Andy's Inspiration Box

  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...