Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
This song was written by Salvation Army musicians John Gowans and John Larsson. It is a popular song for school assemblies and Sunday schools. Although it is a light-hearted melody, the lyrics are a strong reminder that God knows each one of us personally and by name.
I remember singing this song as a Singing Company member (junior choir in Salvation Army) and that was many moons ago. Here it is again rearranged for Senior choirs in The Salvation Army a catchy little tune with simple words Teaching us how God knows every bird, flower, planet and of course you and me
9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem.14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptised,19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
O what a wonderful, wonderful day – day I will never forget;
After I’d wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Saviour I met.
O what a tender, compassionate friend – He met the need of my heart;
Shadows dispelling, With joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart.
Chorus: Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Saviour made me whole;
My sins were washed away –
And my night was turned to day –
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!
Born of the Spirit with life from above into God’s fam’ly divine,
Justified fully thru Calvary’s love, O what a standing is mine!
And the transaction so quickly was made when as a sinner I came,
Took of the offer of grace He did proffer – He saved me, O praise His dear name!
Now I’ve a hope that will surely endure after the passing of time;
I have a future in heaven for sure, there in those mansions sublime.
And it’s because of that wonderful day when at the cross I believed;
Riches eternal and blessings supernal from His precious hand I received.
The words to the above song ‘Heaven came down’ is a brilliant and fitting song for someone who has just been converted. Below is a video of Salvation Army timbrelists doing a display to the march ‘Heaven Came Down’
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”[b]
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”[c]
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”[d]
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Hebrews 12:2 NIV says: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” In 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV we read: “So we fix our eyes […]
24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,”[f] but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Mark 8
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
As I listen to this song by Stuart Townend I can’t begin to imagine the pain and suffering Christ went through for us at Calvary. Being whipped (that to me is painful enough) then having a crown of thorns placed on your head and then huge nails driven through your hands . He did all this to save you and me from our sins.
The amazing thing was three days after they put him in the tomb they found it his mother and Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty
I’m sure we’ve all used the term ‘April Showers’ at sometime in our lives
The month of April is beautiful to look upon, but if she hides her sweet face for a few hours behind those rainclouds it is only that she might appear again peeping out through the next burst of sunshinein a veil of fresh green.
While the groud needs rain to survive we shouldn’t really moan at the rotten weather in April (cos lets face it we all do it don’t we).
Why don’t we take the weather’s advice when we are run down and that is to retire for a while only to reappear refreshed, and renewed.
Catherine Booth, née Catherine Mumford, (born Jan. 17, 1829, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Eng.—died Oct. 4, 1890, Clacton, Essex), wife of the founder of the Salvation Army (William Booth), and herself an eloquent preacher and social worker.
Her father was a carriage builder and sometime Methodist lay preacher, her mother a deeply religious woman of Puritan type. Catherine, in adolescence an invalid, was educated principally at home, and early acquired some competence in the theology of her day. The family moved to London in 1844, and she became an active member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Brixton. When this church expelled a group of “reformers,” she and her future husband joined them. They were married in 1855, and Catherine became her husband’s devoted helper.
Catherine Booth was a convinced believer in women’s right to preach the gospel, and her pamphlet Female Ministry (1859) is still cogent. She herself began to preach in her husband’s church at Gateshead in 1860. She became a notable orator and in 1880–84 conducted highly successful meetings in various halls in the West End of London. In 1885 she took part in a campaign that secured the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, designed to protect young girls.
She did not believe that the sacraments are essential to salvation. Although the evolution of the sacramental attitude of the Salvation Army must not be wholly attributed to Catherine Booth, her beliefs were undoubtedly influential.
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