This Sunday we will be continuing with our series looking at Paul’s letter to the Philippians. We will be looking at chapter 4 verses 8 – 13. These verses are very personal to me. They are embedded in me because if my mum had a favourite bible verse it was Philippians 4:8. She would often remind me, my brother, and my sister, to focus on what is true, honourable, just, pure, pleasing, excellent, and worthy of praise.
Practise Gratitude.
As I’ve sat with these verses and read them again and again, I’ve not only been reminded of my mum’s wisdom but of something Caz encouraged us to do last Sunday. It strikes me how verse 8 is an example of what Caz described as practising an attitude of gratitude.
Why not read Philippians 4:8 – 13 today and allow these words to dwell richly in your heart. Take time to just sit with these words and ask the Holy Spirit to help bring to your mind that which is true, honourable, just, pure, pleasing, excellent, and worthy of praise. I’d encourage you to write these things down and put them somewhere you will see them each day.
Learn Contentment
In verse 11 Paul tells us that he has learned to be content. I wonder what it means to be and know contentment? I wonder what that looks like in our 21st-century consumer society? I wonder if learning contentment might be a significant way in which God’s people can address the climate and environmental emergency the world is in?
As always you can email your thoughts to me at office@qpbc.org or if you are comfortable doing so you can put your thoughts in the chat on Sunday.
Communion
This Sunday, as we join with each other in worship at QPLive, we will celebrate communion together. We are going to do this before the sermon, not after. So, be sure to join in at 10:15am, that way when we gather to remember Christ and share the bread of the wine, we will not be rushed or flustered but focused on Jesus, with hearts full of love for him that flows out and expresses itself in our love for each other.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead a little we are entering a really busy period for us as Church and also a period of what we are praying will be on-going steps out of lockdown.
I’m sure many of you watched the news with interest on Tuesday to hear what changes the First Minister announced regarding lockdown. The good news for us is that from 28th March, we will be able to gather again in Camphill, albeit numbers will be limited to a max of 50 people and we will have to social distance, etc. But is it a positive step, and as people continue to get vaccinated, and we take the precautions we have become accustomed to, hopefully, this is the first step of many we will be able to take as we safely find a route out of lockdown.
Global Focus
Continuing to look ahead, on the 20th and 21st of March we will have our Global Focus weekend, so make sure you check out the email update for more details around that.
Easter
And, hard on the heels of Global Focus comes Easter. One of the things I like about Easter is it reminds us that Church is not just a Sunday thing, but as God’s people we are church every day of the week. During Holy Week which starts on the 29th of March, we will have something for you to connect with every day.
Each day there will be a devotion on Youtube and our social media channels.
On Good Friday and also on what we call Silent Saturday there will be a short time of reflection, again on YouTube, at 12:30
Then on Easter Sunday itself, we are going to try and do something from the Flagpole in Queens park using FaceBook live. 8am will be the time to join in with that, which means you’ll be up and ready …raring to go as we gather on QPLive at 10:15am to celebrate the risen Christ.
There’s More
And it does not end there …there’s more. A fantastic number of Churches in Glasgow, and further afield, have come together to do a joint invitational Easter service at 6pm on Easter Sunday.
There will be more details about all of this coming out to you, but if in doubt the place to go to check out what is happening, when it is happening, and how you connect with it, is the QPBC web site where Alan Loach has created for us a dedicated Easter page.
Grace and peace.
Brodie