore.  I prefer to enjoy time with my beloved.

Our service this morning focussed on All Hallows when we remember all who have died and been hallowed by Jesus and sanctified.  We are all saints with those who have gone before not through our own efforts but through Jesus who accepts us as we are, warts and all.  The service on Radio 4 this morning reminded us of how God had used so many flawed people like David who could not control his eyes, Moses who could not control his temper and felt he could not do what he was asked to do by God or Samson who was so easily led astray by the women in his life.  God uses us and accepts us as we are; we need to say we can do what he asks us, as He will give us the strength to do it.  Let us remember we are all special to God and he loves us all and accepts us as we are; we will never be able to deserve it but it is God who hallows us.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  It is a wet and windy day with glimpses of sunshine surprising us with brightness.  My passenger was unable to come with me this morning, as she had broken her dentures!  She has had a number of problems over the last few weeks, which have meant that she couldn’t come with me.  I felt so sorry as she cannot bite properly, so I took her a small blackberry and apple sponge for her lunch, some chocolate she likes and the papers I pass on to her to cheer her up on my way to church.  She looked pleased to see me and pleased with the gifts. 

I led the service at Woodlands Chapel this morning.  I was pleased that the healing of blind Bartimaeus was a set reading from the lectionary as it took me right back to when the girls were small.  They loved the ‘Jesus help me’ story as they called it, as they both loved to shout even louder, ‘JESUS HELP ME!!’ I was glad to see that there were a good number of children with some who were eager to volunteer to help tell the story.  One girl had a scarf over her eyes as she played Bartimaeus, and entered beautifully into the part, especially when she shouted even louder.  Other children played Jesus and his disciples walking on their way to Jerusalem past where Bartimaeus was sitting begging.  The congregation joined in to tell Bartimaeus to be quiet!  Jesus needed some help to speak, but she enjoyed her role and the disciples led Bartimaeus happily to her. They enjoyed it when Bartimaeus was leaping along the road with Jesus.  I thanked them for their help and told them of 2 things we could learn from the story; that Bartimaeus did not give up but persisted until he was heard by Jesus and Jesus healed him, as he knew what he needed.  We too must not give up but keep on calling to him for help and ask for what we need, as Jesus will make us whole, as he knows what our needs our.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and glad in it.

 

Hello everyone! It is a lovely sunny day. I enjoyed a walk to church this morning, smiling and feeling how lucky I am to live in such a lovely place. Today we were considering how we can reduce our wastefulness of this world's resources and reduce our carbon imprint to protect those who are the poorest and live in the most vulnerable surroundings. That has come home to us at the moment with the tsumani, which affects those who live on islands or on low lying land near the coast. Because of our abuse of the earth's resources the poor countries bear the brunt of droughts, floods and extreme weather conditions. We have a duty to care for creation and put aside our selfish interests. Our minister Shaun showed us a couple of excerpts from the film Creation, which describes the family life and work of Darwyn; most interesting about the conflicts with those of faith including his devoted wife. I look forward to seeing the film when it is released on DVD.

Shaun urged us to pray for God's will to be done in Copenhagen in December with the COP 15 talks. This Sunday is St Francis' Day, so it is a good day to rejoice in creation and recognise our responsibility for looking after it.

The 5 R's of Creation Care

1. Reflect – Do I need this?

2. Re-Use – When possible.

3. Refuse – Excess packaging.

4. Recycle – Where you can.

5. Repent – I need to change.

We can only buy what we need not what we want and re-use whenever possible; both my beloved and I are hoarders in case something might come in handy and things often do find another use! We do take our own bags to do shopping and I try to buy loose vegetables in recyclable bags rather than in packets, if we can. We are fortunate to have a recycling box provided which we fill with glass, tins and newspapers and a garden bin, which is full now. These are collected every 2 weeks. I also take cardboard and plastics to the tip for recycling when I shop at our local supermarket. I realise I need to change and conserve what I can, to help the climate. We are so fortunate to have so much and we need to do the best to help those most affected by climate change.

Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London expressed this powerful thought:

'Prayer is powerful in dispelling the illusion that we are gods; an illusion which has wreaked such havoc on the earth.'

The words of this hymn are also very pertinent to today's theme; the hymn is written by Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith with a suggested tune; Kingsfold.

