who like me his praise should sing?

'Praise my soul the King of heaven, to his feet your tribute bring...' TIS 134

The first serious frost was down this morning and there was a glittering of white sparkle as the sun tipped the frosty ground. It reminded me of a white, tiny sequenced, ballroom gown, shimmering across the floor.

There was a carpet of God's love of multi coloured autumn leaves covering the path that I playfully kicked as I walked, reminiscent of childhood.

The quiet was broken by the call of the currawongs and a new day was dawning full of God's Glory.

In the rush of life it can sometimes be hard to find the calm of God's peace yet one step out the front door and the voice was almost a whisper...a whisper from God.....peace, still,quiet,calm,rest,reflect,refresh...

That one step aside with God is the best medicine for the soul one could ever wish for.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

The reason for the season

' I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.' John 10:10

I am soaking in the Easter season in multiple thoughts and reflections of its meaning, very life giving, and I think of others that perhaps we have brought life to as well, this Easter.

The display on the east wall at church was simple but thought provoking as it was created by JAFFA (our group for people with disabilities) and it told of how they felt about the risen Christ.

And

at Messy Church (a large group of community families that are unchurched) I was blown away by the response from a four year old about what she didn't like and what did she like. Many of the children responded to the question with.....'I don't like carrots, I don't like dogs......I like ice cream....but this little one of four said so seriously, so thoughtfully. 'I don't like it that Jesus died but I do like it that he is alive again. That makes me feel sooooooooooo good!

Inclusion, welcome, love and embrace. That's the reason for the season.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Easter/anzac day

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15:13

The Easter event could easily be forgotten in the flow on today as we reflect on Anzac Day, yet in the tension of this our thoughts can be of the ultimate sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of thousands of men and women in war for their countries.

I reflect on my experience when I visited the Somme a few years ago. Heart breaking, numbing, emotional,utter grief and disbelief at the thousands upon thousands of lives lost, yet there was a spirit of peace that hovered over the Somme. Its almost sacred, indeed it is sacred ground.

I truly felt that day, as I looked at 10,000 names of soldiers who had no known grave, of hundreds of cemeteries scattered along the road sides, that Christ was deeply present. He knows our sacrifice, he knows our suffering, he knows our grief, our desire for peace and he is forever in it.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Good Friday.

So Jesus came out wearing a crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them. 'Here is the man.' John 18: 5

Let our minds transport us back to a part of the world that throbs with the words and wonders of Jesus himself.

In the 1800's William How wrote this hymn:

It is a thing most wonderful , almost too wonderful to be true

That God's own Son should come from heaven, and die to save a child like me.

I sometimes think upon the cross and shut my eyes to try and see

The cruel nails and crown of thorns and Jesus, crucified for me.

Let us gaze on the wonders of the day and see Jesus pinned to the cruel tree, not by nails, but by love for you and for me.

Peace.

Anne

inclussion..........for Jesus sake.

'And I will raise them up, I will raise them up at the last day. (TIS 535)

There is a growing sense of thoughtfulness around issues of those who gather and worship with us at church who have a disability. I have been so blessed this season of Lent as I have worked with the disability group at church preparing for Easter. There have been sessions of colouring in and cutting out, creating and making, talking and singing...............all about the Easter story.......not just to hear and learn the story but to serve the congregation in such a way that all are include, all are blessed. This Palm Sunday the activity of the Disability group JAFFA was the centre of reflection in the sanctuary. What a blessed moment, what a humble moment as people reflected on the seasonal focus point, and reflected on the hands that had created it.

Inclusion is the key to life........isn't that the gospel message?

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Jesus loves me

' Jesus said: People who are well don't need a doctor, but only those who are sick. I have come not to call respectable people, but outcasts. ' Mark 2:17

Have you ever broken something precious and then arduously tried to put it back together gluing each piece bit by bit?

I was attempting to glue a broken chip back onto a much loved ornament and as I worked at it (sometimes with frustration) I thought of how God must labour over the lives of broken individuals...............you know, the ones that society casts aside...........broken, hurting, unloved people...............God's people.

Then I reflect on how on how God can change lives and how he can use us to be his hands, his voice and his feet, his advocates. Who of the unloved are you going to love today..........in the name of Christ.

The Easter message is that God can change prostitutes like Magdalene into disciples and broken reeds like Simon Peter into rocks...... (Fulton Sheen)

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

' resurrection'

' I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord.' John 11:25.

There is something so special about the autumn. God brings a sense of freshness, of quiet, of colour and emptiness, of fog and mist, of perfect reflections on still waters, a beauty so deep.

I think in every season we can see the Glory of the Lord if we are looking. Multiple layers of life and death.................all seeming to die, before it lives....................resurrection 'stuff' that brings to mind the Easter message.

