10.00 AM MEETING LED BY MAJOR IAN PAYNE
Call to Worship Ezekiel 36: 25-27
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
The Morning meeting began with the singing of two congregational songs, the first Song 456/105 – Dear Lord and Father , was supported by the Band , led this morning by Ryan Cripps
the second song 517/805 – Purify my heart , was accompanied by Emma Davis on the Piano
The Singing Company gave us the song – ” As One “, which included some clever choreography ( apologies for the lack of a photo ) , well done to you all
The congregation sang Song 813/615 (Band ) – For I’m building a people.
A time of Testimony was included in the middle of the song, and we had Testimony from Lyn Arter & Lisa Davis . Lyn testified to the changes in her life since 2012 and Lisa spoke of New beginnings , prompted by the announcement of the new General and Chatham having a new Officer and Lisa starting a new job soon
The Bible Reading was delivered as a video, the reading is copied below
Ezekiel 37: 1-10 The valley of dry bones
37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me to and fro among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘Sovereign Lord, you alone know.’
4 Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones and say to them, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”’
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.”’ 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.
The Songsters gave us ” They need Christ” – Gowans/Larsson , which was particularly requested by Major Ian
The Message ‘What do you see? Major Ian F. Payne
Major Ian began with a series of pictures which all had the possibility of being viewed more than one way , it often depended on how the individual looked at the picture .
Major Ian preached on the earlier Bible reading , saying we needed to have Gods hand on us to help us make Gods plan work , and without the breath of God in us we are dead in the spirit . Major Ian encouraged us to be the best Christians we could be , and if people had questions they should talk to him, or any of our retired officers / local officers in the Corps. Reference was made to a radio interview the Major had heard with Bishop Curry , who had spoken at the recent wedding of the Duke & Duchess of Sussex,Bishop Curry had referred to everyone having a God shaped hole in them , and it is a Christians job to help everyone fill that up that personal God shaped hole.
The final two congregational songs were Song 771 (Piano) – Lord I pray that I may know you , and Song 391/149 ( Band ) – Stand up and bless the Lord
Following the Meeting , the Band made their regular outreach in Chatham
High St, and some good conversations were had with those that stopped to listen
#####################
Our afternoon meeting was at 6pm and took the form of a Songs of Praise meeting
Fiona Pennington chose song 396/tune 666 ” Hundreds and Thousands from the Gowans & Larsson musical – Take Over Bid , it is one of her favourite songs
The Youth group sang “Strength Will Rise ” & Erin Burdett introduced it explaining that this song held good memories of time at Camp
Bev Hudson chose song 817 “Lord of the Church” to the tune of Londonderry air . This came from a shortlist Bev had made after buying a new Songbook at the 2015 congress .
The Songsters message was “Look at Jesus” by Andrew Maycock
Margaret Davis selected song 421 ” Have you been to Jesus” which comes from a Gowans & Larssons musical – The blood of the lamb”. Margaret had once sung in this Musical in Edinburgh, and she had found it to be a great experience
Charlie Gouyet chose the song 319 “For the Mighty Moving” from the Gowans & Larsson musical – Spirit , which Charlie helped to stage in Jersey in 1989
The Band message this evening was ” It is Jesus ”
Our Bible reading this evening comprised of three Psalms
Psalm 67,verse 4
4May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
Psalm 68 verse 4
4Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the cloudsb ;
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
Psalm 68 verse 32
32Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth,
sing praise to the Lord,
We had a video clip about the all round benefits of Singing from Eric Whitacre , if you copy & paste the link below you can view it too
Ryan Cripps chose “I’m in his hands “, and explained that this song spoke to his heart.
Major Ian chose our last song of the evening , song 231 “Praise Him Praise Him” by Fanny Crosby.
We had a lovely evening singing some terrific songs, that were specially chosen by members of the Corps . The story behind the choices gave a wonderful new dimension to them .
Next Sunday Evening our meeting will be a Café Church meeting led by Major Ian ..details to follow