I find verses 2-3 most challenging to me:

A world of order and delight

God gave for us to tend,

To hold as precious in his sight,

To nurture and defend;

But yet on ocean, earth and air

The marks of sin are seen,

With all that God created fair

Polluted and unclean.

O God, by whose redeeming grace

The lost may be restored,

Who stooped to save our fallen race

In Christ, creation's Lord,

Through him whose cross is life and peace

To cleanse a heart defiled

May human greed and conflict cease

And all be reconciled.

Renew the wastes of earth again,

Redeem, restore, repair;

With us, your children, still maintain

Your covenant of care.

May we, who move from dust to dust

And on your grace depend,

No longer, Lord, betray our trust

But prove creation's friend.

This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  We had our harvest family service this morning, when the children brought gifts and we could donate to the Methodist World Relief Fund, which I did, to help those in need in developing countries, to get started to be able to support themselves ultimately.  I also brought a couple of apple fruit cakes for the members of the congregation to share, as the apples are from my garden and represent my harvest offering!

 

Letters of the alphabet were hidden around the church for the children to collect to make words on the theme of harvest.  The children with some adult help held up the letters and words were formed with our help; the words were ‘GOD PROVIDES HARVEST’.  David our deacon then asked for suggestions for the letters of the words, provides – produce, rain, oranges and some other suggestion, vehicles to transport, irrigation, drill holes for planting seeds, earth, seeds; harvest – hoeing, all involved, reaping, value of food, everyone needs it, sharing and thanksgiving to God who has provided our needs, but expects us to share our harvest with a needy world. 

 

The children sang a song about fruit and vegetables which they had sung at school, holding up the appropriate fruits when they were mentioned; it was called the cauliflower song.  They sang well but quietly, some more accurate at holding up the fruit with the older children prompting the younger ones to take their part.  It was funny as one of the youngest children struggled to hold up a huge marrow at the appropriate time!!  It was lovely to see them enjoying their part in our service.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  It has been a lovely weekend with quite a bit of sunshine, as well as being pleasantly warm.  I was busy on Friday at the Acorn Centre, as term has started again.  I was able to write most of my sermon for today, and complete it and my service on Saturday morning.  Then I went to town for candle wax treatment to my ears, which has helped clear my sinusitis; it even confirmed that my sinuses were blocked on the right side.  Today I complete my course of antibiotics and am well on the mend.  It is a relief to be able to breathe more easily, and I no longer have to sleep on such a high pillow.  I could even make some attempt at singing this morning when I led worship at Pannal chapel.  I found the prayers for peace suggested for this Sunday were really excellent at summing up the main issues facing us in our world day.  I often find that prayers written by others express issues better than I can.  It was good to have a good number of children there and the whole congregation, not just the children joined in with ‘Simon says’; they were much more skilled than me!  I then went on to say how easy it was to say what we believe and how we love others, as Jesus did, but do we show it by the way we live.  We can only do begin to care as Jesus did with his help.  If we considered others before ourselves, there would be no disputes or war.  If we draw near to God, he will draw near to us, and He will help us to serve others as Jesus did.

 

This afternoon Cathy brought her Canadian friend Michelle, ‘Ellie’, to meet us and she was lovely, so pretty and such a lovely natured young woman.  She enjoyed seeing photos of Cathy as a toddler, and videos of Cathy’s first cousins once removed.  It was good to see Cathy even for just a short time.  It is lovely now to relax with my beloved. This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

 

 

Hello everyone!  This morning our service was led by our deacon David Hunt with the assistance of Peter Grubb, who is one of the organisers for fund raising for Nigeria Health Care Projects, which our Wesley Guild supports all the year.  The organiser was able to hand over a cheque for £1200, which was more than twice what was raised last year.  They organised 3 coffee mornings over the year with the latest one, being yesterday, which raised £180 towards the magnificent total.  Peter explained about the situation in Nigeria, which had led to the setting up of one of the health projects, Edawu, which was to provide resources and treatment for those who were mentally ill.  In Nigeria prior to this, families either hid their mentally ill members, locked away in rooms or even chained up outside.  They were ashamed of having members of their families who were mentally ill and did not know how to help them. 

