A GREAT SERVICE - WITH LOTS OF HANDS!

In much the same way as you always know what a Thursday is for me, the same applies for a Sunday - when we are at Gorse Hill Baptist Church ready to worship with our Church Family.  It was very full today and as Mr. HCB and I were stewarding, we were there early, and not only for that reason, but also because Mr. HCB had collected quite a lot of food from Morrisons Supermarket yesterday.  We are always very grateful to all the supermarkets around who provide us with various items of food and produce for the Community Fridge days on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays each week and this has to be collected from them as soon as it is available, which many times is on a Sunday.  

People were coming in both doors, from the car park and from the front of the Church and it was hard to keep up with everyone as they came in, but we tried to shake everyone’s hand and welcome them as they came through the doors.  What made such a difference this morning was that the sky was blue and the sun was shining, which made us all feel much better.  We can really believe now that Spring is on the way.

The tulips on the table were another reminder that Spring is not that far away, and as the stewards have to sort out someone to take the offering, I decided to put the offering bags by the side of the tulips.  I was wondering how old the bags were, so rang Ron, one of our “older” Church Members, who said that he believed the bags were “revived” i.e. the bags replaced with new material, in the early 1970s. but the frames and handles were retained.  In fact, as I said to Ron, I remember the bags from when I used to attend Church when I was much younger!  However, nowadays, many people give either through their bank accounts or on the special card machine, which sits just inside the door each Sunday, so not that many give cash that is put into the offering bags - a sign of the times!

I had my usual wander around the Church before the service started and decided that I would make it a  slightly musical theme today - and you may be wondering what a bandaged hand has to do with anything musical - well it belongs to the leader today, Mark, who had surgery on his hand on Friday.  I think he was hoping to play his guitar today, but decided to be sensible and leave it, at least for this week!

Then there are the hands of Debs, who was playing the piano this morning and I always enjoy her playing.  Gary’s hand was showing me, and he told me how clever the new “sound desk” is!  Who knew all our names were in there?  Rob arrived with his Cajón, which is a Spanish/Latin American percussion box - and the word cajón means box, which I didn’t know until today!  The player, i.e. Rob, sits on the cajón and plays the front plate with his hands - which he does it very well, especially as after Noah our young drummer had left, there was no official drummer this morning. 

I was intrigued to see the headphones at the back of the Church and when asking Gary what these were for, he told me that they were especially for those who find noises and sounds of the music too loud - so even those people are catered for in our Church.  The French horn was beautifully played again by Alison but as I said, after Noah had left, the drums weren’t played again this morning.

The hand clutching the Belgian bun belongs to ? - I won’t embarrass her by saying who it was, but suffice to say she was staying to set up the Community Fridge after everyone had gone, with several others, so I hope she enjoyed it!  Mind you, there were two in the pack, and she very kindly donated one to Mr. HCB, so he enjoyed it after his lunch! 

Andy, the preacher this morning, from Cirencester Baptist Church, spoke about how there was nothing quite like being in a team and doing things together.  He had obviously looked at our Church website, and said that there were many things going on at Gorse Hill Baptist Church, including Sunday Worship, Community Fridge, Bags of Hope, Pram Club, many Youth Groups, Lunch Club and many other activities.  

He preached on the passage from Acts 2 where the believers did things in unity and togetherness and devoted themselves to God, praying and worshipping together and also eating together, and many people were added to their number daily.  He asked whether we were devoting ourselves to God and whether we were walking with God and praying daily.  He reminded us that we can easily be distracted, but that with modern technology, although we may not know what is going on with everyone in the Church, we can send a quick text if God puts someone on our mind!

A great service and there was a real buzz afterwards as we all shared coffee together - I hope you all have a great week and will enjoy whatever you are doing - and if the sun shines on us all, how blessed we will be.  M xx