Grieving with Hope by Bill Hybels

Stephen and I, together with some family members, spent most of this morning at a funeral (the church and the cemetary). I had never attended a funeral like this before where 2 coffins were in the church at the same time with two lots of grieving families. Although the leaders of the church did their best, it made things somewhat impersonal and rushed!

The cemetary was quite an eye opener because of the numbers of people that were being buried during the course of the day. While we were at the cemetary, there were about 7 other burials taking place. Lots of people grieving for the loss of loved ones. When we were heading out, many more grieving families were coming to the cemetary to bury loved ones. It seems like death has become just "one of those things" - bury the person and get on with life!

Like anything else, we get over the loss, the pain etc and move on but, there is a grieving process we go through......

Bill Hybels says
"All of us will grieve at some point, but Christians should be grieving slightly differently to the world, because we have hope even in our times of sorrow. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 tells us that we will grieve, we will have our share of set backs and trials, tragedies and difficult losses. Jesus said we will know them in this world - you don't get excused because you are a Christ follower.

There is a conventional approach to grief:

1. Bury your feelings: act normal. Be brave.
2. Replace the lost ASAP: Focus on something new
3. Grieve alone: Don't bother them now, they need to be alone.
4. Give it time: Time heals, all by itself, in some mysterious way.
5. Never trust again; live with regret: Keep people out so that when they leave, their absence won't hurt you.

The conventional approach to grieving ....leaves us broken and wounded.

There is a Biblical process to grief

1. Feel your feelings: Don't put on a false image of bravado, don't discount your feelings or hope they will go away fast. Feel them however they come......like Jesus when he wept over Lazarus. He didn't bottle up His feelings; He embraced them.
2. Don't run from your pain: Don't think you have to just 'toughen up' and forget your hurt. Hang out in the sad place long enough to allow the full effect of the loss to settle in. Don't gloss over the pain.
3. Grieve with others: Scripture encourages us to grieve in community (Romans 12:15) The Bible has hundreds of texts that urge the broken hearted to band together. Grieving in community can offer long term healing. For those who are not grieving, I want to encourage you - miss a wedding if you have to, but don't miss a funeral. Your support is never forgotten. It builds the heart and values of a church, when we can become a community that grieves and loves deeply with each other.

The Biblical process takes us through the pain, but offers hope.

Adapted notes from "Grieving with Hope" by Bill Hybels

Read on to discover how to comfort people who are grieving........

Gardening Delights pt 3

Garden feature # 1

Despite some frosty mornings and some of my plants looking absolutely terrible, there are those that managed to survive the cold winter mornings and are looking pretty good. The lawn is coming along nicely too.

I still have quite a way to go in attending to my garden. Slowly but surely does it for me..........

Garden feature # 2

Nasturtiums looking good!

Bulbanella about to flower


By Molly Manhanga

"You can be our eyes" By Steve Manhanga

Steve Manhanga

Steve shared a simple but effective message on Sunday from Numbers 10:29 - 36.

Points that were raised:

1. Hobab was the brother in law of Moses.
2. Moses was asking Hobab to go with them as they were about to set out to a place which the Lord had said he'd give to them.
3. Hobab had very good eye sight and Moses recognised this in him. Hobab could see things that others couldn't.
4. They were about to head to the desert (wilderness) and there isn't much in the desert but, you do need water. 
5. Hobab refused at first as he wanted to go back to his own land and his own people but he then agreed to go with Moses.
6. Hobab may not have thought much of his gift (his excellent eye sight) but others saw that in him. he may have thought "What do I have?"
7. Within each of us, God has given to us gifts and talents and He expects us to use them - not only for ourselves but to bless others too.
8. Hobab's gift - he could find water - was not only for himself but for the other two and a half million Israelites.
9. In Mablauwuni village, we know about the importance of water and what it's like to have water shortages. The two and a half million Israelites needed lots of water to drink daily.
10. God fed them daily and gave them water to drink daily for 40 years. God is good as He made a way for them in the wilderness. 
11. Moses needed Hobab on his side. He says to Hobab in v 32 "If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the Lord gives us." We need each other.
12. Stephen likened this to us: we all have gifts and talents and we need to use them to bless the body, to bless the community, to bless each other.
13. Steve shared the story of 10 year old Elyana, and her gift of $100.00 which was to be sown to someone in the community. (We have identified a young orphan girl who will be blessed by Elyana's gift) Steve then blessed an elderly man with some fish and ended by encouraging the church to be a real blessing to one another and to share what we have with each other.

Sometimes, it's the small simple things in life that make all the difference: how we treat each other, how we recognise gifts and talents in each other, spur and encourage each other in our walk of faith - the small random acts of kindness like Elyana's, that can touch the life of someone and make them feel valued, loved and appreciated.


It was a good service. 

Summarised By Molly Manhanga