Thought for the Week - 2nd July 2023

Dear Friends, 

‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God’ (Psalm 42:1). I wonder if you like to sing. A recent article in the Washington Post, pointed to the benefits that singing with others can have on our physical and mental health. In a study, Sing With Us, it found that singing in a choir reduced stress hormones and increased proteins that boosted the body’s ability to fight illness. It went on to say that ‘other studies have found a connection between singing generally with lessened anxiety, stimulated memory for those with dementia, increased lung capacity and an easing of postpartum depression’ (Washington Post, 25/6/2023). In the book of Psalms we find numerous references to singing before God in worship, indeed the Psalms are ancient Israel’s hymnbook and in them are found joy and celebration, sorrow and sadness. Psalm 42 (and 43) present to us the theme of thirsting for God and hope in a time of discouragement. When we may feel lonely or depressed, they encourage us to meditate upon God’s kindness and love, indeed, to count our blessings and give thanks to God. And perhaps one of the ways we can do that is through song. ‘Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God’. (Psalm 42:5,11; 43:5).  

Grace and peace,

Neil
     

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for the Week - 28th January 2024

Dear Friends, In 1985 the Congregational minister and hymn writer Fred Kaan reflected on ‘For the healing of the nations’ saying, ‘Of all the hymns that I have written, this is the text that has been more widely reprinted and incorporated in major hymnbooks than any other’. It was first used in 1965 and it expresses something of the deep longing and desire for peace and reconciliation, for God’s justice to be known, and for an end to all conflict and violence. Fred Kaan was a committed pacifist and, in an obituary, following his death in 2009 at the age of 80, it read, ‘His theology reflected a God committed to and immersed in a world crying out to be set free from every form of injustice. Fred’s poetry centred on a Jesus who embraced the whole of creation and excluded no one and nothing from his love. In Fred, the Christian peace movement found its voice.’                      ...
Read more

Thought for the Week - 29th October 2023

Dear Friends,  Today we are celebrating two things, firstly it is the Bible Society’s Bible Sunday, a day when we can give thanks to God for the scriptures and echo the apostle Paul’s words, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work’ (2 Timohty 3:16-17). And secondly, as a church we are celebrating the 140 th Church Anniversary of Beckenham Baptist Church, founded in 1883 as Elm Road Chapel, the opening services took place on Wednesday 31st October – 9.30am Prayer Meeting, 2.45pm Public Service, 4.45pm a Meeting in the Chapel, and at 6.30pm another Public Service – with various Baptist luminaries of the day in attendance. The public reading of the Scriptures has always been at the heart of all we do as a Christian community, for it is there that we can hear the stories of the Bible and reflect upon our own place in God’s never-ending story ...
Read more

Thought for the Week - 4th December 2022

Dear Friends,  ‘Census 2021 will probably be remembered as the one in which Christianity became a minority religion in England and Wales’, so read the article in a leading UK newspaper. It went onto say that ‘the number of people identifying as Christian dropped 5.5 million in the past decade’ ( The Guardian , 29/11/2022). Responding to the findings the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said that the country has ‘left behind the era when many people almost automatically identified as Christian’, and that the Christian church would continue its work in the face of both ‘revival and decline’ ( Sky News , 29/11/2022). He went on to say in an interview for BBC News, ‘ It's not a great surprise that the census shows fewer people in this country identifying as Christian than in the past, but it still throws down a challenge to us not only to trust that God will build his kingdom on Earth but also to play our part in making Christ known’. The Bible Society says that the findings of...
Read more