This is a quick reminder that our weekly worship service will be on again tomorrow at the usual time of 10am.

We will have a time of worshipping God through songs, prayers and the celebration of the Lord’s Table (Communion).

An important part of every service is the sermon, a message from God’s Word (The Bible) prepared and brought to us by one of our Elders, Ted Smith.

After the service we will have a time of fellowship over a cuppa in the Coffee Shop.

All are welcome. Why not bring a friend?

Christmas greetings from the Murray Bridge Church of Christ.

May you have a peaceful and joyous time celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Come See the Shepherds

Come, see the shepherds at peace in the field
Come, see the sheep grazing silently.
Come, see the angel proclaiming the news
Come, see the heavenly hosts praising mightily.

Chorus:

Fear not,
Be not afraid,
Good news
I bring to you.
This day in Bethlehem town
A Babe who is Jesus
The Saviour is born.

Come, see the baby asleep in the hay,
Come, see the birthplace so drear.
Come, see the worshipping shepherds,
Come, see the Lord – He is here.

Chorus

Fear not,
Be not afraid,
Good news
I bring to you.
This day in Bethlehem town
A Babe who is Jesus
The Saviour is born.

Come, see the Man on the Cross on the hill,
Come, see the empty tomb.
Come, see the Saviour who died for our sin,
Come, see the Lord who’s returning quite soon.

Chorus:

Fear not,
Be not afraid,
Good news
I bring to you.
This day in Bethlehem town
A Babe who is Jesus
The Saviour is born.

Copyright: Trevor W. Hampel

All rights reserved.

Tomorrow there will be a special Christmas Service at the Murray Bridge Church of Christ.

The celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be only a short service, led by one of our Elders, David Mills.

Please note the special starting time of 9am.

This is a quick note to inform customers of the Murray Bridge Church of Christ Bookshop is still open for the last two days of trading before Christmas – today and tomorrow. So it’s not too late to get those special, last minute Christmas gifts and cards for your loved ones.

The Bookshop will be closed from December 25th until it reopens again on Monday, January 6th 2014.

Gifts for all tastes

A quick note to inform everyone that the Church Coffee Shop will be closed over the Christmas – New Year period. This is to give this hard working staff a short break.

The Elders thank all staff involved for their hard work, dedication devotion to this important and growing ministry within the life of the church. A special mention of Chris Bown as the manager.

The Coffee Shop will reopen on Wednesday January 15th at 10am.

Everyone is invited to our regular worship service tomorrow morning at 10am.

There will be time of singing praises to God, the observance of the Lord’s Table (Communion) and a message from the God’s Word (The Bible).

Our guest speaker will be Dave Flood, manager of the El Shaddai campsite at Wellington. Dave’s messages are usually timely, relevant and challenging.

Our time of fellowship will conclude over a cuppa in the Coffee Shop.

Why not come along – all welcome.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Special Service

Wednesday 25^th December at 9am

We will be holding a short service to celebrate the birth of our Saviour.

The service will be led by David Mills.

A prominent literary character by the name of Scrooge in the Charles Dickens story “A Christmas Carol” said the famous words “Bah humbug” in relation to all the hoo haa there is over Christmas. In our day and age it is very easy to say “Bah humbug” too when we see all the tinsel and glitter surrounding this very special time for Christians.

Just consider all the extra stresses we place upon ourselves and others at Christmas time. The last minute rush for present buying in overcrowded shops. The pressure of having extra people in the house. The children are home from that wonderful baby-minding service called school. Friends call in to say hello and overstay their welcome. Last minute food preparations for the Christmas dinner. Fridges full to overflowing. Traffic slows to a tortoise’s gallop. The freezer packs up. Bah humbug! Whatever happened to “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all men???” We all need reminders every year that this is a time when we celebrate an incredible fact.

“Immanuel – God is with us”.

It sounds incredible but it’s true. The mighty God of the universe, the one who created all things, the one who holds the sun, moon and stars in their appointed places – He chose to come as a tiny, helpless baby to live with us. It sounds incredible – but it’s true.

Without that very fact, the simple feast we call communion would be meaningless. Without almighty God becoming Man, living with us and amongst us, our salvation would not have been achieved. Without the events of that first Christmas, the sacrifice of Easter would not have been possible. Without the birth of Jesus Christ as a baby and his subsequent death on the cross as a man, we would not know the joy or the peace which comes from trusting in Him as our saviour.

So – forget all the hoo haa. Forget all the glitter and tinsel. Don’t focus on all the humbug. But rather – in the midst of all that hurry and scurry – let your mind dwell on the true reason for Christmas. He came so that we might know His salvation.

˄TH

FALLING IN LOVE

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

I love books. I buy far too many and read far too few. I once heard of another woman who loved books. One day she was disappointed to realise that one of the volumes she brought home was not at all what she had hoped for. It was dry, lacked relevance and had symbolism that she could not embrace. Very poorly written and a waste of money, she thought. She put it on one of her shelves and forgot about it.

Years later on a rare night away from her books, she found herself at a party and engaged in a fascinating discussion with a young man. It was pretty much love at first word. They talked for hours and found they had much in common; he was a writer and she a librarian. A match for sure! It was hard for them to part ways at the end of the night and she floated home, not feeling the pavement beneath her feet.

Too excited to sleep, she decided to peruse her vast personal library to see if she could find any books written by her newfound friend. And indeed she did! It was covered in dust. That’s right — it was the poorly written find from years before. She sat down with a cup of tea and began to read. How wrong she had been! It was the most meaningful, insightful and eloquent novel ever written . . .

What happened?  Had the book been magically transformed?  No? She had fallen in love with the author. Many of us have a book on our bookcase covered in dust. A love letter, written to us personally and ignorantly ignored. We don’t open it often. Why? Because we haven’t fallen in love with the Author. And it grieves Him.

It’s a conundrum to be sure. What comes first, a love for the Word or a love for Him? I think the answer is found in 1 John 4:19. We need to ‘meet’ the author before we can truly embrace his writing. We need to fall in love with the One who loved us first. Ask Jesus to be your Saviour and Lord of your life. Begin an amazing relationship that will last an eternity . . . live your own love story that includes an everlasting happily ever after. The Book will become completely engaging once you fall in love with the Author.

By Lori Dixon, Writer/Speaker/Servant of Christ (Published in “Christian Women” November 2013)

Christian Women’s Fellowship

The last meeting for this year will be on Tuesday 3^rd December at 1:30pm.

It will be our Christmas break up.

Please bring gifts for the residents of Lerwin Nursing Home wrapped and labelled for either a male or female.

˄CH