Psalm 65
For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
1 Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion;
to you our vows will be fulfilled.
2 O you who hear prayer,
to you all men will come.
3 When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave our transgressions.
4 Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
5 You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
6 who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
8 Those living far away fear your wonders;
where morning dawns and evening fades
you call forth songs of joy.
9 You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.
10 You drench its furrows
and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers
and bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
12 The grasslands of the desert overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
13 The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing. ....
Because how can we fail to do otherwise when God supplies our needs.
Thank You Father that you know our needs so much more than we do, that you provide both physically and emotionally. Thank you Father that your love surrounds us ...
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Be Still My Soul - Selah
This is a beautiful song of worship for those going through uncertain times.
"in every change, he faithful will remain"
Monday, October 26, 2009
Only Grace
Psalm 130
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
This passage from the bible is titled "The accent" ~ The climb up . Life as a christian is not always an easy path. No one promised that following Christ would be an easy walk.
Yet we are given God on which to fix our eyes. When we stumble and when we fall his grace and his love helps us to stand back up and begin again.
I wasn't intending detailing the song that I have done today, but as I searched and searched for the one I wanted this song kept jumping up before me and so eventually I listened (yes I was listening at the service on "listening to God" yesterday!)How perfectly they fit with what I am wanting to share and so....
The words of Matthew Wests song Only Grace tell us this:
There is no guilt here
There is no shame
No pointing fingers
There is no blame
What happened yesterday…has disappeared
The dirt has washed away
And now it's clear
There's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace
You're starting over now
Under the sun
You're stepping forward now
A new life has begunYour new life has begun
An’ there's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me…it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace…
And if you should fall again
Get back up, get back up
Reach out and take my hand
Get back up, get back upGet back up again
Ohh…get…back…up…again…
There's only grace…
There's only love…
There's only mercy and believe me it's enough…
it’s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only…there’s only…grace…
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
This passage from the bible is titled "The accent" ~ The climb up . Life as a christian is not always an easy path. No one promised that following Christ would be an easy walk.
Yet we are given God on which to fix our eyes. When we stumble and when we fall his grace and his love helps us to stand back up and begin again.
I wasn't intending detailing the song that I have done today, but as I searched and searched for the one I wanted this song kept jumping up before me and so eventually I listened (yes I was listening at the service on "listening to God" yesterday!)How perfectly they fit with what I am wanting to share and so....
The words of Matthew Wests song Only Grace tell us this:
There is no guilt here
There is no shame
No pointing fingers
There is no blame
What happened yesterday…has disappeared
The dirt has washed away
And now it's clear
There's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace
You're starting over now
Under the sun
You're stepping forward now
A new life has begunYour new life has begun
An’ there's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me…it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace…
And if you should fall again
Get back up, get back up
Reach out and take my hand
Get back up, get back upGet back up again
Ohh…get…back…up…again…
There's only grace…
There's only love…
There's only mercy and believe me it's enough…
it’s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only…there’s only…grace…
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Light of the world ~ Tim Hughes
Would you believe that before October is even through, I have planned the Christmas day service at church. I was reading a blog where a lady had recently found she was pregnant. She said "It won't change anything!" somehow I think she is in for a bit of a shock!
Anyway I began to think about how the tiny child born at christmas became light to a world shrouded in darkness. Tim Hughes' song Light of the world was one that immediately sprang to mind:
Light of the word
you stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore you
Hope of a life spent with you.
and then our response to this
So here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that you're my God
Your all together lovely
Altogether worthy
altogether wonderful to me
then that poignant bridge:
And I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross,
No I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
That's when the realisation dawns that this little baby laid in a manger is destined for the cross. it's all in Gods special plan so that i can say and you can say I am free, I am redeemed (bought back), I am saved because Gods son took my place on the cross.
For the month of December I am planning my own Advent calender on this and my other blog creative and faithful.
