Flash mob for Christmas

This morning as part of our Handel at Advent Christmas series at Grace  we watched this great video..

Peer pressure

Challenged by power of peer pressure in our morning service today. At the start of the talk Ray showed this old candid camera video



Good stuff eh?

Baptisms!

Looking forward to 11 people being baptised tomorrow at church. It's always a moving occasion and well worth witnessing-especially if you've never seen one. Take a listen to previous baptism meetings with the stories of those who were baptised.

We practice full immersion of a believer. That is to say we believe that baptism should follow on from a person consciously having become a Christian. It is not an act of becoming one but rather of saying, 'yep I'm now a follower of Jesus Christ and I want to show that publicly.'

For some video of other baptism stories from a fine church in the US take a look here.

Joy

Mark Herbert preached last Sunday evening from Psalm 126, please take a listen  here. It was very helpful. Verse 3 tells us, 'the Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy'. That's a lovely statement and Mark urged us to find or joy in God. It's a challenging thought as well as a comforting one.

Mark closed by reading one of the  prayers from that lovely book, The Valley of Vision by Arthur Bennett. OK it's long and in somewhat quaint language, but it's beautiful, powerful and meaningful-we discussed it in our home group last night. Read it slowly and meditate!

~JOY~
O CHRIST, all Thy ways of mercy tend to and end in my delight,
Thou didst weep, sorrow, suffer that I might rejoice.
For my joy Thou has sent the Comforter,
multiplied Thy promises,
shown me my future happiness,
given me a living fountain.
Thou art preparing joy for me and me for joy;
I pray for joy, wait for joy, long for joy;
give me more than I can hold, desire, or think of.
Measure out to me my times and degrees of joy,
at my work, business duties.
If I weep at night, give me joy in the morning.
Let me rest in the thought of Thy love,
pardon for sin, my title to heaven,
my future unspotted state.
I am an unworthy recipient of Thy grace.
I often disesteem Thy blood and slight Thy love,
but can in repentance draw water
from the wells of Thy joyous forgiveness.
Let my heart leap towards the eternal sabbath,
where the work of redemption, sanctification,
preservation, glorification
is finished and perfected forever,
where Thou wilt rejoice over me with joy.
There is no joy like the joy of heaven,
for in that state are no sad divisions, unchristian quarrels,
contentions, evil designs, weariness, hunger, cold,
sadness, sin, suffering, persecutions, toils of duty.
O healthful place where none is sick!
O happy land where all are kings!
O holy assembly where all are priests!
How free a state where none are servants except to Thee!
Bring me speedily to the land of joy.

William Still!

There's so much good stuff to read-books and sermons and articles keep filling our shelves and ipods. But it's good to make sure not to miss brilliant material from the past.  One author/preacher  you may not have heard of is William Still who was the minister of Gilcomston South Church of Scotland in Aberdeen from 1945 till 1997!!

I've just been reading a series of talks he gave in 1977 under the title The Christian in the home, church and the world. It's vintage Still and very original.

He takes Watchman Nee to task for some of the teaching given in the book Love not the world. In which Nee teaches that because the whole of human culture results form the fall, the Christian is obliged to live in separation form it. Still comments

Consequently, the Christian may view his work as a mission field, or a s a means of making money for Christian work, but not value it for it's own sake or seek to exert a redeeming influence over secular culture (my emphasis).

Still goes on to say

But God looked on His creation and saw that it was very good, and although the Fall has marred God's work, His purpose-which has been achieved in Christ-is not to destroy but to restore. Full restoration comes only at the end of the present age, but in the meantime the Christian may not contract out. His duty is to bring all of creation and culture into confiormity with God's will, believeing that, 'everything created by God is good...if it is received with thanksgiving (1 Tim 1.4). All things were created for Christ; were reconciled through him and in all things he has the pre-eminence (Col 1.15-20). In the present time Christ expresses his Lordship and redemption of creation as His people serve Him in the world by the power of His Spirit.'

This is what we passionately believe at Grace. This is the gospel lived in all of life.