Chris Moyles on church.

I've pinched this video from Chris's blog.....awsome!!

Stepping out of the boat.

I haven't written about our Sunday service for a while now, but each week as I'm leaving church I do have every intention of blogging about the message for that day. However something always seems to come up and I end up not getting on here.

I'm home a bit earlier today and feel compelled to get it down in writing, regardless of the hundred things that need my attention. They can wait, this can't, because I'm feeling inspired.

William spoke today about stepping out of the boat in faith. Peter was the only disciple who experienced walking on water because he saw Jesus and asked 'Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water' and Jesus replied 'come', that was all Peter needed to step out in faith. While walking on the water his attention was diverted to the wind and he became afraid and started to sink, so he called out to Jesus 'Lord save me' and Jesus took his hand, asking 'why did you doubt'

God wants our lives to be full, challenging, exciting and rewarding, he doesn't want us to live a groundhog day, but we need to take a step out of the boat and try new things. Yes, it will be scary to move away from the comfort zone that we know so well and it might not always work out in the way we planned it to (remember my being convinced I'd be the greatest evangelist who ever walked the streets of the Wirral, and I wasn't), but if we live with a spirit of fear and doubt, we'll stay put and be convinced we can't do anything about our situation. When we live in fear we open the door to depression, stress and defeat, but if we step out and try, God will use us in ways we never dreamed were possible.

When we lost Chris it was the perfect opportunity for a spirit of fear and depression to come into my life, but it didn't, instead I was given peace and a life that continues to be full of excitement and new things. I asked God to save me and show me which direction to go and He has been my salvation. I pray that I continue to have the courage to try new things even though they might be out of my comfort zone, because when you step out of the boat in faith and try, God will hear you.

This is the day the Lord has made, be glad and rejoice in it.

Live life then give life.

Three years ago a special person and their family gave the gift of life to somebody they would never meet and they will probably never know just how much that meant. It was priceless for us to see our precious son greet the day with the words 'how brilliant is this' and then swan off for a shower after a hearty breakfast. Normal stuff to many people, not to us though, and we will always be grateful that we got the chance to see Chris enjoy life again.

Missing you more than ever Chris and praying for the family who had to say goodbye to their loved one three years ago, but who made that terribly hard decision to be an organ donor. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

www.lltgl.org.uk

Living God.

Wooohoooo!!!

Our God is a living God, He was here yesterday, He's here today and He'll be here tomorrow.

Our Mike mentioned to me a few weeks ago that he worked with a guy who is a Christian, he said this person prays, not only for the major things in his life, but also for small every day problems he encounters. Such as what, I asked? Well, say for instance he is having a problem getting a nut or bolt undone, he'll stand back and pray for help and sure enough the thing will come out. Now, Mike is still angry with God for taking his brother away from him and he says it has to be a coincidence that the nut or bolt comes out each time this guy prays. I've never really thought of asking God for help with the minor things in life because it seems to undermine all the huge important issues that are more deserving of prayer.

However, I decided to ask for help to find my garage keys, they've been lost a week now and because I can't get at my mower the grass is starting to look like a wild meadow thing. Two days ago I sat down and said, 'Lord please direct me to where I should look for the keys' and straight away it came into my mind that they were in the flowers not far from the garage. I searched there for the umpteenth time and gave up because my hubby and my friend had also looked thoroughly through that flowerbed. This morning as I was cleaning it popped into my mind again to search the same flowers, it was as clear as a bell, so I dropped everything and went out to look again. There they were, right at the end of the flowerbed under some lobelia, I couldn't believe it.

The neighbours were treated to a very happy me, throwing the keys in the air, laughing my head off and shouting 'Thank you Lord' at the top of my voice. I won't be making a habit of praying for the small things in life, but I'll never ever doubt that it's ok to do so sometimes.

First time.

Well I did venture out and about and I fully expected to have a huge crowd around me, listening intently to me sharing God's word. However it wasn't quite like that, I wasn't very good at it actually and all I managed to do for the whole hour, was, to accept a Christian leaflet from a nice man who wasn't with our group. I know what it was, it was fear of rejection, I've always struggled with that one.

I'm not daunted though and I will try again, because I want to.

Giving thanks.

It seems to me the closer you get to God, the more you're tested and things will also most definitely pop up to prevent you getting to church where the comforting arms of the presence of God restores the peace and balance in your life. Rising to the challenge and standing firm is not the first thing that springs to mind in such circumstances and I can see why it would be very easy to question God, 'Lord I pray, I believe, I try to live as you would want me to live, so why does it sometimes feel like I'm trying to jump one hurdle after another'?

I think it's all about how we view the hurdles, we can look upon them as a victim and feel downtrodden, or badly done by compared to others, or we might think that God just isn't listening to us. The one thing we don't consider is to give thanks, why should we? we're suffering here.

Turn it around, does the devil think that I'm that much of a threat that he has to continually try to poison my relationship with God? That says something loud and clear to me, continue to give thanks to God, whether it be for the good weather, the good food, the good roof over our heads, or.........that we are so close to God and important enough for the devil to take time out to target us and make us feel like a victim.

I'm on a course at church which involves getting out there and sharing God's word, it's something I feel I really want to do, but it's scary because way back I would probably have been one of the people I'm bound to come across in the street, who thinks I'm a lunatic, but I feel passionate about saving as many people as I possibly can and a bit of rejection along the way is a small price to pay.

I don't often ask for God to speak directly to me but a couple of days ago I did. The next morning I opened my bible to continue where I'd left off four days ago and I read;

' Because you have seen me, you have believed, Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed'
John 20 v 29.

Sharing

Now that college is finished I've been spending some quality time with my sister, it's been ages and I've missed our time together terribly. She asked me a question today 'Is church the reason why you are so positive and happy'? I thought for a moment because in the past I probably would have answered 'yes' and left it there. However, because I now have a bit more confidence in sharing my faith I decided to tell her why I really feel happy and positive. I said it was because I have God in my life and because I truly believe and try to live Gods word my life is Blessed in many ways.

Sometimes family are the hardest to be open with, but today I found it so easy.

Praise God