Thought for the week – Nigel Mansfield

Many families invariably have some rift or other which has never been properly addressed. It can go on for years.

As Christians it offends the name of Christ, that we bear, if we cannot forgive.

A helpful book on the subject is the ‘Language of Apology’ which flags up 5 things that need to be said and meant – when we set about apologising.

All or some of the following:-

(a) “I was sorry.”

(b) “I was wrong.”

(c) “What can I do to make it right?”

(d) “I’ll try not to do it again.”

(e) “Will you please forgive me?”

The actual language of apology we use is important.

Sometimes it can lead to us being misunderstood ourselves.

Or we can misunderstand others when they are trying to apologise to us.

Either side may consider the apology is insufficient and so a gap develops which can widen over time and cause a rift in relationships – if not dealt with.

A Prayer

“Lord help me to apologise fully and appropriately to those I need to apologise to.

Lord help me to set myself to do this and get it done sometime soon”

Bible verses: Luke 23:34; Matt 6:12: Matt19:21,22; Matt 19:23-35.

‘The Language of Apology’ (2006) by Garry Chapman & Jennifer Thomas published by Northfield  (ISBN – 978-1-881273-79-0).

Nigel Mansfield

Thought for the week – Gordon W Whitelaw

Have you noticed that the Humanists and others have apparently become fed up with the Christian advertising appearing on buses. In response to adverts for the Alpha Course etc they have come up with the idea of a God-free advert to counter religious advertising. They have adopted the slogan “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your Life.”

Religious groups complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that the atheist bus campaign, broke the advertising code on the grounds of substantiation and truthfulness. The ASA council concluded that “the ad was an expression of the advertiser’s opinion and that the claims in it were not capable of objective substantiation.” No doubt the ASA would have come to the same conclusion with regard to Christian claims that there is a God.

How important it is then to have our faith. To believe in something without the type of proof that will satisfy those who do not share our faith. The Christian faith does not rely solely on evidence, but is supported by evidence. Faith is not just about ignoring reason and relying on emotion. It is not just a blind faith. Christian faith is about seeking out and knowing Jesus Christ with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Faith is living in a relationship of trust in accordance with God’s will. Faith declares the relevance of Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives.

The thing that annoys me most about the advert is the assumption that I worry and do not enjoy life. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is because of my faith that I can share my worries with God and enjoy life despite its many knocks.

Romans 5 verses 1-2:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

Thought for the Week – Easter 2009

Mark 16:1-6 (NIV)

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Recently I read a lovely story of a masterful sculpture by the Italian sculptor Canova.  It is a relief of a musing angel.  The piece can be found in the Reformed Church at Gyömrő, in Hungary (it also can be viewed at http://www.gyomro.hu/index.php?topic_id=15).  Some that had seen the relief say that the angel is painful and sad.  Some would say quite the opposite, that it has a hopeful smile on its face.  In fact the two camps are not contradicting each other.  They are both correct.  The difference of opinion is caused by the time when they viewed the sculpture.  those seeing it as the sun is setting saw the sad expression; while those looking at it in the rays of the rising sun could see the smile.

The bright light of Easter reveals not only the empty tomb, but brings a hopeful smile onto our faces too.  So often we live in the dark shadow of the cross and that of Good Friday and Saturday.  But the morning light of Easter Day drove out the darkness and its hopelessness.  May we walk in the eternal light of Easter.  For the risen Saviour is the light of the world and all those who follow Him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

Prayer: Loving God, many blows carved the face of that angel, and there are many painful blows that shape our lives too.  Help us Heavenly Father to realise this Easter time that after the dark nights the certainty of new life is ours because Christ is risen!  Amen

Thought for the Week – Bobby Caldwell

ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER 7 VERSE 10

Never ask “Oh why were things so much better in the old days?” It’s not an intelligent question.

I am sure that most of us who are older have said or thought of saying these words. Particularly at this time of uncertainty, we feel the necessity to look back at how things used to be.

However we should remember that the world is always changing and in this season of Advent and new beginnings let us look forward with hope for the future

Prayer

Lord please be with us at this time and give us the faith to look forward in hope. Amen

Thought for the Week – Nigel Mansfield

The British Council have been around a long time. One very good thing they have done is to give their backing to the IAESTE scheme for several decades now This enables British students in Science and Engineering to work abroad in the last Summer vacation before they graduate.  

There is a ‘international ring’ which operates allowing students to exchange jobs and work in another country. Work is provided for them – if they are selected and can find their way there. My brother went to Canada in the fifties, I went to Poland in the sixties and my son went to Slovenia in the nineties. And students are still going.under this same scheme. 

