Sunday 4th December Front Page

It’s strange how God seems to impress upon you a particular Scripture and you just can’t seem to get it out of your mind. One such Scripture for me is John 10:10 and I thought I would share it with you today, at least the second part of that verse where it says “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”.
I am convinced as I read that and as the Holy Spirit ministers that verse to me that our salvation is very much a here and now event. So often we get caught up with the truth of a future eternity, and that’s good, but Jesus has so much more for us, and it is for us now. Salvation is more than just waiting to die. “I have come so that they may have a full life” We are called to live an abundant life now empowered by the Spirit of God.
What a waste to sit back and wait for a future event, a joyous as that will be, when we can enjoy the fruit of salvation now. An abundant life is there for those that choose to live it now, Jesus promises it, the question is, do we choose to accept it? The kingdom is present today in the hearts of those that allow Jesus to rule and reign. Let me encourage you today to choose to live the ‘full life’ that Jesus has for you.
May God bless you as choose to follow and serve Jesus today.                       Blair

Sunday 27th November Front Page

I received this from a friend this week. it encouraged me, I hope it does you too.

The Benefits of Struggling
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then merged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shrivelled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.Neither happened!In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shrivelled wings.
It never was able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.
And we could never fly.
Be encouraged! Blair

Sunday 20th November Front Page

Australia has finally made it!!!   Australians can now join with millions of other around the world worshipping the religion of soccer as they take part in next year’s World Cup.
One commentator at the match last Wednesday night referred to soccer as his ‘religion’ and urged all others of like mind to ‘pray’ for an Australian victory.
To see the 83,000 fans worshipping at the match and to think of the millions doing likewise at home makes us understand that religion can be anything that you become devoted to. You are so engrossed in the ‘religion’ that it “consumes your consciousness” (Oxford Dictionary).
So many today see Christianity that way, they see a religion that engrosses them, but like soccer our religion must have an object. A football follower while knowing the rules is more interested in the game being played on the ground. It would be pretty dull if all he does is study the rules of the game and doesn’t see any game in action. The same applies for the Christian, our religion, or faith, has an object, our Lord Jesus Christ. For us it would be very dull if all we did was to study religious rules and laws rather than pursue and embrace a personal relationship with the object of our religion. Rules while necessary and relevant can draw us away from the real purpose God has for us and that is relationship. Christianity is a ‘religion’ of relationship, relationship with God and with each other.  That was Jesus’ command to us, love God and love each other.
How is your relationship with Jesus today? Is that the most important facet of your religious experience?
May we all be encouraged today to make sure we worship the purpose of our religion, not the religion itself.                                         Blair

FAMILY SERVICE 13th November 2005

Welcome to our special family service. The word family to some conjures up painful memories, while for others it brings back memories of incredible happiness and joy.
Families are the basis of our society and it is God’s design for the way we live together.
However there are some who, for whatever reason are isolated from their families and that is why it is so important to know that as a child of God, we are all members of His universal family.
No matter what the family is like we usually ‘model’ our behaviour from our parents and as a member of God’s family we have the perfect role model to follow in our heavenly father. We need to discover and rediscover the Character of God as displayed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ and revealed to us in His Word and then model that character in our own lives.
Today we will be privileged to be ministered to by various demographic groups within our church family, from the more senior to the young.
May you all be blessed as you share in the fruits of God’s family today.
God Bless Blair