Diamonds are....beautiful

Lesson: Diamonds are known as the most beautiful and most valuable jewels.  Of course, the real expensive ones are quite large and specially cut.  Did you know they cut diamonds?  That is what they call the way they split them into smaller sizes.  They hit them a certain way to break them. Diamonds are not only beautiful, they are also useful.  They are the hardest gem stone in nature!  (“Gem” is another word for jewel).  Because they are so hard, people use them in industry to cut and grind things.  They put a diamond point on special drills to cut very hard things.  The only thing that can really cut a diamond is another diamond! Where do diamonds come from and how do we get them?  They are formed in the earth, from crystals that contain carbon, just like coal but more special.  Then, when there is an earthquake, they are pushed up closer to the surface of the earth.  The first one was found by a child in South Africa, who was playing on the beach and thought he found a pretty stone!  Now there are diamond mines in that place that dig up 3 tons of earth in order to find one diamond!  People also make artificial diamonds, but they are not as fine as the real ones. Application: Diamonds are beautiful and useful.  That is how God makes His things.  The Bible talks of something that is even more valuable that a jewel.  What could it be?  It is someone who speaks with wisdom and knowledge.  Each one of you is like a diamond whose life can be polished up to shine for the Lord. Conclusion: Is that how you are?  Pretty and useful, speaking wisely, shining for Jesus?  That is just exactly what all of you can be, as you love and serve our great God.  He will make His love shine in you and will help you to speak the truth with love and to tell others about Him – wonderful words of wisdom!  More valuable than diamonds!  Would you like that?  Let’s pray and ask Him to help us speak well.

Proverbs 30:7-9 New King James Version (NKJV) 7 Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die): 8 Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me; 9 Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.

NGC Movie Nite - 7pm, 9th March 2013

Come and join us to view this touching movie together on Sat, 9th March at NGC from 7pm till 9.30pm. Living the Dandelion Life When we live the dandelion life, we're living a life invested in others - when our efforts are blown to the corners of the world, our neighborhoods and our homes to bring hope and healing. Our hope is that through this film, more and more discussions about orphan care, adoption, foster care and strengthening the family will surface in churches around the world. And, that ultimately, children will find permanent, loving homes, that suffering will be alleviated and the world will know that God is good and that we are His people. James 1:27

Dandelion

All About the Dandelion Flower To most people, a dandelion is simply a bother, but for others it is something that means a lot to them. The dandelion actually has a Latin name of Taraxacum, which is not a nice name. But, the name actually comes from a French word and means “lion’s tooth”. While a lot of people look at this flower as a pest and a weed, to other people it has some meaning. The floral meaning of the dandelion is that it is a gift to a loved one that will provide happiness and is a promise of total faithfulness. SO, it can mean a lot to some people. Description of the Dandelion Flower Everyone knows what the dandelion looks like, it is such an easy flower to recognize. A dandelion can be characterized by its long hollow stem and the yellow flower that it has on top. Depending on the season that it is, it may have white fuzz on top of it that is the pollination and how the dandelion spreads. This flower is a tap rooted biennial, so it will keep coming back time after time; it is a hard plant to get rid of if you don’t want it. The flower on top has a ton of little florets or petals and at some point it will become a seed head that will spread throughout the area and create new dandelion plants. Uses for the Dandelion Flower So, of course, for some people, with the floral meaning of the dandelion, they give it out to show their faithfulness to their partner. This is one thing that people do with a dandelion. But, there are a lot of other uses for a dandelion too. Chances are, this isn’t a flower that you are going to find in a bouquet, so be aware of that. There are many people that will use the dandelion as something that they put into their salads. Also, it makes a wine that people really enjoy too. There are also some medicinal uses for this flower. The dandelion is said to help with anti-inflammatory issues and can even help with urinary tract infections. But, people need to be careful if they are eating it, for some people they have had allergic reactions to the dandelion pollen that is in the flower that they are eating. Why do people plant the Dandelion Flower? The thing with the dandelion is that it generally doesn’t seem like you really have to work hard to grow it. In fact, for most people that have a garden, they see the dandelion as a pest because of the root system that it has and the ability to spread its pollen easily and take over an area. This flower is able to rapidly colonize an area, so if you are working on a garden in a certain area and the dandelions move in, you are probably going to need to remove them so that there is no issue and they don’t take over your garden.