General Chat

Hello all

We are just back home from yet another A&E visit since 5am this morning.
Hubby's breathing problems increased greatly and so I followed the ambulance
where two very young crew were kindness itself to the two of us.

A chest infection and fluid in his lung has been diagnosed poor love. Antibiotics,
increased diuretics and a stronger cough medicine all prescribed. We have nothing
but praise for the NHS staff and have so much to thank them for once again.

Good morning :-)


Oh poor kandj and husband......I'm so sorry that you have had yet another visit to the hospital. I do hope that things settle down soon.....sending love and prayers <3

For today :

If You Look For Me at Christmas
...you won't need a special star -
I'm no longer just in Bethlehem,
I'm right there where you are.

You may not be aware of me
amid the celebrations -
You'll have to look beyond the stores
and all the decorations.

But if you take a moment
from your list of things to do
And listen to your heart, you'll find
I'm waiting there for you.

You're the one I want to be with,
you're the reason that I came,
And you'll find me in the stillness
as I'm whispering your name.

Love,
Jesus.



Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Some thoughts as we approach the new year......


Dear Lord, please give me…

A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;
A work to do which has real value,
without which the world would be the poorer;
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed;
An understanding heart;
A sense of humour;
Time for quiet, silent meditation;
A feeling of the presence of God;
The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
With the wisdom to recognize them when they come. Amen.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Continuing our journey towards the end of the year......

Lord,

As we approach the new year, I offer you my life.
Come take my voice, may the words I speak be filled with encouragement and goodness.
Come take my hands, may the work they create be generous and giving.
Come take my feet, may the journeys I walk be led by your Spirit within.
Come take my life Lord, for I love your goodness, your kindness and your leading.



Hope everyone is okay.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


I hope everyone enjoys their New Year's Eve celebrations tonight..........I think I may be fast asleep :-D

What shall I ask for the coming year
What shall my watchword be
What should you do for me, dear Lord
What can I do for thee?

Lord, I would ask for a holy year
Spent in your perfect will
Help me to walk in your very steps
Help me to please you still.


Cx :-)

Hello all

We won't see the New Year in either Cynthia but be tucked up in our warm bed.

Remembering all who are coping with illness and pain or going through troubled times or feel lonely at this time of year. Sending a warm hug to those in need of one.

The Gate of the Year wonderful words written by Minnie Louise Haskins 1875-1957

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year;

"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."

And he replied;

"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be
to you better than light and safer than a known way." So I went forth and finding
the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the
breaking of the day in the lone East.

Thanks to Cynthia for daily postings and to all who pop in or just look in this site
I send HAPPY NEW YEAR BLESSINGS. GOOD HEALTH & HAPPINESS IN 2017
XXX

A quiet evening with just the two of us tonight. I expect we will be tucked up before midnight too.

Thank you Kandj for the reminder of The Gate of the Year.

Thank you Cynthia for your daily postings throughout 2016. Even though I don't post regularly this is my "turn to first" thread, so you are never talking to yourself even though it must seem like it sometimes.

I wish all my GR friends a happy, healthy and blessed 2017. HAPPY NEW YEAR

Good morning :-)


Did something happen whilst I was fast asleep? :-D


It is still Sunday and churches will still be holding services thankfully.

The Collect (special prayer for today) :

Almighty God,
in the birth of your Son
you have poured on us the new light of your incarnate Word,
and shown us the fullness of your love:
help us to walk in his light and dwell in his love
that we may know the fullness of his joy;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.


The Gospel reading tells the story of the Angel of God telling Joseph to go to Egypt away from Herod.


My thanks to those who support this thread and I wish you all a very Happy and Blessed New Year. <3

Cx :-)

Happy New Year

Thank you Cynthia for your welcome daily contributions.

Let's hope that we can look forward to the New Year and be ready to face it's challenges.



...........From the poem by Minnie Haskins.....

I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way."


Gwyn

Our prayer for the coming year needs to be more than just: “Lord, do something!” It needs to be: “Lord, what can I do?”

Happy New Year xx

Good morning :-)

Thank you for the greetings........ <3

I was pleasantly surprised at how many folk turned up for church yesterday - many more than I anticipated. I also noticed other churches that I pass had folk round and about. The Christian faith is still alive and kicking :-D


Dermot poses the question... "What can I do?"

How about some New Year Resolutions..............for Christians?

As we begin 2017, I have been looking around for ideas – so let’s take a gentle look at some this week.

For today: READ GOD'S WORD MORE

Why? We may remember to pray but reading God’s word has a different effect on us. When we pray, we are talking to God, but when we read the bible we learn more about God and His story.

The bible may not be the easiest book to read, but just a few minutes a day reading a verse or maybe a chapter, will help us to become more familiar with it. For guidance, I would suggest maybe the Bible Reading Fellowship scheme .....

https://www.brf.org.uk/

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path".

If anyone takes up this challenge, it would be interesting to let us know how you get on. :-)


Love to all Cx :-)

Good morning :)


As people return to some sort of normality after the Christmas and New Year break, we look at Day 2 of our New Year Resolutions for Christians....

PRAY MORE AND HARDER!

