Sunday Services

July reflection

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;

   sing the glory of his name;

   give to him glorious praise.

Psalm 66:1-2

One of the best things about the house that we live in, is that every year we have the most amazing temporary neighbours.  Housemartins.  They normally start arriving at some point in April or May and by July our home is filled with the most joyful noise of our busy little friends.

I often find myself standing and staring at them for ages during the day as they flit around calling to each other and hoovering up the insects in the air like lightening.  At night, I love to open the upstairs window and listen to their chirrupping.  I even make up stories about what they are saying and they feature in my sermons and assemblies from time to time.

Why am I telling you about my housemartin friends?  Well, for me, they are exactly the joyful noise that makes me sing about the glory of God.  I look at them, listen to them, watch them and I just cannot help but be filled with glorious praise. 

I wonder what fills you with that sense of awe and the presence of God?  Perhaps you find it in silence, or in friendship.  Perhaps you find it in trees or in mountains.  Perhaps for you it is in the tiniest flower or the smile of a baby.  Perhaps it is simply in the warmth of the sun or the cool of the rain.

My prayer is that this month, as we start the summer holiday season once again, your life can be filled with all the things that fill you with praise and make your heart sing.  As for me, I’ll be listening to the housemartins, and I don’t mean the Indie rock group from Hull!

Loving God, we thank you for the world around us and all the things that make our hearts sing.  Help us to find those moments of song and praise in our everyday lives.  Show us how to use these moments to lift our own hearts and the hearts of others.  Amen.

Every blessing, Lorna