Why do we attend church?

Provoked to thought by Mrs Ledding's question last week I thought I would 'jump on the band wagon' and see what happened! I too have a question...

(actually there are about 5!!)

As I have been wandering through cyberspace from blog to blog I have been enjoying the fact that many are created by Christians. However, I also noticed that although many profess Christ, few ever mention what they believe about Him, His great salvation or His church. I would like to focus on the latter.

The Church of Christ.

Do we attend church? Why do we attend church?

Should it make me a church member?

And then, what kind of church member should I be?

I have been getting ready today to attend

Immanuel Baptist Church, Sacramento tomorrow.

As I was doing this it caused me to think about these questions.

I wondered what others were doing today?

Having fellowship with friends?

Are they cooking a meal to take with them tomorrow?

Are they preparing for a Sunday school lesson?

Are they out with their families?

Have they even thought about tomorrow yet?

(For some of you it is already tomorrow:)!)

Have you prepared your heart to worship Him,

to listen to what He may have to teach you, have I?

I look forward to your feed back on these questions, your Lord's Day or any other comments you have on the topic in general. I hope you have a blessed day in His courts.

Maple Twist Rolls

This recipe looked so good....I am going to try it with ready made bread dough, as yeast and I do not seem to get on very well. You can find this and many other mouth - watering recipes at the blog called 'What Matters Most', see my blog list on the side.

Heat . . .3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter

until very warm.

Blend with ...

1 cup flour,
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon instant dry yeast
1 teaspoon maple extract
1 egg

Beat this with an electric beater on low for 2 minutes.
Add remaining 1 3/4 cups to 2 cups of flour and knead to a soft dough.
It will become smooth and elastic in about 5 minutes...

Let rise for about 45 minutes in a bowl covered in plastic wrap.

In the meantime, make your maple streusel
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon maple extract
Combine this together and let sit...

Divide the dough into 3 balls.
Take out a pizza pan, and butter it.(I used parchment paper but I still buttered it)
Roll out the 3 balls of dough to about 12 inches.
Put 1/3 of the streusel on the first layer of dough, put another layer of dough on top of this and put the second amount of streusel on.

Finish with the third layer of dough and again the 1/3 amount of streusel.
Put a 2 inch cup on the center of the dough and cut 16 wedges with scissors. (use the glass as a guide as to how far to cut. They'll stay even all around . .in the picture below you can see the faint outline of the glass rim in the center...

Twist each wedge 5 times. Remove the glass.
Cover with a light Tea Towel and let rise for 30 - 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. I used a convection oven at 350 degrees.
Bake the twists until golden brown about 18 - 22 minutes
Cool for about 5 minutes on the pan and remove to a cooling rack.

Make a glaze of
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1 -2 tablespoons of milk
1/2 teaspoon of maple extract
Drizzle this over the warm rolls.

Doesn't this look yummy!

Give Thanks....?

" ....how often do we stop to give thanks to Him?

At the end of a work day in your profession or job, do you ever take time to say,"Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving me the skill, ability, and health to do my work today"? Do you ever physically or mentally go through your house, look at your furnishings or various items of home decoration, and say to God, "Everything in the house and the food in the cupboard and the car (or cars) in the driveway are gifts from You. Thank you for your gracious and generous provision"? And if you are still a student, do you ever give thanks to God for the intellectual ability and financial provision that enables you to prepare yourself for your future vocation? When you give thanks at mealtimes is it routine and perfunctory, or is it a heartfelt expression of your gratitude to God for His continual provision of all your physical needs?

Ephesians 5:20 " Give thanks always for all things to God the Father....."

There is question though that may have entered your mind.

Are we to give God thanks when the circumstances do not turn out as we had hoped?

Romans 8:28 tells us that for those who love God, all things work together for good; for "things" - that is circumstances - do not work together for good themselves. Rather God directs the outcome of those crcumstances for our good. Paul is telling us that God intends all our circumstances, both good and bad to be instruments of sanctification, of growing us more and more into the likeness of Jesus.

So in situations that do not turn out the way we had hoped we are to give God thanks that He will use the situation in some way to develop our Christian character.

The giving of thanks is to be done by faith in the promises of God not by sheer willpower. If we do that we are giving thanks with our lips but not with our hearts. But as we cling to the promises of God we can say, " Father, the circumsatnces I am in now is difficult and painful.I would not have chosen it, but You in Your love and wisdom chose it for me. You intend it for my good, and so by faith I thank you for the good You are going to do in my life through it. Help me to genuinely believe this and be able to thank You from my heart.

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

- an excerpt from Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges

Amish Baked Oatmeal

Here is a recipe I found on another blog. The blog on the whole was not great but this recipe was.

