Amongst the many words brought before the service this morning, Janet B_ spoke about marking exam papers and how the significance of her actions for the children's future struck her. She reminded us that God isn't looking at the imperfections in us - rather he is looking and thinking, "You are my child and I love you". That God sees us through what Jesus did - so much more important than any exam.
Katia Y_ had a mental picture of a room which looked almost ready, almost right for something special to take place except that there was a bouquet of flowers left there although they were dead. She felt God offering an invitation that He wants to breathe new life into you; to bring colour back into your life, or if you don't know Jesus, He wants to change your life from B/W to colour.
Sunday 29 June 2008
Sunday 22 June 2008
Revelation 21:4-6
Many times I have felt prompted to write down the words that we receive in church before the sermon. The sermon is recorded and made available as a podcast, yet as far as I know, the words that are brought beforehand go unrecorded (except perhaps on an occasional basis by one or two individuals). Now I'm thinking I might make a point of recording these so we can refer back to them.
Today Rachel D_ brought us this: I had a picture of a man, who was only wearing a tshirt, combat trousers and a dogtag, running through a battlefield and he was dodging bullets, and bombs were falling all around him ... but he wasn't wearing any armour and I felt God was saying "where is your armour?"
(We are reminded in Ephesians 6:10-17 to put on the full armour of God)
Simon B_ asked us if any of us would call ourselves runners, and went on to suggest that we are all 'runners', although not necessarily in a physical sense: Hebrews 12:1.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us...”
Here, in his own words, is what Simon told us:
I had been for a run and part way round I felt something in one of my shoes. I knew that it wasn’t in the shoe, so stopped to check what it was. I saw in the sole of my shoe what looked like a small stone had become fixed into the tread. When I pulled it out I found that it was a sharp stone that had penetrated through the full heel of my trainer to reach the sole of my foot on the inside. As a runner I knew that I needed to sort this problem out soon or I would face an injury later. The same is true for our Christian lives – they are like a long-distance run. We need to guard our lives so that as we become aware of issues we do something about it quickly. Failing to do so will only mean an increase in the consequences for us in the future.
In addition, to be able to run effectively you need to keep well hydrated –this keeps you alert, energised and it is even possible to enjoy the experience! The same is true with our Christian lives – we need the continual refreshing of the water of the Holy Spirit to stay effective. This will help keep us aware of potential problems and we can deal with them in a timely way.
Stuart W_ brought us a reading from Isaiah 40.27 - 31. He felt this might be for someone who has been praying very hard about a situation or someone in their life. Stuart says:
I felt we had been praising Creator God (v 28b) and that verse was appropriate but the verses go on to encourage those who are "feeling the heat of the day" and are looking to the Lord to renew their strength.
It reminded me of the Almighty God in whom we trust and whose mighty power gave birth to our universe. By the word of his power he brought into being all the natural things that we know. He spoke and the world was formed. Heb.11.3 says "...so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. God, at that moment of reading the verse, seemed to pop into my head the truth that he is the God of the impossible. That prayers that seem to go unanswered and we are on the verge of believing to be impossible, are possible, and if we are praying God's will to be done, will be done. Just as God did the impossible (humanly speaking), making something out of nothing, can and does bring about His will in answer to our prayers. What an amazing God we worship! Keep on praying with faith.
A lady whose name I don't know brought a word about true worshippers: 'Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks' (John 4:23) People with hearts surrendered to God, people who are prepared to lay everything down at the altar and lift their hands in surrender.
Pete H_ was preaching from Mark 14 and commented on this word about the True Worshipper - could it be coincidental that this was the title of his sermon today?
Today Rachel D_ brought us this: I had a picture of a man, who was only wearing a tshirt, combat trousers and a dogtag, running through a battlefield and he was dodging bullets, and bombs were falling all around him ... but he wasn't wearing any armour and I felt God was saying "where is your armour?"
(We are reminded in Ephesians 6:10-17 to put on the full armour of God)
Simon B_ asked us if any of us would call ourselves runners, and went on to suggest that we are all 'runners', although not necessarily in a physical sense: Hebrews 12:1.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us...”
Here, in his own words, is what Simon told us:
I had been for a run and part way round I felt something in one of my shoes. I knew that it wasn’t in the shoe, so stopped to check what it was. I saw in the sole of my shoe what looked like a small stone had become fixed into the tread. When I pulled it out I found that it was a sharp stone that had penetrated through the full heel of my trainer to reach the sole of my foot on the inside. As a runner I knew that I needed to sort this problem out soon or I would face an injury later. The same is true for our Christian lives – they are like a long-distance run. We need to guard our lives so that as we become aware of issues we do something about it quickly. Failing to do so will only mean an increase in the consequences for us in the future.
In addition, to be able to run effectively you need to keep well hydrated –this keeps you alert, energised and it is even possible to enjoy the experience! The same is true with our Christian lives – we need the continual refreshing of the water of the Holy Spirit to stay effective. This will help keep us aware of potential problems and we can deal with them in a timely way.
Stuart W_ brought us a reading from Isaiah 40.27 - 31. He felt this might be for someone who has been praying very hard about a situation or someone in their life. Stuart says:
I felt we had been praising Creator God (v 28b) and that verse was appropriate but the verses go on to encourage those who are "feeling the heat of the day" and are looking to the Lord to renew their strength.
It reminded me of the Almighty God in whom we trust and whose mighty power gave birth to our universe. By the word of his power he brought into being all the natural things that we know. He spoke and the world was formed. Heb.11.3 says "...so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. God, at that moment of reading the verse, seemed to pop into my head the truth that he is the God of the impossible. That prayers that seem to go unanswered and we are on the verge of believing to be impossible, are possible, and if we are praying God's will to be done, will be done. Just as God did the impossible (humanly speaking), making something out of nothing, can and does bring about His will in answer to our prayers. What an amazing God we worship! Keep on praying with faith.
A lady whose name I don't know brought a word about true worshippers: 'Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks' (John 4:23) People with hearts surrendered to God, people who are prepared to lay everything down at the altar and lift their hands in surrender.
Pete H_ was preaching from Mark 14 and commented on this word about the True Worshipper - could it be coincidental that this was the title of his sermon today?
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