General Chat

Good morning :-)



In the lengthening of days,
Snowdrops emerging,
from winter's frozen ground.
WE SEE THE CREATOR'S HAND

In the sight of a tiny lamb
joyfully bounding
across hillside farm
WE SEE THE CREATOR'S HAND

Creator God, forgive our moments of ingratitude,
the spiritual blindness that prevents us
from appreciating the wonder that is this world,
the endless cycle of nature,
of life and death and rebirth.
Forgive us for taking without giving,
reaping without sowing.
Open our eyes to see,
our lips to praise,
our hands to share,
and may our feet tread lightly
on the road that, together, we travel.

Amen.



Cx :-)

Hello all

A beautiful poem. Thanks to Graham for sharing.

It is another cold windy day today, keep warm and stay safe everybody.

Good morning :-)


On Maundy Thursday, just a week ago, we heard Jesus say “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

Graham, a talented man, who lives local to me, has written this poem. Thank you Graham.


Love is a word given to us by God,
He taught us through Jesus to be understood,
For if we are loving, then there is no hate,
And the world once again would be joyous and great.
To Love is important, said Jesus one day,
Love thy neighbour as thyself, is what he did say,
And if you can do this and follow it through,
When you get to Heaven there's a place there for you.
It so stands to reason, for when you find love,
It forms a connection from on high above,
Not only does it stem from you to your friend,
But from our Lord, Christ Jesus to you till the end.
To love somebody, as he does love you,
Is testament to all the things he can do,
And your love is infectious, you'll have to agree,
It spreads round the world, like the birds in a tree.
So now I will leave you, a thought for your mind,
Be loving and faithful, happy and kind,
And when you achieve all these things that you do,
A blessing from God will be placed upon you.
Amen


Cx :-)

Hello all

I love this piece of scripture and have it on my kitchen notice board and I read it often. Thank you.

I have a Pieris Forest Flame outside the window and it's an amazing bright red with new Spring growth. A real joy to see such a beautiful sight.

Keep warm and stay safe today everyone.

Good morning everyone :-)


Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

here is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Song of Solomon 2:11-12

'See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land'.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

A rather manic weekend - I am just getting back onto a steady footing.....
Lovely service in our church yesterday and people were so appreciative of it.

Resurrection, new life and spring is in the air!!


God, give us eyes to see
the beauty of the Spring,
And to behold Your majesty
in every living thing –
And may we see in lacy leaves
and every budding flower
The Hand that rules the universe
with gentleness and power –
And may this Easter grandeur
that Spring lavishly imparts
Awaken faded flowers of faith
lying dormant in our hearts,
And give us ears to hear, dear God,
the Springtime song of birds
With messages more meaningful
than man's often empty words
Telling harried human beings
who are lost in dark despair –
‘Be like us and do not worry
for God has you in His care.'

- Helen Steiner Rice


Cx :-)

Hello all

Easter Sunday and our village church reopened for the first time in 13 weeks. All Covid safe and a real joy to be back amongst my church family again.

Christ is risen.....He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Good morning :-)


HOLY SATURDAY

Lord God,
On the Sabbath,
Jesus rested.
He was in the grave.
He had finished his work.

To most people’s eyes,
It looked as if it were all over.
He was dead and buried.

But only as a seed dies when it is planted in the earth,
Not to decay, but to spring to new life.
Teach us to take refuge in you when we are afraid
Teach us that death is not our end

Teach us to hope always in you
And in the resurrection, the making of all things new.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.



Compassionate God,
cradle in your arms today
all who grieve.
We think especially of those
whose loved one lies
in an unmarked grave;
or whose loved one’s body
has never been found.
We remember those prevented by Covid
from sitting by a bedside
or saying a fonder farewell.
Come near, good God,
soothe the pain and torment
of deaths that haunt the living
and bring your deepest peace.
Amen.


Cx :-)

Thank you for the posts today x

Hello all

It just doesn't feel like Good Friday at all to me...
No taking part in the Walk of Witness......No sitting quietly in church for the hour long Watch by the Cross service.....it's just so different and very strange this year.

On this Good Friday, may the Lord bring
PEACE into your heart,
HAPPINESS into your home, and
BLESSINGS into your life.

Have a blessed Good Friday everyone
and stay safe.

JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS

Joseph of Arimathea, who was a member of the Sanhedrin and revered Jesus, requested Pilate for his body. Nicodemus, another follower of Jesus helped wrap the body of Jesus. Pilate wanted to confirm if Jesus was dead and a soldier pierced the side of Jesus showing that blood was oozing out and thus Jesus was dead. This is the sad history of Good Friday; after the Jewish burial customs Shabbat began at the sunset.

https://youtu.be/LRaFdFkOVyY Were you there

THE LORD LET GO HIS SOUL

Jesus suffered on the cross for long six hours and during his last three hours on the Cross, he had seen darkness fell over the entire land. His last words were "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus gave up his spirit with a loud cry, followed by natural disasters like earthquake, curtains in the temple tore off, and the tombs broke open. The centurion who was on guard at the site of crucifixion said in himself, "Truly this was God's Son!"

https://youtu.be/uWTBaZTkGl4

THE DEATH SENTENCE

On knowing the answer, Pilate again faced the crowd and confirmed that Jesus was innocent and washed his own hands in water to prove that he was not involved in this criticism.

However, Pilate handed over Jesus to the crowd to get crucified as he feared that a riot would start up anytime. Jesus has his cross with him to the site of execution and was accompanied by Simon of Cyrene. The sentence mentioned "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" and the execution site was said to be the "place of the Skull", or "Golgotha". He was crucified there along with two criminals.

https://youtu.be/gzoj_QrSwxc

"CRUCIFY HIM"

Herod also questioned Jesus but did not get any answer; and then send him back to Pilate. Pilate confirmed the assembly that neither he nor Herod had found Jesus guilty. He proposed of just whipping Jesus and released him. The chief priests and the crowd called for the Barabbas, who was in the prison for murdering during an insurrection. Pilate was surprised and asked what relation they had with Jesus? And the crowd demanded, "Crucify him".

Pilate's wife dreamt of Jesus previous night and she already warned him not to harm this righteous man. Somehow, Pilate elbowed Jesus out from the crowd to release him. The chief priests got enraged and demanded Pilate to get Jesus be sentenced to death only "because he claimed to be God's son." Pilate got puzzled and also afraid; he brought in Jesus into his palace and asked him from where he belonged.

PILATE’S JUDGEMENT
Next day morning, Jesus was brought to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate by the assembly under charges of destabilizing the nation, refusing taxes to Caesar, and claiming himself as a king. Pilate directed the Jewish leaders to review according to their own law. However, the final word was the death sentence.
Jewish leaders were not ready to let out the death sentence as the Romans restricted this right on Jews. Pilate then questioned Jesus and informed the assembly that the death sentence was not justified. He further learned that Jesus was from Galilee, and that led him to take over the case to the ruler of Galilee, King Herod.

https://youtu.be/4_fvFfPqjO4

JESUS – THE SON OF GOD?

There were many conflicting testimonies against Jesus along with many witnesses, and Jesus remained numb to all this. Then, the high priests made Jesus undertake the solemn oath, saying "I adjure you, by the Living God, to tell us, are you the Anointed One, the Son of God?" Jesus accepted the witness obscurely, "You have said it, and in time you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, coming on the clouds of Heaven."

That day the Sanhedrin brought upon the sentence of death as the high priest condemned Jesus for sacrilege. Peter also did not stand as a well-wisher and also denied Jesus three times to onlookers. The interrogations went on just like Jesus had predicted.

https://youtu.be/X5Akz6J8Rw0

Arrest of Jesus –

As per the documents in the Gospels, the Temple Guards were protected by the Jesus' disciple Judas Iscariot; in the Garden of Gethsemane he then arrests Jesus. In exchange, Judas was rewarded with money, 30 pieces of silver was his reward to betray Jesus. After the arrest, Jesus was forcibly brought to the house of Annas, (the father-in-law of the high priest, Caiaphas), who then interrogated Christ but could not get satisfactory answers. He was then taken into captivity by Caiaphas, who was the high priest where the Sanhedrin had gathered.

https://youtu.be/I8nhMX_ogqE

Good morning :-)

Such a solemn day today. The day when our friend Jesus faces arrest, trial, crucifixion and death. We stay close by Him hour by hour until the end.

On each hour, there will be a prayer and a suitable hymn so that we can be close to Him.

O Jesus, on this day we remember your death, the day your light went out from this earth. We sit in the darkness today, remembering the trials you faced on our behalf. You have borne our sin and made the ultimate sacrifice to save us.

Today, as we recall your final hours, we consider a world without you and hold onto the hope we know we have in you. Lord, commit my heart ever closer to you, because I don’t want to live in a Good Friday world without you. I want you and your light in my life.

I believe in you and want to follow you all the days of my life, even knowing the road ahead will be difficult. Come, Lord Jesus, come and fill this world with your light. Amen.

Cx :-)

I am continuing to read this thread though I don't always have anything much to post so thank you to those of you continuing to keep it going.

I did mean to post on Palm Sunday and say I like All Glory, Laud and Honour as well kandj, but I clearly forgot to do it - the old memory does let me down sometimes. Another that is often sung at Palm Sunday/Easter is Rejoice the Lord is King. I love the emphasis on rejoicing.