Monday Spot (19 May 2008)
Salvation Army Bands minister in all sorts of places. Recently our band was scheduled to play to the patients and staff at the local Hospice.
The Molly Wisdom Hospice, Rochester
Imagine the surprise when, upon arrival, it was realised that one of the patients was about to get married. The Rolls Royce awaited. An emotional experience for all concerned, we suspect, and we pray God’s blessing on the happy couple even though life may have been nearing its end.
Our meetings yesterday were led by Majors David and Karen Ramsay who are currently in charge of the Milton Church Plant for The Salvation Army. Milton is near Sittingbourne, Kent
Malors Karen & David Ramsey
The morning meeting was on the theme of ‘Are we ready for revival?’ and included song 220 from The Salvation Army Song Book together with songs 1099 and 1404 from Songs of Fellowship. The Singing Company and Songsters each contributed to the musical ministry with ‘God is our refuge’ and ‘Part the waters’ respectively. Both musical groups brought much blessing to the meeting and we would particularly like to congratulate the Singing Company on a superb performance.
Scripture used as the basis for the message was Acts 2:1-7 and David spoke about the extraordinary spiritual experiences which have come his way in life. He referred to miracles of salvation and our likeness to God. He said ‘I am excited by these things. We should feel rich because we will inherit the Kingdom of God. God has prepared tasks for each and every one of us to do and we must seek his face to discover what they are. Unity in the church is like precious oil poured out upon it. We must avoid vengeance and practise forgiveness to maintain this unity. This is not the easiest thing to do but we must in order that God can deal with the issues in his own way. That is his task, not ours.
During the afternoon the first of the series of three Contagious Christianity course sessions took place. We hope to report in more detail on these later.
The evening centered around ‘The Names of God’, a subject we have looked at recently. The Bible passage was Leviticus 26:1-13 and songs 56, 862, 65 and 9 from The Salvation Army Song Book were used together with ‘Hide me now‘ and 298 from Songs of Fellowship. The Songsters brought ‘Vespers’ and the Band ‘The Light of the World’ which features the music to SA song 299.
A period of testimony was included asking people to speak about what God had done for them this week and two volunteered. Also Major David spoke about his recent cancer, now cured. He acknowledged his doubts which existed despite his faith, his depression and, most importantly his trust in God.
In her message Karen asked what is your chief and ultimate purpose in life? The Bible tells us that we are created to know God and when we do we are changed from our natural selves. God reveals himself to us through his name. For example, Jesus means Saviour. Karen went on to speak about various Old Testament traditions and names for God and their meanings, explaining how these show his nature. He is almighty and we are the intended recipients of his grace. However, knowledge is not enough. We must have a relationship with God as this will be our passport to Heaven.
The corps would like to express its gratitude to Majors David and Karen Ramsay for leading our meetings yesterday. It was good to see David looking so well following his recent illness. Long may his recovery continue and we assure them both of our continued prayers.
Finally we would like to offer our congratulations to the Corps of Royal Engineers which has been granted the freedom of the city of Medway. About 600 soldiers marched through the town on Saturday to celebrate this event and the Mayor presented a scroll and casket conferring the freedom to the Chief Royal Engineer in a private ceremony at Brompton Barracks. The Royal Engineers have had a strong presence in Medway for more than 200 years and The Salvation Army has been privileged to have amongst its members a number of Royal Engineers bandsmen in recent times, a current member of both bands being Cameron Ivers, whom we congratulate with his wife Janelle, on the birth of a baby daughter, Cadence Jasmine, on Friday of this week. A good weight of 7lbs 3oz we understand and all the family are doing just fine.
Part of the parade
The Royal Engineers Museum