Today is the Sunday after Ascension, and the Ascension will be our theme. The preacher will be Graham Fowler.
On the premises this week:
Monday Bowls (Friday Guides are now out and about each week)
Tuesday The Ark Saturday Hall: 10.00 Baby Signing
Wednesday 2.00 Nellie’s Church + Hall 1.30-4.30 IOW Learning Zone
Next Sunday, 28th May
Next Sundaywill be Pentecost. Martin will be preaching.
Afternoon: Pentecost celebration at Westbrook. Activities 12.00, service 2.00. See poster on the notice board.
Praying for our streets:
This week please pray for Broadwood Lane, Park Close, Forest Hills and Arthur Moody Drive. You might like to have a walk, perhaps with a friend from church.
Christian Aid Week: Please return your envelopes to Carol.
20? 30? 40? 50?
WORSHIP
Worship Musician magazine is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and in the latest edition carries what some musicians have said about worship. Here is Matt Redman from 2004:
“Worship is all-consuming because God is all-deserving. So, we live our lives eager to breathe every breath, think every thought, and do every deed for the glory of God. Worship music is only one tiny piece of the pie, but it is a really important piece. Singing is a sign of spiritual life, it’s a mark of healthy souls whose hearts are overflowing because they’ve seen the beauty of God.”
Grace is Everywhere Around Us
Grace is everywhere around us – the question is, are we noticing or are our “eyes wide shut”?
God at work all the time – in the words of Dallas Willard, He is always at play throughout the earth – but often His grace goes unnoticed.
In a cartoon strip a character is shown kneeling to pray, saying to God, “It’s not easy to believe in you, God. We never see you. How come you never show yourself? How do we know you even exist?” At this point a flower springs to life next to him and a volcano erupts in the distance. An eclipse of the sun turns the sky black and a star shoots across the stratosphere. A tidal wave crashes over him, lightning cracks, a bushbegins to burn, a stone rolls away from the entrance of a tomb. He pulls himself from the mud, dripping wet, surrounded by darkness, as stars die light years away. “Okay, okay…” he mumbles. “I give up. Every time I bring up this subject, all we get is interruptions”.
God can reveal himself to us through creation – “We are here to abet creation and to witness it, to notice each thing so each thing gets noticed. Together, we notice not only the mountain shadow and each stone on the beach, but we notice each other’s beautiful face and complex nature so that creation need not play to an empty house” – Annie Dillard
God can reveal himself to us through relationships – C S Lewis taught that each one of us reveals a facet of the beauty of God that nobody else can see or reveal.
God can reveal himself to us through ‘coincidence’: “Many things occur between God and humanity which escape the attention of even those to whom they happen” – Rabbi Heschel.
Some call these events serendipity. Obviously, the ultimate breakthrough of God into our time space world is the Calvary event; but He continues to interact and engage with us in serendipitous moments, which may not necessary be dramatic or miraculous. These could be:
– The “chance” meeting with someone that turned out to be a “divine appointment”;
– The sermon or Scripture reading that just seemed to speak directly into our situation right now;
– The “timely” word of encouragement that brings refreshing and strength to us.
Let’s live with our hearts open…..now.
(From a piece by Jeff Lucas, contributed by Ruth)
(Rev John will be back again next week, with a message for Pentecost.)
Singing the Scriptures
Remember Lesley’s bit last week about this? Here are a few she started to jot down:
1 Timothy 1:17 & 6:16 – Immortal, invisible (234)
2 Corinthians 4:7, Colossians 1:27, Philippians 4:4 – Rejoice, rejoice! (480)
Ephesians 2:8 – Only by grace (441)
Psalm 118:24 – This is the day (553)
– These are just starters: what are your favourite “singing the scriptures” songs?
And Lesley is also out to rival Simon:
If your least favourite part of a song is the chorus, don’t worry – it could be verse.
