ABC News sheet 16th February 2020
This week, set aside some time out of your normal schedule to place before God anything in your life that you simply wished wasn’t there. Thank God that He is your fortress and in Him you can trust.
This week, set aside some time out of your normal schedule to place before God anything in your life that you simply wished wasn’t there. Thank God that He is your fortress and in Him you can trust.
This Sunday evening is our monthly slot for an Inspirational Word from the Scriptures. Tonight, we will be listening to God speak to us through the prophet Isaiah as God reminds us of His purpose in creating mankind. We were made by God and for God. We were made to bring glory to Him. God’s reminds us that, “He formed us, He created us, He redeemed us and He called us by name”. His words resonate in our hearts as He says to us, “You are mine!” Please don’t miss this message.
Today Simon will be bringing us a message based on Ezekiel’s vision that revealed God’s absolute moral perfection to the Israelites who were then captives in Babylon. God made it clear that He was spiritually and morally superior to their corrupt and compromising society. Consequently, because God is morally perfect, He can help us to stand firm and live our lives in a way that honours Him rather than compromising with the world’s values. When we focus on His greatness, when we stand in awe of Him, He gives us the strength to overcome sin and to reflect His holiness.
This week, why not pray that God will open your eyes to see more of His power at work in you and in the world around you? Perhaps then you will understand why we should really always stand in “awe of Him”.
Have you ever been labelled for something you have done, or perhaps even worse, for something you haven’t done? Labelling people is often hurtful, so thank God that in His eyes every one of us is special. Every one of us is beautiful. He loves every one of us! It’s what’s in your heart that matters to God.
This evening we will be holding our monthly Devotional Communion around the Communion table. Our text for this service is Isaiah 46:1-5 in which God reminds that He is the one who made us and carries us when we are struggling. He is the one who sustains and it He who has rescued us through. Now that really is worth remembering and celebration together. Please join us.
Today is our monthly family service and so, as you look around the congregation, you might spot some new faces. Do make them feel welcome and part of our family. As you look around, I am also sure that you won’t find anyone who is exactly the same as you. It is somewhat reassuring to know that we are all unique and, although we all made in God’s image, we are still all different. This is one of the many wonders of God’s creation. In our world people are often labelled by categories as it they were products on the shelf. Some labels are useful but labelling people can be misleading and even hurtful. It’s good to know that the LORD does not look at the things man looks at. He doesn’t label us in the way we do. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7) Today take the opportunity to see beyond the labels that we sometimes use to define people by and, in doing so, challenge the stereotypes that often go unquestioned. In God’s eyes every one of us is special. Every one of us is beautiful. He loves every one of us! It’s what’s in your heart that counts.
As we continue into this new decade, the leadership team and I have been praying for the Lord to give us His direction for the church. In particular, how can we turn our vision to love God, love each other and to love the lost into meaningful, Christ-like action. Over the last two weeks we looked at the first two pillars of our vision – Loving God. And Loving each other. In today’s talk, we will be looking at the third pillar – Loving the lost. In our reading today, Jesus teaches an expert in the Law, what it really means to love your neighbour as he tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It is a familiar story, but do we really take Jesus’ message to heart and live our lives accordingly?
This week we reach Mandate III of our vision statement as we are challenged by Jesus to love the lost. What do you intend to do about that this weekend?
This Sunday evening is our monthly slot for “Prayer and presence”. In these sessions, there is a short word intended to encourage us in our praying. In this evening’s reading from Leviticus, we read how God reveals that it is only by keeping His Divine laws that we will can move towards a state of holiness where will then be able to resist the corruption of modern day living. Further by striving