Pastoral Page (Sunday 12th September 2010)

Dear Friends

Next week is going to be a very special treat as my husband, John, will be preaching! This is because next week is the first of a seven-week series entitled 'The Hour That Changes Everything’ that is based on John's new book of the same title. This book takes us on a 50 day journey into worship that links our sermons on Sunday to our daily devotions and weekly cell group meetings. In this short excerpt, John explains why he is so passionately devoted to worship:
"...In his solitary imprisonment on the Isle of Patmos, St. John found himself “worshipping in the Spirit” on “the Lord’s Day”. The vision that follows gave John, and the churches to which he wrote, a completely new, God-oriented perspective on the world and the events playing out in it. This worship day experience of John, shared with believers all over the Christian world as it was then, changed him and his readers. It opened their eyes to a reality that was beyond their daily suffering, to a divine process at work in the world, and to God’s invitation for them to participate in bringing salvation to all creation. ...If the quest of worship is to encounter God intimately, the consequence is that we leave the sanctuary different from the way we entered it. We cannot spend time consciously opening ourselves to the presence of God without being changed, and this transformation must overflow into every facet of our lives."

Copies of this book (and all of John's CD's and his other book, 'Food for the Road') will be available in the foyer after the service for your convenience.

In Christ's service
Debbie