For this we have Jesus ...

I was reflecting earlier on the amazing privilege of being a Pastor - we get to be with people in the most difficult and the most happy and amazing times.

Just in this last week I have married a lovely couple that my wife and I took through marriage classes - sharing their joys, fears, helping them put down good roots for a long and loving marriage before and in God.

Last Saturday the church was full of folks from Belgium, Paris, Congo, the USA and England as well as people from our church and from another Baptist church - and possibly a few others I didn't get to speak to :-) - a day in which it was a privilege to share with them and those who celebrated with them. Truly a moment in time when God was powerfully present in the whole event and I hope was glorified. There was certainly joy in the house.

Today I am preparing to join with another family as they say good bye to the mum of their family. A time of sadness of tears, or memories and sorrow. A small group of family and friends will be at the service to share this sad moment. But also I hope and pray it will also be a time when God will be with them as they journey in this season of sorrow, struggling to understand death, heart-ache and this painful goodbye.


For me God is not a fair-weather friend only there on the big occasions or when things are going well, he is there with us in every season of our lives, with us in pain and sorrow, with us in joy and celebration, with us in the ordinary everyday - a God who loves us enough to die for us, who loves us enough to offer salvation to all who will receive it.

A God who is there for the joys and for the sorrows ...

For the joys and for the sorrows
The best and worst of times
For this moment, for tomorrow
For all that lies behind
Fears that crowd around me
For the failure of my plans
For the dreams of all I hope to be
The truth of what I am

For this I have Jesus
For this I have Jesus
For this I have Jesus, I have Jesus

For the tears that flow in secret
In the broken times
For the moments of elation
Or the troubled mind
For all the disappointments
Or the sting of old regrets
All my prayers and longings
That seem unanswered yet

For the weakness of my body
The burdens of each day
For the nights of doubt and worry
When sleep has fled away
Needing reassurance
And the will to start again
A steely-eyed endurance
The strength to fight and win

I am so grateful that in all things
I have Christ who strengthens me

For all things I have Jesus ...