Andy's Inspiration Box

“Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give,  it’s Christmas”. Dale Evans Rogers

'F ind ecstasy in life;  the mere sense of living is joy enough.' Emily Dickinson                                       Photograph copyright Rosie Harriott 2010

Photograph copyright Rosie Harriott 2006 Look at the birds of the air;  they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  

Now this is eternal life:  that they know you,  the only true God,  and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”   Mohandas Gandhi

This is one of the most amazing clips I have ever seen.  This truly represents the power of music and even more so the power of such a beautiful arrangement to glorify our God... no matter where one might be at the time...

Here's a little inspirational story we were given by one of our Sundays@Six team members this week. It's a nice reflection on how important and vital prayer should be in our lives. I had cause to pray for a friend of mine recently as she was very worried about something.  After I prayed, she commented that sometimes she forgets to pray when she's worried.  I agreed that I often do the same thing but that we should all try to remember  "prayer before panic"  as we tend to do it the other way round.  We panic and worry, then eventually we remember to pray.  The line "prayer before panic" just came to me, but I think it's something we can all try to remember. 

Here is the story Je-Kon shared in his message last Sunday.  A woman shared an interesting lesson that her family had experienced:  Not long after we had started to attend Church, we ran across this verse during a family devotion: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them.” (Romans 12:20).    Our sons, 7 and 10 at the time, were especially puzzled.   “Why should we feed our enemies?” they wondered.   My husband and I wondered too.  The only answer my husband could think of was, “We’re supposed to because God says so.”   Yet it did not take long until we learned why. At that time our younger son Luke came home from school complaining day after day about a classmate who sat behind him.  He said,  “Kyle keeps jabbing me, when Miss Smith isn’t looking. One of these days when we are out on the play ground, I’m going to jab him back.”   Honestly I was ready to go down to the school and jab Kyle myself.  Obvio...

  9  Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10  Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.  11  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  12  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:9-12

“ Love many things, for therein lies the true strength,   and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well ”. Vincent Van Gogh

  Photograph Copyright 2010 Adrian Harriott I PRAY that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.   That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.  Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.”    Flora Whittemore

Here is just a little inspirational clip to help you focus on the beautiful things in life. Rich or poor , lost or found ... you cannot watch this without a smile. Stand By Me | Playing For Change | Song Around The World from Concord Music Group on Vimeo .

What is faith... really?  One of the things that made me realise that I was good enough in God's eyes, was this verse:  Matthew 17:20 He replied,  “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a   mustard   seed , you can say to this mountain,  ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.” Faith... as small as a mustard seed.... what can you do today?  

“Every time you take a big risk   in your life,   no matter how it ends up, you’re always glad you took it .”    Scrubs

  Dear God, Please untie the knots that are in my mind, my heart and my life . Remove the have nots, the can nots and the do nots that I have in my mind. Erase the will nots, may nots, might nots that may find a home in my heart. Release me from the could nots, would nots and should nots that destruct my life. And most of all  Dear God, I ask that you remove from my mind,  my heart and my life all of the 'am nots' that I have allowed to hold me back, especially the thought that I am not good enough. Amen Author Known To God

Below is the link to the Missionaries clip we showed in our Sundays@Six service. The song is called 'Offering' by Third Day and is really quite moving... particularly when you realise we are all called to be missionaries... in our own unique way...

"Our deepest fear   is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful  beyond all measure."                                                                       Nelson Mandela

  16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Sometimes life seems so unfair and so unjust and so tough. And in all honesty it can be tough. It was not meant to be perfect and this can be hard to accept... especially when society is throwing 'the perfect life' at us, as something we must have in order to feel 'fulfilled' in life. Christ went through hell for us... he went through hell. What greater love is there? He did it for us. For broken, frail, human-kind, whom He knew would fail Him and others, again and again and again... But He loves us still... and sacrificed himself... on the off chance... just on the off chance that we might stumble into His presence and give our broken lives over to Him. A verse a friend once gave to me, I share with you now... PSALM 73:26 - My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" Even though you are broken... Christ is waiting for you.  God bless and keep the faith.

" Aspire not to have more,           but to be more."     Oscar Romero

You might like to take time to reflect on Acts 9:10-19 from Mike's message on Sunday. What is God saying to you as an individual, and to us as a Church community? Where is God guiding you? Who is he asking you to reach out to? These can be tough questions for us all at times... but something perhaps we might need to think on? Where is your Straight Street? Damascus Present-day "Straight Street" in Damascus:  Blinded, Paul was taken to a house on the "Street Called Straight," where he was cared for by a man named Judas (Acts 9:11).  This street was the east-west decumanus of Roman Damascus.    Source of image at: http://www.abu.nb.ca/courses/ntintro/images/DamasStraight.htm

" I have but one candle of life to burn,  and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness   than in a land flooded with light." John Keith Falconer

 Disturb us, Lord, when We are too well pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true Because we have dreamed too little, When we arrived safely Because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when With the abundance of things we possess We have lost our thirst For the waters of life; Having fallen in love with life, We have ceased to dream of eternity And in our efforts to build a new earth, We have allowed our vision Of the new Heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, To venture on wider seas Where storms will show your mastery; Where losing sight of land, We shall find the stars. We ask You to push back The horizons of our hopes; And to push into the future In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Hello and welcome to the very first post for  Andy's Inspiration Box .  This is a blog dedicated to the lovely people from Sundays@6.00 (St. Andrews Uniting Church, Richmond, NSW).   We have a special service running every Sunday night at 6pm, where people from all walks of life can come together to share in God's amazing love and grace.  The Inspiration Box (in physical form) began as a way for us to share our inspirational thoughts, quotes, songs and photographs with each other through our weekly service. Now, potentially, we have a way to share these reflections with others who may stumble upon this site.  If you are seeking hope, encouragement, direction or faith, then hopefully you will find something to lift your spirits here. And please know this... you will always be welcome at our Sunday night service Sundays@6.00. God bless and happy reading, Rosie (S@6 team member). email: andys.inspirationbox@gmail.com St. Andrews Uniting Chu...