{"id":3017,"date":"2019-10-11T13:35:07","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T02:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3017"},"modified":"2019-10-11T13:35:07","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T02:35:07","slug":"blessed-to-be-a-blessing-13-10-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3017","title":{"rendered":"Blessed to be a Blessing 13-10-2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A recent scientific study of 150,000 people over 25 years has found that our level of happiness has little to do with our genetic make-up, personality traits or childhood, and that factors such as partner\u2019s temperament, faith, social participation, healthy habits and long-term goals are much more important. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>On the other hand, the pursuit of wealth and material goods, as well as a neurotic partner, are key elements of unhappiness. They could have read the Bible and found that out for free!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The story of Jesus and the ten lepers who are healed teaches us that not only does God bless us, but that we need to <i>bless God<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus told the Samaritan who returned that his faith had made him well.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The others were blessed with physical healing, but in the act of thanking God he was made whole. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>That is why we come to church \u2013 to give thanks to God for all our blessings, and when we come to church in that frame of mind, we go home blessed. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Singing praises to God is more than having a \u201cgood sing\u201d \u2013 it links us to the source of life and joy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>When we know we are blessed and we thank God, we discover that we are called to be <i>a blessing to others<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>It gives us a purpose in life that brings a deep sense of satisfaction and joy. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>In fact the Bible does not promise us happiness, but something better and deeper \u2013 <i>joy<\/i>. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>God does not promise that life will be all smooth sailing \u2013 in fact the opposite; but God does promise that He will be always with us and will give us that deep joy even in the midst of adversity.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The study is right when it says that we actually have a choice about how happy we will be. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Choosing whether to be a blesser is an important start, having faith, sharing in a faith community and responding to Jesus\u2019 call to be a blessing to others will bring life and joy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>It is the same with congregations.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>If our congregation thanks and praises God and is a blessing to our community, it will be blessed and made whole. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We are blessed to be a blessing!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Robert Johnson<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>13 October, 2019 &#8211; Pentecost 18<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING A recent scientific study of 150,000 people over 25 years has found that our level of happiness has little to do with our genetic make-up, personality traits or childhood, and that factors such as partner\u2019s temperament, faith, social participation, healthy habits and long-term goals are much more important. \u00a0 On the other hand, the pursuit of wealth and material goods, as well as a neurotic partner, are key elements of unhappiness. They could have read the Bible and found that out for free! The story of Jesus and the ten lepers who are healed teaches us that not only does God bless us, but that we need to bless God.\u00a0 Jesus told the Samaritan who returned that his faith had made him well.\u00a0 The others were blessed with physical healing, but in the act of thanking God he was made whole. \u00a0 That is why we come to church \u2013 to give thanks to God for all our blessings, and when we come to church in that frame of mind, we go home blessed. \u00a0 Singing praises to God is more than having a \u201cgood sing\u201d \u2013 it links us to the source of life and joy. When we know we are blessed and we thank God, we discover that we are called to be a blessing to others.\u00a0 \u00a0 It gives us a purpose in life that brings a deep sense of satisfaction and joy. \u00a0 In fact the Bible does not promise us happiness, but something better and deeper \u2013 joy. \u00a0 God does not promise that life will be all smooth sailing \u2013 in fact the opposite; but God does promise that He will be always with us and will give us that deep joy even in the midst of adversity. The study is right when it says that we actually have a choice about how happy we will be. \u00a0 Choosing whether to be a blesser is an important start, having faith, sharing in a faith community and responding to Jesus\u2019 call to be a blessing to others will bring life and joy. It is the same with congregations.\u00a0 If our congregation thanks and praises God and is a blessing to our community, it will be blessed and made whole. \u00a0 We are blessed to be a blessing! Robert Johnson\u00a0 13 October, 2019 &#8211; Pentecost 18\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?cat=24\" rel=\"category\">Sermons<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING A recent scientific study of 150,000 people over 25 years has found that our level of happiness has little to do with our genetic make-up, personality traits or childhood, and that factors such as partner\u2019s temperament, faith, social participation, healthy habits and long-term goals are much more important. \u00a0 On&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3018,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3017\/revisions\/3018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}