The Bible in a Year: Day 140

Friday, 20 May 2011 | The Bible in a Year

I’ve recently been busier than normal. This has meant that I’ve got a bit lax in my Bible reading routine. I’ve still been doing the reading part, but I’ve been cheating on the taking note taking and praying part. It didn’t take long before I was finding the reading part hard work too.

Falls of DochartThis reminded me that we are not reading the Bible in a year as an academic exercise – it’s a discipleship exercise. It’s there to help us get to know Father, Son and Holy Spirit better.

Over the last few days I’ve been trying to get back into reading and praying – the routine I described previously.

The reading has become easier as the praying has become more significant.

I’ve really been drawn to the simply stated wisdom of the Proverbs which were, for me, today:

Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.

Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!

Proverbs 15:22 & 23

(No, there isn’t anything really significant about day 140 other than it’s today. If you are getting particularly wrapped up in statistics, today also represents 38.4% of the Bible read.)

Weekend Reflections: Before 10:00am

Tuesday, 3 May 2011 | Weekend Reflections

We get a perspective from where we sit that others might not. I was thinking about this as I sat at the visuals desk at the back of Cedar (the big room) around 9:30am this Sunday morning.

Abbeystead BluebellsI’m sure that there are many who would be surprised by the different people who are already milling about at that time.

The band are already there and practice is already well underway. This isn’t the only time that the band have practiced the songs, they’ve already spent time in the week.

The person who is leading the service is already there too. They are checking that everything is OK with everyone. They’ve already been thinking about this service for some time. They’ve made sure the band know the plan for the songs. They’ve checked with a few people about the notices that need highlighting. They’ve considered prayers, introductions, welcome, closing and all sorts of other things that make a service a place where people can come close to God.

The person on the sound desk is already there making adjustments so that the sound is at the right level for the singers, the vocalists, the speakers and those listening.

I’m there on the visuals desk lining up the songs, checking and rechecking that we’ve got the right ones and the right order. There’s a video and that’s been checked too (people have spent hours in the week getting it ready). The presentation for the sermon is also checked. The projector and televisions are all turned on and we are ready to go.

The signers are setting up. They’ve already looked through the material that they’ve been provided with from the leader and the preacher earlier in the week.

There are stewards around too. They’re putting the cones out at the front of church and making sure that everything is in order. They’re getting ready to greet people and hand out the notices (which someone has edited, reviewed, printed and folded). They’ve set up the stage with the screen for the signers and made sure that the front is clean and tidy.

The junior church team are already there setting up ready for the children to come through at the appropriate time. They’ve also been preparing in the week so that they can communicate in a way that is relevant to the children.

The team that are doing refreshments are also there making coffee ready to go into flasks for the early rush after the service. They’re setting up plates of biscuits, jugs of milk, tubs of sugar and mountains of cups.

On a normal Sunday the band for ignite would also be practicing in Cypress along with their visuals, sounds people and catering team. This week the young people are sitting in with the adults.

The preacher is also there making sure that the presentation is OK and getting a microphone fitted. They’ve prayed for and prepared the message that they believe God wants them to bring. On most weeks they’d be bringing a message in a series that itself has been prayed for and prepared.

Church is a community activity – a community of servants. We are very blessed to have so many willing servants.

Thank you servants. Thank you Lord.

Easter 2011 – Don’t Miss Out

Thursday, 21 April 2011 | Events, FFMC, Subjects

Today is Maundy Thursday and tomorrow is Good Friday, then on Sunday it’s Easter Sunday. Easter is a great time to celebrate all that Jesus has done for us and there are a number of opportunities for you to do that in the coming days:

  • Thursday 21st April and Friday 22nd April at 7:30pm the Garstang Free Methodist Church are hosting “Easter Reflections” with Cristi Murgu. Get together with others from across the area to celebrate and to go deeper.
  • Friday 22nd April at 11:00am we will be hosting a Good Friday Meditation. A time to come and to reflect upon the meaning of the cross on this significant day.
  • Sunday 24th April at 8:00am will be the Easter Communion service with Sue Chastney bringing a message.
  • Sunday 24th April at 10:00am is a Family Service for Easter Sunday with Ian Clarkson and others.
  • Sunday 24th April at 6:30pm is “From Burial to the Bridegroom” with Andrew Gardner including Sacrament.

The Bible in a Year: Counting the Milestones: 90 days and 25% day

Monday, 4 April 2011 | The Bible in a Year

This past week we passed a couple of milestones in reading through the Bible in a year. We are now 90 days in and 25% through.

On Celebrate Recovery we try to help people celebrate their successes by counting off the time that people have managed to abstain from something. If alcohol is an issue we count the number of days of sobriety, if it’s anger then we count the number of days of calm.

Sometimes the devil tells us that we aren’t making any progress, sometimes it’s our internal voice telling us the same thing. By counting we get a much better perspective on the progress that we are making.

If you have managed to get this far celebrate – 90 days is great progress.

If you are slipping behind a bit then another Celebrate Recovery principle might be of help to you – it’s not the number of times that you fall down that counts it’s the number of times you get back up again. Or to put it another way – failure isn’t falling down, failure is staying down. Don’t worry if it feels like to big a task to catch up, just start from today, with today’s reading and go forward from there. Try to build the practice of reading from this point forward.

Remember though, we don’t read the Bible so we can get points, we read to build a relationship, it’s the relationship that’s the important part.

The Bible in a Year: 20% Day

Monday, 14 March 2011 | The Bible in a Year

If you are reading through your Bible in a year today’s reading takes you to twenty percent – one fifth.

In the reading plan I’m following we’ve worked our way through Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy and we are now into Numbers; we’ve also walked through Matthew, Mark and now into the early stages of Luke; we’ve also stepped through the first 57 Psalms and the first 11 chapters of Proverbs.

The thought that keeps coming back to me over and over again as I read is this – God speaks. This isn’t an academic exercise we are undertaking, it’s a journey with a God who speaks to us.

One fifth is a significant chunk, a quarter is in sight, keep going.