“The call of God is to preach the gospel–namely, the reality of redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The one passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the gospel of God. He welcomed heartbreak, disillusionment, and tribulation for only one reason–these things kept him unmovable in his devotion to the gospel of God.”

Oswald Chambers, from My Utmost for His Highest.*

*This book is available in our church bookshop.

Almost a tradesman of the past is the cobbler, the master boot-maker and shoe repairer. Harry, a famous theologian, had worked in his early years in a cobbler’s shop. It was his task to cut out the required shapes of cowhide, soak them in water, and then pound them before they could be nailed to the boot.

Across the road there was another cobbler’s shop. One day Harry went over to visit the man at work and noticed that he skipped the pounding process.  On questioning the man at work about this he was told, “It’s good for business. The boots come back quicker for mending.”

Harry puzzled over this and then asked his boss about it. Being a man of good character and one who endeavoured to live the Christian way of life the reply came, “What I do, I do my best. When I enter Heaven, I want to receive the ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ as my reward.”

Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

Benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Cor. 13:14)

˄GS

“Put all ‘supposing’ on one side and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty.

Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing.

All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God.”

Oswald Chambers, in Run Today’s Race from The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers.

• As we embark on a new church year after last Sunday’s AGM, commit our mission and ministry to God. May He be pleased to work in and with and through us to grow His kingdom.
• Pray for our newly elected church leaders especially as we set them aside next Sunday.
• As our guest speaker Bishop Patrick Sookhdeo mentioned last week we ought to be praying that our Australian representatives in Jordan will be especially mindful of Christians seeking a fresh start in our country as they have suffered so much.
• Malcolm Turnbull is our nation’s 29th Prime Minister. Pray for him as he heads up our government especially thankful that political changes can occur in Australia without violence.
• Pray for those in our church family who are battling illness of one form or another.
• Pray for those in our community striving to help families impacted by domestic violence.

˄GS

It seems ages away and then, all of a sudden, our church Annual General Meeting is upon us. Welcome everyone on this significant day in the life of our community of faith. To anyone who may be present as a visitor it is our pleasure to extend to you a special “Welcome!” We are pleased to have you worship with us. After the service you are invited to stay and enjoy a drink and something to eat in our coffee shop as we share a quick bite to eat before the AGM gets under way at 1.00pm.

A prayer of invocation for today reads, “Almighty God, grant that we who worship you this day may present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to you. By the power of your Holy Spirit make us strong to fulfil our ministry this day. Amen”

Who will be our Worship Leader today? At the time of compiling the newsletter it was to be our pastor, but as he has been battling with laryngitis we’ll wait and see who stands on the stage when 10am arrives. The one thing that is certain is that leading us as we share in Communion together will be Bob Menadue.

When it is time for us to consider what God’s Word may have for us today Pastor Grant will be presenting the first of three sermons on the subject of angels, the title of this morning’s message being “Angels – God’s Messengers.”

As we enter a new church year may these words of the prophet Isaiah be a real encouragement to us (you may like to print them out and put them on your fridge or by your bed) –

“Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”

Benediction : Heavenly Father, bless each of us as we open our hearts to you. Fill us with your love, and as we head out into another new week help us to trust you with every area of our lives. Amen.

˄GS

We will be meeting again tomorrow morning for our time of worship together again. Our service starts at 10am and runs for about 90 minutes.

Our worship leader for the service is Pastor Grant Spangenberg, but at the time of writing this earlier in the week he was still struggling with laryngitis. We are praying that he will have a voice to lead us on Sunday. If not, we will just have be ready for a change!

During the service we will, as usual, remember our Lord’s suffering, death and resurrection by observing the Lord’s Supper (Communion). All who love our Lord Jesus Christ as their saviour are welcome to join us. Bob Menadue will be leading us during this time.

When it is time for us to consider what God’s Word may have for us today Pastor Grant will be presenting the first of three sermons on the subject of angels, the title of this morning’s message being “Angels – God’s Messengers.”

After the service we will have fellowship over a cuppa and a shared finger-food lunch. This will be followed at 1 o’clock by our church Annual General Meeting of members.

˄TH

“There are times when you can’t understand why you cannot do what you want to do.

Never run before God gives you His direction. If you have the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding.

Wait for God’s timing and He will do it without any heartache or disappointment.

When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.”

Oswald Chambers, from the My Utmost for His Highest Perpetual Calendar.