God keeps his promises!

This morning at Hixon church, St Peter, I welcomed four children that I 'd never seen before. As an introduction, I asked them to tell me anything they want about the Lord so Tom mentioned that the Lord had created the world so we all agreed. This was a good start. Then I asked them if they knew about the Lord's promises and Soph (one of the younger ones) mentioned the boat and Tom who must have realised what she was talking about,  helped her: 'Yes, she means Noah's boat. So we talked about the Lord's promise to Noah: the covenant (agreement)  is in Genesis 9:14-16 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

I then asked them if they'd heard about somebody called Jacob and they said yes! This was fantastic so we moved on to Jacob's dream at Bethel. We read Exodus 28: 11-15 and then watched this video: http://vimeo.com/61097262 A character called Commander Cosmo speaks about Jacob, his dream and the Lord's promise to look after him. Then for the main activity we used the resources that Lisa, a fellow blogger put on her website. Here is the link. http://ourcountryroad.blogspot.co.uk/ So we all had a very enjoyable session.

Have you experienced the feeling that the Lord 'watches over you wherever you go'? Even when I rebelled and did not want to think about the Lord, I know now that He was protecting me and helping me. And this is an awesome feeling to know that He is patient and loving.

For now, I am back marking and planning for the week coming. Do keep us in your prayers; may the Lord bless you in abundance, in Jesus' name. N.

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Classic or antique?

 The other day, I was driving through Weston and 'stumbled' upon an exhibition of 'antique' cars. It was fun to go round and take a few photos and have a chat. I was told it is a monthly event. I am looking forward to go round the Open Gardens in Weston (see Compass magazine for more details). Have a blessed week-end!

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Powerful verses..

For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways! I say amen to that!

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Messy church? Hurray!

I managed to leave work rather early today after having made plan to meet Imo at M & S cafeteria. I rang her to let her know that I was coming. 

Sadly she'd decided to walk to the gym and meet her friend there..
So I went home straight away and popped in Weston village hall where there was Messy Church.
I am so glad I had the opportunity to do so. The village hall was pretty busy with children involved in all kind of craft in a friendly and happy ambiance.  Many parents were there enjoying a drink and biscuits, having a joyful chatter with other mums and dads. If you would like to read my previous post on messy church click here!

Tonight, I would like to share with you a new song I found on youtube. I hope that you will like it. Have a blessed Thursday! N.

We are a moment, You are forever 
Lord of the Ages, God before time 
We are a vapor, You are eternal 
Love everlasting, reigning on high 

Chorus: 

Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty 
Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain 
Highest praises, honor and glory 
Be unto Your name, be unto Your name 

We are the broken, You are the healer 
Jesus, Redeemer, mighty to save 
You are the love song we'll sing forever 
Bowing before You, blessing Your name 

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Camping? No say 'campeggi!

Last half-term, Steven and I had such a great time in Rome that we would like to go back to Italy this summer. However this time we would not stay in a hotel but in a campsite. So tonight I am scouring google map trying to find a suitable 'campeggi' preferably similar to a CL. If you know of any on the 'Liguria' that you can recommend, do let me know! :)

PS It does not have to be by the sea!

Have a blessed week!

N.

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I will give You thanks

A Psalm of David. Psalm 138 1 I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods. 2  will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your loving kindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name. 3 On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul. 4 All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O LORD, When they have heard the words of Your mouth. 5 And they will sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD. 6 For though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. 8 The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your loving kindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

This is my special thanksgiving prayer for all the blessings the Lord has poured and is pouring on our family.

Have a blessed Sunday. N

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On the road to Emmaus

Of all the accounts made by  the different witness who met Jesus after he resurrected, this passage is my favorite. Both Mark and Luke mention this emotional scene. 

Luke 24:13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him,and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

If you are interested to have this passage reenacted for a school assembly or a youth club, you can download an excellent script on Nige's Christian drama. Have a blessed day, your sister in Christ. N.

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My song is love unknown.

I discovered this old hymn last month in church, made a note of its title on my phone and then forgot about it. Tonight to my surprise, I started to hum it and I had to google it to find the lyrics! It was written by Samuel Crossman  in 1664. Usually I prefer modern songs, still I will make an exception for this one.. not just because the music is beautiful but also the lyrics are incomparable, more powerful than poetry, starting with the title, love unknown that almost summarises the verse John 3:16  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

My song is love unknown,
  My Savior’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
  That they might lovely be.
    O who am I,
    That for my sake
    My Lord should take
    Frail flesh, and die?

He came from His blest throne
  Salvation to bestow;
But men made strange, and none
  The longed-for Christ would know:
    But oh, my Friend,
    My Friend indeed,
    Who at my need
    His life did spend.

Sometimes they strew His way,
  And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day
  Hosannas to their King:
    Then “Crucify!“
    Is all their breath,
    And for His death
    They thirst and cry.

They rise and needs will have
  My dear Lord made away;
A murderer they save,
  The Prince of life they slay.
    Yet cheerful He
    To suffering goes,
    That He His foes
    From thence might free.

In life, no house, no home
  My Lord on earth might have;
In death, no friendly tomb,
  But what a stranger gave.
    What may I say?
    Heav’n was His home;
    But mine the tomb
    Wherein He lay.

Here might I stay and sing,
  No story so divine;
Never was love, dear King,
  Never was grief like Thine.
    This is my Friend,
    In whose sweet praise
    I all my days
    Could gladly spend.

