Logo

 

Banner Image:   Baptist-Times-banner-2000x370-
Template Mode:   Baptist Times
Icon
    Post     Tweet


The Heavenly Repair Shop


A thought for the day from the Revd Stuart Davison of the South Eastern Baptist Association 


Repair800 (1)

WANTED: Criminal with stolen sewing machine...

 ... Police say he is following a pattern. 

Before it got moved to BBC 1 and became mainstream, Gill and I got hooked on The Repair Shop. It is described as ‘the antidote to the throw-away culture’.

I am always moved by the stories of restoration and repair; of people in tears when seeing things that hold such memories being brought back to life. It takes a hard heart to not find one’s own tears flowing. A miner’s lamp that saved the life of great-grandpa; a radio that had stopped working but been part of the life of a couple since 1967, the wife now dead; a chair that had been brought from Germany by a Jewish family  as they fled because of the rise of Nazism; a juke-box that been part of the family since being providing the music for a couple’s wedding - and the widower breaking into tears as it plays again ‘their song.’
 
The love and care that they put into the restorations – and not with the intention of making them ‘brand new’ but making them usable with memories still evident. The miner’s lamp was shining and working again – but with the dents that told of its past use in holding up the cave-in in the mine and saved his life. Jay Blades, the presenter, says, ‘We can mend anything except a broken heart’. Some of what they do makes a good stab at that!
 
It spoke to me of how God lovingly restores us, with such care and love and skill. Yet we still carry the marks of the past, as Jesus Himself does in carrying the marks of our salvation into heaven. And he can mend broken hearts.
 
Thank God he is not into throw-away!
 “He has anointed me to bind up the broken-hearted.”
 

For Reading & Further Study:
 
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 61.1-7
Gospel Reading: Mathew 12 v9-21
New Testament Reading:1 Corinthians 1v26-31
 
 
To Ponder & Pray:

Jacob wrestled with God and limped forever as a result, and yet became Israel in the process. Jesus is risen from the dead and glorified, yet He bears the marks of His crucifixion through all eternity.
 
Where might your scars and wounds become transformed by God for His service and His glory?
 
 

Thought for the Week by Stuart Davidson, regional minister team leader South Eastern Baptist Association

Further Study by Darren Blaney, minister Herne Bay Baptist Church 



Image | Anne Nygård | Unsplash

 
Baptist Times, 16/05/2020
    Post     Tweet
A bridge of hope? The Baptist witness in Israel and Palestine
Baptists in Israel and Palestine are a unique bridge between different people and cultures in the region, writes Mark Hirst, who recently visited Baptists there. He shares this and other reflections to help fuel our prayers
Gaza: our voices do make a difference
The news is indeed dreadful, writes David Nelson - but showing solidarity does have an impact
Bruno and other friends: encounters and reflections  
Baptist minister Ivan King explains why he has written a book honouring some of the ordinary people who have welcomed him into their world as a pastor
'The Inter Faith Network is in peril - please support it'
The government is withdrawing funding from the Inter Faith Network, leading to its potential closure. Paul Weller, a member of the Baptists Together Inter Faith Working Group, is encouraging Baptists to urgently protest the decision
Look outward in Lent 
For many Lent has become a time for self-examination and for deepening one’s devotional life. But the call to Christian discipleship is to look away from oneself - so let’s experiment in new ways of sharing our faith with others this year
'Remember the call I gave you...'  
While all the speakers at Fresh Streams 2024 highlighted how we are living in a time of significant change, there was a clear message from God too, writes first-time attender Simon Evans-White
     The Baptist Times 
    Posted: 12/02/2024
    Posted: 22/12/2023
    Posted: 16/12/2023
    Posted: 19/10/2023
    Posted: 19/10/2023
    Posted: 10/10/2023
    Posted: 26/09/2023
    Posted: 23/09/2023
    Posted: 20/09/2023
    Posted: 04/09/2023
    Posted: 17/07/2023
    Posted: 23/05/2023
    Posted: 17/05/2023
    Posted: 03/05/2023