Poet's Corner - Believe In More

This week on Poet’s Corner, we feature a video from our sung worship time on Sunday 10th October, where Steve shared his poem Believe in More.

Inspired by Ephesians 3:20-21, Steve encourages us to remember that our God can do more in and through us than we could possibly ask or imagine.

Poet's Corner - The Brightest Of Days

This is a poem I wrote back in March of 2019, it was a time in my life in which I was being taught humility and patience, and did a lot of waiting on God.

It seemed apt to share today, as another delay to the lifting of restrictions can easily leave us feeling frustrated or unsure as to the part today plays in God’s grand plan for us.

I hope this poem blesses you, and encourages you to seek and trust God today, whatever situation you find yourself in, knowing that there are brighter days to come, whether on this earth or in eternity!

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I won’t give up.
I won’t give in.
I won't let impatience drag me into sin.

I won’t back down.
Or try to skip ahead.
I won’t ignore what my father has said.

I won’t stop listening.
I won’t forget.
I won’t demand things I know I’m not ready for yet.

I won’t run.
I won’t hide.
I won’t question your ways.

For I know still to come is the brightest of days.

I will stand tall.
I’ll let my heart burn.
I’ll follow you down every twist, every turn.

I will let tears flow.
Of joy and of sorrow.
I’ll trust in your promise, for now and tomorrow.

I will let You
Fight this battle for me.
For you have won an everlasting victory.

I will worship my King.
I will cry out in praise.

For I know, still to come, is the brightest of days.

Today’s Poet’s Corner was written by Toby Elliott, and is arranged each month by our resident poet, Steve Page.

Poet's Corner - Psalm 139

Psalm 139 - A personal prayer

Sometimes it is helpful to take a well-known scripture and meditate on it in a very personal way. Here is Psalm 139 written in such a way:

O Lord, 

Please search me and know me.

I give you permission to know my sitting down and my standing up;

To understand my thoughts from far away.

Please understand the path of my life,

My lying down –

Indeed, all of my ways.

Lord, please purify the words on my tongue…

Before…

I speak them.

Put your hedge around me,

Lay your hand upon me.

May you overwhelm me with your wonders.

Help me understand my place in the world.

Let there be no escape for me from Your Spirit.

Don’t let me ever be out of Your Presence.

If I ascend into heaven or

Pitch into hell –

Please still be there.

Even in the early morning and at the seaside,

May your hand hold me wherever I go.

Even in the darkest night:

May your light shine on me.

Thank you that you’ve formed my inward parts,

Put me together in my mother’s womb.

Thank you.

I marvel how you put me together secretly.

Before I was born you already knew every day of my life.

Your thoughts are so precious to me, Lord!

You are so big! So wonderful!

I can’t even begin to count or explain your thoughts.

How could I ever really understand what’s on your mind?

Every morning I wake up – 

You are still with me!

Oh Lord, please get rid of wicked, evil people who don’t acknowledge You.

Please get them away from me.

They are so anti- God, so hate-filled.

They take your Name in vain.

I hate those who hate you, Lord.

I loathe them.

I hate them with perfect hatred.

Your enemies are my enemies too.

(Now back to the NKJV for the last two verses)

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Today’s Poet’s Corner was written by Mandy Hudson, and is arranged each month by our resident poet, Steve Page.

Poet's Corner - L'chaim

L’chaim - To Life!

The wonderful thing about spring is that is invites us to take delight in the simplest of things: shoots of green grass, budding plants, chirping birds, bluer skies and glorious sunlight.

For some strange reason it evokes a childhood memory of singing loudly in assemblies - the hymn, ‘All things bright and beautiful’- a song of praise about everything God has created. But how often, I wonder, do we stop to consider that we, not the heavens or the plants or the animals are the masterpiece of God’s creation? In the midst of this spectacularly breathtaking universe, he has chosen to reflect his image and likeness in us mortals. In Psalm 8 David exclaims:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

This seems all the more miraculous when we reflect on the fact that God formed, fashioned and breathed life into us. Then again when we cut ourselves off from that life, that he himself restored it through Christ’s atonement so that our spirits could be born again! Yet he didn’t stop there, again he sent his Spirit to reside in us and we are now able to be continually filled with his Spirit! 

