At the beginning of this school year we started reading Running Wild, by Michael Morpurgo to our Year 4 children. It tells of Will who is on holiday with his mother in Indonesia; a tsunami is approaching and Will escapes its clutches because he is riding an elephant which is spooked and runs.
The idea for this book mirrors an account of a lady who actually was saved by an elephant in the 2004 tsunami.
Tsunamis are absolutely devastating often arriving with little or no warning. In their wake they leave much heartache as the death toll is huge and many people are injured.
I pray we will never experience this kind of havoc, but sometimes we may experience our own personal tsunami.
This may come as an unexpected illness which knocks us for ‘six’ or a sudden death in the family, it may take the shape of a redundancy or an accident when everything seemed to be going along quite well.
It is at times like this when we need to make sure that Jesus is ‘in our boat’ with us.
It brought to mind the account of Jesus and his disciples on the sea of Galilee. (Mark ch 4 v35)
Jesus (asleep in the bottom of the boat) and his disciples were crossing over to the other shore when a strong wind came up out of nowhere. We remember that the disciples were seasoned fishermen and well used to the storms that often blew up on Galilee; but they were terrified and couldn’t believe that Jesus could sleep through the storm. They cried out in panic to wake Jesus up, convinced that they would all drown.
Jesus stood up and commanded the wind and waves to be still. The wind died down and the sea became calm. The disciples were amazed and said to each other, ‘Who is this man that even the wind and waves obey him?’
God has promised he will always be with us, he will not leave us. We just need to ‘invite him into our boat’ because, just as Jesus made the difference to the disciples, he can be the one to make the difference in our lives if only we will cry out to Him. He’s only a prayer away!
We meet at TLC every Sunday at 2.30pm. Come and pay us a call, we are a friendly group of people and you will be made very welcome.
Coffee is served each Thursday from 10 til 11.30am by Jan and her team.
Open Door is a youth club for secondary aged young people. It meets on Wednesdays from 6.30 until 9pm. Lots of fun activities, crafts, cooking and more. This is a joint venture with St Mary’s Church.
All:Starz is for primary aged children on Thursdays 6- 7pm. Crafts, treasure hunt, games, Bible stories and tuck shop.
For more details on both, ring Ellie on 07816 145187
On Sunday 9thDecember at 2.30pm we will be celebrating Christmas with a special Family Fun time. William Partridge-Underwood will be in charge of the fun and games.
Transport yourself back over 2,000 years and experience the Christmas story again!
On Sunday 23rdDecember at 2.30pm we will have a traditional Carols and Bible readings service to remind us how Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This service will be led by Jan Taylor.
Come and share with us in this special time in the life of the church.
TLC would like to wish you all a peaceful, blessed and happy Christmas.