Thank you to those who have already sent through their updated preferences for LG as we move from 2 to 3 groups. If you haven’t yet, please do so asap :) Our aim is not to shake up the LG’s more than we need to. Mainly we want to send out people from the groups rather than move people amongst already existing Life Groups. To make the best decisions to serve you we need the best information! Thank you!
Please indicate to me 2-3 people you would love to be in Life Group with, (couples reply as a unit pls)
Let me know what nights you are currently available for (either Wed/Thurs)
Indicate if you have a strong preference for a particular group.
As we move from one tragedy to another it can be hard to keep up. From drought, to fire, to a pandemic, to economic crisis, to riots, protesting, and uprising. It is sad and it is wearying and it’s a constant reminder that we aren’t home yet. May all this disruption, devastation, and disaster, lead us to be men and women on our knees, pleading desperately for our King to return. May we sing all the more:
“Lord haste the day
when our faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound,
and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.”
As we see sad and terrible things it is right to be moved, grieved, and to weep. In fact, when it comes close to home in our churches, we are called to “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15b).
But we also need to be reminded that our world is not neutral. Our media is not neutral. Our facebook feeds are not neutral. There is NO neutrality. No one is without bias. No one has the whole truth. No one is free from an agenda. No one is without selfish ambition or vain conceit. Whether they be Christian, communist, or a card carrying atheist. Including me, and including you.
This is why the Psalmist wrote Psalm 119, 176 verses of worshipful praise in response to the truth of God’s unchanging and true word. The Word of God is truth. It is the only source of uncontaminated truth we can have in this world. May his prayer be our prayer:
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes!
So as we think all these issues, we are pressed in every direction by people who claim to have the truth. They want you to jump on their truth bandwagon, and do it now. They say things like “silence is agreement” or “silence is abuse”. They demand instant action, with no room for dialogue, critique, or questioning. They use tactics of fear, shame, and abuse, to ensure their views are pushed to the front. Sometimes silence is wrong but sometimes silence is called for. Wisdom and courage dictates our speaking not the mob.
Brothers and sisters, be not swayed by fear of man, or more to the point, fear of the mob. Because that is how our culture dialogues now. It is mob tactics and tribalism. You are either with ‘us’ or ‘them’. There can be no middle ground in the mob.
But as Christians, we cannot be partisan to one side or the other. We have bent our knees to the King Jesus, we have sworn allegiance to Him. And thus there are times when the mob will be on the side of Jesus, and times when they won’t be. There will be times when a political party does what is right, just, and true, and times when they won’t. There are times when a cause looks and sounds as if it is in alignment with Jesus, and it is on the surface, but once you go underground and observe the roots, you realise it is fundamentally poisoned and toxic.
A good example of this is the #blacklivesmatters movement. Black lives really do matter, we know this from Genesis 1, and so it can be tempting to jump on board and use the phrase and the hashtag…but the movement underneath this phrase is one that diametrically opposes God’s revealed truth in Genesis 1 and 2 when it comes to sexuality, the role of men and women, the plan of God for the world etc. (read about it here: https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/)
Protestors’ placards and instagram posts are catchy soundbites but they rarely offer more than that. Dig deeper behind the slogans and headlines and investigate the facts of the matter before you jump on board. Beware of the danger of virtue signalling, the desire to appear one thing, without actually being that thing. Jesus had a lot to say about that in Matthew 6:1-18!
So may I encourage you, keep searching the scriptures, and let the truth of God be your guide and foundation. There are many schemes of the evil one, he loves to twist the truth and make poison apples look delicious.
Don’t take the bait.
Fight the half truths with whole ones!
What could be more relevant for us today than this passage in James 1?
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
And though we have many opponents in this world, our chief opponent is the evil one, not flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). We are called to love our enemy, even when they are in our face. But love does not mean agreeing with their demands, and hoping they will leave us alone. No, there are times, once we have listened humbly to the implanted word and learned, where we must speak up and stand up, and bear the wrath of the mob, praying fervently “thy kingdom come, thy will be done” and “come soon”! Amen.
We are going to introduce another new (old) song this week! This is a hymn written by Martin Luther the German reformer. It celebrates the victory we have in Christ over evil spiritual forces by resting in Him. This is a fresh version of the hymn by Heartsong. Reflect upon these lyrics!
A mighty fortress is our God
A bulwark never failing
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe
His craft and pow'r are great
And armed with cruel hate
On earth is not his equal
If we in our own strength confide
Our striving would be losing
Were not the right Man on our side
The Man of God's own choosing
You ask who that may be
Christ Jesus it is He
The Lord of Hosts His name
From age to age the same
And He must win the battle
And tho' this world with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us
We will not fear for God hath willed
His truth to triumph thru us
A Mighty Fortress is our God
His kingdom is forever
His kingdom is forever
If we in our own strength confide
Our striving would be losing.
On Sunday we looked at the first three piece of spiritual armour that God has given us to protect us from the schemes of the evil one: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the boots of gospel peace.
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” Ephesians 6:14-17
It doesn’t always feel like we are in a war, but the words of Mr Spurgeon are a good and timely reminder:
“There is no believer in Christ, no follower of that which is true and lovely and of good repute, who will not find himself, at some season or other, attacked by this foul fiend and the legions enlisted in his service. Behold your adversary. Though you cannot see his face and detect his form, believe that such a foe withstands you.” Charles Spurgeon
Put on your armour, stand, fight, and win! Listen to the sermon here.
We also sang a new song: How Firm A Foundation - by Norton Hall Band
You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/5UvBH9lPU1I
Join us for Friday prayer to commit our church and the world the Lord. Join for as long as you can, pop in and out.
Please share any prayer requests even if you can’t come, we’d love to pray for you.
As it is often said, “the church advances on its knees”.
As I mentioned on Sunday, we are still unable to gather physically for our church services due to our venue not yet opening up permission for us to meet there. Hopefully we can meet soon and safely! Once we are given permission we can finalise our plans as to how that will look. As of now, it is not likely that all of us will be able to gather at one time due to the current rulings and so there will be some form of a roster system to make it work. More details to come!
Please keep going with Zoom, please keep loving each other, please keep reaching out if you need help or some company! God is sustaining us! Keep praying for COVID to end!
Beginning in Term 3 we will launch our newest preaching series: “The Gospel According to Matthew: Jesus Is King”. And as the title suggests, we will be going through the Gospel of Matthew. More on the details of this series later. But for now, you can start to buy your Matthew Journal so you can start to read through it and take notes and prepare your hearts. You can pick them up from the Spring’s house or contact Riley for an alternative arrangement. We have the illustrated pretty editions and the black plain editions.
You may be following the saddening events that are taking place in the US. There is widespread animosity and outrage in communities in the wake of the death of George Floyd. There is mass protesting, and even rioting in some cities. There are constant altercations between citizens and the US and National Guard.
There is fear, there is hatred, there is death.
There is a cry of anguish, and a cry for justice.
And there is a desire for more, for better, for peace, and for love.
As we look on, it can be confusing, and worrying. And there are even reverberations of this in our own nation. But in all of this, we must keep our eyes on things above. We must look up and cry to the God of heaven for his peace and justice to reign. We must plea for the powerful message of the gospel to bring true and lasting repentance and reconciliation. We must seek to be moved by God to be filled with compassion and love. Please pray for Sovereign Grace Pastors in US Churches who are dealing with these issues.
Ephesians 2:13-16
“13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”
The only way to kill hostility and bring reconciliation is through the cross of Christ.