Monday, July 22, 2013
Mastering Your Money
Good Morning Everyone
Thought you may be interested in a summary of yesterday's sermon, Biblical Tips for Mastering Money. 1. Honour God, Proverbs 10:22, 30:8-9, 3:9-10 & Deutoronomy 8:1-18. 2. Seek Wisdom, Proverbs 2:1-22, 8:19 & 16:16. 3. Work Hard, Proverbs 10:4, 20:13, 13:11 & 21:5, make plans and save, give 10%, save 10% and live off the rest.4. Help Others, Proverbs 28:27, 29:7, 14:31, 1 John 3:17, Micah 6:8, God helps those who help others.
Blessings
Bruce
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Discipling by TXT
The number of text messages between me and Vic is now in the seventies. Fortunately my phone plan is very accommodating and I can send substantial messages covering the Seven Commands of Jesus, Seven Stories of Hope and Seven Miracles in John. In reply to the question, "If God could perform a miracle in your life what would it be, what would it look like?" Vic responded, "Peace and someone to love me as I am unconditionally."
We have started reading the book of Acts together taking it two chapters at a time. This has allowed me to include some brief commentary and words of encouragement.
As always God is transforming us from the inside out, for He can be trusted to bring to completion the work He began in us the day we decided to follow Jesus.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Sharing Jesus by TXT
Vic had seemingly turned up unannounced at the church office. He wanted to talk to someone about getting back to God. A person in the office listened to Vic's story and explained how he could return to God.
I was invited to give Vic a follow up call. After several attempts I was able contact Vic and arrange a time to catch up.
As I listened to Vic's story I waited on the prompting of God's Spirit. Vic's world had come crashing down around him and he wanted to get back to God. I invited Vic to read aloud the story of the lost son, Luke 15:11-32. It didn't take long, tears welled up in Vic's eyes, and I was moved to tears.
I explained to Vic that he didn't need to wait, that before he left he could be sure he had returned to God. Vic followed me and prayed aloud to commit himself to God.
Since then we have communicated by text message with Vic expressing his appreciation of the Scripture passages I've provided. I've been thrilled to observe the growth in Vic's faith and the number of text messages continues to grow.
I mentioned at the start that Vic had turned up seemly unannounced driven by a deep sense of need. However, during our chat Vic explained that a good friend, the lawn mower man, who regular cuts the grass for the church, suggested there seemed to be good people at the church and he might find someone he could talk to.
God works through the people he chooses. And he can use text messaging as well.
I was invited to give Vic a follow up call. After several attempts I was able contact Vic and arrange a time to catch up.
As I listened to Vic's story I waited on the prompting of God's Spirit. Vic's world had come crashing down around him and he wanted to get back to God. I invited Vic to read aloud the story of the lost son, Luke 15:11-32. It didn't take long, tears welled up in Vic's eyes, and I was moved to tears.
I explained to Vic that he didn't need to wait, that before he left he could be sure he had returned to God. Vic followed me and prayed aloud to commit himself to God.
Since then we have communicated by text message with Vic expressing his appreciation of the Scripture passages I've provided. I've been thrilled to observe the growth in Vic's faith and the number of text messages continues to grow.
I mentioned at the start that Vic had turned up seemly unannounced driven by a deep sense of need. However, during our chat Vic explained that a good friend, the lawn mower man, who regular cuts the grass for the church, suggested there seemed to be good people at the church and he might find someone he could talk to.
God works through the people he chooses. And he can use text messaging as well.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Living in Faith (4)
The remarkable little book He Leadeth Me, by Walter Ciszek, shows childlike faith exercised in the most demanding of circumstances.
(I'm looking forward to reading my copy when I have have finished Steve Addison's, What Jesus Started: Joining the Movement, Changing the World.)
Ciszek, raised a devout Catholic in Pennsylvania, joined a Jesuit mission and volunteered for service in Soviet Russia at the height of its militant atheism. To Ciszek's consternation, his superior assigned him instead to a mission in Poland. A few years later, war broke out and Hitler's army invaded Poland. In the horde of Polish refugees fleeing toward Russia, Ciszek saw a providential opportunity. Disguising himself as a worker, he joined the refugees and sneaked into Russia, where he had always wanted to serve. His prayers had been answered so he believed.
Not long afterwards, though, the Soviet secret police arrested Ciszek. The next five years, he was kept in Moscow's notorious Lubianka Prison, undergoing constant harassment and interrogation. In solitude throughout his time in Lubianka, Ciszek spent day and night questioning God. Where had he gone wrong? He had felt called as a priest, but how could he serve in solitary confinement? What use was all his training? Why was he being punished? Finally, he caved in to KGB demands and signed a written confession of spying activities. When he refused to cooperate further, he received a sentence of fifteen years hard labour in Siberia.
