General Chat

Hello Ruby - what a lovely thought from your pastor!

My parents bought me a brown leather satchel with a long strap which went over one shoulder. I really wanted one that had the short straps and which fitted over TWO shoulders. :-( :-D


A thought for those who are going through any troubles..........with love.


ADVERSITY CAN DISTRESS US OR BLESS US

The way we use adversity
is strictly our own choice,
For in God's Hands adversity
can make the heart rejoice -
For everything God sends to us,
no matter in what form,
Is sent with plan and purpose
for, by the fierceness of a storm -
The atmosphere is changed and cleared
and the earth is washed and clean
And the "high winds of adversity"
can make restless souls serene -
And while it's very difficult
for mankind to understand
God's intentions and His purpose
and the workings of His Hand,
If we observe the miracles
that happen every day
We cannot help but be convinced
that in His wondrous way
God makes what seemed unbearable
and painful and distressing,
Easily acceptable when
we view it as a blessing.

- Helen Steiner Rice



((hugs)) for those with problems. Cx :-)

Thank you again <3

Amen to those wise words.

You're most welcome friends. :-)



Some words for today - very encouraging words too.....



HE IS!


When you are the neediest, He is the most sufficient.

When you are completely helpless, He is the most helpful.

When you feel totally dependent, He is absolutely dependable.

When you are the weakest, He is the most able.

When you are the most alone, He is intimately present.

When you feel you are the least, He is the greatest!

When you feel the most useless, He is preparing you.

When it is darkest, He is the only Light you need.

When you feel the least secure, He is your Rock and Fortress.

When you are the most humble, He is most gracious.

When you say that you cannot, remember that He can!

- Anon.


Have a good day.......Cx :-)

<3 <3 <3

So very encouraging, thank you Cynthia . I hope you have a good day too.

Good morning friends......... :-)


Another Sunday is upon us and yes, more baptisms...........



It's In The Valleys I Grow


Sometimes life seems hard to bear,
Full or sorrow, trouble, and woe,
It’s then I have to remember,
That it’s in the valleys I grow

If I always stayed on the mountain top,
And never experienced pain,
I would never appreciate God’s love,
And would be living in vain

I have so much to learn,
And my growth is very slow,
Sometimes I need the mountain tops,
But it’s in the valleys I grow

I do not always understand,
Why things happen as they do,
But I am very sure of one thing,
My Lord will see me through

My little valleys are nothing,
When I picture Christ on the cross,
He went through the valley of death,
His victory was Satan’s loss

Forgive me Lord, for complaining,
When I’m feeling very low,
Just give me a gentle reminder,
That it’s in the valley I grow

Continue to strengthen me Lord,
And use my life each day,
To share your love with others,
And help them find their way

Thank you for the valleys Lord,
For this one thing I know,
The mountain tops are glorious,
But it’s in the valleys I grow!

- Tracy Mayfield




Hope you all have a good day.......Cx :-)

The Lord's Day :-D :-D And a fine sunny start to the week down here in the beautiful South Wales valleys :-D

This is the day.
This is the day that the Lord has made,
That the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it,
And be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made.

This is the day.
This is the day when he rose again,
When he rose again;
We will rejoice,
We will rejoice and be glad in it,
And be glad in it.
This is the day when he rose again;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day when he rose again.

This is the day,
This is the day when the Spirit came,
When the Spirit came;
We will rejoice,
We will rejoice and be glad in it,
And be glad in it.
This is the day when the Spirit came;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day when the Spirit came.

This is the reason,
The reason Sunday is so fine,
Sunday is so fine;
We will rejoice,
We will rejoice and be glad in it,
And be glad in it.
This is the day; Sunday is so fine;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day; Sunday is so fine.

(Last verse was mine ;-))

Edit. Was writing at same time, Cynthia. Lovely words :-) :-)

Cynthia your post reminded me of a song that I have loved from my teens by Jamie Owens Collins.

Hard Times

Is that rain falling from the sky keeping you from singin'
Is that tear falling from your eye 'cause the wind is stingin'

Don't you fret now, child, don't you worry
The rain's to help you grow
So don't try to hurry the storm along
The hard times make you strong

Don't you know a seed could never grow if there were never showers
Though the rain might bring a little pain, just look at all the flowers

Don't you fret now, child, don't you worry
The rain's to help you grow
So don't try to hurry the storm along
The hard times make you strong
Make you strong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2L6tmW8Tdw

Afternoon all, thought you might enjoy this article
which was in a Sunday newspaper today.

A new minister was visiting the homes of his
parishioners to introduce himself.
At one house there was no answer when he
rang the bell, but he did see the drawn curtains
twitch a little.
Not wishing to impose, he left a visiting card with
a note which read: Revelations 3:20
If you look that up you'll find it reads: "Here I am!
I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in."
When the offering was collected after his service
the following Sunday, the minister noticed his visiting
card was in the collection plate with an additional
Bible reference: Genesis 3:10
He quickly looked up the quotation and chuckled
as he read the reply"I heard thy voice in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was naked."

