Coming up this weekend 3rd – 4th November 2018
This weekend we continue our series on ‘Romans: The Heart of Truth’, with Jodie speaking on the topic ‘How to be a good citizen’ from Romans chapter 13 verses 1 to 7.
It’s the right time for us to recognise many of the needs of our missionaries, so at both our services, we will have a special update about Church Missionary Society (CMS) which is our Mission of the Month.
At our 5pm Saturday service we will have our popular weekly question and answer time, and Jodie will be answering these questions:
- What was the purpose of making burnt offerings to the Lord?
- Is it ever OK to lie, especially if it helps avoid conflict within the church?
Our 8am Sunday service will be a Morning Prayer AAPB service.
If you’re wanting to check out our church we’d really love you to visit us on Saturday at 5pm for a contemporary service with kids’ program and dinner afterwards. Our youth group ‘Alive’ runs straight after dinner on Saturday night. Or come along on Sunday at 8am for a Prayer Book service.
If you can’t make it in person, you’re welcome to jump online to watch the service (with the same sermon and many other items) at www.oakflats.tv.
See you at 5pm this Saturday or 8am this Sunday, God willing!
Not all Christians are H-A-P-P-Y!
CREDIT: Photo donnierayjones, via Flickr.
There’s a Christian song that we love to sing to kids which goes like this:
I’m H-A-P-P-Y, I’m H-A-P-P-Y, I know I am, I’m sure I am, I’m H-A-P-P-Y.
I’m H-A-P-P-Y, I’m H-A-P-P-Y, because I know God loves me so, I’m H-A-P-P-Y.
It’s a great little song, especially for young kids who really understand only two emotions: sad and happy.
And so with this simple message is a simple truth: joy, satisfaction, happiness is found in the love of God.
Yet, we get much older, we realise that even as people who know Jesus and are loved by him, there will be times when we will experience great sadness.
I was reminded of this as I recently read Psalm 6 as part of my daily Bible reading. It says:
I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears. My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies. (Psalm 6:6-7).
It’s a lot different to the “H-A-P-P-Y” experience of the kids’ song, but it shows that sorrow is an authentic experience of the Christian.
Yet, Christian sadness is not without hope. The Psalm continues in this way:
Go away, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD will answer my prayer. (Psalm 6:8-9)
As we experience sadness, we can know that God hears us in our grief, and he answers our prayers.
And our hope is future-focused: we look forward to him answering our prayer for deliverance from our enemies and the rescue that we are promised because of Jesus.
Whether you’re H-A-P-P-Y or S-A-D, you can look forward to being restored and rescued by our saviour Jesus Christ, as we await his return or our going to be with him.
JODIE McNEILL
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