 

This centre was the brain child in particular of a late Methodist bishop of Nigeria and he it was who persuaded the local chief to provide the land needed.  Peter was there as the bishop paced out the amount of land needed and the chief realised it was for the treatment of those with mental health problems.  Peter commented about how different it was in Leeds recently when people refused to allow a hospital for mentally ill people to situated where they lived!!  Yet the chief had the vision to provide the land on which three buildings were set up which treat 16 mentally ill people at a time, as well as the hospital having a ministry to homes and villages around the area.  They often have to find and persuade the people and their families that it is treatable, providing residential care for those who are in a more run down condition; many are found close to starvation, as their illness has prevented them from even begging for food, as they lived on the streets; unfortunately others died before they could be helped.  Many who have been helped to manage their illnesses, both Muslim and Christian people are helped; their only criteria is that they are ill and in need of treatment.  Psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses in Leicester have a partnership with the Edawu centre and go out from time to time to offer their expertise and training to local people, also explaining about the illness to families, who have tended to fear mental illnesses.  Some who have been successfully treated then work for the project. 

 

A church built at the project is a circuit church, where all from the locality and of course the patients are welcome to worship.  It has become an active church in the community.  Edawu has also sunk a well, which is available for all the surrounding villages; children come carrying the buckets of water back on their heads, able to walk upright with ease!  We are so fortunate in this country where there is so much help for people who are mentally ill, although stigma attached to mental illness is probably as prevalent in this country as there!!  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  This morning it felt cold but was fine and I enjoyed a walk to church, as May, the lady I usually take to church never goes when it is communion; she feels she would be under pressure to receive although I have assured her that she has no obligation to receive.  It was a good service led by our minister Shaun; he talked about the fact that everyone was welcome to worship with us.  The readings were from James’ letter and Mark’s gospel about accepting everyone equally, whether they were rich or poor or whether they came from a different culture or not.  James was concerned that people who were obviously well to do should not be welcomed with open arms, whilst poorer people were ignored or pushed to one side in favour of their richer brethren.  Shaun as a student used to go with friends to a bowls club, dressed in their jeans and T-shirt, somewhat in contrast to the other members dressed pristinely in white, but they actually wanted to learn to play.  At first they seemed very out of place and were somewhat ignored by the other players, until they were asked how to play, and within a short time they were accepted as they were, even if they did not dress as the others did.  We had a number of visitors this morning and Shaun made sure they felt welcome to share communion with us.  Our visitors were invited to join us for coffee or tea.  I thought the message was so important for us all; everyone is equally acceptable in God’s sight.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  Rev. Ron Dale a former minister of our church, now a local supernumerary minister, led the service this morning.  It had the theme of the mark of a Christian.  What are the characteristics of a Christian he asked?  He first used a text from Galatians where Paul talked of the marks of being a follower of Jesus, which unlike circumcision, the mark of a Jew, was shown in the marks he had born for his witness to Jesus, and the mark of ownership, which Jesus had put on him.

Ron brought the mark of a Christian up to date with three characteristics he considered important.  The first was being thankful for all our blessings, despite difficulties which afflict us.  He talked about a young man who had been a great sportsman, but had been struck down by illness and was now flat on his back.  Dr Sangster visited him regularly and he kept saying, if only …. I could get better I would do this and that for our Lord!  In the end Dr Sangster suggested that his if only ….. would not help him in his situation but maybe finding something to be thankful about might do.  He took that on board and no longer prayed if only…. but instead he gave thanks for what he could and he did not recover physically but he changed in his attitude, and became a blessing to others for the rest of his life.  His circumstances did not change but his attitude to them did.  Ron said that being thankful even in difficult circumstances is such a help to him, but he acknowledges that it is not so for some people, such as his wife.  I can understand that giving thanks could help and I find it helps me focus on all my blessings so other concerns take less of a priority.

The second mark of a Christian was for him acceptance of others as unique individuals, each of whom had the part only they could contribute to life in this world.  He reminded us of Jesus’ words that it was not rules and regulations such as the washing rituals that the Jews which made a person unclean but what came out from inside.  Jesus showed in his life his acceptance of people, who were regarded as unclean by the Jewish authorities.  It is that love and acceptance which Jesus shows to us, which we are called to share with those around us.  I find that is very important too.

