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.

Happy Mothers' day.

Songs of Praise Special

We can't wait for tonight's special Songs of Praise Special at the local pub The Bank House in Hixon. I hope it will be as busy as usual! 

Sunday school in Frasdwell and Hixon was brill and we all had fun, adults and youngsters. I thank the Lord for Gill, our sister in Weston and her team, whose Messy Church activities were inspirational.

Happy Mothers' day to all mothers and children/adults. May the Lord bless you in abundance. Much love. In Christ. Amen.

Have a blessed New Year 2014

At times I wished I'd kept a diary. We’ve been so busy that I struggle to remember what we’ve done since the school holidays started. I could do what I ask my form, a delightful year 8 class, about their week-end, give me two or three key-words. Once, Will raised his hand and said: x-box, x-box and x-box. He had everyone in stitches!
So, here are my three key-words, Praise, parties, family!
Praise the Lord for Jesus, the Saviour of all those who believe in Him and invite Him in their life, midnight service with friends and family,
parties, even carolling at the pub classifies as a big party, two wine and nibble parties, once after carolling in the street of Stowe, the other as a customary invite at our dear friends Jenny and Mike, I was also invited to watch a superb play in Nottingham, the 101 Dalmatians with my friends Sue and Phil, today was the ruby anniversary of our dear friends Sheila and Roy, tomorrow, another party, my hubby’s 21 x 3 birthday celebration!
family special time shopping in town for presents, having a gingerbread latte in Starbucks, opening presents and dining, watching some tv..

Finally, last nite, my dear hubby took me dining in our favorite restaurant in Stone, an italian place. Later on, we celebrated the end of 2013 with our dear friends, over champagne and pudding. Happy New Year and may the Lord bless you in abundance.

A bible-shaped church

“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47

It's quite a regular thing for people to say, and not least to clergy, 'You don't have to go to church to be a Christian'. My only comment, and I could pass quite a few, is that they are missing the point. As I have said on many occasions and no doubt others have too, 'the church is people not a building - take away the people and what are you left with?!' The church is a meeting of people – Christian people and when they meet they do various things - and there I pause for it bring us to the reading I want to look at today: Acts 2:42-47.

Before that I want to put that reading in its setting and then bring it to ours. Acts chapter 2 the real and visible start of the life of the Christian Church - almost its birthday. It was the festival of Pentecost and was the day God poured out the Holy Spirit on believers and Peter preached the first sermon to the crowds in Jerusalem who were there for this festival and v 41 records that 3000 people became Christians that day. The verses we have had read, vv 42-47, are a kind of footnote from Luke, the author of Acts, which tells us of the sort of activities that marked the life of the emerging church as it came into being. What we see is a people (church) full of life, activity, excitement and I guess anticipation. If you want to know more of how this church grew then you have to read the book of Acts.

They were devoted - verse 42 - It mentions specifically: the apostles teaching - learning about Jesus; fellowship - we hear more about that later; communion - but not as we know it; prayer - the powerhouse of the church. People wanted to know about Christianity and how to live it. Understanding faith, exercising faith through prayer and learning from each other.
Filled with awe - verse 43 - People were being healed and set free from all sorts - no details given but the 'action' was making a real impact on the people.
They were together and shared and cared - verses 44-45 - There was a great deal of closeness and commitment to each other. People weren't being selfish but looking to the needs of all those who were believers. Strength comes when people stand together in and for a cause and there is no better cause than that of Jesus and the gospel.
They were worshipping regularly - verses 46-47 - This is in addition to what is mentioned earlier, and altogether, these activities became the driving force and life giving force to this church. The outcome:
They were growing - verse 47b - It says new people were becoming believers each day because 'the Lord was adding to their number those who were being saved. It was them at work but the Lord through them.
In his ministry Jesus called people to follow him and belong. After the Ascension and the giving of the Spirit his first followers took on that role with direct down to earth preaching and things were happening. Christianity was alive and well and growing. In many ways the church in the western world has become formalised and staid. We need to get back to our roots with a bit more life and commitment because otherwise, at the rate things are going, there will be little or no church before long. We as a Team are committing ourselves to that and I hope we continue to do so and thus give the Lord the opportunity to do his work in changing lives, transforming outlooks and developing a people in this area that are continually reaching out for him, seeing growth and more lives changed.

