Many of us try to be more disciplined for Lent and give up something that we really like. That’s great! Fasting has always been an important tradition of Lent. This year however, let us also consider other things that we can give up.
Give up complaining - Focus on gratitude
Philippians 2:14&15 – Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure…
1 Thessalonians 5:18 – Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.
Give up bitterness - Turn to forgiveness
Ephesians 4:31 – Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Give up worry - Trust in God
Matthew 6:25 – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life… who by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
Matthew 6:33 – But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Give up discouragement - Be full of hope
Deuteronomy 31:8 – The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you: he will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Isaiah 40:31 – But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Give up hatred - Return good for evil
1 John 2:9 – Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
Luke 6:27 – “But I tell you who hear me; Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”
Give up anger - Be more patient
Matthew 5:22 – But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
Proverbs 15:18 – A hot tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.
Give up gossiping - Control your tongue
Psalm 34:13 – Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Proverbs 21:23 – He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Prayer meeting programme for Thursday 17th Feb 2011
Ephesians 6
Give thanks and praise to God for His grace and love toward us. He loves us, protects us. We under His care and are seated in heavenly places in Christ. He will never let us go.
Vs 1-4 Let us pray for children services and youth projects in the borough. The cuts seem to be decimating these services mor than any other. If you have children pray for their growth and walk with the Lord. Luke 18:15-17 The Little Children and Jesus
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Vs 5-9 Let us pray for our bosses. Chief Exec Kevan Collins and Mayor Lutfer Rahman –
Pray also for those who instigate cuts that God’s wisdom would prevail.
Pray for your line manger.
Pray for yourself as an employee that God would help you serve with grace and humility as to the Lord. (Colossians 3:22-24)
Vs 10-17 Pray for one another to “Put on the full armour of God”. Use the passage to pray for each item.
V18 Pray for one another we would be a praying people – this too is part of our armour.
V21 Tychicus was an encouragement and helper to Paul. Pray you too will be a help and encouragement to others particularly the “household of faith”
Let us pray for the middle-eastern countries who at the moment are going through disruptive changes and demonstrations.
Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia, Iran.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Goodbye to Udeh
It is with genuine sadness that I tell of the news that Udeh is leaving us. His last day will be Tuesday 14th December.Udeh became part of the group for just over a year. He has been a real blessing and a proper encouragement to us all.
Although he has had a few difficulties over the year he has always brought his needs to the group for prayer and saw God answer him; not least in having his contract extended from 3 months to over a year.
He will be flying out with his family out to Nigeria for the Christmas break and return in the new year to a new job.
He has already been offered new posts via his agency. He is open though that if they offer him to return here he will think about it hard.
Udeh is a really honourable man, but he will not enjoy me saying so.
Please pray for him and his future.
- Pray for his interview for the new job on Tuesday.
- Pray that he stays close to Jesus and that he will have the opportunity to start a new group up in his new work situation..
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Modupe's Carol Service Talk 2010
Christmas Carol Sermon 2010 – TH Christian Fellowship Group at All Saints Church – Poplar
What do we find wonderful and exciting about Christmas? Is it decorations, the party atmosphere, the festive food, the holidays off work and being with our family and friends?
If you ask many families what makes their Christmas enjoyable and exciting - they will probably answer: the children - seeing their faces light up as they unwrap their presents, giving and receiving presents from loved ones.
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus - the fulfilment of God’s promise to send a Messiah, a Saviour, a descendent of David whose kingdom will never end.
Luke’s gospel describes the news of the coming of the Messiah. It tells us of the greetings from the Angel, and the news that Mary would have a Son - it tells us about her protest that she was not yet married and it tells us the angel’s reply to Mary that it would not be a man who would come to her but the Holy Spirit of God Himself, and Mary responds to God’s will.
Mary is humbled – she is astonished to be greeted as one who is specially favoured.
She is honest and not afraid to question the Angel as to how his promise to her can possibly come true.
Mary says ‘Yes’ and accepts God’s will for her life, and so becomes the mother of the Saviour of the world.
The expected event was to be unique - something wonderful - a new human being - but one whose origin was with God Himself – the Son of the Most High.
Let’s talk about the wise men referred to in the gospel of Matthew as Magi. At that particular time of Jesus’ birth the wise men had seen an unusual new star in the sky and knew that it signified the birth of a special King because we are told that they study the stars.
The star guided them to Bethlehem to a house where the child Jesus was in a crib in a manger – not in an NHS ward wrapped in the best cotton shawl and placed in a glass cot, not in a palace fit for a King like Jesus is meant to be. That is the humility of the birth of Jesus, though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that we through his poverty might become rich.
