We had a lovely Coronation Afternoon Tea today, with food fit for a king (and chocolates featuring him – the large bar was won by Bev’s team who scored 13/16 on the coronation quiz.)

It was lovely to see so many people there (83 in total) and to enjoy chatting with people before our service.

At our service we did a variety of coronation crafts,including amking crowns, decorating coasters and making teddy bear guardsmen.

We enjoyed our monthly coffee morning even more than usual as we celebrated the Coronation of King Charles III. A number of people dressed for the occasion:

We even had a surprise visitor:

Earlier on our prayer walk we had seen some lovely decorations at Petite Fleurs and Goldthorpe Primary School:

It was good to decorate outside with bunting and after the coffee morning, we spent time getting ready for our afternoon tea tomorrow, which will be at 4 p.m.

Every weekday morning my older grandchilden get ready for school or nursery, a process that involves getting dressed and having their curly locks brought into some kind of order. I watch as their mother’s deft fingers straighten collars and fasten buttons, as her skill makes pigtails and ponytails, neatly fastened with bows or ribbons, as she sponges stains off clothes and rearranges clothing to a pristine condition. ‘I want you to look smart’, she tells the girls each morning.

A day’s activity means that if I pick them up later, they look very different. Hair has usually escaped from fastenings; buttons are undone; fresh stains have emerged. This is all part and parcel of a normal day!

The problem for all of us is not to live in a slovenly way with ‘unbuttoned minds and disheveled spirits,’ as Eugene Peterson puts it. It’s easy to see disheveled hair and unbuttoned cardigans (and to do something about them.) It’s not so easy to see the same state inwardly. Paul tells the Corinthians we must take every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor 10:5) In the Message version, Peter says that God ‘won’t let you get away with sloppy living.’ (1 Pet 1:17) Malachi speaks of ‘shoddy, sloppy, defililng worship’, fuelled by indifference and a lack of proper reverence and respect for God. (Mal 1:6) We need to pay as much attention to our inner life and thoughts as my daughter-in-law pays to her children’s morning appearance. We must be vigilant in prayer, attentive to God and mindful of His requirements to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God through the busyness of each day. (Micah 6:8)

Programmes like ‘The Blue Planet’ and ‘The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau‘ introduce us to a world rarely seen by most peopole, the world of the oceans, the world of marine life. They provide fascinating insight into what goes on beneath the surface of the water.

I love the sea, and really enjoy visits to the coast, but I have to admit that I am not comfortable with diving below the surface. I’ve never been good at diving or snorkelling.

Such programmes remind me that there are worlds beyond life on solid ground and that it is good to understand there is more going on in our world than we can see normally with our natural eyes.

Life so often keeps us busy ‘on the surface’, dealing with the immediate needs: what to put on the table to eat, what to wear, how to pay our bills and keep a roof over our heads. The dominant voices around us yell imperatives at us on a daily basis: ‘Consume! Hurry! Buy! Don’t think! Don’t be quiet! And above all, don’t pray (except in emergencies.)’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘On Living Well’) It takes determination and strength to swim against this tide and to slow down enough to explore freshly the ‘reality beneath the surface.’ (ibid.)

I will soon be exploring a new coast (to me) in Norfolk, and I’m looking forward to the therapeutic benefits of sitting on a beach surveying the magnificence of the sea and reflecting on another world I rarely contemplate. Such contemplation in the spiritual realm needs to be a feature of my daily life if I am to live a counter-cultural life that honours God.

Although Dave was not able to be present tonight due to an unexpected injury, his message still came to us. The message was from Acts 13:22 where we are told that God’s testimony about David was that he was a man after God’s own heart. We see from this that Israel’s most famous king, grandson of Ruth and Boaz and youngest son of Jesse, was not perhaps the person we would have chosen to succeed Saul, but he remains a reminder that God chooses people not by outward appearance but by the heart.

The fact that God chose David to be king reminds us of the sovereign providence inherent in all God’s actions. His choice also reflects sovereign planning; this was no spur-of-the-moment decision. God also has sovereign power, meaning He is able to fulfil His plans and purposes for each one of us.

David was far from perfect, but he showed several characteristics which could go some way towards explaining why God chose him.

1. Even as a young man, he had a true and genuine faith (see 1 Samuel 17:34-37).
2. He had a grateful heart, always acknowledging what God had done for him (see Ps 30)
3. He had a truthful nature, being willing to confess his sin and repent and seek God’s forgiveness (see Ps 32 & 51)
4. He had a transparent life, being open and honest with God (see Ps 26:2, Ps 139:23-24)
5. He trusted God and took Him at His word.

We must remember that God chose us and loved us before ever we chose and loved Him (see 1 John 4:19). The qualities God saw in David are those which made Him call him a man after God’s own heart. This too can be the testimony of God about us if we follow David’s example in these five areas of life and faith.