Dear member of the All Saints family,
Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Psalm 150 vs 1-2
These exuberant words from Psalm 150 remind us of why we praise God – as we see throughout the bible in many times of trouble and in our own time, God acts mightily, and he has surpassing greatness! At the moment, of course, we are limited in our ways of worship. I know that some in the Church are frustrated that we can’t yet sing in church following the Government relaxation. Others are very wary of change as they are vulnerable or concerned about vulnerable loved ones. But that should not stop us from praising God – let’s do so as we are able. The rest of Psalm 150 has a few ideas of how to praise God:
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
This is enthusiastic and energetic worship because we are praising a mighty God! I’m not suggesting that we follow this guidance directly (although I always wanted to have a go with the loud cymbals!) it’s more an encouragement to be passionate and wholehearted in our praise in any way we can. Verse 6 is the key one – let all of us praise the Lord!
On a more practical note, we are exploring how to hold some aspects of services outside so we can sing – watch this space.
Please do fill in the COVID questionnaire if you have not done so already, we do want your views as we decide how to move forward working through the Church of England process. Please bear with us and each other as we follow this through. Paper copies of the questionnaire are being sent with the notices and message this week. The online version was sent out last Friday by email.
Other notices:
- John Chester and I had a meeting with Peter Rugen, Vicar of St Michaels, on Monday. Peter will be leading the service of ‘Installation and Collation’ of Craig as our vicar on the 26th September at 7 PM – please pray as we plan this service – there is much to do! Peter is doing this as Hennie Johnstone, our Rural Dean, who would normally lead the service, will be away.
- Do see the notice in the notice sheet about a Fruit Picnic in the Orchard after this Sunday’s All Age Worship
- Amongst other notices, there is one about the opportunity of being a School Governor.
We are in holiday season, so we pray that God will relax, refresh and restore us over the summer break. Do pray for Craig, Gemma and the family as they take a holiday as well – it will be busy once Craig starts.
Finally, some words from a prayer of thanksgiving:
‘As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us
let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,
and your spirit ever renew our lives
and your praises ever be on our lips’
Praise the Lord!
With best wishes and blessings,
Andy Creeth and John Chester, Churchwardens