Changing the world

I have always loved quotes and sayings. I find them affirming – and there are so many that suit every kind of occasion. I am forever using them when I talk with my students in the classroom.

One of my favourites (I have many!) is this:

During these difficult times, it became apparent to me that there was little I could do to change the world. I am no scientist or doctor. We are told to just ‘stay at home’, but surely there was more I could do?

The book of Philippians is also known as the Book of Joy. It was written by St Paul when he was in prison. He mentioned joy and rejoicing lots in the letter as a way of encouraging people. He was in chains, and yet he was very happy and wanted to share that joy.

Like many of us today he was stuck inside and couldn’t go out. He missed his friends. But he wanted to share the joy he had found in his difficult situation. In Philippians 4:11 he said “I have learnt to be content whatever the circumstances.” Here he shows that being happy is something we learn to do. At the end of his letter he encourages his readers to think about good and positive things. Philippians 4:8, “finally whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things.” Maybe I was trying to do something similar, by getting people to think about good during difficult times and to bring them joy.

At the beginning of the trail we hung some ribbons for people to take, and in the woods we created a ‘Prayer tree’ where people could tie the ribbon with their own prayer or wish.

Over the Easter weekend there was the usual steady trickle of families going into the woods. We saw them taking the ribbons, it was quite uplifting to see the children’s excitement. We visited the tree on the following Tuesday and it was full of ribbons. On the local Facebook group there were a number of lovely comments, people posted their photos of the trail – we felt a little bit famous!  Here are some quotes from the locals. I don’t know who they are, and they don’t know me, but it was so uplifting to have this shared joyful experience.

“We both loved it so much and couldn’t stop smiling”

“We saw the lady putting this up yesterday while walking our dogs. No idea who she is but your 'project' has brought a lot of pleasure to a lot of people ”

“Me and my son loved it. Thank you so much xxx”

“Didn't expect that at all walking on our daily walk and it was such a lovely surprise for both of us. “

Prayer

Father God, 

We pray for joy for all of those who suffer hardship at this time. May people seek out goodness in their daily lives and may this be a sign of your glory.

Amen.

Challenge

Create your own ‘project of Joy’. Send a parcel to a relative, do something kind for someone. See if you can change someone’s world.

I’ll end with another favourite quote: “We cannot all do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” (Mother Teresa)

Written by Sophie Higson

Head of Computer Science at Bluecoat Wollaton

Finding Joy

I wonder, how you have been feeling with everything that's been going on in your life? Perhaps you are suffering from a bereavement, feeling lonely, missing your friends, missing school and feeling out of sorts without routine? Or maybe you feel anxious or angry about what is going on in the world? After speaking with different friends and family it seems everyone has mixed feelings about our current situation. Yet I would say most people are dealing with many negative feelings. Today I want to encourage you, that we can find joy despite our current circumstances!

Firstly, let's look at how we define joy. The dictionary defines joy as: the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure and elation.

Secondly, let's look at how the Bible defines joy to see whether this true meaning will change our perspective on our life. The Bible describes joy and happiness as two different experiences. Joy is a gift from God which we receive when we choose to abide in Him. It is based solely on our relationship with God. It withstands the storms of life and is not dependent on our circumstances. I wonder, have you ever felt this kind of joy? It is incredible and often doesn't make sense. Our hearts can experience joy even though our world appears to be crumbling around us. Joy is dependent on our relationship with Christ, and not on our circumstances.

1 Peter 1: 3 - 9 says, ‘ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

What does this mean?

It means that we have hope through Jesus and and a hope that lasts forever. Even though we may suffer, we can find a deep sense of joy in God. Today we can look at everything going on in the world and find things difficult or we can choose to find joy. How do we do that? I believe we can do this by praying, reading our bible and finding joy through our relationship with God. Paul, who wrote the passage we just read, went through so much in his life. He was abandoned by people, persecuted, shipwrecked and suffered greatly for his faith, yet still found deep joy in God. 

I listened to a podcast recently that shared this analogy, that we need to put on your glasses of joy! When we have a relationship with God and find joy in Him because of the hope we have, we can look at everything through the lens of joy to help us face any situation. So today, go ahead and put your glasses of joy on. As you do this it will help you see things with a new perspective!

A Prayer for Today

Dear God, 

 Would you help us today to find joy. Thank you that you sent your son to die on a cross for us, that brings us hope and joy! We pray that in the midst of all the negativity in the world, we would remember that you are always good, that your love endures forever and that in this time your joy is our strength, 

 Amen

A Challenge for Today

My challenge for you today is to go and find joy! 

    If you are a Christian, go and spend some time praying and reading your Bible and allow God to fill you with hope and allow that to give you Joy. The first thing I do in the morning is go downstairs to make a coffee (very important!) and put worship music on. I sing and worship God, then I'll read my Bible plan and pray! 
This is where I receive my joy.