The third mark of being a Christian was, he suggested, spending time in God’s presence; it was important to make time even or especially in the midst of our busy lives.  That is a lesson I still find hard to learn to take time to rest, as I feel often I need to give myself permission to stop.  I will try to spend more time resting with our Lord and try not to rush as much as my nature usually dictates; I know I benefit so much from taking time out to just be, instead of hurrying around doing one thing after another!!

So let us as Ron has suggested take time to give thanks for all our blessings, accept those we meet, even if we may not immediately like them and take time to rest and recuperate, allowing God and ourselves time to be in each other’s presence.  Amen.    

Hello everyone!  This morning I led my last service till later in September, which is a relief, although I love to preach, as I prefer to have my services more spread out than one each week for 4 weeks.  There is always a shortage of preachers in August because of school holidays and I am not the only one preaching so many weeks running!  I had a lovely welcome as I preached on the theme of our need of God’s wisdom in our lives, which we receive through being filled continually with the Holy Spirit, and walking with Jesus each day and each moment of each day, as we ‘feed’ on his strength.  How do we feed on him?  Only as we allow him to come into our hearts and minds, allowing him to fill us, can we have the wisdom to live our lives as God wishes, sharing the accepting love of Jesus with all around us.  How do we express the love and grow in the Lord?  We can sing and rejoice in our faith and worship.  I find that hymns and songs help me to pray and worship God, providing me with words that lift my spirits and seem to bring closer to God.  Music helps me to remember important truths about Jesus and my relationship with God and I always drive to work praying and praising and singing hymns.  In that way I arrive at work uplifted and strengthened in Jesus to work, I hope, to his praise and glory.  Paul summed it all up when he said in Ephesians 5, ‘Speak to one another with the words of psalms, hymns and sacred songs; sing hymns and psalms to the Lord with praise in your hearts.  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, always give thanks for everything to God the Father.’ Amen

Hello everyone!  Today is the loveliest it has been for a few days.  We have had a few days of rain, but today at last the sun is shining and I have been able to get out into the garden to chop back some of the luxuriant growth and tidy it up a little to let some of the plants breathe.  I have also been tying up some of the plants flattened by the wind and rain, and then I  have been relaxing and enjoying sitting in the garden whilst my beloved did some relocating and sorting of plants.

 

I was taking a service this morning, so it was lovely to relax this afternoon.  The theme of my service was living the Christian life, as Paul encouraged in his letter to the Ephesians, by encouraging them to be humble, meek, long suffering and loving as our Lord Jesus was.  Of course such qualities are impossible for us to practise in our own strength, unless we rely on Jesus, who will enable us to live life as he showed us, when he was on earth sharing unconditional love with those in need.  We are so hard on others and especially on ourselves; God is so much more loving and forgiving than we ever could imagine.  These verses, in this hymn written by Frederick William Faber, sum up God’s love and how much greater it is ever than we can imagine and much more accepting and forgiving than we can be:

 

‘There’s a wideness in God’s mercy

Like the wideness of the sea;

There’s a kindness in his justice

Which is more than liberty.

 

And verses 4 and 5 are my special favourites:

 

For the love of God is broader

Than the measures of man’s mind;

And the heart of the eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

 

But we make his love too narrow

By false limits of our own;

And we magnify his strictness

With a zeal he will not own.

 

And the last verse shows the response we could have:

 

If our love were but more simple

We should take him at his word;

And our lives would be illumined

By the presence of the Lord.

 

Let us receive the abundant grace which Jesus has for us and share that with those around us.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  This morning our worship was led by our Deacon, David Hunt and I felt it was inspired.  He spoke simply and with conviction about the love of God for us.  He described how our love is shown as we welcome new members of our church family, and welcomed a couple who have recently been transferred from Nelson to our church membership, who responded by saying how welcome they had felt since they had first visited us.  David also shared the news of a member’s 99^th birthday celebration last week and of all those who we are in contact with through our coffee mornings and lunches in ‘Forward Together’.  In all we do as members in our contacts with those whose lives touch our church life he reminded us of how important it is to share the love of God.  He came down from the pulpit as if it were a children’s address, although there were no children present this morning, to address us.  Somehow that made the message more intimate.

