Saanich Peninsula Presbyterian

Our guest speaker this morning was Alan Taylor, who spoke on "being a blessing."  We are the receivers of God's many blessings. So bountiful and faithful is our God that we often forget to even say thank you for His gifts.  Alan asked us to think, not about the blessings we receive, but how we can bless others in our lives, whether it is someone close to us or a casual acquaintance.  His example came from 2 Samuel 9, the story of David blessing Mephibosheth, the grandson of King Saul.  Remember, Saul tried to kill David.  Yet David chose to bestow a boon on Mephibosheth for the sake of his father, Jonathan, David's friend.

The photo above is an example of members of this congregation "being a blessing."

There is another story in my "blog ideas" folder that illustrates a similar point.  This was a children's story from a former minister at SPPC.

One Loving Heart

            We ought to see how each of us may best arouse others

             to love and active goodness.       Hebrews 10: 24

     Bright young men sometimes get into trouble. David Brainerd went to Yale. He was expelled in 1742 for criticizing the religion of one of his tutors. That helped him to become more serious and careful in future.
     “I longed to live for God and be devoted to Him. I wanted to wear out my life in His service and for His glory” he said.
     It didn’t take him long after leaving university to find out how to show his love for God and his fellowmen.

He became a missionary, and went to minister to the Indians of Massachusetts. His health was poor and he had to return to the home of his friend Jonathan Edwards. He died in 1747 - not yet 30 years old.

    Why speak about him? Turned out of university, short life, five years missionary service. 
    He wrote a diary which tells about his deep longing to do some work for God. It was published in 1749.

     It came into the hands of William Carey and helped him become the man he was - the first missionary to India [1793]. He translated the Bible into Indian languages, and formed a great college. He worked for 40 years in India.

     The diary also came into the hands of a brilliant student at Cambridge University called Henry Martyn. He wanted to be a missionary and faced problems before he finally sailed for India [1805]. He worked there preaching at first to the English as a chaplain but then, as he learned the language, he p

reached to anyone who would listen. He translated the Bible into Hindustani, Arabic and Persian. After seven years he succumbed to ill health and died.

    We can see from all of this how one life touches another. Brainerd lived only a short time but he stirred up other people to work for God. 
    The great revivalist, D.L.Moody said “It is better to set 10 men to work than to try to do the work of 10 men”

“One loving heart sets another one on fire”