Our morning’s service was led by Mr Robin Perry last Sunday on the theme “using all our talents”. Robin was welcomed by our steward Rosalind Chatburn who was celebrating her birthday that day as was her granddaughter. We sang to them both wishing them a happy birthday. Our music on organ and keyboard was provided by Neil and Jill Barnett. “Praise be to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” were words to call us to worship. We sang the hymn “When morning gilds the skies, my heart awakening cries” to open our singing.
After prayers of praise and adoration Robin spoke to the children about the things we are good at and about using the talents we have for God’s glory. Guy Chatburn read our only bible reading for the morning, from St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12. This is a challenging piece of scripture in which Paul describes there being different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the Holy Spirit gives them all. The reading goes on to explain there is one body with many parts, but as it is there is but just one body.
In his sermon, Robin spoke of the gifts which each of us has received, many of them different from each other but all can be used for the glory of God. He sends the movement of the Holy Spirit into society from time to time and we see Christian revival. Robin asked the question “Is the Spirit going to move amongst us again as has been the case many times in the past?” St Paul writes about spiritual gifts of which there are many which are alive today. He concentrated on two of them. First the gift of healing, which can take many forms but the greatest of these is the gift of making right our relationship with Jesus Christ. The second is speaking in tongues a phenomenon which for us is difficult to understand, but for those listening, when the Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost, was very real. In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul lists all the different gifts and one of the foremost gift is that of discernment.