In the Gulag's much harsher conditions of fierce cold and fourteen hour work days, Ciszek got at last the chance to serve as a priest, after gradually winning the confidence of Ukrainian Catholics. He took risks, endured punishment, and pursued God. One by one, all remnants of childish faith fell away. In their place grew a mature yet childlike faith, along the lines Frederick Buechner suggests.
(Childlike faith acts contrary to 'common' understanding, the centurion who approached Jesus about healing his servant, the paralytic who talked his four friends into lowering him through the roof, and Peter who stepped out of the boat onto the lake. Secondly, childlike faith knows how to accept gifts, ordinary gifts each day without thinking them ordinary, and allows us to open my hands to Gods' mercy and grace. Thirdly, children know how to trust. We place our hand in God's making a conscious decision to trust him regardless of what lay before us. Kathleen Norris came to understand that to have a relationship with God, like any relationship, she must plunge into it without knowing where it might take her. She began to trust, and from there a mature faith developed. Unrealistic expectations, legalism and unhealthy dependence changed to open-minded faith, grace and childlike trust.)
First, Ciszek had to adjust to new realities. In the years of training for priesthood, not once had he envisioned the kind of career path that lay before him in Russia. First in Poland, then Lubianka, then a Siberian labour camp, and finally exile working in a peasant village, he faced conditions he never would have chosen for himself. He had no theological or inspirational books to study, and scant Christian fellowship. He had to smuggle in wine and bread for the Eucharist. Authorities forbade all proselytism or evangelism. For a time, Ciszek felt a sense of betrayal because his calling to the priesthood had not worked out as he had expected.
Ciszek learned to accept God's will"not as we might wish it, or as we thought in our poor human wisdom it ought to be," but rather as "the twenty-four hours of each day: the people, the places, the circumstances he set before us in that time." He realised he had approached life with an expectation of what God's will should be, and assumed God would help him fulfill that. Instead, he had to learn to accept as God's will the actual situations he faced each day, most of which lay outside of his control. Ciszek's vision narrowed to a twenty-four hour time frame.
Second, Ciszek discovered new gifts coming to him from God. As he prayed, "Give us this day our daily bread," he began to accept those gifts presented before him:
Each day to me should be more than an obstacle to be gotten over, a span of time to be endured, a sequence of hours to be survived. For me, each day came forth from the hand of God newly created and alive with opportunities to do his will...We for our part can accept and offer back to God every prayer, work, and suffering of the day, no matter how insignificant or unspectacular they may seem to us...Between God and the individual soul, however, there are no insignificant moments; this is the mystery of divine providence.
Finally, and above all, Ciszek learned to trust. His book records the agony involved in overcoming doubt and trusting God when everything in his life seemed to argue against it. He learned how by watching the old-fashioned peasant faith of his convict-parishioners. "To them, God was as real as their own father, or brother, or best friend." Probably they could not have articulated their beliefs, but at the core of their beings they believed in God's faithfulness. They trusted in God, turned to him in hard times, gave thanks in the few joyful times, stood ready to lose everything in the world rather than offend God, and fully expected to be with God for eternity.
Ciszek learned and important truth:
By faith we know that God is present everywhere and is always present to us if we but turn to him. So it is we who must put ourselves in God's presence, we who must turn to him in faith, we who must leap beyond an image to the belief - indeed the realisation - that we are in the presence of a loving Father who stands always ready to listen to our childish stories and to answer to our childlike trust.
Philip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God
(I'm looking forward to reading my copy when I have have finished Steve Addison's, What Jesus Started: Joining the Movement, Changing the World.)
Ciszek, raised a devout Catholic in Pennsylvania, joined a Jesuit mission and volunteered for service in Soviet Russia at the height of its militant atheism. To Ciszek's consternation, his superior assigned him instead to a mission in Poland. A few years later, war broke out and Hitler's army invaded Poland. In the horde of Polish refugees fleeing toward Russia, Ciszek saw a providential opportunity. Disguising himself as a worker, he joined the refugees and sneaked into Russia, where he had always wanted to serve. His prayers had been answered so he believed.
Not long afterwards, though, the Soviet secret police arrested Ciszek. The next five years, he was kept in Moscow's notorious Lubianka Prison, undergoing constant harassment and interrogation. In solitude throughout his time in Lubianka, Ciszek spent day and night questioning God. Where had he gone wrong? He had felt called as a priest, but how could he serve in solitary confinement? What use was all his training? Why was he being punished? Finally, he caved in to KGB demands and signed a written confession of spying activities. When he refused to cooperate further, he received a sentence of fifteen years hard labour in Siberia.
