Sunday

Reading Through The Bible - ZEPHANIAH








Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.








ZEPHANIAH  -  OLD TESTAMENT  -  PROPHECY

36th book of the OT 
36th book of the Bible



It starts with a declaration that this is the Word of the Lord which came through Zephaniah as we see in chapter 1 v 1





What is it?

The Book of Zephaniah is one of the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament which means it is Prophecy.
It is the 9th out of the 12 minor prophets.




How Long is it?

It has 3 chapters.



When was it Written?

It is was written between 635 & 625 BC

Because ch. 1 v 1 gives us a good deal of detail about Zephaniah the historians can be more sure of the timescale for this book.

"The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah."



Who Wrote it?

Zephaniah

The name Zephaniah means "Treasured by God"


The first verse of this book tells us who Zephaniah was

"....... Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah ........."


Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of King Josiah, the king of Judah from 640 to 609 BC"


The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"Zephaniah was probably a contemporary of HabakkukNahum, and Jeremiah."
"The punishment that he foretells plays out in the books of KingsChronicles and Jeremiah."

  



Who was it Written to?


The people of Judah.

The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"Like the book of Joel, Zephaniah takes a “bad news first” approach: he begins with the coming destruction of Jerusalem, discusses the downfall and restoration of the outside nations, and finishes with the promise that Judah and Israel will be restored.





Why was it Written? 

It was written as a warning about the Day of the Lord 


The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"Zephaniah preached his message during the rule of King Josiah, who had initiated religious reform in all of Judah and some surrounding territories. At this time, the nation as a whole was obeying God’s laws and turning from idols (2 Chr 34:33). Since the land was obeying God, one might ask, “Whom was Zephaniah warning, then?”

His warnings seem to better resonate with the next generation of Judah. After Josiah dies in battle, his sons take the throne for 22 years. They disobey the Lord, they stir up trouble with Babylon, and they disregard the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 36:27–2937:1–2). Plus, the priests and citizens defile God’s temple (2 Chr 36:14). 
In light of this, Zephaniah’s message makes sense. "




What is notable about this book? 

Zephaniah mentions the "Day of the Lord" more than any other Old Testament Prophet. 







How does it end?


Although the main emphasis throughout is of warning of what will happen in the Day of the Lord in chapter 3 we do see some exhortation that God is not wrecking only vengeance but that He loves His people especially in verse 17

 




What format does this book take? 



The Overview Bible  tells us the following 

  1. Desolation and discipline on Judah (Zep 1)
  2. Desolation on the surrounding nations (Zep 2)
  3. The Lord’s remnant from the nations (Zep 3:1–11)
  4. The Lord’s remnant from Israel (Zep 3:12–20)


You can also see my Pastor's  Bible Study video on Zephaniah











OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE ADDED REGULARLY AND AN UPDATED LIST CAN BE FOUND AT OUR READING THE BIBLE PAGE 












Tuesday

Louloumadethis - Unique Gift Ideas









Searching for that different, unique gift for a special occasion can prove to be a hard, time-consuming, eye-tiring search of the internet for us each time a birthday, anniversary, Easter or Christmas comes along!


Do you need some help to pick out something different for the people you want to encourage and show your love?







I like to support smaller businesses within the UK who give thought and care to their individual products so today I want to introduce you to 



Louloumadethis


This is a small business only started in the past year by a young girl and I found her "Personalised Easter Eggs" on facebook through her being connected to a friend of mine.  

Now I have 3 grandkids Matthew, Ruby and Sarah so I thought these eggs would make good unique presents for them.   Plus they are full of chocolate and other treats so the kids had better share with Grandpa and me.

 






She has a varied group of items and when you see the pics you will be impressed.


Disclaimer:  I have not received any products or money from Louise or Louloumadethis although I did buy from her - this is simply a review of her business because I wished to support her.



Let's meet the seller herself - Louise (& Darren)







Hi, I am Louise Smyth, the creator behind Louloumadethis.

I am based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and have always been very interested in crafts. My Mum would say that as a child I was never happier than with some paper, felt pens and glue. This interest continued throughout my education, I studied Textiles & Fashion design at university and for 12 years now I have worked in Design & Buying for various men’s fashion brands in Northern Ireland.

Since my university days I have continued to be creative and became known for handmade gifts for friends and family, mainly paper craft, cross stitch and jewellery. These gifts received a lot of appreciation and comments encouraging me to start to sell.





 

Louise tells us about her start up of the business here:

In 2019 I started an Instagram Page to showcase my cross stitched crafts called @louloustitches and through this I started to receive some orders.

My partner and I were due to get married in July 2020, however with Covid restrictions we made the decision to postpone. I had spent the majority of the first lockdown crafting Wedding favours & decorations. Through social media I became very interested in Cricut cutting machines as I was fascinated by how experimental you could be. I knew that the investment would only be worth it if I used it for more than our own wedding and then Louloumadethis began.




My latest orders for cross stitch items have mainly been bespoke, where I work with the customer to come up with designs that reflects their ideas. Frames for children’s bedrooms & also baby gifts have proved popular.  At first I used to buy patterns from Etsy sellers and amend as needed but more recently I have started to design my own cross stitch patterns as well. 

 I have also done some bespoke orders for framed prints which have been very well received. 




Timescale for bespoke orders varies depending on the type; stitched frames would be the orders that take longer however these are usually under 3 weeks.


