General Chat

So many lives lost in the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma.

Father. Our hearts are so saddened by the many lives ripped apart in Moore. We pray for the survivors there, we pray for the injured, we pray for the families who have been bereaved.

And we pray for the brave rescue teams. And that all the necessary resources of money, people, equipment and skill pour into Moore and the surrounding area. If we can help in any way, please show us how.

Father, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Amen

I like that Joy :-)

Up until a few years ago, when the children were still at home, Before I went to sleep each night I used to look back on my day and think about how I could make the next day better. That prayer reminded me of that.....perhaps it is time for me to continue with the habit....can't do any harm :-)

Thank you Joy........ :-)

Thank you, Elizabeth, Emma, Cynthia.


Shalom


Eternal God,
who gave us this day,
and who now at evening time are taking it back to Yourself,
forgive us for all which today we did not do.

Forgive us for any word of comfort, of praise, of thanks,
which we might have spoken, and did not speak.

Forgive us for any help we might have given to someone in need, and did not give

Forgive us if today we have made things more difficult for anyone.

Forgive us if by word or action we have set a bad example to anyone,
and have made it easier for another to wrong.

Forgive us if today we have been disloyal to any friend,
or if we have hurt the hearts of those whom above all we ought to cherish.

Grant us this night Your gift of sleep;
and grant us grace that tomorrow we may walk more close to You;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen


Evening Prayer - William Barclay

Good morning all and I hope your day goes well.

Emma :-)

Good morning all and thank you for your words Elizabeth.... :-)



The worship that pleases you is not simply with our words, but with our lives and hearts.

The worship that pleases you is to see love and justice where there is oppression; healing and compassion wherever there is need.

The worship that we offer falls short of your ideal.

Forgive us when our lives do not reflect the faith we profess.

Give us a heart for your people whoever they might be, and a willingness to serve them, that your name might be glorified. Amen.


I hope everyone has a good day. Cx :-)

Dear Joy

Hello

Hope you are okay.

Your two posts provided a great synposis about Pentecost and that
each person, if they wish, can carry out a little of what they learn
or promise on a Sunday.


Equally, the church should be reaching out to all the people
in the community in practical ways to help.

All should be welcomed in a place of worship.


Take gentle care
Very best wishes
EOS
xx

Dermot :-D :-D I love politics. But have never yet found a party or a candidate that I can 100% agree with. What I think is important is to go to hustings and ask them these questions that bother you.

You hopefully will get an idea of what each of them believes. You may decide to vote for one who is diammetrically opposed to you on certain things.

For example, I agree with Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru) on almost everything. But disagree with her on one major thing - she is a Republican and I am a Royalist. And I am not likely to change her mind, and she is not likely to change mine. So I will vote for her because I like most of what she thinks and she tells the truth and doesn't lie for political advancement like most politicians.

I think Jesus would just encourage politicians to answer questions truthfully. And he would encourage us voters to think prayerfully about their answers - rather than going off on one because their answer does not 100% agree with our answer. :-)

Oooh Dermot, I don't 'do' politics.....so haven't a clue as what UKIP have promised.....but I can't see how you can shield children from that subject. To my mind, it's a matter of how it is discussed which is important.. As for continuous attacks on Christianity, I don't know how that will be stopped, because there will always be those who don't agree with the faith - we have to learn to deal with it and move on.

Is it a foolish idea to vote for UKIP based on their promises to stop continuous attacks on Christianity; to abolish any idea of same-sex marriage & to stop teaching school children about homosexuality?

:-D just love your Vicar.
Thanks all.

Emma :-)

Another busy Sunday morning. It was Parade service, so there were a lot of children and parents in church today. This is also the Sunday where we welcome those who have been baptised in the past month, so those families were in too. :-)


The youth group played for some of the hymns this morning and I have to say, we have some very musically talented youngsters. The loud music has the youngsters bopping up and down all over the church...... :-D


Each Parade Service, a different church organisation leads the presentation for the day. Today it was the turn of the Servers - those who help at the Holy communion Service and carry the candles etc.


The young woman (complete with bright pink streak in her hair) who led the service, told us the Dr. Seuss story of Horton the Elephant who hatched an egg and was very committed in all that he did. She used a PowerPoint to illustrate the fact that, at this time of Pentecost we should remember God's faithfulness to us.

She finished with some adapted words from the book......

"I meant what I said and I said what I meant, that our God is faithful, one hundred per cent!"


After the main service, there were two baptisms and so, as one crowd left, another entered. During these comings and goings, the Vicar passed by and said "Fun and games this morning".....I agreed, but then he went on to say that he meant that one of our lay readers - an elderly lady - had been chatting in the meeting room and decided to perch on the end of a card table - which had promptly collapsed, taking her with it. I expressed my concern and asked if she was okay........"well", he said, with a twinkle in his eye..... "she is, but the card table certainly isn't!!!"

Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest:
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will.

