A word from our Minister...
It's hard to believe that it's 70 years old! Quite a milestone for Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4. Some of us are avid listeners and have been hooked by the potent combination of listening to people's stories and the soundtracks of their lives. Not so long ago, the adventurer Bear Grylls was interviewed. He thinks nothing of drinking the liquid from elephant dung and driving cars of bridges! This former member of the SAS picked Amazing Grace as the song he would rescue from the waves. He describes it as the ultimate song of redemption. This song by the former slave trader who finds a strong faith meant a lot to Bear as a teenager to discover that faith does not have to be soppy and wet. There could be strength in it. He says that it is a song that always makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Music has that great ability to reach parts in ourselves that nothing else can. I wish I could play an instrument. We are blessed here in Braniel Church to be led by the musicians in the Praise Group. I wonder if you were to choose a song that mean so much to you, what would you choose and for what reason? Perhaps it would be a Christian song, maybe a piece of classical music or something from the charts...
While we marvel at music, here is a verse in the Old Testament that always fills me with hope and reassurance; "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17.
How amazing! As we think of the privilege that is ours, to offer our praise to God, it fills me with awe and wonder that He would want to sing over me. Surely, that is great news whether we are stuck on a desert island or whatever we face in this world. That's Bear's experience and I hope all of us can know the amazing grace of God in our lives.
Every Blessing
John
Minister