Take a moment..................just a moment and marvel at a tree in colour, then look again in a little while at its emptiness and then in spring look again........................and see layer upon layer of the Glory of the Lord'

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

open their eyes

' I was born blind but now I see.' ( John 9)

How many times do we hear but we don't see. The penny doesn't drop then one day, we suddenly see what we have been hearing. Over and over I kept 'seeing' the face of this blind man as suddenly the revelation hit him...................the man who gave him sight was JESUS, Saviour of the world ................what a spiritual revelation what an epiphany for him.

I think of us all as we set about our day and wonder about the people God will put in our path that are blind, that perhaps hear but don't see. I know that I set about a day with passion and desire, a passion and desire to serve the Lord, to help the blind to see.................to see not just the light of day, but the light of Christ.

We are Christ centred, healing people to a hurting world.....................through Christ we can open the eyes of the blind.

With dignity and integrity I want to add.....................go get them!

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

God is in his house.

' let all the world, in every corner sing: my God and King. TIS 105

The early morning autumn mist hovered over the summer grass with haunting beauty and trees, sentinel like seemed to have no base in the fog, just towering upward from the mist,

still,

quiet,

peaceful,

slowly moving.

The gentle, fresh breeze rippled across the grass and onto my face , refreshing like the Spirit of God.

Lord, I care not about position in heaven. Let all those bent on having power rule as they may. Give me only a small place close enough to see your face. (Calvin Miller)

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

For heavens sake.

' Never be lazy in your work but serve the Lord enthusiastically.' Romans 12:11

There is a saying which says: 'What on earth am I doing for Heaven's sake!' Now we can say that in the context of something we have done that hasn't quite gone the way we wanted it to or we can say it in a prayerful way, depends where we put the emphasis.

Yesterday I was sitting in 'Messy church' amongst many 'unchurched' families and I glanced across at a young couple. The dad was nursing their child . It was a sacred moment as I realised that through 'Messy church' this young couple were not only learning about God and the love of Jesus but they were giving this child an introduction to Christian life. The revelation almost put me on my knees before God.

What on earth are you doing for heavens sake?

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

God is present

' He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.' Isa. 53:12

Sometimes we forget that God is in the thick of things in the world. He doesn't sit in a place on high and survey, he is right in the midst with us.

He is in the thick of the earthquake in New Zealand, in the tsunami in Japan.

Every time you hold the hand of the dying, visit the sick, visit a day care centre, sit for bible study or a cuppa with a friend, in all you do in the comings and goings of your day...................there is God.AND, come evening when we reflect in silence on our day, God is in our prayers our thoughts and our sleeping.

As Lucado says:

He draws near,he is involved.He is as near to us on Monday as on Sunday, in the work place as in the sanctuary.

In all our comings and goings, like the tide of the sea, ever present, ever moving is our God.

Stop sometime during your day and acknowledge the presence of God in whatever you are doing at that moment and you will be blessed .

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Walking meditation

' Seek, O seek the Lord while he is near.' TIS 464

Images in life surround us all the time but we don't often read into them anything of significance to our life journey in a spiritual way. I love the 'God' connection when I see a part of creation, in any of its forms be it God himself or his message.

Walking the beach earlier this year I saw many such images but one in particular caused me to stop and reflect. It was of three stones, clustered together and two or three separate from the group and into my mind came several thoughts like 'gathering and dispersing' or 'when two or three are gathered together in my name there I will be also.'

Reflective, meditation walks are so 'life giving' so connecting to God's Spirit. Recently someone told me how a large butterfly came and settled on his hand and stayed there for some 15 minutes in stillness and quietness. What a God moment.

To have such moments we need stillness, quiet and time alone with God.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Harvest

' He said to his disciples.' The harvest is great , but the workers are so few. 'So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest: ask him to send out more workers to his fields'. Matthew 10:37-38

The summer gave us rains like we haven't seen for a long time and the growth of the grass was just amazing, in fact so strong that it caused verges and parkways to be overgrown and visibility limited, the place looked a mess.. There was a backlash at the local Government about not enough workers to keep up with the task, to reach the places that were becoming weed infested.

When I was out walking it was just coming on dawn and three tractors mowers passed me, lights shining bright, driven by men who looked like they were on a mission! They were on their way to cut back the overgrowth of grass in the area I live.

In our 'broken and cracked' world today there is a great need for more harvesters. Harvesters prepared to go out amongst the 'overgrowth' of the lost and take the Good News of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Go well as you yourself transofom lives today, in the name of Christ.

Anne

Lent

' They knew nothing about what was happening until the flood came and destroyed them. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. Matthew 24:39

I had two thoughts on my mind this morning when I woke up. I was reflecting on the story of Noah's Ark that I was telling at Messy Church a week or so ago and also on the deep and meaningful Ash Wednesday service during the week.

