Dear Friends,
The Spirit will fill the Prophets
with the Word of Hope!
Acts 2: 17-21
The postman delivered a message this week for me to pass on as a gift of encouragement. It said “welcome to your 2021 calendar of Hope!”
Traditionally, the first candle for Advent is for HOPE so as we light it this week we have something positive to look forward to: There is HOPE.
Dear Friends,
My Advent giving Box
Yesterday churches lit the first candle for Advent and tomorrow the first window of Advent calendars will be opened to reveal little — or, in some cases, BIB — treats to start the day.
Children will rush downstairs in the morning to open a window and find a chocolate or sweet with a parental warning that it can’t be eaten until after school. Or they might find a note with a clue to where a hidden treasure can be found. It might seem great fun, but I imagine houses full of lost tempers as parents try to insist that children get ready for school BEFORE the treasure has been found. Good luck with that one!
Dear Friends,
The Advent Challenge: Who can come in?
As we started Advent I was imagining what a guilty innkeeper might feel like in the Christmas story: “I told them there were no rooms available because of the Government decree that we are in ‘lockdown’”!
Dear Friends,
Don’t ignore the cracks
but fix them quick
to build a house where love can dwell!
I confess that I have indulged myself in watching more daytime television with a cup of tea during lockdown and I got a timely reminder from the BBC programme, Homes Under the Hammer, during the week of a lesson I learned many years ago: Don’t ignore the cracks, but fix ‘em while you can!
Dear Friends,
There are stars behind the clouds
Philippians 2: 3-17
The telephone calls you make this week can be like the wind that blows away the clouds to reveal stars shining in the dark sky above…
You will probably telephone someone because you know there are clouds hanging over their lives and you want them to know you are thinking of them in these stormy times. I have done it many times and more often than not I find a star bringing some light into my life!
Dear Friends,
Selling with love for the neighbours!
Matthew 19: 16-24
Once upon a time, there was a little old woman who lived in a dream house in a street full of wonderful people she loved in a beautiful village. Sadly, the day came when she had to move a care home and there were plenty of people who wanted to buy her dream house in a street full of wonderful people in a beautiful village. So she was offered top price for a house which only someone with a lot of money could buy. So what did she do? What would you do? What would 99% of the population do when offered top price for the house they had to sell?
Dear Friends,
Walking towards the light
In times of trouble I have often been told that “there is light at the end of the tunnel” but when it was my first tunnel it was hard to believe. Each tunnel you get through is a lesson for the next so remember the first and the last and the next one to come because there is always a light to show you the way!
Dear Friends,
How I remember what I mustn’t forget!
I was never any good at remembering what the teachers wanted me to remember at school, but I now have some symbols that remind me of what has been most important to my life. Together they make my ‘home alone communion’ in which I can remember what unites my memories. If you want to try it you will need a poppy, stone, grapes, bread and a jug of water with a glass, or wine or juice.
Dear Friends,
What’s your choice: Trick or Treat
Matthew 4: 1-11
Trick or Treat is the choice and I don’t understand why anyone would choose a trick when there is a treat on offer? It doesn’t even seem as ambiguous as the truth or dare game I remember playing at boarding school. Telling the truth could be worse than risking the dare, but trick or treat? Doesn’t matter how small the treat is, it must be better than the trick.
Dear Friends,
It’s hard work in heaven!
Revelation 7: 9-17
If, like me, you had always thought heaven was going to be a place of rest, think again! I’ve realised it’s a busy place.
Scripture is like a window through which we can see heaven and as I read Revelation I saw people I have loved working overtime to do the will of God. It’s encouraging, really encouraging, to know that they are still serving God, but not so encouraging if you thought heaven was a nice peaceful retirement home above the clouds. It’s in Revelation Chapter 7, verse 15, that I looked through the window and saw my loved ones working day and night, 24/7, in God’s home. They are never hungry or thirsty and every tear has been wiped from their eyes but they are working harder than they ever worked on earth. It’s good to know they are doing the will of God in heaven, but it has shattered all my illusions of resting in peace! Yes, peace we will have, but not the rest!