Wednesday, April 25, 2007

"I am overjoyed as I watch my little sister share."

From the Mouth of babes ~ Faith Christella wrote this while staying in a caravan park in Upper QLD, Australia.

Late afternoon, some Canadian and English tourists arrived. 
A lot of them ended up in the pool when we were in there.

We talked to one Canadian lady and asked how about her tour, how she liked Australia etc. and Jana (my little sister) asked her if she was a Christian.

She replied with,

"No, I'm not a Christian, I don't go to church."

"Well," Jana interjected, "going to church doesn't make you a Christian though."

Hearing Jana talking got me thinking. It was true. Going to church alone can't save you. It is a surendered heart that makes the difference.

Jana shared with many and did her little part in being a light for God – living up to the meaning of her, "God's messenger".

This morning, during breakfast, one lady asked for an extra book to give to her friend. Later, when she saw our brother, she called him over and said, "Here is some money. One day your sister might give some literature, like she gave me, to someone and they will be saved."

I am overjoyed as I watch Jana presently go and share the Light of the world with others. Jana is back now, and sitting on Mum's lap. The tourists are driving away in their large bus - 'AAT King, Now that's how you see Australia.'
 

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

The inclination of the natural heart and the path of following the principles of God's Word lead in opposite directions.

Seeking His Will ~ Lina writes from QLD, Australia

How to know God's will? This was one of the questions under study and discussion in our last weekly worship. We turned to the Scripture for answers and discussed our experience... "If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God." James 1:5

Asking, believing, receiving and imparting, always depending on Him.

"Let him ask in faith." James 1:6

When we expect that God will hear us and give according to our need, we will receive. Faith claims God's promises and brings forth fruit in obedience. The inclination of the natural heart and the path of following the principles of God's Word lead in opposite directions. Love of truth leads up.

"This is the way, walk ye in it." Isaiah 30:21

One of our group shared her experience in asking God for direction at the beginning of the day and the resulting answers. We rejoiced with her.

"The Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister." Matthew 20:28

"Leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps."1 Peter 2:21

Inspired, we ask for others the blessings we seek.

We concluded our worship with a hymn.

Blessed Lord how much I need thee!
Weak and sinful, poor and blind
Take my trembling hand and lead me;
Strength and sight in thee I find.
Every hour, every hour:
Blessed Lord, how much I need Thee...
Saviour keep me every hour.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

The Basin and the Towel ~ Lina writes from QLD, Australia

"How many will be washing feet?"

My daughter was preparing the tubs for the service of feet washing.
The unleavened bread on the little table was covered and the unfermented wine was beside it. God had instructed Israel to remove leaven from their homes at the time of the Passover. At that memorial Passover when Christ instituted the Lord's Supper, there had been no leavened/fermented products on His table.  How could anything corrupted by fermentation, the symbol of sin and death, represent the "Lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19)?

All things ready, Alex, a visiting missionary, lead out.  Emphasizing the significance of the foot washing, he reminded us of the heart lessons it teaches. Jesus, our Lord and Master, acted the part of a servant. He even washed the feet of His betrayer.

Jesus had given us this example saying:
"If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." John 13:14,15 In my imagination, I saw the Son of God bending over dusty feet - "by love serve one another." Galatians 5:13

We separated, the sisters to the dining room, and the brethren, to the veranda. We prayed together and then sang as we dipped our hands in the cool water to wash the other's feet. Tubs emptied, hands washed and hearts cleansed, we returned to our designated worship room to continue.

Alex prayed and broke the bread. We were reminded of Him whose body it represented. Slowly chewing I thought of Christ: His body broken and bruised for me. (1 Corinthians11:24) The pure grape juice representing His blood. Drinking, remembering that Jesus had said, "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Matthew 26:29.

Dearest Lord Jesus, I long for that day - to see your face!

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Worship and Chores ~ Bethany writes from WV, USA

It was a cold day, so I was enjoying having my hands immersed in hot, sudsy water. While I washed, I sang,

"I love Thee, Lord,
And I lift my voice
To worship Thee,
O my God."

Then the words hit me, and the question formed, "Can I really be actively worshipping God while I wash the dishes, sweep the floor and do the baking?"

