"BITS & PIECES........" SCATTERED SEED I would like to start this Scattered Seed by asking you a question, which I hope you don’t think rather silly. How well do you know your relatives and friends? This Christmas we received a Christmas card, but we were not sure who had sent it to us. The postmark was ineligible, no help, and we certainly didn’t recognise the handwriting. We just had not got a clue. Other cards we received we knew immediately who had sent them, even without opening them. We recognised straight away who the sender was. A silly game we play in our house is guessing where each card is from, but how delightful that 99.9 percent of the time we were are right. I remember when I went to my art class, over the years I began to recognise how each individual worked, what palette they used and their own distinctive style. So much so that one day when I was in a shop in Stratford, I saw a picture for sale and knew immediately that is one of my friends from the art class. It had taken awhile to be able to do this, but nevertheless, spending time with this person, I recognised it straight away. With these thoughts in mind, I posed myself the question, if I can recognise family and friends’ handwriting, or even recognise their voice on the other end of the telephone; how easily do I recognise Jesus, when I read His word. How often do I hear His voice? I claim Him to be my friend, but how well do I truly know Him? How much do I trust Him for my everyday life? Do I recognise Him by my side every minute of the day? I do hope that in this New Year I will become closer to the most wonderful friend I could ever have - JESUS. John 15 v 15: No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. Gloria Arnett

THANK YOU.... Dear Friends, Sorry I missed the last edition of The Messenger to thank you for your prayers, cards, gifts, help and visits while I was in hospital. As many of you know, I have been home for several weeks now, but the Christmas/New Year period is not a good time to be waiting for physiotherapy. By the time you read this I hope to be back on my feet (literally). Thank you once more. Merle Thompson

GO FIGURE.... Dear Friends, The following appeared in my inbox from Jeff Larson, which I feel is a timely reminder for us all. Jesus Loves Me this is I know... GO FIGURE! Beyond the Bible lists of Dos and Don'ts I find Jesus loves me. Not actually beyond this but wrapped around them is the truth Jesus loves me. The Bible is chalked full of great miracles like Creation (aka Big Bang), Noah's Ark (aka the Big Boat), the defeat of Goliath (aka the Big Boy) where Vegas had David as a 200 to 1 underdog, Jonah in the belly of the Big Fish (aka Jaws... the prequel ), there was the parting of the Red Sea (the Big Crossing), Daniel (uneaten) in the Lion's (Big Cats) Den, and many more jaw dropping miracles BUT all these and more are wrapped in the miracle that Jesus loves me! Jesus loves me... cute Sunday School song, but... why would the creator of this world love? It's a miracle. It is nearly impossible to get to know the preacher (no knock against them) in any modern day big church but here we have the perfect heart of our omniscient, omnipresent creator involved with His creation to the point where all the above mentioned miracles occur. God is NOT indifferent to His creation, though mankind often walks the other way, God is always there. In this 24/7 world of distractions from our creator, let's return to the two greatest commandments. Love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, and mind and others as yourself. Obeying these commands must be heart behaviour and not following them as a to-do list for good people. To love and serve someone, to put them first and others ahead of our own needs for me is motivated by the perfect love of God. It is not corny to have a life motivated and inspired by love of God. It is the starting point of life with real purpose. While the Bible is full of the begats, and tedious Leviticus O.T. rules, and includes but is not limited to the very real history of the world... from the BEGINNING... it is much more... it is a love story from God to mankind. The writings of the Bible shout the truth of a personal God who loves us enough to send His son to us. From the Old Testament stories of providence, to the gospels of Jesus Christ, to the Acts of the first church, to the Revelations to John of what is to come.... these are all LOVE STORIES from a loving God.... an indifferent God would not be so involved or patient with mankind and it's often displaced actions of free will. Jesus love me this I know! Peace be Still! Jesus love me this I know! The rest is details. Jeff May you all be blessed and take to heart from the above. John Kirby

Just for Giggles....