The men paid tribute and offered the child Jesus gifts - the reason we exchange gifts at Christmas as followers of Jesus, but most importantly because Jesus gave himself freely, He is our greatest gift.
The wise men came to Jesus by studying the star, by travelling a long way. Some of us come to faith by that long route but we just need to keep going, for God Himself will reward our quest.
What about the shepherds? Although the wise men might have studied the stars and knew about the impending birth, it was the shepherds who were told first when the angels of the Lord appeared to them in a vision and the glory of the Lord shone around them, so they set off for Bethlehem. They could have chosen to ignore the vision but obeyed and went to see the baby, the Saviour they had been promised. That night changed their lives forever. Their lives were changed because they went to find out for themselves. I bring the same good news and asking that we continue to seek Jesus and our lives will continually change forever.
Maybe we need to look again - at the reasons why Jesus came - and the difference He makes in our lives and our world today.
The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:26 “think of what you were when you were called. Not many were wise by human standards; not many are influential; not many were of noble birth but most of Jesus still loves us.
Jesus is atonement for our sins. In the Gospel of Luke, we see Jesus reach out to men and women, young and old, powerful and forgotten, demon possessed, and the politically connected.
God is still reaching out to everyone today. All we have to do is give our entire attention to what He is doing right now, and trust Him regarding what may or may not happen tomorrow.
Wishing you all a Merry Xmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year in Jesus’ name – Amen.
What do we find wonderful and exciting about Christmas? Is it decorations, the party atmosphere, the festive food, the holidays off work and being with our family and friends?
If you ask many families what makes their Christmas enjoyable and exciting - they will probably answer: the children - seeing their faces light up as they unwrap their presents, giving and receiving presents from loved ones.
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus - the fulfilment of God’s promise to send a Messiah, a Saviour, a descendent of David whose kingdom will never end.
Luke’s gospel describes the news of the coming of the Messiah. It tells us of the greetings from the Angel, and the news that Mary would have a Son - it tells us about her protest that she was not yet married and it tells us the angel’s reply to Mary that it would not be a man who would come to her but the Holy Spirit of God Himself, and Mary responds to God’s will.
Mary is humbled – she is astonished to be greeted as one who is specially favoured.
She is honest and not afraid to question the Angel as to how his promise to her can possibly come true.
Mary says ‘Yes’ and accepts God’s will for her life, and so becomes the mother of the Saviour of the world.
The expected event was to be unique - something wonderful - a new human being - but one whose origin was with God Himself – the Son of the Most High.
Let’s talk about the wise men referred to in the gospel of Matthew as Magi. At that particular time of Jesus’ birth the wise men had seen an unusual new star in the sky and knew that it signified the birth of a special King because we are told that they study the stars.
The star guided them to Bethlehem to a house where the child Jesus was in a crib in a manger – not in an NHS ward wrapped in the best cotton shawl and placed in a glass cot, not in a palace fit for a King like Jesus is meant to be. That is the humility of the birth of Jesus, though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that we through his poverty might become rich.
The men paid tribute and offered the child Jesus gifts - the reason we exchange gifts at Christmas as followers of Jesus, but most importantly because Jesus gave himself freely, He is our greatest gift.
The wise men came to Jesus by studying the star, by travelling a long way. Some of us come to faith by that long route but we just need to keep going, for God Himself will reward our quest.
What about the shepherds? Although the wise men might have studied the stars and knew about the impending birth, it was the shepherds who were told first when the angels of the Lord appeared to them in a vision and the glory of the Lord shone around them, so they set off for Bethlehem. They could have chosen to ignore the vision but obeyed and went to see the baby, the Saviour they had been promised. That night changed their lives forever. Their lives were changed because they went to find out for themselves. I bring the same good news and asking that we continue to seek Jesus and our lives will continually change forever.
Maybe we need to look again - at the reasons why Jesus came - and the difference He makes in our lives and our world today.
The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:26 “think of what you were when you were called. Not many were wise by human standards; not many are influential; not many were of noble birth but most of Jesus still loves us.
Jesus is atonement for our sins. In the Gospel of Luke, we see Jesus reach out to men and women, young and old, powerful and forgotten, demon possessed, and the politically connected.
God is still reaching out to everyone today. All we have to do is give our entire attention to what He is doing right now, and trust Him regarding what may or may not happen tomorrow.
Wishing you all a Merry Xmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year in Jesus’ name – Amen.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Congratulations to Modupe
Modupe was admitted as Reader in the Church of England. It took three years of study and hard work.
Well done Modupe!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Usefull link for our Hebrews study
http://www.newdaygeneration.org/Groups/135865/Newday/Resources/downloads/2010_downloads/15_19s_morning/15_19s_morning.aspx
I rcccomend the bottom 4 by Stef Liston.
