Friends,

SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER

Gayle George, OAC Ministries

Ladies from the various churches in Murray Bridge have been invited to our CWF Meeting next Tuesday 2nd July at 1:30pm.

Our guest speaker will talk about her work with OAC Ministries. Gayle is from Adelaide and is the wife of Rob George who is the international president of OAC Ministries.

Afternoon tea will follow the speaker.

ALL WELCOME.

When: Tuesday 2nd July 2013 at 1:30pm.

Where: Murray Bridge Church of Christ, 32 Seventh Street Murray Bridge, South Australia.

LESSONS FROM THE PSALMS

Having recently completed our KYB study of Book 5 of Psalms, my understanding of what praise and worship mean has increased. What does it mean to praise and worship our God?  As Hebrews 11 v 6 says  ‘Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.’ We must firstly KNOW Him for ourselves.  We cannot praise someone if we don’t know them! Then we must know WHO He is and what He has DONE. 

            What are the reasons for which we would want to praise our God. The Psalms, only about half of which King David wrote, tell of His creativity, His might and power, His love and forgiveness, His justice, mercy and grace, His patience and longsuffering. They tell of Israel’s history and the nation’s experiences of God’s faithfulness to His Covenant with them even when they continually failed to keep their promises.

In Psalm 145 we read these lovely words:

            v. 8 ‘The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.’ 

            v. 13b ‘The Lord is faithful to ALL His promises and loving towards ALL He has made.’  

            v. 18 ‘The Lord is near to ALL who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.’

There are many reasons why we will want to praise our God – in our every day life as well as when we look back and recognise His hand on us during the week or year. As Christians, we are under a New Covenant, made possible by the Lord Jesus dying in our place and taking the punishment, which we deserved, for our sins.

Many of our hymns and songs are reminders of all that God has done for us, including our redemption, which prompts us to praise Him. One of these hymns, Praise my soul, by H.F. Lyte, has always been a blessing to me.

Praise my soul, the King of Heaven, To His feet thy tribute (gift) bring;

   Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, Who like Thee His praise should sing?

       Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise the everlasting King.

 Father-like He tends and spares us; well our feeble frame He knows;

    In His hands He gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes;

       Praise Him! Praise Him! Widely as His mercy flows.

May we go into the new week with praise in our hearts for our wonderful Redeemer and God of grace    as we learn more of Him and recognise more of what He is doing in and through us.

˄OC

HIS  LOVE

Recently, our pianist played the music for a familiar, much loved and challenging song. As I remembered the words, they reminded me of the depth of God’s great love for all of us. These are the words, written by N.J. Clayton, in the early 1940s:

 ‘It was His love for me that nailed Him to the tree

     to die in agony for all my sin.

  For my own guilt and blame, the great Redeemer came,

      willing to bear the shame of all my sin.

  To Calvary’s hill one day the Lord was led away,

       none else the price could pay for all my sin.

  He, on the Cross was slain, yielding His life in pain;

      He felt the bitter stain of all my sin.

  Was ever love so strong?  Was ever crime so wrong

      when Jesus suffered long, for all my sin?

  He saw my greatest need, became my Friend indeed,

     through Him I have been freed of all my sin.

  O, what a Saviour is mine! In Him God’s mercies combine;

      His love can never decline; and He loves me!’

In John 3:16 we read these words: ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’

Then in 1 John 3:16, the Apostle continues to explain what love really is. ‘This is how we know what loves is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.’

Again in 4:10 ‘This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us  and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.’ In verse 19 he writes: ‘We love because He first loved us.’

As we come to worship our loving and faithful God this morning, may the realisation of that Amazing Love, enable us to pause in wonder at the privilege we have, as His children, to show that love to others as we live and work during this coming week.

˄OC

Our monthly women’s fellowship will meet again tomorrow in the church complex.

Tuesday June 4th at 1.30 pm.
Speaker Nancy Coleman on the topic ‘God is all powerful’

Next month:

Tuesday July 2nd at 1:30pm

Women from the other churches are invited to our fellowship afternoon.

Guest speaker will be Gayle George who has a ministry in schools in Adelaide through OAC ministries.

All are welcome.

SONGS IN THE NIGHT

When life gets a bit hectic and uncertain and I find it difficult to go to sleep at night, my Heavenly Father often brings to my mind the words of songs or hymns which I learned many years ago, to remind me of Who He is and all He has promised to do for me if I will obey. To get life in perspective, He gives me ‘songs in the night’.  Two which have been special lately are:

‘God is still on the throne and He will remember His own,
Though trials may press us and burdens distress us
He never will leave us alone.
God is still on the throne and He will remember His own,
His promise is true, He will not forget you,
God is still on the throne.’

Because this song states what I believe is the truth, my response then is to sing (in my head), which is to pray:

‘Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, help me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.’

Most of our hymns were written to teach us about what we believe as Christians – doctrine – and to challenge us about how we should respond to God’s great love for us.

I pray that as we share in our worship service today, we might be encouraged and challenged so that in the week ahead, we will continue to remember our gracious Creator God and all the wonderful promises He has given us in His Word and then to respond in obedience to what He has shown us today, so that He will be honoured by our lives.

˄OC