Rev Claire - Bobbie

09/09/2026

Beautiful , crisp morning !

The heavens declare the glory of God.” — Psalm 19:1 🌅🌿

A beautiful reminder of His goodness. 🙏

Listen with the sound turned on!

08/09/2026

I love this! 🌻 sunflowers are great!😊 we had some great sunflowers this year and last at the farm allotment growing in the flagstones! Pics in the comments!

Accidental sunflowers

In my landscaping are some sunflowers. I didn’t plant them there. They are growing “wild.” Birds feeding from my bird feeder somehow transported the seeds there and they took. I didn’t plan to cultivate any sunflowers there. In fact, they are out of place. They could be considered weeds for all intents and purposes. They do not align with the theme of my landscaping. They are tall, they are large, and they stick out in a rather garish way.

And I love them.

This makes me think of certain things in life. The “weeds” in our landscaping, so to speak, that come up unexpected and could be considered intrusive and unsightly. Are they destructive? In this case, not really. They just don’t fit where the expected theme says otherwise.

But they are still beautiful. Their bright yellow color, their tall stature. They are considered glorious when in fields of their kind. But in landscaping…? Where they just shouldn’t be…?

Annoying and maybe frustrating.

But God loves surprises. He loves the unexpected and the unconventional. He loves sunflowers in landscaping. If only we could too.

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Scripture Reflection

“See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”
— Isaiah 43:19

God has always been in the business of planting things where we least expect them. Not in the tidy rows we design, but in the margins, the cracks, the places we didn’t plan for. His creativity often interrupts our order, not to ruin it, but to reveal something we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

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The Devotional Insight

The accidental sunflowers in your yard are a reminder that God’s work in our lives is not always symmetrical, predictable, or aesthetically aligned with our plans. Sometimes His gifts arrive looking like weeds, out of place, inconvenient, and maybe even a little embarrassing.

But their beauty is real.
Their presence is intentional.
And their arrival is grace.

The question becomes:
Will we pull up what God planted simply because it doesn’t match our theme?

Or will we learn to love the bright, tall, unexpected things He grows?

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A Closing Prayer

Lord, give me eyes to see Your surprises not as intrusions but as gifts.
Teach me to welcome what You plant, even when it doesn’t fit my plans.
Let the accidental sunflowers in my life become reminders of Your creativity,
Your kindness, and Your delight in the unexpected.
Amen.

07/09/2026

Great to be asked to talk to our new recruits today at police headquarters in my role as police Chaplain and to talk from my own career and things I wish I’d been told along the way!

A great set of officers - please pray 🙏 for their wellbeing as they enter such a challenging role …




Diocese of Blackburn
The Church of England
Lancashire Police

07/09/2026

Ann Smith -

Wonderful to see so many at Ann’s funeral today.
A unique, independent, farmer, horsewoman , neighbour , friend .

End of an era . One of a kind . Honoured to preside over this service today .

Rest in peace Ann 💕

07/09/2026

A reminder that it is Ann’s funeral today at 315 pm Burnley crematorium.

Funeral details

Ann Smith , legend; farmer; horse hero and far more !

Ann’s funeral and a short celebration of a life well lived will be at Burnley Crematorium on Monday 7 th September at 315 pm .

07/09/2026

All your sins now and in the future were dealt with by Jesus on the cross! ✝️

The interesting picture below depicting Jesus removing evil from a person , and the explanation of sin below is by Brian Romero:

He says :

Think about what would happen if Jesus only forgave the sins you committed before you believed in Him. You would begin your Christian life completely forgiven, but the moment you sinned again, you would have a new problem. You would need another payment for that sin. And after the next failure, you would need another one. Salvation would become an endless cycle of forgiveness being completed, broken, and completed again.

That would mean Jesus could never truly sit down. A priest sits down when the work is finished. Scripture tells us that Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins and then sat down at the right hand of God. If new sins required new payment, His work could never be described as finished. There would always be another sin requiring another sacrifice.

Now think about the timing of the cross. When Jesus died, every sin you have ever committed was still future. You had not been born yet. Jesus did not look through history and forgive only the sins people had already committed before the moment He died. His sacrifice reached beyond that moment because He offered Himself once for all.

This is why the words “It is finished” matter so much. Jesus was not saying, “The sins you committed up until this moment have been handled, but we will figure out the future ones later.” His sacrifice dealt with the problem of sin completely. Nothing needed to be added to His blood.

If future sins were not included in Christ’s sacrifice, your salvation would ultimately depend on the timing of your death. Imagine making a mistake and dying before you had enough time to confess it. If that sin had not already been dealt with by Jesus, your eternity would depend on whether you remembered every failure quickly enough. Your confidence would no longer be in Christ. It would be in the perfection of your memory and confession.

That is not the rest the new covenant gives us. Scripture says that by one offering Jesus has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Forever is important. Your standing before God rests upon one offering that does not need to be repeated. You continue growing, learning, and being transformed, but you do so from a place of forgiveness rather than trying to become forgiven again.

This does not make sin meaningless. It makes the cross magnificent. Knowing you are forgiven does not mean destructive choices suddenly become harmless. Sin can still wound people, damage relationships, and create painful consequences. But when you fail, you are dealing with that failure as a forgiven child of God, not as someone waiting for Jesus to pay another debt.

And this is where freedom from condemnation becomes real. When you make a mistake tomorrow, Jesus will not suddenly discover something about you He did not know at Calvary. He already knew your entire life when He gave Himself for you. His sacrifice was made with complete knowledge of every chapter of your story 🙏🙏🙏😌

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The story of Jesus sending demons into a herd of pigs is recorded in three of the gospels: Matthew 8:28–34, Mark 5:1–20, and Luke 8:26–39.

From
Matthew’s Gospel :
Jesus arrives in the region of the Gadarenes and heals two violent, demon-possessed men living among the tombs.
The demons beg to be sent into the pigs, Jesus says "Go," and the pigs rush down into the lake and drown

The Church of England

05/09/2026

Gorgeous tea time walk as the sun sets x Busy day over 💕🥱

As the sun sets🌅 and the countryside grows quiet, it’s time to pause, give thanks for the day, and trust tomorrow into God’s hands. 🌅🙏

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”.
(Colossians 3:15)

And for a lil’ while further on :

🙏💕Now I lay me down to sleep🥱
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
May angels 👼 watch me through the night,
And wake me with the morning light.

🙏Amen.🙏

An early night for me tonight …. 😌

Country Life Magazine
The Church of England
Diocese of Blackburn

05/09/2026

Lovely to preside over a wedding blessing today !
Congratulations mr. And Mrs. Brian- James !

Foxfields Country Hotel
Love Ribble Valley