In the Gulag's much harsher conditions of fierce cold and fourteen hour work days, Ciszek got at last the chance to serve as a priest, after gradually winning the confidence of Ukrainian Catholics. He took risks, endured punishment, and pursued God. One by one, all remnants of childish faith fell away. In their place grew a mature yet childlike faith, along the lines Frederick Buechner suggests.
(Childlike faith acts contrary to 'common' understanding, the centurion who approached Jesus about healing his servant, the paralytic who talked his four friends into lowering him through the roof, and Peter who stepped out of the boat onto the lake. Secondly, childlike faith knows how to accept gifts, ordinary gifts each day without thinking them ordinary, and allows us to open my hands to Gods' mercy and grace. Thirdly, children know how to trust. We place our hand in God's making a conscious decision to trust him regardless of what lay before us. Kathleen Norris came to understand that to have a relationship with God, like any relationship, she must plunge into it without knowing where it might take her. She began to trust, and from there a mature faith developed. Unrealistic expectations, legalism and unhealthy dependence changed to open-minded faith, grace and childlike trust.)
First, Ciszek had to adjust to new realities. In the years of training for priesthood, not once had he envisioned the kind of career path that lay before him in Russia. First in Poland, then Lubianka, then a Siberian labour camp, and finally exile working in a peasant village, he faced conditions he never would have chosen for himself. He had no theological or inspirational books to study, and scant Christian fellowship. He had to smuggle in wine and bread for the Eucharist. Authorities forbade all proselytism or evangelism. For a time, Ciszek felt a sense of betrayal because his calling to the priesthood had not worked out as he had expected.
Ciszek learned to accept God's will"not as we might wish it, or as we thought in our poor human wisdom it ought to be," but rather as "the twenty-four hours of each day: the people, the places, the circumstances he set before us in that time." He realised he had approached life with an expectation of what God's will should be, and assumed God would help him fulfill that. Instead, he had to learn to accept as God's will the actual situations he faced each day, most of which lay outside of his control. Ciszek's vision narrowed to a twenty-four hour time frame.
Second, Ciszek discovered new gifts coming to him from God. As he prayed, "Give us this day our daily bread," he began to accept those gifts presented before him:
Each day to me should be more than an obstacle to be gotten over, a span of time to be endured, a sequence of hours to be survived. For me, each day came forth from the hand of God newly created and alive with opportunities to do his will...We for our part can accept and offer back to God every prayer, work, and suffering of the day, no matter how insignificant or unspectacular they may seem to us...Between God and the individual soul, however, there are no insignificant moments; this is the mystery of divine providence.
Finally, and above all, Ciszek learned to trust. His book records the agony involved in overcoming doubt and trusting God when everything in his life seemed to argue against it. He learned how by watching the old-fashioned peasant faith of his convict-parishioners. "To them, God was as real as their own father, or brother, or best friend." Probably they could not have articulated their beliefs, but at the core of their beings they believed in God's faithfulness. They trusted in God, turned to him in hard times, gave thanks in the few joyful times, stood ready to lose everything in the world rather than offend God, and fully expected to be with God for eternity.
Ciszek learned and important truth:
By faith we know that God is present everywhere and is always present to us if we but turn to him. So it is we who must put ourselves in God's presence, we who must turn to him in faith, we who must leap beyond an image to the belief - indeed the realisation - that we are in the presence of a loving Father who stands always ready to listen to our childish stories and to answer to our childlike trust.
Philip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God
Friday, March 22, 2013
Living in Faith (3)
If we live to please God alone, we set ourselves free from the cares and worries that press in on us. So many of my own cares trace back to concern over other people:whether I measure up to their expectations, whether they fine me desirable. Living for God alone involves radical reorientation, a stripping away of anything that might lure me from the primary goal of pleasing God, far more than pleasing me.
I know a hand surgeon who specialises in reattaching fingers that have been partially or totally severed in accidents...Once my friend got an emergency call at three o'clock in the morning and could hardly face the prospect of beginning such an arduous procedure. In order to add incentive and focus, he decided to dedicate the surgery to his father who had recently died. For the next few hours, he imagined his father standing beside him, his hand on his shoulder offering encouragement.
