Personal Words

Last Saturday I went into London to see Barbara Dickson in concert and on the drive in as I was chatting with my friend I suddenly interrupted myself to exclaim with delight, "Cherry blossom!" My attention had been momentarily captured by the vivid pink beauty of an ornamental cherry tree in full bloom. It stood out in marked contrast to the subdued tones of suburban houses made grimy by the fumes from the busy road, and all the more surprising for being so early in the season. It was the first cherry blossom I had seen this year. At Sunday evening's prayer meeting we broke into small groups and prayed together, and Christina asked me tentatively, "Have you passed some cherry blossom today?" Whilst praying, she had had a mental picture of a mass of cherry blossom and wondered what the significance was.

Then at tonight's Cell group meeting again we broke into small groups to pray and prophesy over each other, and this time Christina's word for me was 'parenting'. Recently I have been thanking God for having re-parented me to repair deficiencies in the parenting I had received through childhood (don't get me wrong, I think my parents were great and loved me very much, but I also recognise that I didn't get much socialising experience as an infant and through childhood and that this and my shyness meant I had a lot of ground to make up as an adult especially in respect of interpersonal and social skills). I've also been praying that He will in the same way re-parent my own (grown up) children to overcome any deficiencies in their upbringing.

Words during Worship

Peter W_ introduced Amanda B_ by explaining that she had come prepared to contribute, having woken in the night and written down the words she felt the Lord was wanting to say to us this morning, a love letter from the Father:

My Children my Children how I love you!
Everyone of you is precious to me, from the unborn to the eldest.
I love you with a passion you will not understand.
I know you, nothing is hiden from me.
Even the secret things you hide from yourselves.
Come to me, give me all that no longer belongs to you.
Give me the things my Son paid for with His blood and death.
Lay at the foot of the cross, your sorrows, doubts and fear.
Your loneliness grief and dissapiontment.
All your regrets and sickness.
They are no longer yours but mine.
My heart yearns for you, my arms are open to you.
Take up my yoke, it is light and fits you like a glove.
It is made for you and you are made for it.
I love you.
Since before time began I have loved you.
Forever I will love you.
I will never leave you or let you down.
I Am forever faithful."
Love from your Dad xxx

Denise shared a vivid mental picture that came to her as we were singing, of Lazarus coming out of the tomb still covered in the grave clothes. The clothes were binding him, he couldn't take them off. Denise felt we needed to take off those things that are binding us, to take the grave clothes off and face Jesus this morning.

Katia had been reading in Genesis this week and in the story of Jacob he receives from God an invitation to build an altar - he has a new encounter with God. Katia reminded us that God is living and inviting us to a new encounter - inviting us to let go of the dead, bury the dead, and to come to a new encounter with the Living One.