Harvest 2011

You (and your family) are invited 
to join us for our 
Harvest Supper

6:00pm this Saturday evening, 24th September.



Put your name and the name of anyone you hope to bring in the comments below so that we can make room at the table.

You're also invited to our Harvest Services this Sunday at 11:00am and 6:30pm

Jesus Calms the Storm - Matthew 8:23 and Mark 4:35

Jesus has been speaking to the people all day and was no doubt tired. Open-air preaching is particular exhausting. Because Jesus is a man like us, we shouldn't be surprised that He fell asleep on the boat, even so deeply that the storm didn't wake Him. This was a violent storm and these hardened fishermen were scared for their lives. But instead of turning to a better fisherman, they turn to a carpenter, Jesus, because they knew that He was the Son of God.

They asked Jesus if He really cared for them in this situation. This was insulting to Jesus because no-one has ever cared for mankind the way Jesus does. But they were panicking.

It's a good thing that they knew who to turn to. Do we know who to turn to when things go dreadfully wrong? It's good to know that you can go to Jesus.

Jesus, in reply, shows without any doubt that He is God. These fishermen knew that storms die down slowly, you never get instant calm. This storm didn't come by chance and Jesus didn't calm it by chance. The same is with our lives. Nothing that happens to us happens by chance. He's the One who raises the stormy wind and he's the One who brings the calm. Sometimes we don't understand why - we just have to trust Him and you'll see things fit into place finally and see that God is Love.

The men were frightened because it was so wonderful what sort of man is this? There's only one logical answer. Jesus is God. If we are convinced of this in our hearts we will believe what He says is true and will trust Him as our friend and Saviour.

This is THE most important message of any part of the Bible, as it is here. Jesus is God, the Creator.

The Man with Leprosy - Matthew 8:1-3

We all realise qualifications are very important. In schools, colleges and in trades and skills. You don't go to the wrong person for job. You wouldn't go to the butcher to have an operation.

Jesus didn't do any certificates in preaching and teaching. No, He spoke with authority because He was qualified to be the Son of God because He was born in the line of David, but more so, that He had great power. Power over people, sickness and nature. His miracles prove that He was the Son of God.

Here we read that this particular miracle took place infront of a very large number of people and it concerned a man with the most feared diseases in the ancient world - leprosy. Leprosy can be treated today, but in Jesus time, leprosy was like cancer is today. It effects the whole body and is clearly visible due to sores and ulcers and the nerve cells die, causing people to get hurt badly without even realizing, leading slowly to loss of limbs and eventually death. It meant you had to be isolated so that you didn't pass on the disease.

It is also significant because it represents the nature of sin. It effects the whole body as does sin. It's ugly as sin is to God. It's corrupting, like sin, and can corrupt other people.

This man risked approaching Jesus, coming in confidence that He wouldn't be driven away. He came and knelt in reverence calling Jesus Lord and Master. He asked with humility submitting to Jesus will. Andhe came in faith. He knew Jesus could do it if Jesus wanted to.

The outstanding thing here is that Jesus, showing His love to this man, touched his lepros body and healed Him with the words "be clean".

The healing was instant. Jesus didn't need to see the man again at a later date to see if he was completely better. Jesus has the power to heal the leper completely and instantly.

Jesus also has the ability to cleanse us of our sin... completely and instantly. Only Jesus can put us right, but we have to come to Jesus the same way this man did, with confidence, reverence, humility and faith.

Should I ask her out?

Growing up, I had friends asking each other out, going out with people they hardly knew, breaking up, dumping, being dumped and, maybe the saddest situation, going out with close friends that you could just see wouldn't last long and would end up permanently damaging what had been a really good friendship. I'd see friends disappear off the scene as a couple and miss out on a lot of fun stuff - experiences and friends passing them by - because they were taken up with their boyfriend/girlfriend that they would most likely dump sooner or later.

Despite seeing all this, I too thought this was the way love was done and inevitably faced the lost time and break-ups. I thank God that nothing serious happened during these short lived relationships but, even now, still have regrets for mistakes I wish I could take back.

After the last break-up, when I was 17, I made my mind up that here HAD to be another way.

I knew that God had made this promise to us all:

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
[Psalm 37:4-5]

I was no longer going to search for "the right one" myself by going out with different girls until I found someone I hoped would be "the one", at the same time hoping on the slim chance that they would feel the same way about me. Besides, if I found "the one", how would I ever really know if I was with the right person or not? I decided to live my life, enjoy the experiences of being free with the great friends God had blessed me with and wait for Him to choose someone for me. Who better to choose someone for you than God!


While getting on with my life being single I learned from the Bible and from people who I could trust, that I didn't want to end up with someone who wasn't my best friend. How could it be possible to give all my love to one person while knowing I had a better friend in someone else. This helped me to realise how valuable my friendships were and gave me the biggest clue ever to who I would end up with... my best friend!

I spent my teens and on into my 20's travelling, going to camps, Christian conferences, snowboard trips, Saturday nights out all with the best friends anyone could ask for. God blessed me with so many great memories and experiences during that time and, best of all, I don't regret meeting or spending time with any of them.

It's sad to see relationships coming and going, teens giving the best and most treasured parts of themselves to people they hardly know and probably won't be with for very long, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, missed opportunities - lives with so much promise, filled with so much regret - when God already has our life perfectly planned out if we just trust Him and live for Him.

When God's planned time came, He was true to His promise with me. I met and married Joy... the best friend of them all.