Week beginning 5 February

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am back.  I attended the service on Sunday last, 4 February, and was a bit bemused to find that, when the service started at 11am, there was hardly anyone there.  The service started with a wonderful worship session, with lots of songs with a message of surrender and submission to God's will.  This worship session prepared us for the message that followed, which was based on Isaiah 55, which starts "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters" and goes on to ask us to buy wine and milk without money and cost".  My thinking on this passage is that this refers to spiritual wine and milk.  Wine represents the luxuries and the milk represents the basics of life - in other words, if we follow and obey God, He will bless us abundantly with good things, not just the essentials (milk) but also the extras (wine).  

​The speaker (Rev Ige from Haringey United Church) said that the water and food mentioned represent that which we need to sustain life. Not only actual food and water but spiritual food, as described above.  As Jesus speaks of in the gospels, he provides "living water". ​ Rev Ige also referred to Rev 21:6 where Jesus' words echo those written in Isaiah.  We need the word of God, and should study it every day.  The bible shouldn't be a closed book to us.  We were urged to study it regularly.

​He also said that when bad things happen to us, we should not ask ourselves "why me" but instead think about what lessons we can learn from what has happened to us and pray for a solution.  

​Just before the sermon (which followed communion) more people materialised.  They had missed the blessing of the worship part of the service, and therefore missed out and most probably got less from the message than those of us who were there through the whole service.

​I implore everyone to make a special effort to (to coin a phrase) get to the church on time and you will be guaranteed a blessing from the worship and the message. 

See you there!