“A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying [God]. It “consents,” so to speak, to [God's] creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree”

Thomas Merton

So true

A link to the video that was shown this morning, so amazing truths in it.

http://www.godvine.com/GOSPEL-The-Most-Inspiring-Christian-Video-You-ll-See-1351.html

Ephesians 1:1-14

1. In Christ we have been chosen to be holy and blameless


2. In Christ we have a destiny to be God’s children

3. In Christ we have forgiveness through His blood

4. In Christ we know Who is really in control

5. In Christ we are all included in God’s family

6. In Christ we are sealed by the Holy Spirit

7. In Christ we have a guaranteed inheritance

The way to live

Rom. 12:10-Love one another (Eph. 5:2-Love as Christ loved)

Rom. 12:10-Honor one another

Rom. 14:19-Build up one another

Rom. 15:7-Accept one another as Christ accepted us

I cor. 12:25-Care for one another

Gal. 5:13-Serve one another

Eph. 4:32-Be kind to one another

Col. 3:13-Forgive one another

I Thes. 4:18-comfort one another

I Thes. 5:11-encourage one another

I Thes. 5:13-Live in peace w/ one another

James 5:16-confess sins to one another and pray for one another.

The Lighthouse - see Gill's comment on the Thomas Merton prayer

Thomas Merton

My Lord God,


I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that, if I do this , You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Thomas Merton

Christmas Gift ideas

See below for details of Created (Tearcraft) sales at church this year.  You can start your browsing at http://www.createdgifts.org/ 

Created 2011[1]

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News of Alalay Project Cochabamba

Recently we have been raising funds for The Alalay Project in Cochabamba, Bolivia. This has been done through Toybox and two representatives are currently visiting the project. One of them Ben Noland has a blog at

http://www.toybox.org.uk/resources/blog/Grubby-happy-children-in-Cochabamba/

You can read about his impressions and the project.

Also below is a short presentaion given at Ashley this morning:



Roy

An interesting thought

Moving into new territory

This morning we looked at Joshua's move into leadership and considered how the promises God made to him can give us the confidence to trust in God's help with our move to new leadership.

Moving into new territory –

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More Abbey light

Abbey light

Who Am I - Casting Crowns

Thanks to Gill Rakowski

Growth

Been away from the blog for a while but hope to get back to it again now. Today we considered our potetial for growth as Christians. What do you do that helps your relationship with God?

Preparing for growth

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Pentecost Sunday

Pentecost sunday 2011

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What can the Holy Spirit do for you. What do you need to ask God for today?

Are you waiting, are you ready?

The Ascension of Jesus

What’s so special about thursday

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It's the stories we tell ourselves

I have this song a bit stuck in my head at the moment. It talks about how what we tell ourselves affects us, which is not a new concept. So if we believe we are unlovable and tell ourselves that constantly we put ourselves into an unnecessarily dark place. The dog pictures I feel I could live without, but the words are quite striking.

Where have all the blue-tits gone

Thinking this morning about how our relationship with Jesus can be hindered and helped. The title was based on the fact that all the blue-tits in my garden have suddenly moved and I realised that rather than focus on that loss I could focus on the fact that if you look closely at sparrows (which are very prolific in my garden) they are actually beautiful birds too. We have to be prepared to look for beauty in all things especially when it comes to Gods creation.

Where have all the blue tits gone or

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video from last slide can be seen below

Creation Calls -- are you listening? Music by Brian Doerksen

What an amazing God we have!