Time to Celebrate

We had a wonderful time of celebration today as we marked the Centenary of our church community. It is the first time I have been part of a Centenary as a minister and I found it to be a beautiful moment. One of the great delights was getting together with so many people from our community to worship God and to fellowship with one another. Having the worship service outside was a risk, but the weather was almost perfect. We felt truly fortunate and blessed for this great gift. 

This has been the first time in nearly 2 years we have been able to get the whole community together and the sense of relief and joy in the celebration was tangible. I think that this is something every community has missed during Covid and something we need to make space for in the future. I think this is what kept the Israelites focussed despite their tough circumstances - they were able to get together to honour God, to feast together and to laugh and sing. 

Moses answered, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord.” - Exodus 10:9

Luke 15:24 - For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

How are you able to Celebrate with your family, friends and Church community?

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Celebrating the King

As we celebrate Palm Sunday, let us read some words from Zephaniah who shares a remarkable prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. As you read his words cast your mind on the image of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey. Hosanna in the highest - praise the Lord of lords.

¹⁴ Sing, Daughter Zion;
    shout aloud, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
    Daughter Jerusalem!
¹⁵ The Lord has taken away your punishment,
    he has turned back your enemy.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;
    never again will you fear any harm.
¹⁶ On that day
    they will say to Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, Zion;
    do not let your hands hang limp.
¹⁷ The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,    but will rejoice over you with singing.” - Zephaniah 3:14-17

For all of the reasons mentioned by Zephaniah, Jesus comes into our lives this week and invites us to kneel before his throne. What will our response be?

Living in Grace
D3LM3

A twist of fate?

When Guido (Guy) Fawkes and his co-conspirators failed in their plot to blow up the English House of Parliament in 1605, they inadvertently spared the life of King James 1. In doing so, they allowed James to continue his sponsorship of the translation of the Bible into English. This work began in 1604 and finished in 1611 - the end result was the King James Version of the Bible.

So in a strange way, Guy Fawkes' failure allowed the success of the KJV to prevail. Call it a twist of fate or just God's Providence - the end result was a version of the Bible that has spoken to many believers for centuries.

The other interesting outcome is that millions of people set off fireworks on the 5th November without knowing who Guy Fawkes was and why they are celebrating this occasion :)
Life is certainly interesting!!

John 3:16 (KJV) - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Celebrating with you

In our men's accountability group this morning we were challenged to celebrate the achievements of others. Often we struggle to recognise the good in others and before we can genuinely say "well done" to someone else, we go through mixed emotions. Part of us struggles with a little jealousy or even a little insecurity - perhaps if I celebrate your victory, I may not be noticed anymore...

Our inspiration for celebrating with others should be Christ's attitude of humility:

Philippians 2:3-5
"Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had."

Celebrate with someone today.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Unity and Holy Week

This Sunday (17 April) marks Palm Sunday in the Christian calendar, which is the beginning of Holy Week. A lot of churches hold services every evening of the week and I encourage you to join one of these at your local Church - it will bless you immensely.

In our community, we celebrate a combined Palm Sunday service with all the Churches in our local area - it is a wonderful sign of Christian Unity. In an era when so many Christians fight over doctrinal issues, it is awesome to identify the Passion of Christ, as something that unites our Faith - (This Sunday we meet at St Matthews at 6:30pm).

"How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along! It's like costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard, Flowing down Aaron's beard, flowing down the collar of his priestly robes. It's like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion. Yes, that's where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life." - Psalm 133:1-3

Please don't let Holy Week simply be an 'ordinary week' for you. Rediscover the grace and mercy of Jesus.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

The Day after Christmas

In preparing for today's sermon I found this really awesome poem entitled "The Day after Christmas." I wanted to share it with you, but you will have to view it on the site that I found it. Here it is... The Day After Christmas. Enjoy it.

Just remember that we don't have to be afraid to pack away the Christmas tree, the tinsel, the Nativity scene and the Christmas carols. We will NOT pack Jesus away with all of these things - Jesus is with us 365 days of the year. He does not leave when all of this things are put away until December 2010.

Isaiah 43:5 - "Do not be afraid, for I am with you..."

Be Blessed,
D3LM3

Who shares with you?

Wow, I can't believe that another year has flown by. I am a year older, although I still feel the same - do you know what I mean? Thank you for all the many birthday wishes that Kim and I have received - we feel blessed.

Just a thought - today I will celebrate with millions of other people. Going by the law of averages, there could be about 16.5 million other people having their birthday on the 4th December (boy, do I feel special now!)

The truth is, we all share our birthday's with other people. Here are some other people who were born on my birthday...

1. 1795 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer and historian (d. 1881)
2. 1918 – Albert Francis Capone, son of Al Capone (d. 2004)
3. 1835 – Samuel Butler, English writer (d. 1902)
4. 1964 – Scott Hastings, Scottish Rugby Union international
5. 1949 – Jeff Bridges, American actor

I also noticed, that besides some famous people, I also share my day with poets, politicians, murderers, singers, football players, dancers etc. Makes one think!!

So, have you found out who shares your birthday? Let us know...

Be Blessed,
D3LM3

Celebrations

This week is a great week in my family. Kim celebrates her birthday today (3rd) and I have mine tomorrow!:) Declan also has his birthday on the 14th!

There are many cultures and religious groups that don't celebrate birthdays and whilst I want to understand their reasons, I feel sad in a way :(
I guess, the main reason why I feel sad is because birthdays have always been such a blessing in my family and I would love other people to share in the joy that we get to experience.

Birthday's are a time of giving thanks for the special people in our lives!
Birthday's remind us that God gave us life!
Birthday's bring families together to celebrate!
Birthday's are a good reason to eat lots of Chocolate Cake....mmmh!

To those of you who are celebrating birthday's soon, may God Bless you. To those whose birthday's are in 2010, let me be the first to wish you every blessing. To all of us, receive this blessing today...

"May the LORD bless you, and keep you;
May the LORD make His countenance shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
May the LORD turn His countenance to you and grant you peace." - Numbers 6:24-26

Lastly, a question for you all - do you know of other couples who share a birthday or whose birthdays are a day apart? I'd love to know - thanks!

Living by the Grace of God,
D3LM3