Sunday’s Specials List

     If each week was a meal then Sundays would be the main course. And I’m not talking about fast food or buffet snacks. No, this is the real deal, packed full of gourmet cooking, honest wholesome food, colour, spices and freshness!
  But I mustn’t get bogged down discussing food! (Although I would love nothing more!)
  The Sabbath day- one day in seven reserved for rest, fellowship and worship. A day given over to God. It is no wonder therefore that a Christian can feel refreshed and healed, full of peace and purpose by the end of the 24 hours.
  That’s normally when the  Monday-morning feeling hits in!
  To help you with the ‘new week blues’ I would like to share a few of the scrumptious treats I enjoyed this Sabbath.

Triumphant     

Last week, like many others, our Church ran a Holiday Bible Club. We had good numbers, enjoyed good weather, preached the gospel to children and parents alike and generally had an enjoyable week. After such a week however, as our visiting speaker pointed out, it can be tempting to want some overt signs of success, some cold hard results; and in the absence of any apparent conversions it is easy to see the time spent as wasted.
    It was a sweet encouragement, therefore, to hear the words of 2 Corinthians 2:14.

    But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.(2 Corinthians 2:14 ESV)

    The scene pictured is that of a conquering army returning home in glorious array, flags and banners flying high over the heads of the King and his mighty lords, while the sound of trumpets and minstrels swells in a majestic chorus across the cheering and adoring crowds.
    It is simultaneously inspiring and humbling to think that through Christ, God will always lead his Church victorious. Despite our failures and stumblings, the gospel of our God will be successful!

 

Thankfulness in Adversity

    Matthew Henry, the famous bible commentator, wrote an interesting piece in his journal shortly after finding himself robbed:

• I am thankful that he has never robbed me before.
• I am thankful that, though he took my purse, he didn’t take my life.
• I am thankful that, although he took all I had, that wasn’t very much.
• I am thankful that, although I was robbed, I wasn’t the robber.

 

God’s Witnesses

  “Isn’t it getting dark early.”
   If you haven’t heard that rhetorical question at least 10 times in the last two days then you obviously are in a different time zone than the rest of the United Kingdom! Although it happens every year, although we have had ample warning, we can never fail to be surprised that, after turning the clocks back an hour, the afternoons are so dark!
   Driving home  I couldn’t help but notice how I was drawn towards every speck of light amidst the gloom- houses, street lamps, other drivers- they all seemed to be something I could associate with to find protection against the overpowering darkness.
  That is the exact principle in play in a Christian’s life! We are to be beacons of hope, lamps of purpose and burning torches for the glory of God. When a non-Christian sees our lives he or she should be drawn to the image of Christ showing from us. That is quite a responsibility!