[St Ignatius Loyola]

Thank you, Cynthia.
x

I note from Wm Barclay that he comments on Acts Chapter 1 Verse 16 that "the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David". And King David was the 26 x gt grandfather of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Jewish genealogy.

If you are a trinitarian Christian and believe the creeds, you will believe that God has 3 personalities. One (the Son) came into this earth born in a sinful body and lived amongst us for 33 years. And a second personality of one sovereign God was the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit.

If you have faith in one God in three persons, you begin to see how these 3 quite distinct personalities work together for your salvation. From the beginning of time till the end of time. All 3 appear in the creation of the world. "God created" in a translation of "Elohim" (God in the plural). There are many occurences in the Old Testament where the Son of God or the Word of God appears to men and women, and many occurences where the Holy Spirit also appears. All 3 appear now in 2013 still and are either already familiar to every true Christian believer - or soon will be known fully - every day of our lives.

On New Years Eve, 1738, a group of 40 young clerics gathered for prayer and Bible readings. In Fetter Lane in London. The meeting became so intense that they hardly noticed the bells had rung in 1739. It was about 3.30 am on New Years Day that a mighty wind came from nowhere and rushed through their room and flattened them to the floor with its power.

It was the Holy Spirit in all God's power. The young men included John Wesley, Charles Wesley and George Whitfield. Thus was born the Methodist Revival of the 18th century that swept through the Church of England and affected all other denominations greatly.

Thank you for that Joy. I was just about to copy something very similar from William Barclay but will give the link instead.... :-)

https://www.bible.com/notes/6093737/the-day-of-pentecost-william-barclay-we

Cx :-)

Good morning and it is, indeed, the day of Pentecost today.. :-)


We ask for your forgiveness, Lord
when we forget
the power that lies within
and trust instead
upon our human strength.

Remind us of that glorious day
when your Spirit
transformed the lives of those
who hid in fear
into men of power.

Renew these hearts which have grown cold
with flames of fire
as on that Pentecost
that we might be
the church that you desire.

Amen.


-source unknown.



:-)

http://www.pentecostfestival.co.uk/


Celebrate the Church’s birthday and highlight its heritage, diversity and positive contributions to society.
Challenge the Church to reach out to its community.
Provide creative opportunities for people outside of the Church to explore the Christian message.

Pentecost Sunday


I like:
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=22569

In one of his sermons Oscar Romero reminded people that God exists outside the Church, it may seem obvious to us, but a lot of people seem to think that the workings of the Holy Spirit are only to be found in liturgy, sacramental celebrations and the structures we call our church institutions.

There is also a tendency to imagine that Pentecost is the first manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Both these misconceptions are to be firmly resisted. Looking back into the Hebrew Bible we see evidence of the Spirit of God at work powerfully, gently, lovingly as well as forcefully transforming the hearts and lives of people, the Spirit at work in all living and created things. There right in our deep faith history we can find much to show us that the Living God transcends our boundaries and will use seemingly impossible and problematic situations to bring about change.

We often refer to this feast as the birthday of the Church, in one sense it is but in another sense it isn’t, for Pentecost is about the vibrancy of the Spirit at work not only in the faith community but in the world outside it, in the alleyways and ghettos of poverty, on battle fields of war, amongst those who have no faith or have different belief systems to our own. The Spirit as we can hear in our readings, does not speak in one tongue, there is no sacred language except that of love, all tongues all dialects are used to proclaim the good news of salvation. We might be reminded that in the charismatic gifts tongues , though a lowly gift is really about uttering what is beyond words, the prayer of the depths where God and each one of us is invited to communicate at a level beyond human language.

When I was a young priest the Charismatic renewal spread widely and drew many to unshackle their preconceptions about faith, the Spirit was at work in transforming , renewing and nourishing faith into new birth. We hear much about the tiredness of European Christianity, I for one do not see that in the lives of those I know who open themselves to the Spirit at work in the Churches today. Pentecost is not about looking backwards or restoring the past, it is about the dynamic presence of God, who as the Holy Spirit enters every crevice of the human heart and every area of our lives. Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of our earth!

These Hellenistic Jews from the most northerly state of Galilee remained in far-off Jerusalem for 50 days after Easter on the orders of the risen Jesus. They had now seen Jesus ascend back to heaven 10 days previously and were once again without their leader. But now filled with hope that something momentous was going to happen in the city of Zion (Jerusalem) at the Feast of Pentecost.

The apostle Mark writes thus to his friend Theophilus, recorded in Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2:

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

So thousands of their fellow Jews had come together for Pentecost from the Jewish diaspora, speaking all manner of native languages. Yet these simple Galileans were all able to address them in their own tongues.

This miracle was the simple birth of the Christian church. Today marks that birthday for every Christian. Exactly 7 weeks after Easter (50 days including both Sundays) we still start our week in worship on a Sunday because of what happened on Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday :-) :-) :-)