When I got off the train in Warsaw in July 1965, it was 6pm on a Sunday evening. No-one was their to meet me, as promised, and I had to find my own way across the city to the student residence.. Here I shared a room with two guys from Finland and a Dutch giant of a guy who had ridden his motorbike all the way from Holland !. 

I had taken the train to London and crossed the Channel by ferry. Then it was a long train ride across the North Europe plain. The train trundled through the Berlin Wall at night at a very slow speed. It was all a big adventure ! 

In Warsaw, there were enamel pots and pans in the shops but no sign of a non-stick frying pan.In fact there was not much in the shops at all. The Polish people were very friendly. They made me very welcome. They even had Beatles music playing loudly from houses – with all the songs in English. 

I visited the Bible Society Bookshop in the centre of Warsaw. To get some gospels in Polish. As a parting gift, I gave out some to the people I had got to know on the construction site where I was working. They did not lock me up and I completed the 30 hour journey home just in time for my sister’s wedding. 

The thing I have never forgotten was what I saw in that Bible Bookshop. 

On the wall was a bible verse carved in stone in very very large letters. They told me that when Warsaw was devastated in the Second World War, that particular wall had remained standing all the way through the war, with the words plain for all to read. And many did read them. 

You may possibly be asking: “What was the verse ?” 

It was Matthew 24:35. 

Jesus said “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away”. Eternal words. 

Amidst all the mayhem endured in that city, Jesus words remained throughout the war – clearly visible. Amazing. Ponder those words of Jesus. 

They were still there on the wall in 1965 and I guess they are still there today. 

Nigel Mansfield

Thought For The Week – Bill Yule

In 1985 Jack Gregor and his wife Joyce, donated a Lectern Copy of The Good News Bible to the conmgregation of St. Columba.  That bible sits on the wooden lectern which stands in the north side of the Chancel of the church.

Jack and Joyce are no longer with us, but when I look at the bible, and see and hear someone reading the lesson from it on  a Sunday Morning,  think of the dedication which led them to make such a gift to us, and I remember with gratitude the contribution which they made not only to our church family, but to the community in general.

Thought for the week

As a child I was fascinated by my mother’s Russian Doll. Inside it was another doll, and inside that another, and so on. I knew there were five of them, but it was in opening them up that I experienced the wonder of these nested dolls.

The Bible is a bit like that. I know it contains amazing messages for me, but it is in opening it up and delving deeper that I experience the wonders of God’s communication with me. And, unlike the Russian Dolls, there is no end to the hidden insights waiting to be found.

Thought of the week from Paul Dowie

“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” Matthew 8 v 20

Where is home ? Do you feel at home ? We are trying to find a house to live in as a family. When you are without a permanent house, and know that you have to move on to a new house it reveals how much we draw on it for security and identity. It tells us how much and how little a house matters. Many never feel at home anywhere – and this may not be so bad if we are looking to our heavenly home.

In the meantime home, rather than a house, with all that comes with it – family, schools, neighbours, church – and the good and bad in all of these – is the place that we grow up in and continue to be shaped by. It is amazing and frightening as a parent to think of how much is moulded in the home. It is where we continue to discover our potential and our limitations. It is where we get a true measure of learning how to live with ourselves and others. Home and family is the workshop; I hope sometimes the artist’s studio; and too often the hospital where God has moulded us and is making us.

We continue to search for a house, a place to provide a roof over our home. As we do this  we seek to listen to what Jesus said so that “…everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7 v 24

Paul Dowie

Thought for the week from Douglas Sammon

Jesus answered them, “ Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be where I am.  And my Father will honour anyone who serves me.”
John’s Gospel – chapter 12, verse 26

So what is this event; this life we’ve entered?  Is it a modern decathlon, based on the ten commandments?

Fortunately, it is not: Jesus says it is a single discipline, a pursuit race – following Him.  The medals are for those who stay in His slipstream.

Douglas Sammon

Thought for the week from Melville Mathieson

Often, as we walk along the street looking at other people, we make assumptions regarding their relationships in life. We may assume contentment when we see a smiling face, happiness when we hear someone laugh: so many different observations with so many interpretations. Often this can make us feel less confident and it is not unusual to feel a degree of isolation when everyone around you seems to be in harmony with their surroundings and at ease within themselves.

When we experience this feeling of isolation, it is important to focus on the inner relationship we have with ourselves and God. Our relationship with God is unconditional, constantly supportive and freely available at all times. We truly have a constant source of energy to help us rise, with confidence, to the challenges of our daily lives.

Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whether soever thou goest.

Lord, help us to appreciate the many blessings you have given us to lead our daily lives. May we use them to the best of our abilities that others may share the joy of your presence.
Amen

Melville Mathieson

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