Malcolm Potts June 5th 2016 ~ Weddings

Life in the rectory rolls on at a pace. Next week is The Wedding!The wedding is at Donnelly River, a logging camp between Manjimup and Bridgetown.  There will be over 100 people, mostly family, for a whole weekend, so Cheryl is making soup for many,  David's family are doing Saturday lunch and I am doing bacon sandwiches for Sunday breakfast.  It's a church camp, but different. The wedding will be in there somewhere.  James is taking the service.We know that weddings are big news in the bible.  They are pictures of God's great love, the bringing together of almost everything that matters, depicting the great hope of intimacy and eternal relationship into the future.  Their offering is a big challenge.I frequently remind you [and myself] that God owns every room.  He is there long before we arrive and, if we are attentive, we can pick up on what he is doing.  I have been wondering what it looks like for God to own the room at David and Georgia's wedding.  Is it just a nice day?  Is it that all the families get on?  Is it some mystery or majesty in the service itself?  It may be any or all or even none of those things.The New Testament often conflates or shrinks these God-owning-the-room situations to a statement or circumstance that seems incredibly superspiritual to us.  For example, in our reading of Acts, Paul's call to go to Macedonia in Acts 16, or his expectation and determination to preach the gospel to the Emperor in Rome, are clear stories of his expectation that God was doing something.  We read Psalm 77 in prayers today, a very fraught, miserable Psalm but still clear that the writer was looking to who God is and what he has done in the past as a basis for hanging on in the present.I had a situation yesterday where someone rang out of the blue in the hope that I might take a funeral for them.  I would normally say no to these requests; I am not a celebrant for hire.  This time, and I don't know why, I sensed something different happening.  We met with the family today and had an amazingly fruitful encounter.I do encourage you to put a piece of paper on the fridge [or somewhere] that just says, "Remember God owns the room today."Being aware is the beginning of breakthrough.Next week, while we are away, Pam is preaching and Peter Sweetman is leading the service at 7:30a.m.  James is responsible for lining up the 9:30a.m. service and we wish you all a morning of true worship together.Blessings one and all,Malcolm