Emma :-)

:-D :-D @ Emma

All I can offer is Solomon's Song Chapter 6 verse 11 ;-)

Not many at church today (mainly holidays). Probably about 16 of us. Gorgeous day, so I walked (about 2 miles each way). Lady Minister presided and she was very good indeed.

Two very strange things. The first reading was from Isaiah Chapter 5 (the vineyard shall bring forth wild grapes). It was exactly the same reading as previous week from our own Minister and I thought - "sermon will be on same text as last week". But other readings were different and in the end she preached from Matthew:

“Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law” Matthew 10:34-35 ( I muttered good luck under my breath as she announced her text)

But then the final hymn was one of Sydney Carter's - "One more step along the world I go". I could not remember, but one of the ladies said at end of service we had sung that hymn/song previous week. What are the chances of two coincidences like that :-) :-)

All other four hymns/songs were written by people younger than me. I noted one was 1952-1996 :-( :-( :-( Sydney Carter was 1915-2004, and two fellow local preachers who used to live in South London knew Sydney very well :-D

Thanks LK....that's a new one to me..... :-)



Nice one Emma ... :-)


John, a strange thing happened to me too.......we actually sang This is the Day this morning and I thought of you!


We were absolutely packed because of the baptisms. Despite the numbers - over 300 - there was no chaos and it was a good service. We used most of the chairs from our meeting room - just left enough for the creche mums to sit on.

They normally come into church partway through, but there simply wasn't enough room for them. They came in and went for Communion or a Blessing and then went back to the meeting room... :-D


It's quite novel to have a 'normal' service these days........ :-D

What a coincidence, Cynthia. To sing that hymn that I thought about first thing this morning :-D :-D Coincidences like that never really surprise me. But it is wonderful.

How I long for churches to be as full as yours down here in South Wales. We seldom use the chapel now, and usually meet in the schoolroom. One or two weeks we have sat round in a circle, there have been so few. Thank goodness it is not all about numbers - "where the two or three gather in my name, there I am, in the midst, and that to bless".

Visiting Trivandrum in India a couple of years ago opened my eyes. 800 seats in Anglican Church, 5 services - all full. RC Church across road was similarly bursting at seams. And everyone afterwards talking enthusiastically about the sermon, the singing, the prayers. It must have been exactly the same in South Wales during the 1904 Revival - and I truthfully think we will see something similar in UK soon. :-) :-)

Cynthia how amazing to have so many people in your church.

This morning I counted only 20 folk present and felt this was a blessing indeed

I am just wondering how many of the baptism families actually continue to worship regularly at your church after the actual christening of baby is over?

John, we have just watched today's Songs of Praise from Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff and sang loudly the hymn Guide Me O Thy Great Jehova
one of the hymns sung at our wedding. The last verse chorus was

O am aros
O am aros
Yn ei garied ddyddiau f'oes
Yn ei garied ddyddieau f'oes

Could you translate this into English so we can join in and sing with gusto and it makes sense to us please..??!!
.

kandj :-D :-D

O am aros = oh to stay
yn ei gariad - in his love
Ddyddiau f'oes - the days of my life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5NOVcefEYU

Emma

Loved that ... Thank you ... :-)

Good morning all........a beautiful day here today :-D


kandj, you have a very valid point there. It's a fact that many of the extra people in church at baptisms are guests of the families involved. They come.......they go.


We try to encourage the young parents to join in the church family by presenting them with their child's baptism card at the monthly 'lively' service. Again some of them come.......and go. We do have those who come back at regular intervals though....which is great.


The Church of England keeps a keen eye on statistics and, each Sunday, numbers of attendance have to be recorded by the Church Wardens. The number you have attending, affects what is called the Parish Share - an amount paid by all churches to their local diocesan office.


Our average Sunday attendances are between 160-200 people per week. Our annual Parish Share is c£50,000. This is on top of all general expenses such as heating and lighting etc. We are fortunate that we manage to pay our way but many churches fall behind with their payments and struggle to keep going. :-(


Anyway......must move on to our thought for today......


No Time To Pray


I knelt to pray but not for long,
I had too much to do.
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.

So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,
And jumped up off my knees.
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease.

All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer.
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They'd laugh at me I'd fear.

No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry,
No time to give to souls in need
But at last the time, the time to die.

I went before the Lord,
I came, I stood with downcast eyes.
For in his hands God held a book;
It was the book of life.

God looked into his book and said
"Your name I cannot find.
I once was going to write it down...
But never found the time"


- Kathryn Neff Perry.



Have a good day all......Cx :-)

Thank you Cynthia ....

I have saved that ........ <3 <3

John....... very many thanks, much appreciated, all so beautiful to hear.

Cynthia, thanks also for your explanation. You make things sound very simple and easy to understand.

Loving the No Time to Pray....... made me smile and that is a good start for today.