General Chat

Good morning :-)


The next verse of the old hymn advises us not only to be alert and to listen for God speaking to us, but also to act on what we hear.

O give me Samuel’s ear,
The open ear, O Lord,
Alive and quick to hear
Each whisper of Thy Word,
Like him to answer at Thy call,
And to obey Thee first of all.

----------------------------------------

You speak in unexpected places,
and with unexpected voices, God.
And we aren’t always sure how to listen.
We aren’t always sure who to listen to.
We aren’t always sure if we’re really hearing you.
Be blunt with us, please. Be clear.
Give us the challenge
of loving you,
of loving the other,
of loving ourselves.
And help us to live it out!
Because you are God who loves us all,
even when we don’t know where to turn.
In Jesus’ name we ask it. Amen.


Love to all Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


'The old man, meek and mild,
The priest of Israel, slept;
His watch the temple child,
The little Levite, kept;
And what from Eli’s sense was sealed
The Lord to Hannah’s son revealed.'

And so, whilst Eli was peacefully sleeping, the Lord was calling Samuel’s name. Three times Samuel thought Eli was calling him; then, at the old man’s word, he went back and prayed this wonderful prayer that God would speak to him, a prayer which is implicit with faith. “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”.

That was a long time ago but thankfully, God still speaks to His people! He does this by the Holy Spirit and through the Word of God. The important thing is are we listening for His voice?

Lord, we pray that you will make us more like little Samuel, alert and willing to listen to you. Amen.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Thanks for all the input....still thinking about it but am a bit hassled at the moment so hope to make a decision soon :-)

For today.

Yesterday, in church, we had a visit from our Archdeacon. She based her sermon on the story of Samuel hearing God's voice and it made me think of an old hymn I was taught as a child.

The mini nutshell version is that we heard the background of how Samuel, son of Hannah and Elkanah, came to be in the temple. Hannah was desperate for a child and made a promise that, if she was so blessed, she would give the child to God. Her prayer was answered and she gave birth to Samuel and, when he was weaned, she took him to the temple to be with Eli the old priest.

The first verse of the hymn I remembered reads …
Hushed was the evening hymn,
The temple courts were dark;
The lamp was burning dim
Before the sacred ark;
When suddenly a voice divine
Rang through the silence of the shrine.

So what about this ‘sacred ark’? Before my mind went wild thinking of Indiana Jones, I decided to check it out. From Wiki (very abbreviated) ‘The Ark of the Covenant, is a gold-covered wooden chest with lid cover described in the Book of Exodus as containing the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron's rod and a pot of manna. It was created according to a pattern given to Moses by God.’

So there was this young boy, possibly a teenager by now, left in charge of something infinitely precious, woken from sleep by someone calling his name…….

We'll look at the 2nd verse tomorrow.

Lord, we never know when you are going to speak to us. Help us to find space in our lives to listen for your voice. Amen.

Cx :-)

Hello all

Just read back and I think perhaps a new titled thread may be shorter and quicker to access, but still give credit to John who began this Christian thread initially.

Very many grateful thanks to Cynthia for her commitment to posting daily scripture which is always interesting and often very thought provoking.

I'm still finding life really difficult and hard having to adjust to being on my own. I do count my blessings each day and try to come to terms with how my life has changed

I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you,
Fear not, for I will help you. (Isaiah 41: 13).

Having read this and other threads here's what I think.

Some people are getting fed up of being timed out, this is a thread that regularly times out. A new, small thread might mean it's accessible to more people.

You could make it an annual thread then it would always be up to date and keep the amount of pages limited.

I'd call it something like Our Christian Thread 2019 - open to all.

On the first entry I'd make an acknowledgement to John for starting the original thread. :-D

Just my thoughts, over to you Cynthia and I will continue to read whatever you choose.

:-D <3

Good morning everyone. In these modern times with medications for most things that ail us hospitals for surgery for injury, (if you live in the right country) Yet we still fall susceptible to "the years of a man are threescore and ten with ten more if you're strong . Exceptional people live to be 90 or beyond. I mention this because long ago it is reported that Adam and his descendants
lived for hundreds of years.

Good morning - it didn't take me too long today :-D


Thank you both for your comments re the thought of a new thread. I am quite happy to keep this one going but just wondered if a new opening post would be helpful - if you know what I mean. It was the comment from 'Mark' which made me realise that some folk only see that post without catching on to the current comments. Let me ponder and pray for a few days :-D

By the way Vera, I don't call 35 an 'advanced age' :-D


For today:

The Collect (special prayer) set for today :

O God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The gospel reading for today tells of the Pharisees accusing Jesus of breaking the Sabbath law by allowing his disciples to pick grain and eat it and then for healing the man with the withered hand.


