Thanksgiving Service (Sophia Solomon)
This afternoon a Thanksgiving Service was held at Shiloh to thank the Lord for the good gift of little Sophia Solomon given to her parents Jason and Laura.
Mark Tatty Gordon conducted the service and began as he always does with the words, “Every child born into this world proves God has not given up on us.”
He went on to say that the word of God says, “God the Father is a Giver of good gifts," and Sophia is a good gift from God unto her parents and loved ones.
Reading: Mark 10 v 13-16
John Calvin: “However many blessings we expect from God, His infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts”
The fame of Jesus had spread throughout all Israel and Judea.
Thousands flocked to see him perform miracles and listen to his words.
His ability to heal the sick and give sight to the blind had been broadcast far and wide.
People believed him to be sent from God, and many brought their children to him that he might bless them.
When some parents pushed through the crowd to have their children blessed, the disciples told them off saying, “Jesus is really busy; he doesn’t have time to bless children.”
When Jesus heard this he was not amused and he told the disciples off. “Bring the children to Me and don’t stop them, for of such is the kingdom of God.”
Taking a child in his arms Jesus said, “Let me tell you something; whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” Then he continued blessing those children who were brought to him.
This afternoon Jason & Laura have brought Sophia to this place, not for me to bless her but to ask Jesus to bless her.
Some people might think, ‘Why bother with this in 2015?”
The reasons we do this are fourfold:
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Jesus loves Sophia
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Jesus gave Sophia as a gift to her parents to love and care for her
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Jesus has a wonderful purpose for Sophia
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Jesus said, “For of such is the kingdom of God.
Because we believe Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead; we also believe he is in this place, in the presence of his Holy Spirit, and just like the people who brought their children to him when he walked on the earth, so by faith, we bring Sophia to Jesus to ask his blessing on her. It is always good to give thanks to the Lord for his good gifts to us.
This afternoon we can be certain of two things:
Jesus is not too busy to bless Sophia; he’s delighted to do this.
He delights in all who are here today and wants to bless each of us.
Jesus has told us – unless we can receive his blessing as a child does (in simple acceptance) we will never enter heaven.
As we take the time to ask Jesus’ blessing on Sophia why not humble yourself in your heart and ask the Lord Jesus to bless you and help you to know him and his love for you.