Daily Reflections: Monday to Thursday 7:30am – 8:00am
Maundy Thursday: 7:30pm
Good Friday: 9:00am
Church Picnic: Saturday 4th April at Bow Hill
Easter Sunday: Dawn Service at Sturt Reserve on the banks of the Murray River 6:30am
Worship Service: 10:00am
Mt Macedon Victoria
I recently went to see the movie The water diviner. It was a very interesting film to see, especially since some parts of it were filmed here in South Australia. The story line concerns the quest of a father who went seeking the bodies of his three sons who died at Gallipoli in the First World War. It is a poignant and engaging film.
After seeing the film I borrowed the Peter Fitzsimons book called Gallipoli, a very heavy tome of 711 pages plus over 100 pages of references. The author has extensively quoted from diaries, journals and official documents of those involved. It is an intriguing and distressing account of the ANZAC campaign of 1915. I learnt a great deal from the book.
The sacrifices made on both sides of the conflict were enormous. The hardships were almost unbelievable. The failures of the allied campaign are well documented. As we move towards our observance of Easter, followed closely by the centenary observance of the events at Anzac Cove in Turkey, the concept of extreme sacrifice will be much in the news and on our minds.
Paul wrote in Romans 5:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
On the battlefields of war a great deal of blood has been shed, and many lives lost. In some cases, like that of Anzac Cove, it seems it was without any tangible benefits. With His sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary, the shed blood of Jesus has enormous implications for all who trust in him.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5)
˄TH
OPEN DOORS
Special Meeting
Multi-media presentation
“DANGEROUS FAITH”
Thursday 19th March 2015 and 7:30pm
Venue: Murray Bridge Church of Christ
32 Seventh Street, Murray Bridge, South Australia.
Please note that there will be a retiring offering.
Please bring a plate of supper to share.
All welcome.
˄TH
Churches of Christ have had a number of churches for many years on the islands of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean to the east of Australia. Over recent days the island nation has been devastated by the worse cyclone in living memory.
At the time of writing, at least 24 people have lost their lives and many people have lost their homes and their livelihood. There is an urgent need to help these people rebuild their homes, lives and infrastructure.
According to recent updates, over 15,000 homes are uninhabitable and a total of 42,000 homes have been damaged. At least 150,000 people have been impacted by the storm, out of a population of 260,000.
Global Mission Partners (GMP) will be working through the Vanuatu Church Partnership Program in Vanuatu, of which the Conference of Churches of Christ in Vanuatu is a partner in responding to this disaster. Through tax deductible giving to COCOA, GMP will bring humanitarian assistance to those in greatest need.
Churches of Christ Overseas Aid (COCOA) has opened an appeal to help these people. You can donate to this appeal by going to their website by clicking here.
They would also appreciate your prayers during this difficult time.
˄TH
Every month we have a special worship service at the Murraylands Homes for the Aged. These meetings are held in the Jean Jarvis Centre, Pugh Avenue, Murray Bridge on the third Tuesday of each month at 2pm.
Today’s service will be led by Trevor Purdie.
Elder Ted Smith will lead us around the Lord’s Table (Communion).
The speaker will be Pastor Grant Spangenberg.
Afternoon tea is provided.
All welcome.
˄TH
Monday 16th March 7:30pm: Hampel’s Home Group
Tuesday 17th March 9am Pastoral Care Group meeting
Tuesday 17th March 2pm Service at Murraylands Homes
Tuesday 17th March 7:30pm Elders’ meeting
Wednesday 18th March 10am: New Bible Study group
Wednesday 18th March 10am: Craft Group
Wed 18th – Fri 20th March: Coffee Shop 10am – 2pm
Wed 18th March 7:30pm Page’s Home Group (at Purdie’s home)
Thursday 19th March: 7:30pm Open Doors “Dangerous Faith”
Friday 20th – Sunday 22nd March CWCI Convention Victor Harbor
Saturday 21st March: 7:29am Men’s Bible Study
Sunday 22nd March: 10am Worship Service
Sunday 22nd March: Junior Sunday School
This morning’s message from Pastor Grant had a focus on the third ‘outward’ spiritual discipline that is ‘Submission”, and the title of his message was “Living the Cross-Life.”
In Meditations of a hermit Charles de Foucauld makes comment about submission. He writes, “In my thoughts, words and actions, whether directed to myself or my neighbour, I must never trouble about worldly position, celebrity, or human esteem, but respect the poor equally with the rich.
I must take as much trouble about the humblest workman as about the prince, since God appeared as a humble workman. Always, for myself, seek the lowest place, and be as low as my Master, so as to be with him and walk in his steps like a faithful servant and disciple, as a faithful brother or sister, a faithful spouse. [In living this way] I may be beside my Master, who lived thus all his life, and has given me the example ever since his birth.”
Benediction: Live today, and indeed each day in the week ahead, in Christ’s presence, remembering he is near and will sustain you as you serve in his name. Amen.
˄GS
All are welcome to join us for a time of worship, communion and fellowship tomorrow commencing at 10am in our church worship centre at 32 Seventh Street, Murray Bridge, South Australia.
Our worship leader will be elder Trevor Hampel, who will also lead us around the Lord’s Table (Communion) during the service.
The speaker tomorrow will be Pastor Grant Spangenberg who will speak in the topic of ‘submission’, The title of his sermon is “Living the Cross-Life”. The Bible readings will be taken from Philippians 2: 1 – 8 and 12 – 18.
After the service all are welcome to join us for a time of fellowship over a cuppa in the Coffee Shop.
˄TH
We are having special meetings at the church tonight and also next Thursday.
Tonight: Cornerstone Foundation Australia – informing us about a special work in Uganda. 7:30pm. Supper to follow.
Thursday 19th March: Open Doors: multi-media presentation called “Dangerous Faith” about the persecuted church – what is it like to be a Christian in the Middle East countries of Egypt, Syria and Iraq. 7:30pm. Supper to follow.
All welcome. Bring a friend.
TH
The message from God’s word today has a focus on the second outward spiritual discipline that is ‘solitude’ with the title of the sermon being ‘Creating Space for God.’
In thinking about this Omid Safi, after seeing his the hurt in his daughter when she came in to sing and dance for him only to see him on his laptop, wrote an article, ‘The thief of Intimacy: Busyness’.
In it he says, ‘We live in a culture that celebrates activity. We collapse our sense of who we are into what we do for a living. The public performance of busyness is how we demonstrate to one another that we are important. The more people see us as tired, exhausted, over-stretched, the more people think we must be somehow… indispensable. That we matter.
We have become a thing-centred society: the accumulation of stuff is one of our favourite priorities. We define our worth through the number of tasks we fulfil. How do we become a person-centred society again?
So what’s the price we pay for being busy? It’s not that being busy makes us more stressed, or less efficient, or less pleasant. It’s that we miss out. We miss out on an extraordinary amount of time, of being present, of living in the intimacy with the people we love the most. The price we pay is… intimacy. Intimacy is what we all crave. We all want to be loved. We want to give love and receive love. Somewhere we read that love is patient, love is kind. Real love is also often undocumented, but lived.
To love someone, truly love someone, we have to be there. We have to be there wholeheartedly. Not with one eye on the laptop, one eye on the child. Not with one eye on our partner, one eye on the iPhone. To love someone wholly, we have to be wholeheartedly present ourselves. Being ‘busy’ robs us of that intimacy. There is a whole eternity present inside each of these moments, these breaths, in which we are truly present. And there is a thief that robs the grace inside these moments. That thief is busyness.’
Benediction: May the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guards your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)
˄GS