I rcccomend the bottom 4 by Stef Liston.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
A story worth telling.
For many years (12 years I calculate) Andrea and I have been trying to live in the east end of London. We wanted to do this as we had been part of a church that had been working in the area for most of that time.
We had been living in Bermondsey and the only option open to us was home swap (mutual exchange in other words).
For innumerable times we’d place adverts in shops and housing offices to see if people would like to swap to our property. Many came and had a look. - We had a three bedroom property that the council had given us 25 years ago. But, either the Thames river was too much of a divide, or if people did accept then the council would refuse because too many wanted to come into the small flat or the people were in rent arrears. We could not buy either because of our age and could not get a mortgage.
I lost heart after too many disappointments.
I kept trying the only option open to us - swapping and felt I should explore the Chrisp Street market area of Poplar. We had a look around and I loved the vibrancy and dynamic of the people there.
I did not know how to proceed, I was stuck. If I advertised again I feared I would be disappointed. Then one of the church leaders (Mark) told me he felt from God I should try once more. “Had you any idea where you think you should try?”, he asked. I told him of my thoughts on Chrisp Street Market.
Hearing his encouragement it spurred me to put cards and posters in the shops of that area hoping people would ring up to swap. Most were very willing at no charge to have posters up. One newsagent however said it cost £1 per week to place a card in the window. I duly paid for one week and waited for the responses.
Indeed quite a lot of people did ring offering many different types of properties. One did look promising. It was a 3 bedroom maisonette on the first floor. It was OK and I got a bit excited about it. Andrea was concerned for the cats that would be able to get out. She had visions of me chucking the cats out of the window to let them out.
Because of her lack of enthusiasm I tended to drag my feet and the lady whose flat it was got impatient and dropped out. I think she was quite justified to do so. So, back to square one.
Meanwhile the card in the newsagent that I had paid a £1 for was still there ten weeks later. It was this card the lady of our new address had seen when she was visiting Chrisp Street market seeking to swap herself. Her husband rang saying they had seen the card.
By now the church I attend was in the middle of deciding to change locations and move further west. And although properties around Chrisp Street would have been OK for my work I felt it was no longer where God wanted us.
He mentioned he had seen the card in Chrisp Street Market and was interested in swapping. I quickly dismissed him say we no longer wished to live near Chrisp Street. “Oh no” he said “this is further west in Stepney” “Hmm OK,” I thought, and listened further.
He explained how his wife wanted to live near her sister and the girl there wanted to move to Bermondsey where we lived. This sounded complicated. We arranged a visit and loved the place. It was a ground floor maisonette with a garden in the heart of Stepney. In fact, it was right opposite where our good friend Alison had lived but she had recently got married and moved to Leicester. So we all agreed. The girl who was to move to ours was happy with our place too but she was effectively moving to a smaller place - still three bedrooms but smaller. The Council threw a few obstacles in our way, but after we over came them they agreed for it to go through.
We met the couple who’s house we were moving to go to the housing association offices to sign tenancies. The forms and questions were phenomenal. We were not used to it as we had not moved for over 25 years. After signing I knew it was for real and was irreversible.
All was completed and we agreed a moving date. The moving date was a bit later than we had originally thought as the couple was going on a barge holiday to Norfolk. This put it back a little but allowed us to pack and sort things out in the flat we were leaving. The girl moving to ours had already packed and left her place empty and went to her caravan in Clacton for the summer so wasn’t in a hurry to get to ours.
So moving day arrived. We had heard a neighbour was a removal man so the quote he gave us was quite reasonable. He had got the contract for the couple in Stepney too. The trouble was because they had gone away just prior to moving the had not packed and so were quite unprepared for the moving day. This gave us quite a good time to clear and sort things out and not feel rushed or pressurised. But the problem was about to get worse. The did not finish moving the others until gone 7pm. This meant the removers could only start with the larger items from our flat. The poor lads, they had started quite early and had many problems with the couples stuff. By 9:30 in the eveneing they were ready to take our second load but they look so tired and washed out I told the to come back another day. Again it all seemed fine in the hands of God as it allowed us to get a bit settled in before all the fiddly stuff came. We had placed a lot of stuff like books and our camping gear into storage, so when that comes out there will be even more uproar!
We are so happy at this new place. We feel really blessed by God. At time of writing we have the decorators in. Our daughter was able to get some paint from council refuse department. Trade painters pass on to the council any they don’t finish. We are very pleased with the colours and seem to have just been waiting for us to use. It’s a shame though we were just getting settled and the uproar. And then, when that is all over, we have to get what we placed into storage. More boxes to unpack!