Anyway I began to think about how the tiny child born at christmas became light to a world shrouded in darkness. Tim Hughes' song Light of the world was one that immediately sprang to mind:
Light of the word
you stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore you
Hope of a life spent with you.
and then our response to this
So here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that you're my God
Your all together lovely
Altogether worthy
altogether wonderful to me
then that poignant bridge:
And I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross,
No I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
That's when the realisation dawns that this little baby laid in a manger is destined for the cross. it's all in Gods special plan so that i can say and you can say I am free, I am redeemed (bought back), I am saved because Gods son took my place on the cross.
For the month of December I am planning my own Advent calender on this and my other blog creative and faithful.
Monday, October 19, 2009
God of Justice ~ Tim Hughes
Last night we had the wonderful experience of formally welcoming and commissioning our schools and church youth worker Mark Tiddy.
It was wonderful to hear how the vision held by three churches over a very long period had come to fruition over many years until finally after metaphorical walls had been broken down at the senior school and chance meetings, opportunities andconversations had taken place, the Hunsley christian youth trust had come into being and the search for a youth worker had begun.
Mark fitted the criteria and was appointed.
The Bishop of Hull attended and comissioned mark andthe trust.
Our music group was swelled by the addition of some wonderful young instrumentalists and singers and the congregation from All Saints South Cave, Elloughton cum Brough Cof E, St Barnabus Swanland and The Baptist church at Pateborough (where Mark used to work) entered into the praise and worship.
Last Monday we'd learnt a new song which Mark had requested. "God of Justice" which he felt was a job description.
God of Justice,
Saviour to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served
Jesus, You have called us
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give
We must go live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must goStepping forward
keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go
To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in everyway
Walking humbly before You God
You have shown us, what You require
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give
Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out Lord
Please pray for the Hunsley trust and for Mark that this wonderful opportunity will bear much fruit and that this job disription can be a real inspiration and model on which to build.
It was wonderful to hear how the vision held by three churches over a very long period had come to fruition over many years until finally after metaphorical walls had been broken down at the senior school and chance meetings, opportunities andconversations had taken place, the Hunsley christian youth trust had come into being and the search for a youth worker had begun.
Mark fitted the criteria and was appointed.
The Bishop of Hull attended and comissioned mark andthe trust.
Our music group was swelled by the addition of some wonderful young instrumentalists and singers and the congregation from All Saints South Cave, Elloughton cum Brough Cof E, St Barnabus Swanland and The Baptist church at Pateborough (where Mark used to work) entered into the praise and worship.
Last Monday we'd learnt a new song which Mark had requested. "God of Justice" which he felt was a job description.
God of Justice,
Saviour to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served
Jesus, You have called us
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give
We must go live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must goStepping forward
keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go
To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in everyway
Walking humbly before You God
You have shown us, what You require
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give
Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out Lord
Please pray for the Hunsley trust and for Mark that this wonderful opportunity will bear much fruit and that this job disription can be a real inspiration and model on which to build.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Dancing worship
There are many many ways in which we are able to worship God. I am always in awe of the uplifting feeling I feel watching others dance in worship and praise to him. I'm not a dancer myself. I've never felt comfortable in movement, but it doesn't mean that I can't worship whilst seeing other people dance.
Our church is blessed with a number of very tallented dancers who regually share this gift with us. Dancing to both gentle contemporary Christian music and more experimental and dance type christian music. Not only do they dance, but they encourage the yonger and older members of our congregation to join with them.
The dance video above is the first of a series of worship dances I'll share with you over the next few posts.
www.paradosiballetcompany.com are the dancers dancing to How great is our God (the splendour of the king
Our church is blessed with a number of very tallented dancers who regually share this gift with us. Dancing to both gentle contemporary Christian music and more experimental and dance type christian music. Not only do they dance, but they encourage the yonger and older members of our congregation to join with them.
The dance video above is the first of a series of worship dances I'll share with you over the next few posts.
www.paradosiballetcompany.com are the dancers dancing to How great is our God (the splendour of the king
Friday, May 15, 2009
Living Water
Kees Kraayenoord dutch song writer wrote this song after reading the story of the Samaritan woman meeting Jesus at the well
John 4
Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
The woman to whom he spoke was an adulteress, a woman who had really made a mess of her life. Culture at the time meant that Jesus should not be talking to her on both the grounds that she was a woman and the grounds that she was "living in sin". But he did talk to her. He recognised the pain in her life that caused her to seek love from man after man. He knew the inner depths of her soul without her having to say anything and his words to her were words of comfort, that struck her deep within. She recognised that he spoke with authority and she took on board his calling.
