A GREAT SERVICE AND BCAM AGAIN!

Today was a special day for me because I went back to Church for the first time since the end of July and it was SO good to be back.  I lost count of the number of people who came up and hugged me or just touched me on the arm, but they all said it was good to see me back and my response was that it was good to BE back!  As I have said before, being able to join in with the service online has been great whilst I haven’t been able to get there, but nothing compares to worshipping with God’s people in person and today was no exception.  

The songs were great, it was good to meet up with everyone and to be singing with the congregation in person;  the songs were good and the sermon was excellent.  Ian W. was the preacher and it was so good to hear a sermon delivered with such passion and conviction, so thank you Ian!  

The theme for the sermon was “Roots and Fruits - Modelling a Godly Character” and the reading was from John 15 and also from Galations 5 - read beautifully, incidentally by two young ladies from the congregation.  The reading from John speaks about Jesus being the vine - the true source of life for us as Christians. We are branches connected to Him, drawing life from Him as branches draw all the necessary nutrients to survive and flourish so that we can eventually bear fruit - that mentioned in the Galations reading.  However, none of that would be possible were it not for the roots of the vine, which need to go down deep. 

Ian illustrated this by pointing to the rather wilted sunflower plant, in front of the cross - and sadly, I didn’t take a shot of it before the service - then asking whether we thought it would “perk up” once they got it back home to their heated conservatory.  I thought it might take a couple of weeks or more, but he then grabbed the plant and lifted it out of the pot to show us that it never would revive because it had been cut off at the base of the stem this morning - and had no roots.  Point taken and very well illustrated so thank you again, Ian.  I’m sure many of us will remember this even if we don’t remember many words of the sermon.  

I remember hearing this concept many years ago, and looked to Mr. Google for help on confirming this.  Apparently, according to New York University Educational Psychology Professor Jerome Bruner, studies show that people remember 80% of what they see and do compared to only 20% of what they read and 10% of what they hear.  No wonder as a child over 70 years ago, I enjoyed - and still remember seeing and hearing Mr. Burbidge with his flannel graph Bible stories - well before screens, computers and YouTube videos! 

It was interesting that when I spoke to Ian’s wife, Mary, after the service, she said seeing the children running around on the stage near to the sunflower plant, before they went out to their classes, she was concerned that they would knock it over and spoil the effect of the sermon, but thankfully that didn’t happen!

So here we are - now in October - hence the pink background to my Blip today.  I’m not sure whether the weeks, months and years go faster as one gets older, but it does seem as if Breast Cancer Awareness Month - which is usually the month of October - was just a few months and not a year ago!  Many of you will know and probably remember the drill - please click on this LINK so that those who are not able to pay for a mammogram may get one free.  Thank you so much.