DIVINE INTERRUPTIONS

We had a great service at Church today - the visiting Minister, Steve, was there early, as were we, to unload the produce we had collected from the supermarket yesterday, so I had sometime to speak to him one-to-one.  As Steve walked in, I said I knew he was the preacher, because he was wearing a tie - always a joke in our previous church, wearing a tie meant you would be having a tie-mike, hence you must be the speaker for the day!  

I offered to sing today, as Lesia, who would normally be singing had been asked to play the piano and we had some great songs to start, with everyone singing with gusto, especially the children.  When we sing “My God’s the king of the giants...” as it has lots of actions, it’s good to be at the front and see those who enter into the spirit of the song and those who don’t quite get there, but that’s OK.  We are all different. Very often, while I am jumping about, Mr. HCB is standing very respectfully and just accepts that I do it and he doesn’t!  ;-) 

It was Communion this morning so I decided to take a photograph of the Communion Table - and as is the practice in most Baptist Churches, we have separate glasses, but real bread, not wafers - and it’s good to be able to share this “meal” with our brothers and sisters at Church.

Before the service, I happened to see Alison - and I realise she also featured in last Sunday’s Blip - looking through her French Horn, and thought that it would make a good shot.  Another friend who saw me doing this came over and told me that if I wasn’t careful, the stewards would be doing what they did in schools and taking my phone off me as I walked through the door!  She said she was only joking, but I would be lost if I couldn’t take shots of what is happening on a Sunday!  

Then there is a shot of another beautiful banner on one of the Church walls - and it fits in very well with the sermon this morning - when Steve spoke about Divine Interruptions.  One of the points he made was that Divine Interruptions are a work of Grace - God doesn’t write people off, no matter what they have done and Steve told us that God had honed his strengths and compensated for his weaknesses - by His grace.  He encouraged us to “be interrupted  and in that interruption, let us be the person that God wants us to be.”  It’s a sermon I will be listening to again, so am thankful that these are recorded so that I can do that.

At the bottom left is the lovely Lesia, who hails from Taiwan and I often sing with her in the Worship Group.  However, today there was no-one else available to play, so Lesia stepped into the breach and I volunteered to sing in her place. 

It was her first time playing the grand piano in Church and she played beautifully - so I have promised to send her a copy of my Blip so that she can send it to her parents, who still live in Taiwan - I'm sure she will be asked to play again.  Most people know that when I am around with my phone before a service, there is a chance that they will appear in my Blip, and for the most part, they are quite happy!

Last but not least, are the beautiful flowers that were on the table in the foyer.  All in all a lovely service and we have much to be thankful for within our Church fellowship.  We had a great “old” hymn at the end of the service, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus” and interestingly, speaking to some “old” friends when we were having coffee, we had both noticed that the line “Ye that are men, now serve him...” had been changed to “Ye that are His, now serve him...”  but interestingly, the “Ye” hadn’t been changed to “You”!

Just spent the afternoon with a lovely friend, sitting in the garden and enjoying one another’s company - thankfully, although the sun was quite warm, there was a gentle breeze, so it was good to be able to sit outside - but we still need that longed-for rain - perhaps it will come this week.  M xx