  If you aren’t a Christian and follow another faith, pray to allow your faith to bring you joy. 

   

Maybe you have a hobby, or you enjoy reading, painting, singing, acting or gardening? Well go and do something today that will bring you joy amongst everything that is going on! 

Written by Naomi Gordon

Christian Youth Worker at Bluecoat Aspley Academy

Living in a New Normal

The one person I miss the most…My barber!

What a time we’re in!

I could count on one hand the amount of times I have actually left my house in the past month. It is a crazy time we’re living in. If, in December last year, you had told me that the whole of Europe would be in lockdown, this would have been my response…

I will be honest, even I struggle to say “Bless you” now when I hear someone sneeze.

Our normal is no longer normal. However, during these times of uncertainty and change, there is one thing that I can personally hold on to. Something I know that will never change. That is Jesus’ love for us. Jesus, in Matthew 28:20, said to his disciples that “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” What an awesome thought. Anything that we go through in life, good or bad, Jesus will be with us. People will come and go in your life, but Jesus will remain ever constant. He will be our hype man, cheering us on. That is an incredible comfort during this period.

Now, I, more than anybody would like to get back to ‘normal’. But what is normal? If we think about it, everyone’s idea of normal is different. In the Bible, amazing miracles happened, that at one the time would have been considered normal. Moses parting the Red Sea is one miracle that will always blow my mind! But what I’ve begun to learn and appreciate is that this new normal we are experiencing is going to benefit me in the long run.

You see, God is all about developing us as individuals. In Romans 8:28 it say’s “and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” This tells me that God is going to use this period that we are in for his good. This virus is big, but hey, our God is BIGGER! We are going to come out of this better then when we went into it. If we take this on board our fears can be eased! 

A Prayer for Today

Father God,

You are SO SO GOOD! Through your son, you have given us the assurance that You will never leave us or forsake us. I thank you! I pray that you help us to give that same assurance to others during this time. And most of all, please help me to remember that you turn things around for our good!

Amen

A Challenge for Today

There may be someone you know who is really worried about this whole situation. Why don’t you drop them an encouraging message? Let them know that you are there for them if they need you. Let’s say yes to social distancing, but no to relational distancing.

Written by Elliott Walker

Student Support Assistant at The Nottingham Emmanuel School

All in God's Time

Do you have a list of things to do, waiting for you, tapping its fingers in irritation, anticipating that golden moment of when you’ve got ‘more time’? Is there anyone else out there who files resource making, displays, exercise, decorating, ironing, car washing, paper work, sorting email and even sleeping under the heading ‘when the holidays come’? Surely, some of you are also experience the irony of not having time to read the pile of ‘time management’ books on your shelf?

Time. Often we complain that there’s not enough; that we would do ‘it’, if only we had time. We classify our days as either / or – then usually feel that we made the wrong call. And, when we eventually crawl into bed mentally crippled by the lists of things that we forgot to do because we ran out of time, we promise ourselves that we’ll make time for the important things… tomorrow.

In the last few weeks, I should feel that I have more time. My diary has been deleted, my calendar cleared and events erased. And yet, I seem to still struggle to complete the to do list; there still seems to be tasks jostling to be top of the priority list and I’m still having ridiculously late nights in order to cram everything in. Thankfully, God has hollered and redirected me in the way He usually does when I’m feeling unable to cope. Drum roll for… Ecclesiastes Chapter 3.

“There is a time for everything,” – that pretty much sums up my to-do list, and more. In case I may think that there’s something on my list that doesn’t feature on God’s, He goes on to make some pretty all-inclusive categories, and some which put my ‘organise the towels’ task in its rightful place. I love how God recognises that there is a time “to plant and a time to uproot” – He understands the nuances of life. Helpfully for us introverts, He knows that there’s a “time to be silent and a time to speak”. The list continues… In fact it’s reassuring that God recognises that there is “a season for every activity under the heavens.”

Yet what I find incredibly helpful is that that the season is not necessarily NOW. It doesn’t necessarily have to be THIS moment. THIS minute. THIS hour. THIS day. THIS season. It is, through prayer, at the time that God has ordained. Remember that “At just the right time… Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5v6) God’s season isn’t necessarily now but is “right”. Which means I can rest a little more securely in knowing that ‘my’ time is ‘His’ time and although I should spend it wisely, I don’t necessarily have to race through my to do list, rather, I can rest, reflect and inquire more about how He wants me to spend this season.

Prayer

Thank you that you are with us in this season. Help us to recognise that these weeks may be more than a time to deal with the ‘to do’ list; this may be a time when you want us to rest, to plant, to mourn, to dance, to embrace, to speak, to be silent… help us to discern how to spend this time for your glory. 

Amen.

Challenge

Consider your to-do list. Rather than worrying about what you haven’t done, why not write a new list of what you have done. Try to reflect on how and why God may have rewritten your list.

