Our Sunday Morning Meeting was entitled –
‘See the Difference you can make………….When we listen’
John 10:3
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Introduction
The Major began the meeting with session of Chinese Whispers, which was a very long sentence , spread around a few people and the messages received by the last people were mixed up , forgotten or not heard at all ..This exercise was referred back to later. Major Ian asked us to think of different ways we might connect with God including reading , preaching & Silence
The first song of the morning was
Song 775 Master Speak thy Servant Heareth
Tune 392 Ottawa
Major Ian commented that God will engage with each person differently.
We next were able to watch the next self Denial film
Film Clip Self Denial no.3
The Singing Company , led this week by Adrian Horwood, sang “More Precious Than Silver”
Katelyn Smith was commissioned as a YP Band Member , and Sharon Smith was Commissioned as a Primary Sergeant
Bible Reading 1 Samuel 3: 1-10
Selected verses John 10
The Songsters Message this morning was ” If You would be Strong”
Message ‘See the Difference you can make…When We Listen’
Matt 17:5 says This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
We are the Lord’s sheep , The Lord is my Shepherd, he leads me beside still waters ” Because we need it” .
Silence is hard for many . We need to pray together and practice so it becomes natural
The Chinese whispers exercise at the start of the meeting showed that some didn’t hear, some forgot , some only remembered part of the message. We don’t find listening to God easy, and we may get distracted . We need to find a way that is comfortable for us to pray and regularly listen to God, and when God speaks.. Share it
In the same way we recognise the voice of those we know well , we should recognise God’s voice
It took 4 attempts before Samuel knew it was God and listened, how encouraging is it that God keeps calling . We want this to happen for us in Chatham, We will be doing what God wants us to do, to the best of our ability, if we listen and respond to God.
A Leaflet containing two readings John 10:1-16 and Psalm 23 had been handed out, and the congregation was asked to read and ask God to speak to them
Several of the Congregation shared what God had revealed to them
The congregation sang
Song 386 Open my eyes Lord
Tune 791 “ “ “
and the final song of the morning was
Song 522 Standing on the Promises
Tune 840 “ “ “
Thanks to Jean Jones and Rachel Abbott for use of their morning meeting notes & Major Estelle Clack for the photograph
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The second meeting of the day was entitled ‘Songs and their Stories’. Major Ian had put together a programme of songs from the Salvation Army Song Book with details of their writers. This was educational as well as very moving at times when we learned why some of the songs were written e.g. following the loss of four daughters at sea Horatio Spafford wrote ‘It is well with my soul’. He said ‘The darker it gets, the more we should sing’.
We are indebted to these poets/writers some of whom spent their whole lives dedicated to glorifying God through songs. For instance, Frances Ridley Havergal, although blinded at 6 weeks commenced writing songs from the age of 6 and penned 8,000 of them, many of which are still held dear today i.e. ‘Take my life and let it be’. Apparently, it was not thought good to publish so many songs under the same name so she used over 200 pseudonyms during her lifetime.
We learned how Richard Slater, a teacher and composer, gave his heart to the Lord at Regent Hall Corps having heard the singing from outside and decided to go in. He became known as the ‘Father of Army Music’ having been Head of the first Army Music Dept and having penned words of 127 songs, music of 166 songs and words and music of 294 songs. (See S.A. History, Vol 1).
Priscilla Jane Owens wrote ‘Will your anchor hold’ when she discovered the verse in Hebrews 6:19. ‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.’ She then proceeded to write many poems/songs based on this verse.
In the Psalms we are exhorted to ‘Sing to the Lord’. Psalms 150 and 147 were mentioned. David’s Psalms are praises to God and are sung in churches frequently.
Rex and Tim gave testimonies.
The songs chosen for us to sing, or watch from Songs of Praise, were:
Song 795 What a Friend we have in Jesus Joseph Scriven
Song 623 Take my life and let it be Frances Ridley Havergal
Song 445 Turn your eyes upon Jesus Helen Howarth Lemmel
Song 450 Will your anchor hold (SoP) Priscilla Jane Owens
Song 570 And is it so Richard Slater
Song 451 Would you be free Lewis Edgar Jones
Song 279 To God be the glory Frances Jane Crosby
Song 741 When peace like a river Horatio Gates Spafford
A Gaelic blessing sung by Aled Jones.
Thanks to Jean for the afternoon report.