General Chat

Thank you Emma...... :-)

:-D @ Emma. Lovely thoughts.

Be Thou a bright flame before me,
Be Thou a guiding star above me,
Be Thou a kindly shepherd behind me,
Today,tonight and Forever.

( St Columba )

Cynthia. :-D

So true, Cynthia? We awake happy we are still here, full of good intentions. Then we stub our toe as we put our foot on the bedroom floor, have cramp in our legs, cat lying on the covers panics and scratches us. And we then have to kneel or stand and already ask for forgiveness. And start again with the clean slate we had 2 minutes previously.

Then we scold ourselves pouring our tea. Postman knocks door loudly, starting dog barking and cats panicking. Put dog away, answer door, postman gone, note to travel 6 miles to depot to pick up parcel. Back on our knees. And so it goes on.

How did Jesus manage to avoid sin? How did he manage to always think, speak and do things without bad thoughts or deeds or speech? 33 years he managed that - created in our flesh yet without any sin. And I can never seem to manage 5 minutes :-( :-( :-(

A touch of humour to lighten a rather grey morning.... :-)



Morning Prayer

Dear Lord,

So far I've done all right.
I haven't gossiped,
haven't lost my temper,
haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent.
I'm really glad about that.


But in a few minutes, God,
I'm going to get out of bed.
And from then on,
I'm going to need a lot more help.


- Anon.



Good morning everyone :-) :-) :-)

An overcast morning here, but still plenty to be grateful for......


Prayer of Thanks

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Father in heaven,
We thank thee.


- Ralph Waldo Emerson.


Cx :-)

Well, I amazed that I am still able to post this morning. What you have said Cynthia is spot on. Also, throw in a bit of difficulty with some of these words today that have taken on a new meaning obviously in today's world. My language, especially my gayest (sic) language, is firmly rooted in 18th century, thou knowest.

I think quite a few of us went through a bit of a thoughtful time yesterday and I hope we have all emerged (not as friends) but able to understand our differences better.

Not Syria. No real shells or bullets whistling. Genes Team may also be at work in arbitrating between North and South Korea :-) ;-)

Praise ye the Lord. For it is good to sing praises unto our God. For it is pleasant, and praise is comely.

The Lord doth build up Jerusalem. He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.

He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

(Psalm 147) :-)

Sylvia, that's certainly putting that building to good use - even though some may get over zealous with grass maintenance :-D

We have churches where the buildings are used jointly - usually by Anglican/Methodist groups. They use their own forms of worship but in the building.

I have friends who became attached to a church which meets in a cinema. It is one of those large cinema complexes which has about 12 different theatres within it , and it seems that they must rent one each week. Very informal but they love it. :-)


Emma - some of the Gaelic blessings have such wonderful words which I have often used. Thank you.


John, I don't know what to say except that I realise that you have got yourself into a pickle on more than one occasion on the boards. I think that sometimes we have to remember that our everyday humour and manner can be mis-transcribed when put into the written word.


On to a prayer for today.......it's the prayer of St. Patrick. I know the most famous verse of it, but hadn't realised that there was more to it. Very encouraging words they are too.......


The Prayer of St. Patrick

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendour of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.


I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
Afar and near -
Alone or in a multitude.


Christ shield me today
Against wounding
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.


I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation.

- Amen.


Cx :-)

Thank you Cynthia.

My little contribution of a traditional Gaelic Blessing for all.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
The rain fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again.
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Have a lovely day all.

Emma :-)

Sylvia. Sorry. I did understand exactly what you wrote about different churches in same building. Grass cutting sounds quite a job. :-)

Cynthia. Lovely thoughts to start the day. :-)

On a more serious note, it would not surprise me if this is the last time I contribute to this thread. Loads of reports against me this weekend - one for saying that I genuinely liked another poster!!!! I have really enjoyed all posts on this thread and hope I have made one or two reasonably interesting contributions myself.

My initial reason for coming onto chat was that I was upset with the new format 11 months ago and wanted to see if I was alone in my criticism. I then remained (perhaps a bad decision) because I felt I was friendly, could be informative (I felt I had something to contribute) and funny. I think my sense of humour (which comes across fine in my daily life) has not come across well on this media. :-(

Hope everyone has a lovely and prayerful day :-) :-)

Good morning all..... :-)

Some gentle thoughts.....


Prayers are the stairs
we must climb every day,
If we would reach God
there is no other way,
For we learn to know God
when we meet Him in prayer
And ask him to lighten
our burden of care.


So start in the morning
and, though the way’s steep,
Climb ever upward
‘til your eyes close in sleep—
For prayers are the stairs
that lead to the Lord,
And to meet Him in prayer
is the climber’s reward.

- Helen Steiner Rice


Hope everyone has a good day...... :-)

John

these churches have not "joined together" .......


.................... they are instead different churches sharing the same building, but practising their own faiths in their own ways within that building.


