His mighty power!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine

according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church

and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen

Ephesians 3:20-21

The wonderful time of Advent!

I would like to share with you all this joyful prayer I found about the wonderful time of Advent.

ADVENT 2

Blessed are you, Sovereign Lord, just and true:
to you be praise and glory for ever.
Of old you spoke by the mouth of your prophets,
but in our days you speak through your Son,
whom you have appointed the heir of all things.
Grant us, your people, to walk in his light,
that we may be found ready and watching
when he comes again in glory and judgement;
for you are our light and our salvation.
Blessed be God for ever.

God our Father,
you spoke to the prophets of old
of a Saviour who would bring peace.
You helped them to spread the joyful message
of his coming kingdom.
Help us, as we prepare to celebrate his birth,
to share with those around us
the good news of your power and love.
We ask this through Jesus Christ,
the light who is coming into the world. Amen.

Lord Jesus, Light of the world,
the prophets said you would bring peace
and save your people in trouble.
Give peace in our hearts at Christmas
and show all the world God’s love. Amen.

People of God: be glad!
Your God delights in you.
giving you joy for sadness
and turn the dark to light.
Be strong in hope therefore;
for your God comes to save.
You are God’s children.
Lord make us one in the love of Christ
today and for ever. Amen.

Have a restful and joyful week-end. N.

3 best Christmas cards

Here is a selection of Christmas cards that I would consider the best. What about you, which cards did you buy this Christmas?

1 Tearfund Journeyingon. They have a message printed inside, Isaiah 9:6, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Awesome!

2

2 Tearfund, a pack of 20 Color in Christmas cards, ideal for families with children, 

3 Share the story,  

Cover: Sharing the Story
Inside: May the miracle of Christmas shine in your heart all year.
Scripture: "When they saw the star they rejoiced." - Matthew 2:10

What about you, which cards did you buy this Christmas?What are your favorite?

Tonight, I went to the college MFL party and had a great time, met new people. Students and staff were sampling foods from Europe and China. Being entertained by traditional Christmas carols. Have a blessed end of week. N.

Have a blessed end of week. N.

You are wonderful to me..

When I have to wait and/or when I feel like a lost sheep, I listen to this worship song, one of my favorite. Brothers and sisters, have a blessed mid-week. Yours in Christ. N.

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

The transfiguration

The TRANSFIGURATION  Matthew 17:1-2  is mentioned in all 3 synoptic gospels
Where is it in the Gospel ?
1.Back cloth
· who do you say I am ? Peter declares Jesus as the Messiah
· Jesus speaks about his suffering, his death and resurrection
· Peter tries to stand in the way of God's plan and is rebuked by Jesus “ your thoughts don't come from God but man -if anyone wants to come with me he must forget self. Carry his cross and follow me.”
· Whoever wants to save is own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it.
· After the transfiguration group Jesus is faced by an unbelieving group- who want to use his healing powers but weren't worried about letting God into their lives. Jesus challenges this
 2.Jesus is preparing his disciples for his death and resurrection
 3.The transfiguration provides a foretaste of heaven
 4.The transfiguration is witnessed by figures from Heaven and earth thus ratifying the divinity of Jesus
 · Jesus takes his 3 closest disciples:Peter and the brothers -James and John (Peter- gets it wrong often but Jesus uses the frail and weak-you are Peter and on this rock will I build my church)
· Where to? A high mountain -like many other holiest of holy encounters it takes place on top of a mountain where they were alone
· The disciples see Jesus bathed in glory- they try to describe it -key message bright, dazzling light too bright Cloud covers them before God speaks
· In this encounter they meet Moses representing the Law and Elijah the prophets.
· Moses is himself given the 10 commandments on top of a high mountain and when he returned to the people he shone so brightly they had to shield themselves from the light
· Elijah has many encounters with God, learns to listen to him, often on mountain-tops- experiences a people that rejects his message time and time again- Elijah is himself swept into heaven
· Peter is described as speaking but really overwhelmed: he knows it is a very special encounter with God but doesn't know what is going on.
· We hear the voice of God as we did at the beginning of Jesus’s public life (Baptism)and also via angels at the end of his public life at his ascension.
· The voice of God says- listen to him
For us? It comes at a point just before lent starts: how do we travel on our own journey? Do we put our self first ? carry our cross whatever that may be? are we following Jesus ? We are ordered by no less than God himself to listen to him- Jesus
Where are we going? like the disciples, eternal life is our goal: we can not compromise on this
 How can we live lives that are attuned to God

To listen and hear how we should be : to let God be God in our lives (God of Surprises)
To be obedient to the will god
To do this we have opportunities to re-align our lives -lent presents us with such an opportunity
Have we got our priorities right ?
Do they need fine tuning?
Are there patterns in our lives that repeatedly trip us up?
How can we go forward in the strength of Christ
: we have the knowledge and reality of the resurrection and the support of the holy Spirit to guide and transform us: god selects us frail as we are to be his family: our weaknesses can be used by him as a strength if we allow Him to deal with our weaknesses.
Our thanks to Celia, for these notes. Have a blessed evening.