 

He then remained down in the congregation when he talked about his experience of going to Rome for his 25^th wedding anniversary and visiting the Sistine Chapel.  What struck him most was the central picture of the creation of Adam; he gave us all copies to look at; it shows God with his whole body stretched round stretching out towards Adam’s hand looking into his eyes, so close, almost touching his hand with his index finger; on the other hand it showed Adam lying back in a relaxed fashion with his hand limply held towards God.  The picture speaks volumes about how God is there, close to us, reaching out to us, all we need to do is to reach out towards God and He will take our hand and hold us.

 

Then David shared with us about how five years ago he was taken seriously ill and spent some time in intensive care and the high dependency unit.  He could not speak and could only be communicated with by touch.  He has no memory of the time of the illness, but he does know his wife regularly visited and squeezed his hand and he responded.  He does remember sensing the presence of God with him, closer than he had ever felt before or since.  Apparently on one occasion his wife got home and wrote a poem about her feelings at the time.  She talked about how the evening fell she had to slip her hand out of David’s and go home, but as she reflected over the experience, she felt that instead of two hands there had been three hands, God’s hand was there holding their hands!!

 

After that memorable experience had been shared we sang

‘God is love; his the care,

Tending each, everywhere.

God is love-all is there!

Jesus came to show him,

That we all might know him:’

 

In his sermon he read of Jacob’s dream, where Jacob suddenly realised God was with him, when he had thought he was alone!  Our job is to help everyone who realise that God is there wanting to reach out to each of us and share his unconditional love with us all.  Paul also in Romans emphasised that there was nowhere that we could go where we would be away from his love!!  You know that God is there for us all, let us just accept that wonderful, all encompassing and unconditional love, and begin to live for the first time the abundant life with God, which we can reach, when we stretch our hands out to grasp his hand.  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  Today I had a Sunday I could just go to receive as I am not preaching, which is lovely, as I had 4 preaching appointments last month!  I had a lovely walk down to church as my passenger, May, does not feel comfortable attending a communion service.  It was fine this morning, albeit rather windy, but it was so good to have a walk.  It was a lovely service, I felt so peaceful and at one with the Lord, when I was receiving communion.  I did take up the offering, but otherwise I was able to relax and absorb the mystery of the Trinity.  Ashville College chaplain, Rev. David Barker led the service.  He described himself as rather uncoordinated when washing up, when he was studying at college; in fact he was told that he would never be able to juggle!  He therefore decided to try and learn and found that it was a very difficult skill to master.  He then showed how you started with one ball thrown from hand to hand, which he admitted he did not do with much expertise even now!  He then progressed to throwing 2 balls at once, which he managed, but then had to learn to juggle 3 balls together!  He did give us a short demonstration, which showed though he could manage the feat for a short period of time, he was far from expert.

 

He then described the Trinity as something you needed to ‘juggle’ and have active all at the same time; that is that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit and yet is one!  He explained that the doctrine had not been formulated as part of the church doctrine, until centuries after Christ, but that it grew out of the disciples’ own experience.  I could tell he had the gift of a teacher in the way he explained it so clearly and systematically.  He talked of how the disciples came to understand that God was their Father, as Jesus revealed him to them, especially when he told the parable of the prodigal son; in that story God was shown to be looking out for his errant child, so thrilled to see him coming home, that he ran to meet him and welcome him, before he was able to show how sorry he was for how he had let his father down.  God was longing to welcome him home and ready to accept him as he was.  I am sure Jesus realised that not everyone had had a loving father, so he told the story of God the Father, who was always ready to welcome our feeble attempts at coming back to him. Jesus lived among them struggling with the same problems, which faced all people, living his life with us, yet in constant communion with his father, as he was ready to criticise those who were too busy following rules, so that they could not love or accept those who did not conform to the many regulations. Then after Jesus was taken from them into heaven, they felt filled and encouraged, in fact they felt impelled, to share the message of their risen master Jesus with others, so they began to see that the Holy Spirit was another manifestation of that same God.  We learn through the Holy Spirit to recognise Jesus and God’s encounters with us each day, and we are given God’s wisdom as we minister in this needy world.  I feel I perhaps have more understanding of the concept of the Trinity, three in one, even though it is still too great a mystery to grasp; however if we did grasp it God would not be God, as we would be restricting his being to what we could describe! 

