“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world by holding on to the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labour in vain.” Philippians 2:14-16 NET
God our Father,
Holding on to the word of life but so reassuring to know You Lord are actually holding us. It reminds me that I need to feed on Your every word and that You hear my every word and thought! But here Paul is getting down to the nitty gritty. However he does not call on us to stop grumbling and arguing here in Philippians because You are the thought police! He reminds us it is for our own good and freedom.
I have learned that when I let those grumbles take root, I go on to express them, to myself and others. That is the problem. We voice and hear grumbles and find nothing to thank You for and no comfort and then trust You less. How am I different from the world and those of the world if I see no help or hope?
Not that we should be afraid to share how we feel on a tough day or be vulnerable and admit we sometimes struggle. And we do need to sometimes listen to someone who is upset and angry to hear how they feel. But not be practised at grumbling. We do not have to be happy all the time or have an argument for every negative thing people say to us. We will never argue anyone into Your Kingdom. But help us stop grumbling, lift our own spirits, so we can shine a little light on others paths and brighten their way.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
God our Father,
For our family, friends, neighbours, those we promised to pray for.
For our fellowship and congregation members, our ministers, servers, wardens.
For our king and His family and all those in authority (1 Timothy 2:2). Thanks for health.
For our Government, advisors, diplomats and ambassadors.
For Ukraine and Russia. Hinder North Korea.
For Israel, Lebanon, the Middle East. Countries in conflict.
For world leaders.
For light for those in darkness and with mental health disabilities. For those thinking of suicide.
For us to spot those who need an act of kindness to break into their grumbling.
For us to see those areas that make us grumble and ask Your help if we can do something about it,
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Worship Saturday 16th November 2024
A fabulous old hymn . . .
In country, town or city some people can be found
Who spend their lives in grumbling at everything around,
O yes, they always grumble, no matter what we say,
For these are chronic grumblers and they grumble night and day.
O they grumble on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, grumble on Thursday too,
Grumble on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, grumble the whole week thru.
They grumble in the city, they grumble on the farm,
They grumble at their neighbours, they think it is no harm;
They grumble at their husbands, they grumble at their wives,
They grumble at their children; but the grumbler never thrives.
They grumble when it’s raining, they grumble when it’s dry,
And if the crops are failing, they grumble and they sigh.
They grumble at low prices and grumble when they’re high,
They grumble all the year ‘round and they grumble till they die.
They grumble at the preacher, they grumble at his prayer,
They grumble at his preaching, they grumble everywhere;
They grumble at God’s people and say ‘tis all display;
But holy folks don’t grumble, they have only time to pray.
If you don’t quit your grumbling and stop it now and here,
You’ll never get to heaven, no grumblers enter there.
Repent and be converted, be saved from all your sin;
You know that grumbling Christians find it hard a crown to win.
Lyrics: Thoro Harris 1874-1955
Thoro was born in 1874 in Washington D.C. to a father who was a black doctor and a mother who was white. He attended college in Battle Creek, Michigan. Afterwards, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts where, in 1902, he produced the first of many hymnals. Thoro Harris was one of the most prolific African-American hymn writers of the early 2oth century. This hymn from the 1920’s addresses, in a very disarming way, a topic that got the children of Israel into real trouble.