Mark initiated a ‘swap shop’ in the service last night, where we all brought items costing £1 or less to swap. Here is a range of the items we brought in:
We had a range of items: pencil cases, angel wings, a tiara, shoe polish, a cheese grater, a hat, gloves, torches, not to mention a range of food. Gillian produced 3 Mars Bars to represent the Trinity and to emphasise that God is in our work, rest and play! Garry insisted his grater was greater than any other item on offer!
Some people really liked their swaps!
Mark then preached from Isaiah 61 about some of the exchanges God gives us: beauty for ashes, joy instead of ashes and garments of praise instead of a spirit of despair:
He went on to talk about how God takes away our sins and offers us forgiveness instead and how we find life instead of death through Jesus:
This exchange cost us nothing: it was free to us. But it cost God everything, including His own Son:
We also had a birthday to celebrate:
