The reading today in Tides is the stunning post-resurrection encounter between Jesus and Simon Peter. (John 21v15-17) After denying Jesus three times, Jesus now gives Peter the opportunity to declare his love three times. There is forgiveness waiting on us all no matter what we have done.
Stephen Johnston writes -
Perhaps as we reflect on the preciousness of life in light of the devastating effects of the Coronavirus, our many failings come into view and our hearts are heavy. We all sin and mess up. We all know times of real failure, guilt and shame. We need to honestly face these things, truly repent of our sin and know God’s fresh forgiveness.
Then Stephen uses the words of the song “He touched Me” to illustrate the change in Peter’s life.
“Shackled by a heavy burden,
'Neath a load of guilt and shame.
Then the hand of Jesus touched me,
And now I am no longer the same.
He touched me, Oh he touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.”
Some of you may know that my 2nd favourite singer is Elvis Presley, so enjoy this rendition of “He touched Me”.
On Monday the Blood Transfusion Service held a blood donation session in Burnside Church Halls. Because of the Coronavirus restrictions donation was by appointment only, and all donation slots had been booked by the beginning of the day. A huge thank you to everyone who donated blood and to the nurses and staff who organised the day.
PW held a Leadership forum in February of this year with Neil Harrison who spoke twice. Neil’s first talk entitled Sharing faith in relationships, focused on Luke 5: 27-32 and the story of Levi the tax collector. Neil shared how Levi’s encounter with Jesus changed him and excited him to celebrate his new faith with others in his community and he encourages us to do the same by cultivating habits that might help us build relationships with unreached friends in our lives.
You can listen to the first talk here -
https://audioboom.com/posts/7508880-pw-leadership-forum-2020-part-1
And the second talk here -
https://audioboom.com/posts/7508881-pw-leadership-forum-2020-part-2?playlist_direction=forward
UCB
A study in the book of Revelation. I haven’t listened to this one myself yet, but if you are interested in the book of Revelation you can join Phil and David in this episode of "The Bible in 30 Minutes" as they explore the prophecies in Revelation. Click here to listen:
https://player.lightcast.com/yUDOyUTO
Bear Grylls
Adventurer Bear Grylls attends Holy Trinity Brompton church and in this video he shares a thoughtful reflection on how he begins each day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJmAMlU-wNU&t=34s
Home Deliveries
After stopping Home deliveries a few weeks ago, it is now possible to get Maine Minerals delivered to your home again. www.mainesoftdrinks.co.uk
Walking
Thanks to Ernie Rocks who has shared this guide to walking 1000 miles in a year. We are all being encouraged to take our daily exercise and a 1000 miles is only about 2.4miles every day. There are lots of resources at the link, including a map to colour in for every 10 miles you complete.
https://www.walk1000miles.co.uk/welcome
Fire In Ballycastle
Some of you may have smelt and seen the smoke from the gorse fire in Ballycastle yesterday evening. Here are a few photos of the smoke in the sky over Portstewart. Do remember the Firefighters who had to deal with the fire.
Many of you have said that you enjoy seeing the photographs of Portstewart so I try to take a few photos each day on my walk. Unfortunately I tend to walk along a very similar path each day so they may become a bit repetitive, but I hope you enjoy these ones from yesterday.