Written by Abi McGowan

Teacher of English and Literacy Co-ordinator at Bluecoat Aspley Academy

‘Thank you for the music…’

Before I begin, please accept my apologies for the Abba themed title, it was the best I could come up with.

It might seem controversial to you, but in my normal day-to-day life, I don’t listen to very much music, at least not for pleasure. Many people listen to music in the car, but I am an aficionado of a good podcast, particularly ones about rugby. Many others would have music on in the background whilst doing other things, but I tend to be distracted by the music rather than finding it helpful. Also, I’ve heard more renditions of the Beverley Hills Cop theme tune (known as the Crazy Frog song to the younger readers) than anyone should do in their life, so perhaps I am usually just a bit musicked out.

Easter however, brought with it an opportunity to do something I had been putting off for a long time: the garden. The patchy lawn that I try my best to ignore was calling out for me to start again, turn the soil over, rake out the old grass, and re-seed, to give our family somewhere nice to spend our time over the summer months. With a cancelled family holiday, I now had the time, and no excuses.

To say I don’t enjoy gardening is an understatement, so I needed something to help pass the time. That’s where music stepped in. The music app on my phone generates playlists for me based on songs it thinks I would like, and I thought I would give it a go. It was a bit hit and miss at first. Many of the suggestions were based on songs I had played at school, or to my 16-month-old boy, and didn’t quite work for me, but some of the songs I had never heard before (like the one in the picture), brought a joy and energy to me that I hadn’t felt for a long time, and that led me to worship God, who created music.

James tells us that ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.’ (James 1:17 NIV). Whilst some music does not glorify God in its lyrical content, I believe that all good music glorifies God and is a way of leading us to worship God who is infinitely creative. And of course, it doesn’t start or stop with music, we can find ways to worship God by giving him the glory for anything we enjoy, whether that’s in films, sports, art, poetry, trigonometry, Shakespeare, nature, the list is endless.

Challenge

What things do you love to do? Now that many of us have more time to spend at home and on our hobbies, what things make you come alive? My challenge for you is to spend time enjoying these things over the coming days and through that give glory to the God who created them.

Prayer

Father God, thank you that you are the ultimate creator. Thank you that you created each of us with unique passions and talents. Teach us to give you glory for those things that you have created for us to enjoy, and use our talents to further your Kingdom.

Amen

Written by Neal Osgood

Teacher of Music

Rainbows all around

As I’ve gone for my daily walk it has been wonderful to see rainbows all around and every time I see one I find my spirit lifted a bit as I smile. 

Children young and old (yes I do have a rainbow in my window and no kids in my house!) have got involved with covering our streets with rainbows as a thank you to our NHS and to bring some joy. I’ve even seen rainbows over doors, on paths and on a tree!

But what is the significance of a rainbow? Why does this symbol we see stir in us such joy and hope. Is it the tales of pots of gold at the end of rainbows that make us feel excited or is it the fact it’s such a beautiful phenomenon to see in the sky?

The rainbow is a symbol God provided for Noah in the book of Genesis. There was a great flood coming to cover the earth and so God got Noah and his family in a boat with animals of every kind. Once the flood was over and the waters began to cease God put a rainbow in the sky. 

Genesis 9:13-15

“I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds. I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.”

The rainbow is a symbol of the promise of God’s protection. That he will never bring destruction on the whole earth again.

Even though right now it might feel like there is destruction in the whole earth, this promise remains true. God is protecting us through the governments making decisions to scientists discovering vaccines and he wants us to have hope that we will come out the other side of this.

Rainbows usually only appear in our sky for a moment in the transition from rain to sunshine. As the two meet in the same moment the water and the light create the colours we see in a rainbow. It’s a sign that the sunshine is breaking through the rain. It is a sign of hope. Hope that the storm we’re in is coming to an end. That sunshine is on the way!

We all need Hope. “Hope is to the mind what oxygen is to the body.”

But it can feel exhausting trying to keep hopeful. If you are feeling tired and weary be encouraged, our hope isn’t just something we stir up in ourselves. God promises to give us hope by his holy spirit.

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Even though we can’t see the end yet, or know when the storm will pass I pray each one of us will have renewed hope from God and be a source of hope to those around us.  When you see the rainbows on your walk around your neighbourhood may they fill you with hope and remind you that this storm we are in right now will pass.

A prayer for today

Father God we thank you for the hope we find in you. That even though we don’t know when this season will end we thank you that you promise to be with us, to protect us and give us all we need to get through.  As we see rainbows in our neighboured may they remind us of the hope you give us. May we be filled a fresh with your hope and may we overflow in hope to others.

Amen

Challenge

If you’ve not already got a rainbow in your window why not add one. And if you do have one already could you add a hope filled encouragement for people to read alongside your rainbow.