Later in the reading we read:
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
I remember being at senior school and the Christian Union there was supported by one of the teachers Val Fotherby. She was a member of the Prison Christian Fellowship. One day she invited a guy called Michael Tony Ralls (I think) to talk to us. His was a story of drugs and gangs and yet in prison he received a copy of the living bible and read it. The truth of Jesus spoke to him and changed his life around.
I sin too. I make mistakes in my life that hurt my very essence and effect those around me and yet Jesus takes my imperfection if I allow him to and uses me. And he can use you too.
If perfection was a requirement of being used by God then there is not one of us on this planet good enough for him. But because the grace of God is Forgiveness and he gives everyone who want it the living water he handed to the Samarian woman at the well.
John 4
Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
The woman to whom he spoke was an adulteress, a woman who had really made a mess of her life. Culture at the time meant that Jesus should not be talking to her on both the grounds that she was a woman and the grounds that she was "living in sin". But he did talk to her. He recognised the pain in her life that caused her to seek love from man after man. He knew the inner depths of her soul without her having to say anything and his words to her were words of comfort, that struck her deep within. She recognised that he spoke with authority and she took on board his calling.
Later in the reading we read:
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
I remember being at senior school and the Christian Union there was supported by one of the teachers Val Fotherby. She was a member of the Prison Christian Fellowship. One day she invited a guy called Michael Tony Ralls (I think) to talk to us. His was a story of drugs and gangs and yet in prison he received a copy of the living bible and read it. The truth of Jesus spoke to him and changed his life around.
I sin too. I make mistakes in my life that hurt my very essence and effect those around me and yet Jesus takes my imperfection if I allow him to and uses me. And he can use you too.
If perfection was a requirement of being used by God then there is not one of us on this planet good enough for him. But because the grace of God is Forgiveness and he gives everyone who want it the living water he handed to the Samarian woman at the well.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The passing of friends
Over the last two years, I've felt privaledged to have known two women who have been taken by cancer, both of them far too young.Both their funerals had elements of joy in them. Yes there was sadness, but also happiness for their release from suffering and their meeting with the Lord.At one of the funerals, a passage was read that was written by one of the women and I'd like to share that with you. It was how she imagined meeting with God would be.
"I was at an airport once to neet a friend. There were a lot of people there and a lot of noise. A tall man carrying a heavy suitcase walked through from the luggage pick up area into the main concorse. His wife and three year old son were standing right at the back of the crowd of waiting people.
As soon as his son saw him he shouted "daddy" and raced through the crowd at full sprint and launched himself into his dad's arms.They said nothing, but gazed at each other and laughed and laughed.
The busy-people noise had stopped and everyone turned to see what the laughter was all about. I had a lump in my throat and quite a few people had tears in their eyes.
Ever since then, that's how I have imagined what meeting God will be like: to hug each other tightly, look into each others eyes and laugh our heads off."
What a wonderful image. I only hope that when I meet with Jesus it will be just like that!
"I was at an airport once to neet a friend. There were a lot of people there and a lot of noise. A tall man carrying a heavy suitcase walked through from the luggage pick up area into the main concorse. His wife and three year old son were standing right at the back of the crowd of waiting people.
As soon as his son saw him he shouted "daddy" and raced through the crowd at full sprint and launched himself into his dad's arms.They said nothing, but gazed at each other and laughed and laughed.
The busy-people noise had stopped and everyone turned to see what the laughter was all about. I had a lump in my throat and quite a few people had tears in their eyes.
Ever since then, that's how I have imagined what meeting God will be like: to hug each other tightly, look into each others eyes and laugh our heads off."
What a wonderful image. I only hope that when I meet with Jesus it will be just like that!
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