 

I conclude this summary of our message with 2 verses from hymn no 5 in our hymn book, written by Alfred Edward Alston.

 

‘Father most holy, merciful and loving,

Jesus, Redeemer, ever to be worshipped,

Life-giving Spirit, Comforter most gracious,

God everlasting;

 

Three in a wondrous unity unbroken;

One perfect Godhead, love that never faileth,

Light of the angels, succour of the needy,

Hope of all living;’

 

This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

 

Hello everyone!  Today the weather is beautiful, hot and sunny, although it is too hot to sit out at the moment.  As my friend May, who I usually take to church, was unable to come because her hay fever was bad, I walked down to church this morning.  I was leading worship this morning on Pentecost Sunday, when we celebrate the day when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had promised them, and the church was born.  I love this Sunday, as I can so imagine the disciples still bewildered and feeling bereft after they saw Jesus disappear into the clouds a few days before, suddenly transformed when they received the power from above.  No longer were they afraid, hiding behind locked doors, which they had continued to do, even after they had met the risen Lord.  Whatever had happened to them was clearly visible to all the crowds there for the festival, in fact many thought they were drunk; but Peter felt suddenly full of courage and could not stop praising God, when he told them that they were not drunk but full of the Joy of the Lord, as the prophet Joel had foretold, they had been filled with God’s Holy Spirit, which was available for all who believed in Jesus.  He did not hesitate to share joy with the crowd, telling them all about Jesus, who had been crucified but who God had raised from the dead.  The disciples’ enthusiasm led 3000 to repent and commit themselves to Jesus.

 

For the children’s address, although there were no children present, I had candles of various shapes and sizes, which I tried to light.  Most were lit and stayed burning but two squat candles kept going out!  I reassured the congregation that all could receive the Holy Spirit, even if they felt unworthy, or that their faith was too small; all they had to do was to give themselves to Jesus.  One elderly lady said that she felt inspired by my service, but regarded the candles that would not stay lit as elderly people, whose lights burned low; however I reminded her that it could be any age of person whose faith was burning low not just the elderly, but  that the Holy Spirit did not give up trying to light all lives and re-ignite their faith. Jesus and the Holy Spirit do not ever leave us but are ready to come to us all with reassurance to refill us again and again.  Come Holy Spirit fill us now and each day to help us pray and care for each other and our neighbours. This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.

Hello everyone!  It is a beautiful day, even though it is rather breezy with a hint of damp in the air.  I hope to be able to get some more gardening done after lunch, as long as it does not change to rain.  This morning I led the service on the theme of the Good Shepherd at Bar chapel.  The church looked beautiful full of wonderful displays of flowers ready for a wedding of the daughter of a member of the church this afternoon.  I hope the sun shines for them and that they are half as happy as my beloved and I are.  I had a picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, which I used for my children’s talk, even though there were no children there!!  I had some tracing paper which I used to draw round the picture of Jesus and the sheep to show how I had to have it fixed to the clipboard to keep it close to the picture, so I could draw it properly.  We have been called to follow Christ and follow in his footsteps, our lives following the pattern of his, just as I had tried to trace the Good Shepherd picture.  We often make mistakes but Jesus is there to help us and bring us safely back onto the safe path with him.  Whenever we feel lonely or afraid, or weak and are tempted to do wrong things I suggested that they remember the picture of the Good Shepherd and remember that he is with us always.  I used the Good Shepherd prayer, which Lauren had written for after my service last year on the same theme, to conclude the children’s talk.  The readings from Acts and 1John3 reflected the main theme of the Good Shepherd as in Acts Peter faced the same authorities, who had had Jesus condemned to death, but he was unafraid to tell them that he had healed the lame man through the name of Jesus; the very same Jesus they had had killed had been raised to life by God and continued his ministry of healing by the power of the Holy Spirit.  John in his letter urged his readers to show their commitment to Christ in their actions of love to the people in need, being prepared to lay down their lives for their brothers and sisters.  I urged them to continue to follow the example of Jesus and care as he did for our fellow believers and those in need.  We sang some great hymns of praise including ‘Praise my soul the King of Heaven’, ‘I know that my Redeemer lives’, ‘The King of love my shepherd is,’ and ‘In heavenly love abiding.’  This is the day that the Lord has made and I rejoice and am glad in it.