Morning worship at St. Johns was conducted by Mr. Richard Laws. The service opened with the singing of the anthem, 'As we are gathered Jesus is here', by the choir, accompanied by Sheila Noot. A welcome to worship was read by Jake of the junior church.

After the opening hymn, 'Spirit of the living God', all joined together to read part A of Psalm 139.

Richard said, to the children, that in the psalm we are told that God knows all about us because He created us. Do you believe I know what you are thinking? He then produced some cards with numbers on and demonstrated how he could guess the number which Jake had chosen. He said he could not really read Jake's mind, only God could do that, but it was a Chinese puzzle.

After the children left the church, Lew Day read from James, chapter 3, verses 13-18, and Romans, chapter 12, verses 9-21.

In his address, Richard referred to Romans, chapter 12, verse 18. He said that he watched 'Countdown' and heard the girl in dictionary corner say how words have changed their meanings over the centuries. These days 'Shalom' means peace, but in Jesus' time it meant much more; serenity, right relationship and perfect welfare. Peace described perfect relationship and happiness. Peace is mentioned many times in the New Testament starting with the birth of Jesus.

Someone who knows of something wrong, but does nothing about it for fear of causing trouble, is a peace lover, whereas one who is willing to face difficulties to right a wrong is a peace maker. Each man is a mixture of good and evil. The world has always had its divisions between people which has caused the divisions between nations.

Mr. Laws believes we are moving, very slowly, in the right direction, towards Shalom. An example of this was during the great tsunami a few years ago when nations banded together to go to the aid of those overwhelmed by it. It is only when we enter into a right relationship with God that we can enter into one with one another. Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be the people of God.

The service concluded with the saying of the grace and the choir then sang 'May the grace of Christ our Saviour'.

Many thanks go to Mr. Laws for his most thoughtful sermon and also to all others who took part in the service.

This Sunday's service is at 11 am and will be conducted by the Worship Group and the junior church.