Love to all. Cx :-)

I’m sitting on the fence a bit with that question Cynthia. At first I thought that perhaps we could have a Faith thread that would include all faiths and we might all learn something but I am concerned that it might get argumentative. Maybe a new thread but on similar lines to this one?

I must admit I like the thread as it is. At my advanced age I still am not completely sure what exactly I believe (though I know I do believe) and the thread has presented me with some new ideas and made me think a bit.

Having said that I feel very guilty that all the burden of keeping it going and finding new themes etc falls on Cynthia who does a wonderful job.

So no real decision from me but, like Emma, I will continue to look in each day whichever way it goes.

Cynthia I thought you may have had problems
getting on to the site.
Several of us had some difficulties or another.

I think maybe a new thread would be good.
Either way I will still look in everyday x

Oh good heaven's, I see I didn't get here yesterday! This is what happens when it takes me ages to get on site...….I give up for a while and then I forget. Apologies.

Good morning :-)

Hello Mark, the opening post of this thread was set by a former member who has long since left the site - we have been running the thread for almost 6 years now.

This has made me think. To those of you who support this thread, should we keep it as it is, or begin a new one with, maybe, a different title but keeping to the Christian faith? I am open to suggestions, thoughts and ideas :-D

For today :


Saturday is like a blank page, fresh and new, a pause away from routines and responsibilities. Thank you for rest, for recreation, family and friends.
Lord, thank you for Saturdays. Amen.

Cx :-)

:-D :-D :-D :-D Cynthia thank you for your
continuing support on this thread and for
your sense of humour.

What better way to see the day through with a
laugh and a prayer x

"What did St Peter preach at Pentecost?"

To get to the other side?

Good morning :-)

So many deep points greet me this morning. The Christianity/religion causing warfare issue is another old discussion topic. Yes, there has been too much bloodshed in the name of religion, mostly caused by those who have either twisted the teachings or have misunderstood what the faith is about.

One of the oft quoted sayings is 'an eye for an eye' etc. however, Christians should have left that behind and moved on to the teachings of Jesus - 'love your neighbour as yourself'. Too often, the vengeful events of the Old Testaments are used as examples of behaviour but, whilst there is much to learn from the OT, our example of how to live our lives is found in the New Testament.


Gulp of coffee


Yes it is a beautiful and amazing world, not formed as a 'fluke' or by chance, but a world created for us to enjoy and care for, and we should ever be thankful for the wonders we see around us.

More coffee


For today:

Lord, we thank you for our families
For the talents and good things that you have given each of us
Please guide us, protect us and equip us
This day and every day
As we grow together in Your love

Amen.


Cx :-)

The heavens are continually revealing their wonders, but so is the earth. Out of the

same soil one seed grows a cabbage another seed grows a turnip, yet another grows

a tomato, fascinating. Some know how it works, I'm always very impressed. Different

colours, flavours shapes and sizes, out of the same earth.

In these modern times so many religions exist, most of them in conflict thereby ignoring love thy neighbour and thou shalt not kill, very sad.
Within "Christianity" so many denominations exist, most saying they are right and in
a form of conflict with the others :-S
If you trace "Christianity" back through the centuries it has been responsible for a lot of bloodletting and "legalised" murder. Trace the religion all the way back to Constantine
and you have as close as you will get to the original. Is what the Churches are teaching today the same as what they taught back then ? If not why not ?

Good morning :-)

Lovely to see the chat going on on here...…..and I think Vera has hit the nail on the head - we tend to think of God as a limited human being such as ourselves - but he is infinite - which is another ball game altogether! :-D


David, instead of 'Father, Mother, Child', consider 'Husband, father, grandfather' - the same person but with different aspects :-D


Yes Hollywood still make biblical epics and take a lot of artistic license to boot too! lol

My husband is a man of faith and very knowledgeable on the subject too (unlike me), and he gets really annoyed at some of the inaccuracies portrayed in televised 'biblical' productions.

We press on.....

Prayer To Keep Me From Being Too Busy

Dear Lord, at the start of this day, help me to keep the eyes of my heart on You and may I not ignore what is really important for what I think is urgent.

Help me not to be too busy to forget to look at all the beauty that surrounds me in the world that You have created. Help me not to be so much in a hurry that I miss listening to Your still small voice.

Keep me I pray from ‘busy-ness’ and may I draw ever closer to You in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen


Love to all. Cx :-)

Hollywood is still making money from Bible epics.

Two or three years ago Russel Crowe starred in Noah.

Thank you for reminding me Pat.
I used to live in eastern Cyprus and remember the local people celebrating.

Thanks for the link Pat. Very interesting.

Only Cyprus Vera

https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Feast+of+Kataklysmos

Like our festivals a bit of the old religion or beliefs used for Christian celebrations