We are immensely grateful for the people at church who volunteer their time and efforts to help improve the building. Thank you to Garry, Stephen, Stacey, Jade and James who were willing volunteers in painting and to Mark who put up the scaffolding for us on Friday night.

James’s height was definitely useful, given the height of the room!

Stephen bowing to his father’s superior skills?

Jade in her coveralls:

Stacey and her cloud dream:

However, there are countless more people to be thanked. The church’s leadership gladly invest time and money into everything that is done in the church. Once the decorating is completed, a new floor surface will be fitted along with a sink to facilitate painting and other messy activities. Dave and Ray were busy discussing the best location for the sink, gladly giving their plumbing expertise another outing!

Those helping with the coffee morning willingly kept workers going, supplying them with drinks and biscuits. Stepladders were loaned so that more people could be involved in the work at the same time. All of this teamwork is greatly appreciated by us all. THANK YOU!

In our continuing desire to improve the facilities we are able to offer local people, we have recently begun work on decorating the children’s room. We began to clear the room of furniture and put down cardboard to cover the flooring:

The first job was to make the notice boards into chalk boards so that these can be used not only to display work but as a teaching aid for Sunday School:

Then a group of volunteers started work on the ceiling, turning this into a blue sky with fluffy clouds!

Concentrating on the clouds:

The finished ceiling:

Next, walls were tackled:

Round one completed:

Continuing teamwork:

Glossing:

Goods ‘fit for purpose’ are ‘well suited for their designated role or purpose.’  The chillies we have been lovingly tending since October last year have provided us with endless amusement and spiritual enlightenment, but if the proof of the pudding is in the eating, then presumably the success of our chilli-growing can only really be measured once the said chillies have been eaten.

Yesterday was the day when, upon inspection of the red chillies, we decided that if we left them any longer, they would start to shrivel. So we plucked the first one:

We plucked another two and then chopped them, ready to eat (and ready to re-plant their seeds, so they can continue to fill God’s command to reproduce!)

I’m pleased to report that these chillies had flavour, fire and quite an after-burn!

What is our purpose in life, then? (other than to eat chillies, of course….!) The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks what is man’s chief end (or purpose) and answers this ‘man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ How are we doing when we evaluate our lives according to this criterion? Are we fit for purpose? We are undoubtedly still being pruned, shaped and refined by God, but we need to examine our purpose regularly and refuse to live by any other standard imposed on us. All that really matters is found in Christ and our purpose needs to reflect His centrality and importance.

There is a proverb which says ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’

It perhaps echoes Jesus’s words about the narrow and wide roads in Matt 7:13-14: ‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.‘ Certainly it indicates that for us to live well (and arrive at the best destination!), we need more than good intentions.

Eugene Peterson says ‘Good intentions are worthless if they are not coupled with character development… Intentions must mature into commitments if we are to become persons with definition, with character, with substance.’ (‘Run With The Horses’, P 161) We all know people who are well-meaning, full of enthusiasm and good ideas, but who lack follow-through. Casting Crowns tackle this dilemma in their song ‘The Altar and the Door’, which looks at how easily we make vows before God at the altar and yet fail to fulfil these in our everyday lives. (‘How can I be sure I will not lose my follow through between the altar and the door?’)

Clearly, we need help if our good intentions are to mature into commitments. God Himself does not lack follow through (in their song ‘Dream For You,’ Casting Crowns say ‘Just trust me, I will follow through; You can follow me.’ ) He is utterly faithful to fulfil every promise He makes (2 Cor 1:20). Rend Collective’s song ‘Faithful’ reminds us:

‘There’s no words that You’ve spoken
That haven’t brought hope
No promise You’ve made
You haven’t fulfilled…You’re faithful to the end.’

Our part, as Hebrews 10:23 reminds is, is to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess because He who promised is faithful. As we hold on to God, He shapes and re-shapes us, defines and re-defines us, gives us substance and character which enable us to grow into the people He has called us to be, people of inestimable worth and value, people who persevere, people who ‘deal with the reality of life, discover truth, create beauty, act out love.’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘Run With The Horses’, P 150)

I am currently reading Eugene Peterson’s study on Jeremiah ‘Run With The Horses’ and in that book came across a sentiment that perfectly summarises my series on ‘Everyday Church’ (to be continued this Sunday evening!) The sentiment is ’embrace the everyday, but don’t become absorbed in it.’

Jeremy Camp expresses a similar sentiment in his song ‘Paradise’, which looks ahead to the glorious future with Christ that awaits believers: ‘Don’t let this life take hold of my desires.’ We live with the constant tension of the ‘now’ and the ‘not yet.‘ We live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:17), but this requires skill and commitment, for life can easily beguile us and keep us rooted on this earth. Jesus warned us ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.‘ (Matt 6:19-20) It’s so easy to fix our eyes on what is seen, rather than on what is unseen (2 Cor 4:18), so easy to become absorbed in the everyday to the extent that we no longer look up with anticipation.

In the same book, Eugene Peterson says ‘life is not an inevitable decline into dullness; for some it is ascent into excellence.’ (P 25)  We can only ‘ascend into excellence’ if we keep God at the centre of our vision; if we embrace Him in the everyday but refuse to become absorbed in it, if we allow God to shape our dreams and fuel our lives. The 2009 Pixar film ‘Up’ shows 79-year-old Carl Fredricksen  tying thousands of balloons to his home in order to fulfil his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America and to complete a promise made to his lifelong love. This may well be impossible in real life, but the sentiment it expresses reflects God’s desire for us to live with our hearts and minds fixed on Him: ‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is yourlife, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.‘ (Col 3:1-4)

As part of our continuing wish to improve the facilities at church, we have just purchased some new tables for use by groups and at the coffee morning. Here they are, nestled together with our larger tables!

Now comes the far more onerous task of deciding which tablecloths to buy for these tables! Have a look here and let us know your thoughts on this one.