We sang the worship song 'Your Grace is Enough' and Amanda B prayed thanks to God that His grace IS enough, that she might keep her eyes fixed on Him so that she doesn't go back to the filthy place she came from.
Katja: As we sang the words 'solid ground', I had a strange word for someone: 'Spiritual vertigo' - vertigo is that feeling of the world spinning around you, a feeling of being at sea, almost - you are on the solid rock of Christ, yet you feel like your world is spinning round, is in chaos, and you are unsupported. If you have set your heart on Christ, He wants to bring healing to whatever is causing that sense of spiritual vertigo. We stand on the rock of Christ.
Stuart W: Meditate on the challenge God is bringing to your life:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:3-12) Stuart went on to say that the Lord delights in you, and has cast your sins into the depths of the deepest ocean (which is about 36,000 feet deep) and remembers them no more. Stuart used to enjoy buttered toast at the ABC Cafe where the butter was lavishly spread and used this as an image to depict the generosity with which God lavishes on us the 'riches of God's grace .... with all wisdom and understanding'.
Paul M: "A couple of weeks ago I woke in the middle of the night thinking about Jesus feeding the 5,000. It seemed a strange thing to be thinking about in the middle of the night. I looked up a couple of versions and realised there are three key stages:
1) time of refreshment.
Recently God pulled us together and poured out His Holy Spirit releasing spiritual healing.
2) huge crowds came.
The crowds came because Jesus was healing the sick. I believe the next phase we'll experience is signs, wonders and miracles. There is too much pain and suffering in the church body - I feel God wants to bring physical healing.
3) Small boy brings fish and bread.
God takes what the small boy brings and breaks it - there is miraculous multiplication. I feel we can be like the small boy bringing what we have, and God will work his miracle of multiplication.
Paula M_: After reminding us of Moses' last words to the people of Israel, Paula said, "I feel God wants us to be a people to rise to the challenge, to know who you are in Him".
Amanda B_: Our enemies are fear, poverty, sickness, disobedience, rebellion - take the sword of the Spirit and cut them down!
Mark Landreth-Smith spoke on the closing passage of Colossians and quoted from Leonard Ravenhill: "No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be a shopwindow to display one's talents; the prayer closet allows no showing off. Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of praver. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere."
Sunday 26 July 2009
Wednesday 22 July 2009
Small Group
I was asked to take notes for some unspecified reason, but I figure it must be to share them so here goes.
Paula M_ led us in worship. We meditated on Psalm 147 as we listened to a worship song (Won't you reign in me again) and then shared aloud the thoughts and insights we had received. Paula spoke about Julian Adams' word, where he felt that the Lord is saying to us as individuals and to the church that He is doing a new thing - to put off the old and move with God as He ushers in the new thing He is doing in us and with us and through us.
Paula Dickson had been drawn to verse 7: Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make music to God on the harp. Yesterday she and Christina were breaking up an old piano - once they had taken away the shell, they were left with the strings which could now be plucked to make a different sound: they had changed the piano for something like a harp; changed something old for something new, something different.
Paula M_ read from Hosea 2, linking the mention of a gate in the Psalm to the mention in Hosea of the gate of trouble becomes a door of hope.
Hope was the word which Chris had, too.
Beverley had also focused on the verse about the gate: 'for he strengthens the bars of your gates' . Beverley suggested that the gate is to keep evil out and also to safely preserve the good things within - Beverley spoke about how we need to strenthen the gates of our minds to ensure that we treasure within the things of God and lock out anything which will contaminate that.
Barbara had a cross-reference in her Bible against this verse to Deuteronomy chapter 33 v 25: The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.
In Psalm 147 it speaks of God's understanding having no limits, and Christina had focused on this theme - that our understanding has a limit. Also on the idea that we are asking God to 'reign in me AGAIN' - ie that we want God to reign supreme in our lives as He has before.
Trish brought a reading from Isaiah 58 on the kind of fasting God desires of us, and all the promises it holds: Your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear ...
Christina gave us the Lord's Prayer to read and a list of questions. We broke into groups of 3 and worked through the questions together, listening for what God would say to us through the questions and answers.
An interesting debate arose on the subject of forgiving yourself - is it biblical, or simply to be dismissed as 'new-agey'? I googled it this afternoon and found this interesting article: http://www.allaboutgod.com/forgiving-yourself.htm
Paula M_ led us in worship. We meditated on Psalm 147 as we listened to a worship song (Won't you reign in me again) and then shared aloud the thoughts and insights we had received. Paula spoke about Julian Adams' word, where he felt that the Lord is saying to us as individuals and to the church that He is doing a new thing - to put off the old and move with God as He ushers in the new thing He is doing in us and with us and through us.
