Category Archives: Minister’s Messages

When the Day of Pentecost Came

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“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place…All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2 verses 1 & 4

Dear Friends,

day of Pentecost cameEaster Day may be past so far as the celebrations of Jesus being alive are over and the Christian calendar has taken us on to the Sunday known as Low, but I hope and pray that we have not allowed the mundane things in our lives to take away the uplifting message of Easter. The period we are in, in May and June, includes the Ascension of Jesus to His rightful place with His Father in heaven followed by one of the most exciting days for Christians.

On Sunday June 12th, we celebrate the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on the waiting disciples and filled them with such great power that they lost all their fear and were able to present boldly the Good News of Jesus to thousands of people who were then converted into being believers in the Risen Christ.

Every Christian has been given the same power to be bold in their faith. As I write this I have just read that the man who was threatened with the sack for having a palm cross on the dashboard of his car will no longer lose his job and the cross can stay where it can be seen. He stood his ground for Christ and Christians backed him up to the point where his employers felt bound to change their minds. The Christians of our country need to stand up and be counted in this way for we have been given the power of the Holy Spirit for such a purpose.

“Be Bold, for the Lord our God is with us!”

In the Lord’s love and service,

Marion

As the Waters Cover the Sea

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As the waters cover the sea

Dear Friends,

as the waters cover the seaDuring Advent we sang the hymn which begins, “God is working His purpose out.” The last line of each verse of this hymn is “as the waters cover the sea.” This, someone commented to me many years ago, was a ridiculous statement because of course water covers the sea!

There are many things in the Bible which don’t immediately make sense and I suppose this is one of them.

During the Advent season we were thinking about the second coming when we read in Philippians 2 v 10-11 that, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” In the hymn we sing that the glory of God will be seen, but the actual words in the Bible are, “The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” This, then, is saying that the knowledge of God will one day flood the earth and everyone will know the truth about God.

As we move into the new year I wonder what our hopes are for 2011. We probably all have things we would like to do, i.e. have a nice holiday in the sun away from the coldness we’ve been experiencing recently, or a year of better health, or to be able to manage when the predicted austerity begins to bite, or something else.

You may know that Psalm 119 is extremely long. Verse 74 includes “I have put my hope in your word,” but it’s interesting to note that “word” is used over seventeen times in the Psalm. The writer says, “strengthen me with your word”, “I trust in your word, the word of truth”, “I obey your word, it is eternal”, “your word is a lamp to my feet.”

On Christmas Day we rejoice once again that the Word became flesh and Jesus Christ was born. He is our hope during 2011, He is our strength, our guide, our light. Whatever our own personal hopes are we must be sure that Jesus Christ is involved in them and when we struggle with disappointment let us turn once more to the written word and prayer. The Lord knows our needs even before we put them to Him in prayer.

A Happy and Blessed New Year everyone.

With love in Christ Jesus,

Marion

Christmas Blessings

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Luke writes:

“Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good to me to write an orderly account.” Luke 1 v3

Dear Friends,

Luke’s account of the birth and the actual arrival on Earth of God is the one of the four Gospels that I find most exciting. I have commented before that Advent is the “adventure” of Christ.

Most women awaiting the birth of their first child feel apprehensive, nervous and excited and the two pregnant women in Luke’s Gospel, Elizabeth, supposedly past child-bearing age, and Mary, a virgin, must have experienced all those emotions as the waiting time passed slowly and their time came. In each case the birth of those babies was a miracle brought about by the will of God. In each case the child was born for a special Godly reason. John was to be the forerunner and the baptizer of the Christ who was Himself, God on earth, the miracle maker, the teacher and preacher, the healer, the forgiver, the Saviour and the bringer of light into a dark world.

As I prepare this in the middle of October the shops have suddenly been transformed into Christmas grottos with tinsel, baubles, trees and cards, and I’m not ready!

I want to have the time of waiting…I’m not ready for the rush and bustle of Christmas time. I want to have a time of peacefulness and quietness, a time of meditation and sharing with others who feel the same so that I can enjoy once more the adventure of the birth of Jesus.

If you feel the same and would like to join me in the Chapel either on a Thursday morning or evening, you can find more details here.

May the Lord place His blessing on you and those you care about this Christmas time.

With love in Christ Jesus,

Marion