If we are honest, there may be days when we pray and days when we don’t. There are times when our prayers are, perhaps, done without much thought or we maybe don’t know what to pray about.

Our talks with God should be more meaningful than this as prayer is our only line of communication with God, so we need to take time with our prayers and make the most of that time.

Reading the bible and prayer goes hand-in-hand, we need to constantly ask God for wisdom to help us understand what we are reading. Prayers don’t have to be mega long we just need to open our hearts and minds to God………………..that’s prayer.

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up”.


Cx :-)

Hello all

I have never forgotten a member of our congregation telling me that God has a
"telephone number" ??? It is Jeremiah 33 v 3 and in that chapter and verse are
written the words:-

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you GREAT and MIGHTY things you
do not know."

I think hubby has shared his bug with me....... just what I could have done without! xx

Good morning :-)


Poor kandj - you really don't need to catch a nasty bug with all you have to do. Hope you feel better very soon.

I am propping my eyes open with matchsticks this morning as my husband is a fidget and keeps waking me. :-( I am going back to bed shortly to zonk out for another hour hopefully.


The week is galloping away already...

Day three of our New Year Resolutions...

BE MORE COMPASSIONATE
It has been said that, in this world we live in, it's always going to be the survival of the fittest. We may not notice it but we've been brainwashed to think that all that matters is "me, me and me" only.

We do everything we can to buy what we want and live a comfortable life. However, what we fail to see is how self-centered we have become.

God's second commandment is to "Love your neighbour as yourself..." (Mark 12:31). This only means that we should practice the same compassion we have for our family and loved ones with strangers and people who are in need.


Food for thought indeed............... Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

On to day four of our possible New Year Resolutions…..

GIVE AND GIVE MORE….

As the old saying goes, "the more you give, the more you'll receive." This doesn't only apply to the Christmas season. In fact, in Luke 6:38, it says "Give and it will be given to you....for with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

This coming year, let’s consider being more giving and charitable. When we see a homeless man, willingly give him something without any judgment.

When a relative approaches us asking for help, give what we can. We should always have a heart big enough to help others throughout the year because God commanded each and every one of us to love and care for one another.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Final New Year Resolution to consider……Make church a priority.


“Some believe that going to church every Sunday is enough. While attending services and being in fellowship with Christians is indeed a great thing, your church participa-tion shouldn't be limited to that. Your church is your spiritual home and its activities help fortify your faith.

Take advantage of any prayer or bible groups……activities like this will help you to know more about your brothers and sisters in Christ. Remember, that being part of your church helps it to grow and, when it grows, it becomes a better home for fellow Christians as well as those who need God in their lives.”


I almost feel that I should be holding up a placard saying "Support your local church". :-D :-D :-D

Shhhhhh it's very quiet here. Have a bit of a cold and found it difficult to go to sleep last night. Not a bad cold just a nuisance. I awoke late so was late with the dog walk. Sun was out but that's all. It's Epiphany here and a holiday and not 1 person about and I think I missed the early service because - no bells :-D.

All together a rousing chorus of We Three Kings :-D.

I must remember February 3rd, out here it's St Symeon's Day. Simeon is the good man who received baby Jesus when he was presented in the temple at 40 days old.

My paternal line is full of Simeons. e.g. my uncle, grandfather, gt grandfather, gt gt gt uncle, numerous cousins of differing distances and a 19yr old 2nd cousin twice removed who died 1916 in WW1.

The name Simeon first shows up as a brother to my gt gt gt grandmother. I have his baptism in 1803 when my 3 x gt grandmother was 20. I can't find him as an adult in any of the censuses so he very likely died. My 3 x gt grandparents named their youngest son Simeon. My 2 x gt grandparents Joseph and Ann named their 2nd son Simeon. The name starts cropping up in every branch of the paternal line. Easy to find but then I have to sort out which family they belong to. :-S

Have a lovely Epiphany Day and as it's a holiday here I think you all should take the day off. :-D

Good morning :-)


A day off sounds good to me Pat, but what's going on? No bells? :-S :-D

I love the story of Simeon and Anna in the temple. Lots of scope for visual imagination. I also like the name Simeon but you do seem a bit overwhelmed with them....... :-)

Whilst Christmas and New Year may be over, there are lots of things to celebrate within the Christian year......

Yesterday was The Feast of the Epiphany………

“In the Western churches, the Epiphany (‘manifestation’) became an occasion to cele-brate one element in the story of Christ’s birth, the visit of the far-travelled magi, under-stood as the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.

Matthew’s account speaks simply of ‘wise men from the east’; later tradition ?xed their number at three, made them kings and set their names as – Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar.

In the Eastern churches, the Epiphany is, rather, the celebration of Christ’s baptism at the hands of John, when the heavens were opened and a voice from heaven declared Jesus to be God’s beloved Son. “


Christmas cribs will still be up in most churches, with the Wise Men taking a major role.


Hope everyone is okay. Love and prayers Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Church life is focused on the season of Epiphany at the moment.


The Collect (special prayer) for today:

O God, who by the leading of a star manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: mercifully grant that we, who know you now by faith, may at last behold your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Today's gospel tells the story of the Wise Men visiting the infant Jesus.


We have two baptisms this morning so I image there could be a certain amount of chaos. :-D


Cx :-)