We celebrate and give thanks that four of our members have recently become grandparents/ great grandparents again in the past few months. John and Christine Butt's daughter gave birth to Elliott (see below) Robert and Helen's daughter in law gave birth to Isobel David and Gill's daughter in law gave birth to Joel William Chris and Sandra became great grandparents for the second time with the arrival of Harvey - a brother for Charlie We give thanks to God that, in spite of issues during the pregnancies, all the mothers and babies (and dads of course) are doing well. A lot of prayer was answered. Please pray for these new lives and their parents as they take the first steps in their journey through life . A safe delivery Our second
grandson, Elliott, was born at 1.50am on Friday 26th June
weighing 8lb10oz. He was two weeks late. Those two weeks had been a
constant round of visits to the midwife because the head was not
engaged. Finally on Wednesday 24th the midwife confirmed it
was. Our daughter was booked to go into the hospital at 3.30 on the
Thursday but received a call during the morning to go in. During the
afternoon things began to progress and continued slowly during the
evening. We are pleased to say that Elliott is happily settled at home and steadily gaining weight. Hallelujah! John and Chris Butt! To commemorate her birthday, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan 's Radio City Music Hall for charity. One of the musical numbers she performed was 'My Favourite Things' from the legendary movie 'Sound Of Music'. Here are the lyrics she used:
Ms. Andrews received a standing
ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated
encores.
In the letters and epistles the authors give a lot of guidance on how we are to interact with people. As believers we are citizens of heaven, and that this means we are to be seen to be different.
When
an ambassador is chosen and sent to live and work in a foreign country,
they still remain a citizen of their home country Jesus told His
disciples to “render therefore unto Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20:25).
We
have to pay taxes, obey traffic laws, and keep from committing felonies,
but when man’s law and God’s law conflict, our highest allegiance is
always to God. As
Christ often warned His disciples, this ultimate allegiance to God means
that we will often be unpopular for refusing to conform to the world’s
standards- that goes with the job An
ambassador should §
Accurately represent and promote their home
country's goals §
Become thoroughly acquainted
with their country’s and ruler’s policies, thoughts, and which
outcomes are favourable or unacceptable. §
Keep in touch with their home country leaders §
Protect and defend their fellow countrymen
abroad §
Study and understand the instruction manual
which our leader has provided (in our case the Bible §
Be a light in dark situations Be entirely grounded in ethical and moral judgment because they are constantly facing situations that do not have black-and-white answers. The only way for Christ’s ambassadors to be able to do this is to have God’s spirit dwelling in them and be connected to Him.
Trusting God when normal life is far from normal. Paul gives us a key instruction for living the Christian life, saying “One thing I do” (Philippians 3:13). What is this ‘one thing’? “Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal” verses 13-14. Paul isn’t denying the importance of things that have gone before, or suggesting that our trials and losses are not important; they certainly are. But he urges us to keep our eyes on what lies ahead.
Changes, losses and anxieties are a big part of our varied experience on earth. Yet in this world where all things are lost, we strain ahead for the world where nothing is lost. Extract from Our Daily Bread Ministries.
One of the brightest objects in the sky apart from the sun and the moon is also the largest and oldest planet in our solar system - Jupiter. This massive planet weighs more than all the planets and asteroids in our solar system all together.
In
it's early life Jupiter was not in the stable orbit that it is now.
Instead it tumbled around towards the sun and both "hoovered
up" a large number of asteroids and threw others out of the solar
system.
It cleaned up this area of space for the benefit of our rocky
planet When
I heard these facts in a TV programme made by Brian Cox it struck me
that the way a guardian had been created was not by chance. I could see
the hand of God in the way our lifeboat in the Universe was created and
has been protected. Scientists
refer to Jupiter as the Godfather Planet. The main job of a human
Godfather is to care for and mentor the child. So God has provided
Jupiter to care for the Earth Chris
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were lost in.bureaucratic red tape.long ago .
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his four stepbrothers; "I Know My Rights", "I Want It Now", "Someone Else Is To Blame", and "I'm A Victim". Not
many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you
still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do
nothing. Shalom
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