"17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, "Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers.” - Mark 11:17
Ahoy church,
Three things are happening this week.
1) We are moving to 3pm start times for winter
2) We are meeting at City Life for our monthly gathering. No arvo tea, just join us at 3:00 p.m. and we'll start with communion and worship not long after.
3) Some of you will "hear from God" this week.
As I shared last week, "hearing from God" can be easily misunderstood and sometimes even by a source of frustration in our faith.
One of the reasons many give up is that, “when I listen I hear nothing”.
I can relate!
When we don't hear from God it can be easy to imagine that either God doesn't speak or he doesn't want to speak to you. Either you're the problem, or God is the problem.
However, as any mother or wife knows, if u randomly ask a child or husband, “What are u thinking about?" They’ll probably say, “Nothing". On the other hand, if you go for a 2-hour walk or sit by the fire for a night, most children, and even most husbands, tend to have a lot on their minds!
When in Italy with Martine and two-year-old Noah, I saw old men with walking sticks having espresso in the sun each morning talking for ….hours.
What’s the common ingredient? Time.
There are no hard limits to the time required to "hear" from God, or our loved ones. He can work when he wants, and every word he speaks is an unmerited gift. However, it seems that the more time we sit with our Bibles and a prayerful heart, the more we “hear”.
In our Monday night discipleship courses (we will run it again later in the year), one of the practices we are learning is Silence and Stillness. If you know your Bible and Christian history, this is a powerful practice that has enlarged the faith of many.
Given stilling yourself in silence before God is quite foreign to many Christians and can often sound like some form of new-age "emptying your mind" practice, it can be helpful to learn from others.
Personally, with lots on my mind and a full house, I found that sitting quietly before God became harder than usual. So, last week I revisited a simple prayer Guideline for Silence and Stillness that Renee provided to our group. It gives pointers on sitting in silence and stillness before God:
- Receive
- Surrender
- Listen
Receive God's Love
"For God so loved the world..." John 3:16
Every Christian has had an encounter with God's love for them. All Christians have moments or seasons when they forget that, or worse, come to believe God's love for them has gone. This is why we take time to sit in quiet and remember that in Jesus's death on the cross, we have a permanent love letter from heaven.
We let go, surrendering our will to His
"Not my will but your will must be done" Jesus in Luke 22:42
In the life of even Jesus, we see our necessary willingness to submit our own will to God's will. When we sit quietly before God, we remind ourselves of what God has, and is, calling us to that we are yet to obey. This could be past invitations God has given us, or direct commands from scripture (e.g. "forgive, as you have been forgiven") that we are yet to obey.
We open ourselves to hear God speak
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit...he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" John 14:26
Once we have been reminded of God's love, and submitted ourselves to him, it's amazing how God's whispers grow louder. It seems even more likely when we have our Bible open on our laps (or Bible app in our hands). John 14:26 reminds us that Christianity is not simply a set of superior spiritual and ethical teachings. Beyond that, it is an introduction to life reunited with God. God's Holy Spirit resides within us and promises to teach us all the truth needed for us to live this life and the next with Jesus.
So, this week, why not make time to hear.
Need to hear from your children? Make time with them.
Need to hear from your spouse? Make time for them.
Need to hear from God? Make time to receive, surrender and listen.
Cheers, God Bless and see you Sunday, 4pm at City Life!
Dan
Jesus: Do this in remembrance of me
This Sunday we won't be looking at one of Jesus' teachings, rather, we will share communion together at our monthly Gathering. As a reminder, Christ only left us two formal rituals - baptism and the Lord's Supper. So, join us as we cherish Jesus and his sacrifice for us.
"16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.” - 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
Coming Up
June - NEW Sunday time, from 3pm
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
Sun 01 - 3pm Monthly Celebration @ City Life led by John + Bec
Sun 08 - 3pm Beach Gathering at Moffats + Baptisms (Soli!)
Sun 15 - 3pm Beach Gathering at Moffats + Baptisms (Soli!)
Sun 22 - 3pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
Wed 25 - 545pm Deacons
Sun 29 - 3pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
Our Mission
To help people find and follow Jesus.
Our Rhythms
Get to Know Jesus: how are you getting to know Jesus this week?
Invite people into your life: who can you intentionally open up your life to?
Gather and get involved: who can you connect, listen, share or pray with this weekend?
Our Giving
We are slowly being led to needs for our giving kitty! Please take time to ask God if there is someone in need around you whom God wants you/us to help!
Last month's giving: $12,581
Last month's expenses: $12,696
Balance: $73,600
Giving in : Oct 23-Apr 25: $5000
Giving out : Oct 23-Apr 25: $13,374
"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." - Proverbs 19:17
If you would like to support what we are doing and our giving to those in need, you can get started giving to Open Road to meet the needs of our church or get in touch with any questions you may have.
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