Paula Dickson had been drawn to verse 7: Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make music to God on the harp. Yesterday she and Christina were breaking up an old piano - once they had taken away the shell, they were left with the strings which could now be plucked to make a different sound: they had changed the piano for something like a harp; changed something old for something new, something different.
Paula M_ read from Hosea 2, linking the mention of a gate in the Psalm to the mention in Hosea of the gate of trouble becomes a door of hope.
Hope was the word which Chris had, too.
Beverley had also focused on the verse about the gate: 'for he strengthens the bars of your gates' . Beverley suggested that the gate is to keep evil out and also to safely preserve the good things within - Beverley spoke about how we need to strenthen the gates of our minds to ensure that we treasure within the things of God and lock out anything which will contaminate that.
Barbara had a cross-reference in her Bible against this verse to Deuteronomy chapter 33 v 25: The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.
In Psalm 147 it speaks of God's understanding having no limits, and Christina had focused on this theme - that our understanding has a limit. Also on the idea that we are asking God to 'reign in me AGAIN' - ie that we want God to reign supreme in our lives as He has before.
Trish brought a reading from Isaiah 58 on the kind of fasting God desires of us, and all the promises it holds: Your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear ...
Christina gave us the Lord's Prayer to read and a list of questions. We broke into groups of 3 and worked through the questions together, listening for what God would say to us through the questions and answers.
An interesting debate arose on the subject of forgiving yourself - is it biblical, or simply to be dismissed as 'new-agey'? I googled it this afternoon and found this interesting article: http://www.allaboutgod.com/forgiving-yourself.htm
Letter from St Cyprian to Donatus, 1st Century AD
"This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden under the shadow of these vines. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see. Brigands on the high road, pirates on the seas, in the amphitheatres men murdered to please the applauding crowds, under all roofs misery and selfishness. It is a really bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. Yet in the midst of it I have found a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasures of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians ... and I am one of them"
~St Cyprian
Hi
This page gets more hits than any other on this blog - please add a comment to say what prompted your search for St Cyprian's letter, or to tell myself and others a little more about where you're coming from. Many thanks.
Trish
~St Cyprian
Hi
This page gets more hits than any other on this blog - please add a comment to say what prompted your search for St Cyprian's letter, or to tell myself and others a little more about where you're coming from. Many thanks.
Trish
Sunday 19 July 2009
Guest Service & Baptism
Pete C_: I have a picture for somebody here. As a child you had something special to you, something you held precious. That thing became less valuable to you as you got older - recently you went up in the loft and found it. I feel God would say to you through this picture, "Once I was of value to you but have been pushed out - I want to come back into your life - I'm something to be with you throughout your entire life, I'm not something just for your childhood - I want to be with you"
Chris B_ shared his testimony with the congregation:
I come from a C of E background that started before I was ten. No baptism was taught there. Over the years I had several challenges but did not respond. I eventually left the church I was in, and spent about 7/8 years outside any church or fellowship.
Earlier this year I went to Adrian, to discuss if there was anything that could be done spiritually to help my daughter. When we parted he gave me an invitation to the Easter Sunday service, and later on I decided to go.
Why I responded to the offer of baptism.
The first thing was that someone asked me if I was baptised in the Spirit and I said I was. Later I realised that was not exactly the case but the idea lingered.
Then Mark made the offer and my right arm just went into the air. My brain was in shock, but my heart knew it was the right thing to do.
There is no argument that can be made with the Bible teaching of baptism by immersion for believers.
Very soon I had different forms of opposition, mental, physical and emotional too which made me realise that Satan was having a go, so I was encouraged and more certain than ever.
I am seeking everything that the Lord has for me, so that I can grow into the man that God sees me as.
I know I have already changed since last Easter Sunday, and others have witnessed to this, but there is so much more to come.
Chris B_ shared his testimony with the congregation:
I come from a C of E background that started before I was ten. No baptism was taught there. Over the years I had several challenges but did not respond. I eventually left the church I was in, and spent about 7/8 years outside any church or fellowship.
Earlier this year I went to Adrian, to discuss if there was anything that could be done spiritually to help my daughter. When we parted he gave me an invitation to the Easter Sunday service, and later on I decided to go.
Why I responded to the offer of baptism.
The first thing was that someone asked me if I was baptised in the Spirit and I said I was. Later I realised that was not exactly the case but the idea lingered.
Then Mark made the offer and my right arm just went into the air. My brain was in shock, but my heart knew it was the right thing to do.
There is no argument that can be made with the Bible teaching of baptism by immersion for believers.
Very soon I had different forms of opposition, mental, physical and emotional too which made me realise that Satan was having a go, so I was encouraged and more certain than ever.
I am seeking everything that the Lord has for me, so that I can grow into the man that God sees me as.
I know I have already changed since last Easter Sunday, and others have witnessed to this, but there is so much more to come.
