Posts by Christine ONeill

Do you know what 10th July is?

No worries – it was news to me too: It’s ‘Don’t stand on a bee day.’  Be (!) pollinator aware. I would like to think that a church community is like a bee colony.  Bees are critical for pollinating flowers allowing the production of fruit and seeds. Christians too, spread the Good News to others…

From trash to treasure

Have you got your new bins? What do you say when your stationary bin starts moving?  BINGO! Probably like you I’ve bin looking into what needs to go into each one. I’ve watched videos of bottles being deep washed so they can be reused and plastic shredded and bundled up so that can be remoulded…

Discipleship and Evangelism

So, this week I’m thinking ‘feet’ – following and sharing.  Walking in His way alongside others and bringing others with us. We need to be true disciples, confident in the good news before we can share with others – this is the very thing Jesus commanded us to do before He ascended and possibly the…

Learning and Caring

If the other weeks have emphasised using our voices and ears/heart, this week is about touch. So many of our people today never feel the touch of another. I appreciate that safeguarding is an important consideration, but it is sad that we are reticent to hold a hand or stroke a back or give a…

Worship and service

Last week we thought about praise and thanksgiving – noisy activities – using our mouth and vocal cords. Worship is quieter – it’s about our hearts – our attitude. Using our ears to listen to who God is and having that change our attitude. Working on us from the inside out. Proper worship proceeds service.…

Praise and thanksgiving

It is good manners to start our praying with praise and thanksgiving. Praise to God for who He is and what He does in general and thanksgiving for what He does for us in particular. We praise Him for His greatness and thank Him for His goodness to us in particular. Both involve vocalising our…

Trust

Psalm 10:12 ‘Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Thine hand, forget not the helpless.’ It always amazes me how relevant God’s Word is today, even though it was compiled centuries ago.  In this psalm, David shows himself to be a man who isn’t getting his ‘Why?’ questions answered. He trusts God completely but doesn’t…

We never know

I recently sent a congratulation card to a young friend who had just secured her first teaching job. Usually teaching vacancies come up after half term, but this school had got ahead of the game and interviewed early. I remembered when I had successfully got a teaching job on 24th April, for a September start and…

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimages have grown in popularity recently – maybe due to the annual Easter TV programme that follows seven celebrities over a couple of weeks as they walk a pilgrim route together exploring the chemistry between them and their relationship with their beliefs. The closest I’ve been to a pilgrimage was on Bank Holiday Monday this…

Give thanks

On 13th January we met at ITFC for a ‘Together For Ipswich’ meeting at which representatives from Ipswich churches and Christian groups get together to look at ways of working together across our town in the future. It’s a time of change and challenge as key figures have moved on and there are different emphases…