There are a few reasons why I think you should try it:-

1. You can prepare it the night before. Pop it in the oven the next morning and have your devotions, go for a walk, get the kids dressed....
2. It tastes like a warm cookie for breakfast...yeah I know if you're watching your wasteline its not the best, but good for a wee treat.
3. You can double or triple the recipe easily. The original said you got 9 portions out of it. I found that we only got about 3-4. Maybe we ate too much!!! It really is that good. I doubled it for the six of us.

It really does taste good with the yogurt. I used a cherry yoghurt instead of plain, yummy!!

Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Last week my husband started a series of sermons entitled Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. You can find them both on Sermon Audio . Week one was the introduction and this week we looked at the 'Glorious equality of Men and Women.'

I was challenged today to look at every human being as an imagebearer of God. Whether in the church or not, professing Christ or not, I ought to look at people as a reflection of God. This will effect how I look at people, treat people and pray for people.

I would encourage you to follow the link and listen. It has been both challenging and encouraging to my soul. I pray you will benefit as I have.

Lois is 15!

Lois is 15...

Lois was 15 on Wednesday but she is having her party tonight. She is having a few friends over for dinner. She requested her favorite...Shepherd's Pie! ( Alison Richard's, previously Alderton, recipe ) So...the cake is in the freezer, Ice Cream Cake as she is allergic to eggs, the Shepherd's Pie is half way done and all the favors are completed. I'll take a picture of the cake later and post it . It is an easy and simple idea yet special if anyone has kids with allergies.

Well I'll finish this post off later when I have some pictures of the big event.

However, I would like to add that her Dad and I are very thankful to God and feel very blessed to have a daughter that at this age shows no signs of rebellion in her heart either towards God or her parents. She is a joy to be with and is very conscientious in everything she does. ( Apart from maybe keeping her room clean!!)

Lois, we love you very much and hope you will enjoy your party.

Love Mum and Dad

XXOO

A Completed Project....

When I got back into knitting again the girls thought it would be a good idea for mum to knit them something. Good idea in theory!! So you will notice that there are no pictures of the item Lois chose. ( maybe she would have needed an arm extension to fit it!? ) However, Esther 13, chose something with short sleeves which worked out better. This little bolero jacket was easy to knit once you got into the pattern. The longest part was the band around the sleeves and edge of the jacket. Knitting 6 stitches for 25 inches got a bit tedious, but we got there in the end.

This is the original pattern .....I didn't use the exact same wool so it dosn't have the exact same texture and look but its near enough. Esther likes it and it fits!!

.....Here is the pattern if you would like to try it yourself.

It is straight forward enough. If you know the basics

you'll have no problems.

Sorry it is a bit crumpled after I finished with it but

still legible.

John Piper encouraging President Obama to be courageous

Pork and Apricot Casserole

Pork and Apricot Casserole
1lb of pork pieces
2 tablepns flour (plain-UK, all purpose - USA )
oil
1 can of apricots with juice
2 tablspns worcester sauce
2 tablespns demerara sugar ( light brown - USA)
2 teaspns vinegar
2 teaspns lemon juice
8 tablespns water
Method:
1. Toss meat in seasoned flour and fry off in small batches. You watch it to fry not boil!
2. Place meat into the dish you have chosen ( This can also be made in a regular casserole dish.)
3. Mix together all other ingredients except the apricots. Add to the meat.
4. Slow cooker 4-6 hours. Casserole 1hr @ 350 degrees.
I realise that USA measures are slightly different from UK but this is the kind of dish that it doesn’t make a lot of difference. You can make as much gravy as you wish.
Have a go and let m know what how you get on what you think.

The History of 'APRONS'

I don't think our kids know what an apron is!

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
Send this to those who would know (and love) the story about Grandma's aprons.
REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the windowsill to cool.
Her granddaughters set theirs on the windowsill to thaw.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.
I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.

Thanks for the great memories Granny

A little recipe from my daughter Deborah...

Here is a simple yet delicious recipe that my daughter Deborah (aged 10 )has mastered.

1 1/2 lbs storebought pizza dough
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
1-2 tablespoons salt
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and spray a 13x18" baking tray. Add the store bought dough and push, strech or roll it in to a rectangle shape about 10x15 " .
2. Brush generously with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary.
3. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 mins, or until lightly brown on both top and bottom.
4. Remove from the oven and brush on more olive oile and sprinkle with salt. Cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes.
Eat and enjoy! We like it with a little dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar mixed to dip it into.
PS. We don't use pizza dough, we get bread dough in our supermarket ready made.