Most of them don't even interact together, other than in the maintenance of the property ................. the Filipinos took over maintenance of the grounds of the church across the street because they considered that contracting it out to a landscaping company was costing too much


The changeover period last year was quite funny to watch ...................


there had been a lack of communication somehow, but the grass (and there is a LOT!) was mown 4 times in 1 week :-D

Sylvia. :-) :-) That was very much the case in India. Methodists, Independents and Anglicans (not sure about Pentecostals and Baptists) joined together some years ago into CSI and CNI (Church of Southern and Northern India). People ask first if you are Christian, then RC or Protestant, then the rest doesn't really matter at all. We are all different and interpret Bible passages in slightly different ways.

I do feel that we spend 80% of time discussing buildings and 20% discussing salvation in UK. And we do not have the luxury in 21st century of all these nuances of doctrine. We need to work together, pray together and worship together.

Just a couple of notes about joint churches ..................

I live across the street from a church.

It is owned by a Canadian Baptist church, which has greatly diminished in numbers attending over the years. So they rent space to 2 other churches

On a Sunday .........

......... the Chinese Baptist Church meets at 9 or 9:30 am to about 10:45 am

......... the Canadian Baptists meet from 11 am to 1 pm

......... the Filipino Baptist Church meet from 1 pm to about 2 or 3 pm

Each of the churches also has meetings on one evening during the week or Saturday morning.

They each use the former manse as a social meeting area.

Members of the Filipino Church take care of the grounds.


Second, there is a church that serves the university community that has been a joint Anglican and Roman Catholic Church for at least 20 or 25 years. They share the building but not services.


OH goes to a small Anglican Church ............ and for several years they used to hold a annual joint service with a nearby United Church. That has not happened for about 5 years ........ it depends so much on the attitude of the ministers of the churches.


My s-i-l is an Anglican vicar in a small (ca 5,000 residents) northern town. There is only one church of each denomination in the town. If one minister is on holiday or sick, a minister of another will often stand-in if necessary ............. eg, for funerals, or to take a Sunday service.

My s-i-l has taken services at the Roman Catholic, Unitarian, Mennonite, and Dutch Reformed churches, that I know of ............. she may have also ministered to other congregations.

One Easter Sunday, she took services at 3 churches!

Daughter has but I haven't seen them yet. :-)

Cyns

Have you taken photos this year .? .....

xxx

Nice one Rose.........reminds me of the two posters side by side on a church notice board.......


The first one said...

WHAT IS HELL LIKE?


The one next to it ....

COME AND HEAR OUR CHOIR SING.


:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D


John, a joint church is a good idea in theory.....but.....................that's probably as far as it will ever get, knowing human nature etc.etc. ;-)



Okay. As far as today went - I am truly glad to sit down. Had to get up at 5.45 so that OH got his medication right in time for an altered church service time. Two baptisms during the one service this morning - the sun certainly brings the revealing dresses out!! :-0 :-D


Home for a quick salad lunch and off again for the annual Walk of Witness. As Sylvia has said, it used to be the time when everyone got new clothes and I can remember the pretty dresses we used to wear in the Lancashire town where I lived.


Today, however, things are different - up to a degree. We have a Rose Queen who has a retinue of little girls and they wear matching dresses, but they are dresses which can be worn again and they were very pretty - dark blue with pink and white polka dots and a lovely bright pink bow on the shoulder. Apparently from BHS shhhhhhhhhhh....

The Sunday School children wore black and white in some form - as did their teachers.......

The youth organisations wore their uniforms.

We amassed at the allotted venue ready to start the procession at 2.pm. The sun was beating down and, after a rendition of 'The church's one foundation', off we set.....

We were led by the church cross, followed by a banner proclaiming 'Churches Together in Xxxxxxxx'.

Then came the choir and the clergy and, behind them.......literally hundreds of men, women and children from 3 churches in the area.

The bands were playing; the large and small banners were proudly carried; lots of people came out of their houses to watch the long procession pass and there was much laughing and waving going on. Everyone was happy and smiling...... :-)

We wound our way across the main road (stopping traffic for a few minutes) and through various types of housing developments before wending our way back to where we had started.

A good day and a day where so many are proud to witness their Christian faith in these days of so much secularism and apathy.


Cx :-)

:-) :-) @ Rose.

I was at a large chapel today - very well attended. Chatting afterwards and so many of us parents could not come with our children and OH's because they are working Sundays. And earning good money on time and a half usually.

Sunday is first day of week, when Jesus rose from dead etc but I wonder whether we need to be so rigid these days. God meets with his people when 2 or 3 are gathered in the name of Jesus - any day or time.

One possible thought is that we could be far more ecumenical and have far fewer churches but far more services in that church.

In a large town, we could have one main church with services at 9am, 11am, 5pm and 7pm. They could be led by an Anglican, a Methodist, a Baptist and a Pentecostal and we could chop and change which we attended according to our convenience.

I hope this will give you the same smile it gave me, please believe this is not mocking :-)

I've just walked past the community hall which has many and varied uses, but today it is a used in the morning by a local Christian group. The Methodist hall has the poster 'God is Awesome' , and there are many variations outside the churches...but I was struck by the small but very clear notices outside the community hall:

"Meet Jesus Here!"

two of those and then just by the gate, "Every Sunday, except those Sundays at Bank Holidays"

It made me smile to think that perhaps Jesus took the bank holidays off also :-)