Sacrum Vitae

Blessed be your never-ending fount
that springs eternal.
The source of all life 
that breathes
and pours
and floods
thrice given and thrice received
from Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Yahweh, El Elyon, Almighty God
what have we done that you love us so
and grant with such bountiful liberty your very essence
again and 
again
and again,
so that this life you give
eclipses all we can imagine, 
or sense or see.
We, being only finite earthen vessels
found worthy of bearing your resplendent glory!
Divinity in perpetuity imprinted on
the souls of men
Wellspring of life
bubbling, 
gushing
flowing
source of everlasting regeneration.
Blessed be your never- ending fount
 that springs eternal.

Dear friends, the joyous truth is that we do not need to wait for the season of Spring every year for life anew to spring forth, for there is yet a well of life within that never runs dry!

Today’s Poet’s Corner was written by Timali Ebanks, and is arranged each month by our resident poet, Steve Page.

Poet's Corner - A New Song

There are times when I feel like, and find myself, singing. But less so in lockdown in my household of one (unless I have the radio on).

One of the highlights of the past few months was sitting at home, on Zoom, in a meet up walking through Ephesians together with friends. We were invited to come with songs and hymns and songs from the Spirit, reflecting Paul's encouragement:

"... be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 5:18-20

What followed was the joy of joined voices giving thanks, using songs we knew from our past walk with Christ. I sang those songs well after the Zoom call closed.

Songs for New Seasons

I find that new experiences also spark new songs, and I love the new songs we hear on a Sunday and through YouTube links we've been sent. God does something new in us during every new season, and this season is no different.

Some of these songs have tunes, some do not. Some are upbeat, some are not. However each song is true, because it's born from a true experience in God's presence.

I encourage you to sing spirit-penned songs, both old and new. Some will only be heard by you and the Lord in your shower, while some can be shared with family and friends. But we're all called to sing.

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A New Song

Oh Lord, grant me a new song.
A start-again-afresh-with-no-regrets song.
One with a bridge to new accord,
a song with which I can get on board.
Something that strikes a stronger chord
with those, who like me,
long to be fully factory restored.

A song with a fresher melody
(and I definitely need a different harmony),
something that's part of a wider symphony
maybe with an occasional solo part
for me.

A song that I get to sing with gusto,
maybe to a slightly quicker tempo,
a step up from my imposed Adagio,
closer to a brisker Allegretto.

Oh Lord, you see me.
You see that I long to sing.

Lord, please wipe me clean
and write a new song in me.

Amen.

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Poet’s Corner is arranged each month by our resident poet, Steve Page. In addition to being a poet, Steve is a deacon at Redeemer, a true friend, a trusted advisor, and a giver of great hugs. You can find more of his poetry at hellopoetry.com and follow him on Instagram.

Poet's Corner - A new blog for 2021

Hi there, and welcome to our second brand new blog series here at Redeemer for 2021! Once a month, our resident poet Steve Page, will be sharing with us some of his favourite poetry. We’ll be hearing from a range of voices, from famous poets to some of our very own Redeemer family members. We hope this blog builds you up, and helps you to grow in your relationship with God, maybe it will even stir you to write some poetry of your own!

Without further ado, here’s the first Redeemer Poet’s Corner of 2021…

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Hope

This is my favourite poem on the theme of hope. It calls us to not give up.

(And we know a hope that keeps singing.)

”Hope” is the thing with feathers
Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I've heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

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Jesus was poetic too, using vivid imagery to communicate timeless truths - painting pictures that stick in the mind.

Here's what he had to say on the topic of hope and worry.

Matthew 6:26-34
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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You might say that Hope is a person called Jesus.

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Poet’s Corner is arranged each month by our resident poet, Steve Page. In addition to being a poet, Steve is a deacon at Redeemer, a true friend, a trusted advisor, and a giver of great hugs. You can find more of his poetry at hellopoetry.com and follow him on Instagram.