Sunday 12 July 2009
Claiming the Crown (Words during worship)
As we sang 'boldly I approach His throne, and claim this crown' I had a mental image of myself as a young child approaching a royal throne where royal robes, a crown and a sceptre were laid aside, climbing onto the throne and dressing up in the robes with the crown a little crooked on my head. Then my perspective changed and I was the loving parent approaching the throne, delighting in the sight of the child's eyes turned to me in trust, love and that anticipation children have in their eyes at moments like that. The image touched me deeply, affirming that love that our Heavenly Father has for us, His beloved children, and giving a deep sense of the warmth with which he embraces us, cradling us with love in His lap as He sits on the throne of Heaven. Where else would we choose to be?
Simon B_ felt that some of us at the meeting had chains that need to be broken - he brought the reading of Jesus' meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well and expounded it for us, pointing out that the woman had come to the well at the middle of the day when she didn't expect anyone else to be there, suggesting that she couldn't face her neighbours, that she felt unacceptable. Jesus was there to respond to the woman's need. Simon said, "If that is you, you're feeling unacceptable, come now - acknowledge Jesus is the well, the water of life - come and receive".
(Simon didn't know it, but that passage from Scripture was the very passage Mark had chosen to preach on this morning).
Wayne: Recently God said to him that we come into contact with people in the ordinary events of our lives but life sometimes gets in the way and we don't have the time to take full advantage of those contacts. There is a purpose behind it - to learn from these people. The people God puts in our hearts to spend time with, sometimes it's difficult to get out of the normal rhythm of life to take time to be with them - God wants us to take that chance, to make use of those opportunities while you can.
Mark spoke on the passage of the Samaritan woman at the well and how Jesus engaged with her, and afterwards felt strongly that any divorced women who had been disappointed by men needed to come forward for prayer and to receive a fresh blessing from the Holy Spirit.
Simon B_ felt that some of us at the meeting had chains that need to be broken - he brought the reading of Jesus' meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well and expounded it for us, pointing out that the woman had come to the well at the middle of the day when she didn't expect anyone else to be there, suggesting that she couldn't face her neighbours, that she felt unacceptable. Jesus was there to respond to the woman's need. Simon said, "If that is you, you're feeling unacceptable, come now - acknowledge Jesus is the well, the water of life - come and receive".
(Simon didn't know it, but that passage from Scripture was the very passage Mark had chosen to preach on this morning).
Wayne: Recently God said to him that we come into contact with people in the ordinary events of our lives but life sometimes gets in the way and we don't have the time to take full advantage of those contacts. There is a purpose behind it - to learn from these people. The people God puts in our hearts to spend time with, sometimes it's difficult to get out of the normal rhythm of life to take time to be with them - God wants us to take that chance, to make use of those opportunities while you can.
Mark spoke on the passage of the Samaritan woman at the well and how Jesus engaged with her, and afterwards felt strongly that any divorced women who had been disappointed by men needed to come forward for prayer and to receive a fresh blessing from the Holy Spirit.
Sunday 5 July 2009
Words during Worship - Sunday Morning
Nigel: We've been singing 'Our God saves' - Lord we declare that you have saved us to a relationship with you - we pray that we might go out of this place more like Jesus - we ask that you reveal yourself to us this morning, Lord.
Sarah B_: I saw a picture of buckets of Gold and feel the Lord would say to us: 'Where you end, I begin! Come and get a bucket, a bucket full of Gold - whatever you need, I have the resources in abundance!
Simon: I feel the Holy Spirit wants you to ask Him to take control - He is the perfect gentleman - He won't force Himself on you, you have to invite Him, you have to choose - make the decision - invite Him now: Lord I need you to take control. He will give you the power to make decisions, to step out in faith. Make the decision now and see the difference.
Pete C_: Pete referred to the scripture (John 13:1-16) where Jesus washes the disciples' feet, believing that God would say to us: 'I want to wash your feet - I can clean the dirt off your feet - you don't need your life cleansing, you are already clean from when you received your baptism - you just need your feet washed from where you've walked. Take that touch to others, wash their feet also.
Sarah B_: I saw a picture of buckets of Gold and feel the Lord would say to us: 'Where you end, I begin! Come and get a bucket, a bucket full of Gold - whatever you need, I have the resources in abundance!
Simon: I feel the Holy Spirit wants you to ask Him to take control - He is the perfect gentleman - He won't force Himself on you, you have to invite Him, you have to choose - make the decision - invite Him now: Lord I need you to take control. He will give you the power to make decisions, to step out in faith. Make the decision now and see the difference.
Pete C_: Pete referred to the scripture (John 13:1-16) where Jesus washes the disciples' feet, believing that God would say to us: 'I want to wash your feet - I can clean the dirt off your feet - you don't need your life cleansing, you are already clean from when you received your baptism - you just need your feet washed from where you've walked. Take that touch to others, wash their feet also.
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