So who was Samuel Crossman (1623 – 4 February 1683)?  He was a minister of the Church of England and a hymnwriter. Born at Bradfield Monachorum in Suffolk, he earned a Bachelor of Divinity at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, and was Prebendary of Bristol. After graduation, he ministered to both an Anglican congregation at All Saints, Sudbury, and to a Puritan congregation.. Crossman sympathized with the Puritan cause, and attended the 1661 Savoy Conference, which attempted to update the Book of Common Prayer so that both Puritans and Anglicans could use it. 

The conference failed, and the 1662 Act of Uniformity expelled Crossman along with some 2,000 other Puritan-leaning ministers from the Church of England. He renounced his Puritan affiliations shortly afterward, and was ordained in 1665, becoming a royal chaplain. He received a post at Bristol in 1667, and became Dean of Bristol Cathedral in 1683. He died on 4 February 1683, at Bristol, and lies buried in the south aisle of the cathedral at Bristol. Several of Crossman's hymns are preserved in the Sacred Harp. 

Blessings. N.

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/nt/96#ixzz2Q0tPHG4j

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Slide show queries!

A few months ago, I mentioned that I had a problem to sort out the slide show on my  new template. I thought that I had to transfer my pictures on another website such as flickr.com. This did not work and I felt frustrated. So yesterday afternoon, I sat down and tried again. After a good hour of toiling and on the point of giving up, even thinking of changing template altogether, the penny dropped, all I had to do was to copy the url of the picture that I wanted and replace it. Answer to prayers! Fair enough, I still need to sort out the size of the pictures. Can you help ?  

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Happy Easter, happy Resurrection day.

Happy resurrection day to you all, friends and visitors! At the end of my Scripture Union bible notes, in today's reading, the author, Derek Tidball asks these two questions: what would you think if it were you who found the tomb empty? Does this help you in sharing the message with those who don't believe in the resurrection? For me, the whole Christian faith hinges upon the resurrection as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians  15:20-28 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 

Here is the beautiful passage that brings confirmation that we can trust Jesus-Christ completely and that what he said was the truth and what he did for us fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy and many other prophecies. Isaiah 53:8, 11 [8] By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. [11] After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 700 B.C.

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. John 20:1-9

Blessings, N.

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Jesus arrested

Jesus Arrested

18 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.

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Jesus, the servant King

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him,and that was why he said not every one was clean.

¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus knew who he was. That enabled him to humble himself. "He did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for his own benefit". (Phil 2:6) 

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Refiner's fire

This is one of the hymns we sang last Sunday at Weston church and one of my favorite. 

Refiner's fire

Purify my heart
Let me be as gold and precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold, pure gold

Refiner's fire My heart's one desire Is to be holy Set apart for You, Lord I choose to be holy  Set apart for You, my Master Ready to do Your will

Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from my sin
Deep within

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The love of God, the love of Christ

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39

I have lots of favourite verses and these I have just quoted are very dear to me for lots of reasons. They are encouraging, reassuring, and somehow empowering, enabling us to concentrate on our walk with Jesus in our journey that may or not be perilous and full of ambushes. However, i remember that the Lord in his goodness is holding my hand and is guiding me. May the Lord bless you. Yours in Christ. N.

 

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Memorizing the Scriptures

The other day, one of my friends mentioned that she was trying to memorise various verses of the Bible but found it slightly difficult as she'd just started doing it.  I agreed with her that it was hard.
The following week-end, I happened to revisit R.E Torrey, The person and work of the Holy Spirit and I stumbled on this passage!

One who was preparing for Christian work came to me in great distress. He said he must give up his preparation for he could not memorize the Scriptures. “I am thirty-two years old,” he said, “and have been in business now for years. I have gotten out of the habit of study and I cannot memorize anything.” The man longed to be in his Master's service and the tears stood in his eyes as he said it. “Don't be discouraged,” I replied. “Take your Lord's promise that the Holy Spirit will bring His words to remembrance, learn

one passage of Scripture, fix it firmly in your mind, then another and then another and look to the Holy Spirit to bring them to your remembrance when you need them.” He went on with his preparation. He trusted the Holy Spirit. Afterwards he took up work in a very difficult field, a field where all sorts of error abounded. They would gather around him on the street like bees and he would take his Bible and trust the Holy Spirit to bring to remembrance the passages of Scripture that he needed and He did it. His adversaries were filled with confusion, as he met them at every point with the sure Word of God, and many of the most hardened were won for Christ.

Have a blessed evening. N

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One beautiful photo!

in my opinion I

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Did you say Lent course?

As it is Lent, would you be tempted to attend a Lent course? A what? you may say. I never knew there was such a thing as a Lent course. Be reassured, a Lent course gives you the opportunity to meet with other Christian, ask questions, listen to others, express your views, discuss the things that come to your mind during a service but somehow you dare not ask after the service and ultimately figure out where you are in your journey of faith.

This year, we are using the Lent course written by Churches together in Britain and Ireland 

I quote their introduction. Lent is a time when we think about the story of the Israelites escaping from slavery in Egypt, miraculously crossing the Reed Sea, struggling through the wilderness for forty years, and, at last, entering the promised land.

Christians have always told stories: we tell and retell the stories of Jesus and of the early church. These are stories which help us shape our lives, to see ourselves as ‘disciples'. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we talk about all the things that have happened to us. 

Lent is a time, when we say ‘This is our story': the story of the Israelites, the story of Jesus, the story we can tell about our own ‘journey of faith'. We each have a story to tell and every story is different.

So why don't you give it a go? Blessings. N.

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