God has provided and has blessed us and seems to be involved in every aspect of our move. We are so grateful.
We had been living in Bermondsey and the only option open to us was home swap (mutual exchange in other words).
For innumerable times we’d place adverts in shops and housing offices to see if people would like to swap to our property. Many came and had a look. - We had a three bedroom property that the council had given us 25 years ago. But, either the Thames river was too much of a divide, or if people did accept then the council would refuse because too many wanted to come into the small flat or the people were in rent arrears. We could not buy either because of our age and could not get a mortgage.
I lost heart after too many disappointments.
I kept trying the only option open to us - swapping and felt I should explore the Chrisp Street market area of Poplar. We had a look around and I loved the vibrancy and dynamic of the people there.
I did not know how to proceed, I was stuck. If I advertised again I feared I would be disappointed. Then one of the church leaders (Mark) told me he felt from God I should try once more. “Had you any idea where you think you should try?”, he asked. I told him of my thoughts on Chrisp Street Market.
Hearing his encouragement it spurred me to put cards and posters in the shops of that area hoping people would ring up to swap. Most were very willing at no charge to have posters up. One newsagent however said it cost £1 per week to place a card in the window. I duly paid for one week and waited for the responses.
Indeed quite a lot of people did ring offering many different types of properties. One did look promising. It was a 3 bedroom maisonette on the first floor. It was OK and I got a bit excited about it. Andrea was concerned for the cats that would be able to get out. She had visions of me chucking the cats out of the window to let them out.
Because of her lack of enthusiasm I tended to drag my feet and the lady whose flat it was got impatient and dropped out. I think she was quite justified to do so. So, back to square one.
Meanwhile the card in the newsagent that I had paid a £1 for was still there ten weeks later. It was this card the lady of our new address had seen when she was visiting Chrisp Street market seeking to swap herself. Her husband rang saying they had seen the card.
By now the church I attend was in the middle of deciding to change locations and move further west. And although properties around Chrisp Street would have been OK for my work I felt it was no longer where God wanted us.
He mentioned he had seen the card in Chrisp Street Market and was interested in swapping. I quickly dismissed him say we no longer wished to live near Chrisp Street. “Oh no” he said “this is further west in Stepney” “Hmm OK,” I thought, and listened further.
He explained how his wife wanted to live near her sister and the girl there wanted to move to Bermondsey where we lived. This sounded complicated. We arranged a visit and loved the place. It was a ground floor maisonette with a garden in the heart of Stepney. In fact, it was right opposite where our good friend Alison had lived but she had recently got married and moved to Leicester. So we all agreed. The girl who was to move to ours was happy with our place too but she was effectively moving to a smaller place - still three bedrooms but smaller. The Council threw a few obstacles in our way, but after we over came them they agreed for it to go through.
We met the couple who’s house we were moving to go to the housing association offices to sign tenancies. The forms and questions were phenomenal. We were not used to it as we had not moved for over 25 years. After signing I knew it was for real and was irreversible.
All was completed and we agreed a moving date. The moving date was a bit later than we had originally thought as the couple was going on a barge holiday to Norfolk. This put it back a little but allowed us to pack and sort things out in the flat we were leaving. The girl moving to ours had already packed and left her place empty and went to her caravan in Clacton for the summer so wasn’t in a hurry to get to ours.
So moving day arrived. We had heard a neighbour was a removal man so the quote he gave us was quite reasonable. He had got the contract for the couple in Stepney too. The trouble was because they had gone away just prior to moving the had not packed and so were quite unprepared for the moving day. This gave us quite a good time to clear and sort things out and not feel rushed or pressurised. But the problem was about to get worse. The did not finish moving the others until gone 7pm. This meant the removers could only start with the larger items from our flat. The poor lads, they had started quite early and had many problems with the couples stuff. By 9:30 in the eveneing they were ready to take our second load but they look so tired and washed out I told the to come back another day. Again it all seemed fine in the hands of God as it allowed us to get a bit settled in before all the fiddly stuff came. We had placed a lot of stuff like books and our camping gear into storage, so when that comes out there will be even more uproar!
We are so happy at this new place. We feel really blessed by God. At time of writing we have the decorators in. Our daughter was able to get some paint from council refuse department. Trade painters pass on to the council any they don’t finish. We are very pleased with the colours and seem to have just been waiting for us to use. It’s a shame though we were just getting settled and the uproar. And then, when that is all over, we have to get what we placed into storage. More boxes to unpack!
God has provided and has blessed us and seems to be involved in every aspect of our move. We are so grateful.
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