Thanks to Steven Abram of the Mid Trent Churches Team. See their website at www.midtrentchurches.org.uk, or Steven's site at www.abram.org.uk for information and more articles. This was published also on this site Squeaky Jesus

In a charity shop...

...you can find some proper gems! To cut a long story short, yesterday morning I took my car to an independent garage only to find out that the repair was going to be longer than I thought. I had time to kill and no car so I went round a few shops, and ended up in Oxfam. Their selection of books is usually eclectic, after browsing for ten minutes, I found two books of interest, The enemy within written by Kris Lundgaard that I have just started. Click on this link to read an excellent review of this book written by Tom Welch on his blog, or copy this : www.SabbaticalJournal.blogspot.co.uk

The other book is called Awesome on the inside, how to be changed by God from the inside out. Written by Tim Hawkins. Come & hear Tim Hawkin’s powerful messages over two consecutive nights at Brisbane Chinese Alliance Church. Tim will be speaking on being “Awesome on the Inside” with the first night focusing on “A Powerful Heart” and the second “The Pure Heart”. The two sessions over the weekend are tailored for Christian high schoolers to young workers and Tim’s desire is for them to get fired up for God.
Tim Hawkins is one of the most experienced Christian Youth pastors in Australia. He has been a full-time youth pastor in a local church for over 30 years. He is currently the Youth Pastor Emeritus at St Pauls Anglican Church, Castle Hill, in Sydney Australia where he has been for over 20 years.
Tim’s passion is to see high-schoolers and young adults become fervent disciples of Jesus. He planted and built the “Crossfire” youth ministry at Castle Hill, which is one of the most fruitful local church youth ministries in Australia. Every one of Tim’s resources has grown out of his local church’s youth ministry. Tim writes this material and speaks powerful messages to meet real needs. His books and resources are revolutionising youth ministry around the world, and are now being used as training manuals in many bible colleges.
Let me know if you have read any of those as it would be nice to hear from you. Good nite. N.

Friday: best encouraging posts in my blogroll hat!

Are you  1 - victorious, 2 -  thankful and 3 -  loving ? For a bit of a change, I have selected what I consider the 3 best encouraging posts written by inspirational bloggers listed in my blogroll. If you'd rather go directly to their pages click the link on the first words of the 3 selections.

    1 -   Hello Victorious Friends! Today, I assure you that God, who is our Alpha and Omega, has been with you and has seen your situation from the beginning. Because of this, according to HIS WORD, you have already come out on top. Your mission has already been completed. You have already reached the finish line - by faith. Therefore, as you are going through, understand that where you are right now is temporary. The Psalmist said, "yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." Notice the phrase, "walk through".
Not stuck in -
Not abiding -
Not dwelling -
"Walk through" assures us that we are moving. How are we moving? We are moving and walking by faith and not by sight.
For, it is in HIM that we live, we move and we have our being! (Acts 17:28)My victorious friends, I encourage you to keep living and moving by faith. Although the blows may be coming at you - from the left and from the right, DO NOT give up! Remember, God has great plans for you! (Jeremiah 29:11)

     2    -    A thought by John C Maxwell (2012-10-02) from his book, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential (p. 75). Center Street. Kindle Edition.Now I, personally, start my day in the Bible. Today I read Psalm 106. It showed the importance of following Him and what happens if we don’t and what happens when we do. It ended with “Praise the Lord.” Good reminder to start the day. Then I read the last part of Acts 22 and of how God was moving Paul to His desired destination. It showed how each incident had a part in moving Paul to Rome where He wrote a big part of the New Testament. Each incident in the day is important to God. 
John Maxwell also says, “And the small steps you take today will lead to the bigger steps you take someday.” Let’s say you start your day with griping and complaining. Psalm 106:25-27 tells what God thinks of that. He doesn’t like it. Don’t do it. Start your day as Psalm 106.1-2 does with giving thanks to the Lord because He is good; and His love is eternal. Remind yourself of all the good things He has done in your life. And then Verse 3 says, “Happy are those who obey His commands, who always do what is right.”