What did those two thoughts have in common? my daily reading said it all. (to quote Lucado)

'Noah was sent to save the faithful. Christ was sent to do the same. A flood of water came, a flood of fire will come next. Noah built a safe place out of wood. Jesus made a safe place with the cross.

Those who believed hid in the Ark. Those who believe are hidden in Christ.'

This Lent, as we travel the journey to the cross, may it hold a sense of new revelation, new assurance, new discovery, a freshness like the gentle rain that's falling this morning to the chorus of bathing birds.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Seek God first.

'Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through the generations.' Psalm 145:13

We often sit and spend time at the start of the day, writing the list of things that need to be done, the things we must do, the people we must touch base with, the ministry we must attend to and as the day wears on we work though this list, ticking of the tasks one by one often satisfied by evening that we have at least achieved some of them, or frustrated because the list still holds many tasks and the day instead shot off into another direction.

I stop and think. Whose day is it? Whose tasks are they? Mine or God's?

Having been given the gift of a new day it is wise to put on the very top of our list of must do items............'seek God's kingdom.' At the end of the day, what remains of the list doesn't really matter. The day has been in God's hands.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

footsteps of Christ

'This is the list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ...................' Matthew 1:1-6

It is a typical Autumn morning with a wisp of mist in the valley, blue, stark mountains and a freshness in the air. The dew is heavy on the grass and as I walked I could see foot prints where others had walked before me.

I thought of those footprints, and mine that were now imprinted with them, I thought of Jesus, who walked the earth and God who left his footprint on all creation and I thought how we all belong to the ancestors of 'the followers.' We continue, to walk in the steps of Jesus.

I don't see that walk as a step, by step, tiring journey one foot after the other but a daily step as a follower of Jesus, in making walls tumble..........walls of discrimination, injustice, exclusion, isolation.................in the name of Christ.

Think of your journey with Jesus. Are you marching on the spot or walking in his footsteps?

Catherine De Hueck Doherty said:

Those who follow in Jesus' footsteps, who never deviate from his teachings, find that these teachings are revolutionary.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Messy church

The Lord said to Moses. 'You will be able to tell wonderful stories to your children and grandchildren about the marvelous things I am doing.................to prove that I am Lord.' Exodus 10:2

It was my second encounter with 'Messy church' and it was so refreshing and life giving. The church seemed to be packed with mothers, children and fathers all engaging in 'worship' according to Messy church. To you or I it wouldn't look one bit like 'church' but the teaching through games, craft, activities, talk and song were speaking 'worship' to the unchurched from our community, and as for engagement, welcome, inclusion and pastoral care, well, it was all happening.

Two things set my heart souring for Christ. One was a lady I spoke to several times during the evening. She was there with her two children but my joy was that I had encountered this family in the community over the past years and baptised the two children and here they were, in Messy church! The other joy was real 'sacred ground.' As I was telling the story of Noah's Ark a toddler stood with me momentarily, her soft toy tiger in one hand and my hand in hers. I felt the power of the Spirit flow through us.

Open wide the doors of the church and the people will come in.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne

Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill our lives

''O let the Son of God enfold you with his Spirit and his love...............' TIS 655

It swept across the sky like streamers across the ballroom ceiling, hanging,waiting for the dance to begin,ribbons of bright colours of brilliant orange layered with pastel pinks and blue.....................a breath taking sunrise.

I heard a man ring into the local radio station saying, 'I just caught a glimpse of the rising sun in my rear vision mirror.'

Two thoughts crosses my mind when I heard his words.

'May we never see the Risen Son in hindsight.

And, may others see the risen Son in us today.'

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne

Come as you are

'................some men cam carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus........' Luke 5:18

At the recent confirmation service for the two young men with disabilities, one of their friends rested awkwardly on his crutches at the communion rail, to receive a blessing. He lingered awhile before returning to his seat. Moments later he returned to the communion rail, almost in leaps and bounds despite his disability. As he stood at the rail, his smile was radiant and his face seemed to be filled with joy.I asked him why he had returned to the communion rail. His reply..................'something made me come again...I can feel something special here...........this is a special place.' We were on sacred ground.

Yesterday this young man was listening to teaching on confirmation, at his special church group, and with the same radiant smile and gentle spirit has asked to be confirmed.

The great love of God is lavishly given if the doors are open wide enough for the wheelchairs to fit through and the ones on crutches invited and welcomed to participate.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne

in God's strength

'Behold, I am the Lord.....is anything too difficult for me?' Jeremiah 32:27

Visions and dreams, goals and aims, hearts longings and desires, health and happiness, service and love are all the things we desire and at times the 'dreaming' seems to big for us alone.

The value of putting God first in all things is what enables the 'dreaming' to become a reality and a song of all sorts to sing in your heart.

'What matters is not the size of the mountain, but the strength of the mountain mover.' (Anon)

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne