Sunday has traditionally been an easy day of rest and worship for many people. However some must work Sundays and can’t always take it easy. To those people I say bless you for giving up your Sunday for the benefit of others. You know who you are. Others just can’t seem to take it easy no matter what day of the week it is. And then there are folks, myself included, who remember the easy Sunday mornings and try to continue the tradition. Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. Psalm 116:7. Happy Sunday.
Tag Archives: Sunday
Missed Blessing
I always loved, and still do, the following blessing at the end of worship, but somehow it has gone by the wayside. In its place are words of a different nature which change from service to service. This is not to say that each invocation is not a well meant blessing…it is. But somehow 2 Corinthians 13:14 says it all, divinely.
Here is Wikipedia’s description of a benediction: A benediction (Latin: bene, well + dicere, to speak) is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service.
And so I leave you with this Biblical Benediction which, when not invoked, is missed. Happy Sunday.
Different Reflections
The Mirriam-Webster dictionary has many definitions of the word reflection, one being the obvious of seeing one’s image in a mirror or water.
Another meaning for the word is consideration of some subject matter, idea, or purpose.
And then there is this: reflecting is about letting your heart and soul speak. It requires letting go of the rational mind, going into your interior life, and listening. (Internet)
In Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy we read: Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. 2 Timothy 2:7 (NIV)
As I reflect on the image below, a feeling of both grandeur and peace floods my soul, both of which give me insight into the wonder of God, Himself. Happy Sunday.
Responsibility
We are responsible for our lives but there comes a time when we are overwhelmed by the responsibility that has been thrust upon us. We fear we are not doing enough in a given situation or we fear we are not doing the right thing. But God has an answer to our fears:
With faith, let us recognize God’s responsibility to handle what we can’t. Happy Sunday.
Let Us Pray
Once in awhile we are given the privilege to offer prayer to our congregation. This is one of mine from a few years ago. Happy Sunday.
Let Us Pray
Heavenly Father as we once again come to you in prayer this morning, we ask that you would quiet our minds and grant us the grace to open our hearts to you.
Help us to trust you with our lives and all that concerns us.
When we suffer an illness, help us to recognize healing as a blessing.
If healing is not ours to claim then help us to accept eternal life with you as the ultimate blessing.
We ask that you would make us receptive to the blessings you continually send our way and let us be willing to be a blessing to others.
Lord, help us to remember to pray for those whose needs we don’t always think of…our brothers, sisters, and neighbours all over the world who suffer the anxieties of war, famine, natural disasters and unnatural behaviors; those who call out for help and those who are silent in their misery.
Heavenly Father, help us also to remember that you created us to be in relationship with you, to show our love for you by obeying your greatest command, to Love One Another as you love us.
May we most of all recognize your love as our truest blessing.
We pray for the safety and well being of our pastor, Duncan, and his family. We pray for families and friends of our congregation as a whole, and we pray for those who govern our country and indeed those who govern our world.
Help us to feel the need to pray for the enemy of mankind, those who seek destruction rather than peace. We pray that you would lead them to realize that all life is a blessing. Hear us Father God as we continue to praise and thank you with the words your Son Jesus taught us: Our Father……..
Open Minds
One thing I’ve learned from my almost eighty-four years of living is to keep an open mind because there is always something to learn. For instance, scripture speaks of hardships and how they can be borne. God knows how many hardships 2020 threw at us and gives us the answer in 2nd Corinthians 4: verses 8 and 9.
8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
And then verse 16 reads: Therefore we do not lose heart.
Life lessons can be be found everywhere if only we keep open minds.
Happy Sunday.
Contentment
Contentment is a wonderful state to be in. Scripture recommends it highly and I can vouch for it, myself
…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Philippians 4;11
The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble. Proverbs 29:23
But godliness with contentment is great gain. …1 Timothy 6:6
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Hebrews 13:5
And a quote from Henry Fielding: “I am content; that is a blessing greater than riches; and he to whom that is given need ask no more.”
And William Shakespeare said this in Henry VIII: “Our content is our best having.”
And last but not least: Man’s happiness really lies in contentment. Mahatma Gandhi
Happy Sunday.
Strength for the Broken Hearted
Two sets of parents very recently held funerals for their twelve-year-old sons just three weeks before Christmas. I can’t even begin to imagine their heartbreak. Even though it hurts just to think about the grief being endured, I take comfort in Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit. May God grant them the grace to live each day in His strength.
Under these circumstances it is difficult to say Happy Sunday.
Picture of Peace
Psalm 104:12 reads: The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.
Praying your Sunday is as peaceful as this pastoral scene. Happy Sunday.
As Good As It Gets
There comes a time in life when one is faced with the choice of believing in God or denying him.
Personally, I cannot imagine a life of denial. I cannot imagine that the universe is a crap shoot and every powerful and amazing planet, galaxy, sun, moon, star, everything in it, came to be through a random explosion.
For believers, no matter what happens in life, there is always the faith to continue to believe.
For those who continue to believe that the universe began with a big bang…that random explosion…then putting a new twist on Genesis 1:1 would read like this:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…with a big bang. But that wouldn’t work either, because creation is complicated to the human mind.
That we came to be through fish, frogs and apes just doesn’t jibe with Genesis 1:27:
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
And that’s about as good as it gets. Happy Sunday.
My Precious Life 