Monday Spot (14 July 2008)
This Sunday was one of those rare occasions when we had only one meeting.
Our Divisional Headquarters had arranged a family day at Hawthorne School, near Redhill, and thus those who wished to travel to Redhill to enjoy the fun were able to do so without having to return for an evening meeting.
The only meeting of the day was, therefore, held in the morning and led by Major Kathy who chose songs 382, 48, 647 and 298 from The Salvation Army Song Book together with 877 and 721 from Songs of Fellowship to support her theme which was, again, ‘Life in the Psalms’, this time on the subject of dealing with fear.
Major Kathy
Psalm 55 was the chosen reading for the day together with 1 John 4:7-18 which was read from the ‘Message’ translation. Musical ministry was provided by the Singing Company and Songsters who brought ‘God is my refuge’ and ‘Knowing my failings’ respectively. Bethany Boughton was commissioned as a junior musician before the Singing Company sang.
Bethany receiving her commission
Two new adherents, Lyn Hubbard and Shirley Tye, were recognised which augmented the six new soldiers sworn in last week. The Devil must be having an uneasy time at the moment and we praise God for the progress and development seen in our Corps.
The two are recognised, Lyn signs and Shirley testifies
In her sermon Major Kathy said what are you afraid of? Spiders? Mice? The dark? Speaking in public? The future? We all have things we are afraid of. Fear is a small word with massive implications. A very human feeling. In this Psalm David is in anguish, likely at screaming pitch. He wanted to escape. Even those especially close to God can be affected by fear. The first and best answer to fear is always ‘no’. David, in his fear knew where to turn and he appealed to God. He knew his plea would not be disregarded. God is looking for an honest relationship with His children. Becoming a Christian means we have a way of dealing with our problems. We will still have our fears but we must not allow them to overcome us. God will protect us. Be strong in the Lord. He is all-sufficient.
We understand that a surprise informal lunch was arranged for Kathy by some of the young families of the Corps in recognition of her ministry over the last four years and we would remind readers that next Sunday is our ‘farewell’ to her. Once again there will be only one meeting, at 10am, and a BBQ will be held at Teston Country Park to which all are invited. See details below.
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