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.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 ~ Friendship

As the credit crunch grips the nation, Lorraine asks us:
Where is your hope? Is it in your wealth, your stocks and shares? Our hope is in the Lord and in His grace.

Sarah B_ sings a love song to Jesus:
How can it be, 'cos you're beautiful,
Lovely, precious,
Yet you shine your light on me
The light of love ...
because you're beautiful,
You're precious, I love you.

You made me beautiful
made me precious
changed my ugliness into beauty -
please keep changing me
so my life will never be the same.

Nigel: Keep changing us, Oh Lord - we don't want to be the same: same attitudes, same thoughts - thank you that you love us enough to keep changing us.

Chris L_ read from Isaiah 61:1 - 3
The Year of the LORD's Favour
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour.

Mark preached from Ecclesiastes 4:7 - 12
(verses 9 - 12 quoted below)
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no-one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Mark began by observing that our modern culture permits us to conduct our lives without making personal, face-to-face contact with our fellow man - we can do our banking and shopping from the comfort of our seat in front of the computer at home. Yet the Bible promotes the notion of relationship. We looked at some classic Biblical friendships, such as David and Jonathon - for example, 1 Samuel 23:16
And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him to find strength in God.
From this, Mark deduced that the main characteristic of a good biblical friendship is to help your friend find strength in God. This is how we should be. Ungodly friends may encourage us to do ungodly things - we need to be different, to assist those around us to seek the Lord in all circumstances.

Mark went on to suggest that most people feel lonely from time to time - even married people or those in seemingly close families - we cannot presume that because someone has other people around them, they do not feel lonely.

Proverbs 18:24 (Authorised Version)
He who would have friends must make himself friendly, for there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Mark encouraged us

• to move towards others;
• to develop depth to friendships

Here are some of the exhortations from the New Testament on how to be friendly:
love one another
depend on one another
be devoted to one another
outdo one another in sharing honour
rejoice with one another
weep with one another
have the same mind towards one another
don't judge one another
accept, counsel, greet one another
care for one another
serve one another
bear one another's burdens
be kind to one another
forgive one another
forbear with one another
encourage one another
build up one another
be hospitable
minister
don't speak evil against one another
confess your sins to one another
have fellowship with one another

Mark gave us an A-Z of friendship:
A friend
Accepts you as you are,
Believes in you,
Calls you just to say "Hi!"
Doesn't give up on you,
Encourages you
Forgives your mistakes,
Gives unconditionally,
Helps you when you need a hand!
Ignores your little flaws,
Just wants to be with you,
Keeps you close to their heart,
Loves you for who you are!
Makes a difference in your life!
Never judges unfairly,
Offers support,
Picks you up when you're down!
Quiets your fears,
Raises your spirits,
Says nice things about you,
Tells you the truth when you need to hear it!
Understands you,
Values the good things in you,
Walks beside you through sun or rain!
Xplains things you don't understand,
Yells when you won't listen,
ZAPS you back to reality when you need it!


(Except where indicated, Bible verses quoted from New International Version)