3    -     Ever heard of Daniel Frederick and Susan Bateman? No? That’s okay. They aren’t movie stars or government leaders. Their lives are significant, however. They were married on August 29, 1772, till death did they part, 91 years and 12 days later. Daniel and Susan represent history’s longest recorded marriage.
Now you have something to shoot for, if you want to shoot for it, that is. For some marriages, 91 years would be a gift – a gracious extension to a blessed union. For others, it may be like the curse of immortality for the suffering.
Time can be a marriage’s worst enemy.
How so?
When there is little love and no romance.
When a marriage goes months or even years without sexual intimacy.
When husbands and wives choose to hold onto resentment.
When we keep secrets and protect turf.
When we never say, “I love you,” or “I’m sorry,” or “I appreciate you.”
Time has a means of sealing in our bitterness like moss in the crack of a sidewalk. Hearts that have hardened only get harder with time.
Time can be a marriage’s best friend.
On the other hand, time can also be a marriage’s best friend, if we choose to allow it. You can grow a mushroom overnight but an oak tree takes decades. When it comes to our marriage we need to decide to be oak trees.
The road of marriage has plenty of bumps and bruises. We let each other down. We hold each other up. We rest in times of peace and we weather storms together. And over time, through thick and thin, sickness and health, better and worse our marriage grows into a beautiful oak tree if we are willing to stick it out.

Have a blessed week-end. N.

All of you is more than enough

Tonight  I 've discovered one singer called Misty Edwards (my previous post)  and a band Barlow Girl I did not know while I was browsing my friends' blogs and  I am so grateful they mentioned them. I had to search for Barlow girl and here they are: an  American Christian rock–CCM all-female band from Chicago, Illinois. The band was composed of sisters Alyssa (lead vocals, bass, keyboard), Rebecca (backing vocals, guitar), and Lauren Barlow (co-lead vocals, drums). The band has won several awards in their genre; their song "Never Alone" was the longest-running No. 1 song in 2004 on Radio and Records Christian Hit Radio (CHR) and Christian Rock charts, and was the "Song of the Year" on both charts. BarlowGirl became the best selling new Christian artist of 2004.

I chose Enough as the lyrics mean a lot to me.

All of You is more than enough for
All of me for every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You
Is more than enough

You are my supply
My breath of life
Still more awesome than I know
You are my reward
Worth living for
Still more awesome than I know

Cuz All of you is more than enough for all of me
for every thirst and every need
you satisfy me with your love
and all I have in you is more than enough

You're my sacrifice of greatest price
Still more awesome than I know
You're my coming King You're everything
Still more awesome than I know

All of you is more than enough for all of me
for every thirst and every need
you satisfy me with your love
and all I have in you

All of you is more than enough for all of me
for every thirst and every need
you satisfy me with your love
and all I have in you is more than enough

Your enough, your enough, your enough for me
your enough, your enough, your enough for me
your enough, your enough, your enough for me
your enough, your enough, your enough for me
your enough, your enough, your enough for me
your enough, your enough, your enough for me
your enough, your enough, your enough for me
your enough, your enough, your enough for me
your enough, your enough, your enough for me

Have a blessed evening and may the Lord bless you in abundance and wrap his love round you. N.

Puzzled by the intricacies of blogging!

A few days ago, I decided to change the template for this blog and I thought that it would be a short process. However, as you may have realised, it seems to take me ages. First, the navigation bar disappeared and I could not find any answers on how to put it back. Eventually while I was skimming through comments of other bloggers, some helpful soul told us to delete the 'don't appear' implicit htlm code and thankfully I could manage that! In this new template, I was attracted by the slideshow, however the format of my pictures is different!. Last night, I thought that I'd crack it, I found this website called www. wowslider.com, downloaded it. So this is where I am now..If you are  IT-minded and you can help, let me know.

It is a blessing to be on holidays! Saying that Steven is not on holidays yet and this week Cam is doing an internship, Imogen has been working in the tea-room. In spite of that, we have managed to spend quality time and see our friends. We are getting ready to go to France on Sunday, Valras plage precisely. Steven tells me that yesterday the temperature there was 38 degree Celsius so I should not forget to take sun cream lotions, a hat (I am the only one to need one!) and mosquito cream!

Not sure that I will be able to post again. Have a blessed August month and keep us in your prayers. Your sister in Christ. N.

Purify my heart

This is one of my favorite worship songs. Be blessed. Your sister in Christ. N

Renewal Conference.

 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

 ² Worship the LORD with gladness;
       come before him with joyful songs.

 ³ Know that the LORD is God.
       It is he who made us, and we are his ^[a] ;
       we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
       and his courts with praise;
       give thanks to him and praise his name.

 ⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
       his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100

Last time we went to one of those renewal days we were edified and inspired. I do recommend the experience. Blessings.

Let's rejoice and praise the Lord!

Blessings.