I love to sing, and I love to join in congregational singing and to sing praise during my quiet times. Yes, in those contexts, I have recognised singing as an act of worship. But during my busy times - the fact that I can be lifted above the everyday hustle and worship even then, how precious it was!

If you have never done so, notice the words of many of the hymns - they are heartfelt prayers! But not all singing is worship. It is possible to sing without meaning or feeling. What makes the difference? In Colossians, we are told, to "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly... singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Colossians 3:16

And Ephesians 5:19 speaks of "making melody in your heart to the Lord." This is the key. To sing from your heart to the Lord - this is worship.

Monday, November 11, 2006

A Surprise Visitor ~ Lina writes from QLD, Australia

We weren't expecting anyone for our weekly worship service because the regulars knew that there was sickness in the family. So I was very surprised to hear a car coming up the driveway. I went to a window and had a look. John, who my husband had invited weeks ago, had arrived. The children were in a bedroom listening as one of them read inspirational stories aloud. I called them to our worship room. We welcomed John in and after asking him to choose a hymn, commenced singing. There is something special about it when we all sing together. Each one of the children enjoys our singing. We don't often choose 6 hymns as we did this morning either.

We prayed, asking for God's presence.

On rising from our knees we took turns sharing a favourite passage of Scripture. A recurring theme was that because of God we have nothing to fear. Psalm 27:1 and Psalm 23:4-6 were among those chosen.

Following this, we passed around Enrich Your Prayer Life and turning to page 42, commenced reading the section, How to Become A Child of God. We frequently stopped to comment on what was being read. We continued on to read the last story in the book about the man that kept putting off accepting Christ, until when on his deathbed, he was unable to because his heart had grown too hard.

We concluded our worship with some more singing and prayer.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

An Unforgettable Worship Service ~ Bethany writes from WV, USA

Samuel's dedication service

A handful of friends, including my mother and I, had planned to meet for worship in a old country hall. That week our little boy, Samuel, died. Life went into slow motion. There was the funeral. The week slipped away. Then my mother called to tell me she was going to have the meeting called off. 

"Mum, no!" I exclaimed.

"We need to get together to fellowship and worship now more than ever."

We were a little bit late. The others were already singing, gathered into a close circle. We joined the singing. The sense of God's closeness was rich. I don't remember a lot, but that we took turns sharing experiences and testimonies. We ate together. 

In the afternoon, we shared with the others the events of our baby's death and how God had shown us that He was close and had a plan in it all. We prayed together, then we sang the last verse of "Sitting at the feet of Jesus." 

"I used to sing this song as a prayer over my baby every night." I told them.

"But I changed the words from "Bless me" to "Bless him." Can we sing that prayer together now for this little group?" 

And so we sang,

Bless us, O our Saviour, bless us!
As we're waiting at Thy feet.
O look down in love upon us!
Let us see Thy face so sweet.
Give us, Lord, the mind of Jesus!
Make us holy as He is,
May we prove we've been with Jesus,
Who is all our righteousness.

I think the angels sang with us. :-)

Thursday, October 26, 2006

How do we do it? ~ Lina writes from QLD, Australia

hh

For our weekly worship time, we dress in worship clothes. This means respectful and tidy. It doesn't mean any kind of uniform, but the point is, we wouldn't go to meet anyone official like the queen or the prime minister wearing beach clothes. What about God? God is greater than all human dignitaries.

We gather at a set time because even though our worship takes place in our home, we take it seriously. Otherwise it will degenerate to a non-happening. We aren't rigid about exact time or how long but we do have structured worship time.

We sing hymns or Scripture songs. When the children were younger, these also included special child favourites. We sing to live piano music because we have one and we can play it! There is no set number we sing.

We kneel down to pray. Sometimes one person prays. Sometimes it is more. We don't read prayers. The prayers are expressions from the heart to God. They are not sermonettes for the listeners!

Then we will read together, study the Bible together or occasionally listen to an audio study. There is freedom to comment, to question or seek clarification from God or each other.

We pray when we are done. Frequently there are a number of  voluntary prayers. Sometimes we choose to sing again.

Check back here! We plan to update this page regularly with experiences and personal thoughts from other home-churches.
If you have a worship diary you would like to share on this page, email it to Bethany and we will prayerfully consider it.