I launched my first Cricut craft products at Christmas, including personalised baubles,





 hanging hearts and Christmas cards. 

To gauge the interest I sold on Facebook marketplace and from my Instagram account. These proved very successful and encouraged me to plan more seasonal type products, including the personalised fillable eggs that I am currently making for Easter. The response to these has been amazing. 





The popularity of personalised product has encouraged me to expand into laser engraving, which I have only just started to experiment with but can see has huge potential for the gifting market.





At the moment I have lot of ideas to build a range of new products. 




I get my inspiration from a variety of different places in day to day life including social media, Etsy and Pinterest.




At the moment I have only sold in UK & Ireland, however I have recently acquired the domain name louloumadethis.com and have plans to develop an ecommerce website which could generate international sales.



You can view all of Louise's products and order at her Etsy shop

Louloumadethis


Follow Louise on Facebook & Instagram to see more photos of the products and behind the scenes of the making process.

Louloumadethis on Instagram

and

Louloumadethis on Facebook

Feel free to send Louise a message as she will be happy to answer any questions.









I hope you enjoyed reading about Louise's unique gifts and if you need any help with your Easter & Christmas shopping or for birthday, wedding, anniversary or just those little gifts to say "thinking of you" in these times take a little note of what she has and do look around her shop to see ALL her items.












Sunday

Reading Through The Bible - TITUS







Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.








TITUS  -  NEW TESTAMENT  -  EPISTLE

17th book of the NT 
56th book of the Bible



It starts with a greeting of blessing in ch.1 v 4






I love the blessings pronounced in God's Word and they are still blessings to us as well.




What is it?

The Book of Titus is one of the Epistles in the New Testament which means it is a Letter.



How Long is it?

It has 3 chapters.




When was it Written?

It is generally thought to have been written between 62 to 64 AD



Who Wrote it?

The Apostle PAUL

It is one of his several letters to people and churches included in the New Testament.


It laid out teaching about Jesus 



 

and advice for all Christians 



going on to explain that salvation is not obtained by us but is given through God's mercy



 




Who was it Written to?


It was written to Titus as we see in chapter 1 v 4 

 "To Titus, a true son in our common faith:"


Titus was a younger man known and respected by the Apostle Paul and given responsibility for leading the church at Crete.




Why was it Written? 

It was written as instruction to Titus as he lead the church at Crete


The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"Paul advises Titus on how to lead orderly, counter-cultural churches on the island of Crete."

and


Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"Titus was a young pastor being put in charge of the churches at Crete.  Paul wrote to encourage him and addressed some of the same problems with leading a church as he addressed with Timothy, his young disciple."




How does it end?



With a reminder of the Hope all Christians have




and

with greetings to Titus from others with Paul, and to others in Crete and a short blessing in
 chapter 3 v 15

   " All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all. Amen."










OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE ADDED REGULARLY AND AN UPDATED LIST CAN BE FOUND AT OUR READING THE BIBLE PAGE 










Friday

10 Songs about God's Love








This month I had been taking the Theme of Love for many of my posts on the blog so at the same time Fred and I were doing some Facebook Lives on                                Sandra's Ark Facebook Page and Apostolic Worship Facebook Page


We took a Hymn or Song based on Love on 5 different nights to encourage the listeners and to those each night we added either a kids song or a short chorus all of course still around the Love of God. 








So I thought I would also briefly mention something about each hymn or song here

 and

 share the recordings with you all.



1.  I Stand Amazed in the Presence 

Such an old well-known hymn to start us off talking about the Marvellous and Wonderful Love of God.

To this first evening we included 


2.  Jesus Loves Me This I Know


Another old well-known song for kids but let's face it we all still love to sing it.

So why join in with us for these 2 in this video. 






3.  When I think about God's Love


Not an old well-known hymn this time but a newer song written by my husband Fred over a year ago which have used in worship in church several times.
Based on John 3 v 16

To this evening we included a short chorus which was written by a pastor in our denomination many years ago Ps. Hugh Mitchell and you can enjoy them both in this video


 



4.  Thy Lovingkindness is Better than Life


This is the short chorus that was included in the second evening above but we also recorded it in another video to use for helping people to memorize scripture so you may find it helpful for learning Psalm 63 v 3 where we read that His Lovingkindness is better than life.







5.  Love Divine All Loves Excelling


On our third evening we took another well-known old hymn that we often hear at weddings, this was in fact a request from a friend of ours.

To this evening we included 



6.  Love One Another Like Sister and Brother


A kids song I have done at many Kids clubs and Sunday schools. 

You can hear both in this video.






7.  God So Loved


Our fourth evening took us back to another song relating to John 3 v 16 which is another newer song which we have learned recently and were just about to introduce it to our church. 

This time we then went on to cover an old well-known chorus based on 
Lamentations 3 v 22-23
 


8.  The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases


You can learn that new one and sing along with the old one here.






9.  And Can It Be


Our last evening took us back to another old hymn which will ever tell of the great Love of God.

To finish this evening and the week of 10 Songs about God's Love we included another short chorus which is taken straight from the scriptures in 1 John 3 v 1



 



 10.  Behold What Manner of Love


This was another song we had recorded previously to help people to memorise scripture and you can see that video here.






All of the videos included in this post are available on You Tube at

 Apostolic Worship (God's Love Playlist)  

or