The technique worked so well that he began dedicating his surgeries to people he knew. He would call them, often awakening them, and say, "I have a very demanding procedure ahead of me, and I'd like to dedicate the surgery to you. If I think about you while I'm performing it, that will help me get through."...then it dawned on him: should not he offer his life to God in the same way? The details of what he did each day-answering phone calls, hiring staff, reading medical journals, meeting with patients, scheduling surgeries-changed little, yet somehow the awareness of living for God gradually coloured each of these mundane tasks. He found himself treating nurses with more care and respect, spending more time with patients, worrying less about finances.
I know a hand surgeon who specialises in reattaching fingers that have been partially or totally severed in accidents...Once my friend got an emergency call at three o'clock in the morning and could hardly face the prospect of beginning such an arduous procedure. In order to add incentive and focus, he decided to dedicate the surgery to his father who had recently died. For the next few hours, he imagined his father standing beside him, his hand on his shoulder offering encouragement.
The technique worked so well that he began dedicating his surgeries to people he knew. He would call them, often awakening them, and say, "I have a very demanding procedure ahead of me, and I'd like to dedicate the surgery to you. If I think about you while I'm performing it, that will help me get through."...then it dawned on him: should not he offer his life to God in the same way? The details of what he did each day-answering phone calls, hiring staff, reading medical journals, meeting with patients, scheduling surgeries-changed little, yet somehow the awareness of living for God gradually coloured each of these mundane tasks. He found himself treating nurses with more care and respect, spending more time with patients, worrying less about finances.
Philip Yancey, Searching for the Invisible God
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Living in Faith (2)
Today I visited a welfare agency store that sells recycled goods to the public. Low and behold I bumped into another ex-student, Martin, who works there. We chatted and Martin explained with a smile that after a long time he now had access to his two children and was appreciating their company.
I asked Martin, "If God can do a miracle in your life today, what would it be?" Then I asked, "Can I pray for you?" He looked at me and said, "Not here." We were standing at the front of the store near the service desk.
So we moved to the rear of the store and Martin invited me into his "office," a second-hand sofa surrounded by other second-hand furniture. Martin didn't hesitate, he asked that he would express positive and encouraging words toward his children and avoid putting them down.
So sitting on the second-hand sofa, and with heads bowed, I prayed for Martin that he would indeed have the right words to say to his children.
I asked Martin, "If God can do a miracle in your life today, what would it be?" Then I asked, "Can I pray for you?" He looked at me and said, "Not here." We were standing at the front of the store near the service desk.
So we moved to the rear of the store and Martin invited me into his "office," a second-hand sofa surrounded by other second-hand furniture. Martin didn't hesitate, he asked that he would express positive and encouraging words toward his children and avoid putting them down.
So sitting on the second-hand sofa, and with heads bowed, I prayed for Martin that he would indeed have the right words to say to his children.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Davy
Leo Tolstoy, who did not disdain adding a moral lesson to his stories, ended his short story "Three Questions" this way: "Remember then: there is only one time that is important-Now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power.
A record of God's faithfulness in the past combines with hope in a better future for one end: to equip us for the present. As Tolstoy said, we have control over no other time. The past is unchangeable, the future unpredictable. I can only live the the life directly before me. Faithful Christians pray, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," and then proceed to enact God's will-love, justice, peace, mercy, forgiveness-in the present on earth.;
Philip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God
Passing through the checkout at a large department store I came face to face with Davy. Davy is a former student of mine from over forty years ago. Every now and then I bump into Danny who loves a chat. We moved over to the shopping trolleys that Davyy collects from the car-park and chatted. Life has been difficult for Davy and this time I decided to ask, "If God can do a miracle in you life today, what would it be? Davy thought and while he couldn't come up with anything specific he began to mention the aches and pains that were coming with age. I asked, "Can I pray for you?" So there and then, beside the trolleys at the entrance to the department store we bowed our heads and I prayed for Davy and his aches and pains.
I'm looking forward to bumping into Danny again soon.
Monday, March 18, 2013
The Disciplines of the Christian Life
I started following the daily readings in Eric Liddell's book, The Disciples of the Christian Life, on Tuesday 11 October 2011 finally finishing the year-long reading plan on Wednesday 13 March 2013.
Awareness of Eric Liddell and his accomplishments in the Olympic arena became more widespread with the screening of award-winning film, Chariots of Fire.
Lesser known is Eric's work as a missionary to China. Following the occupation of China by the Japanese Eric was placed in an internment camp where he died of a brain tumour on the 21 February 1945 aged forty-three.
A manuscript of Eric's, A Manual of Christian Discipleship, that was known to be circulating in the internment camp was finally published in 1985 under the title, The Disciplines of the Christian Life.
Lazarus Come Forth!
I recently finished re-reading, Lazarus Come Forth!, The book published in 1963 is Paul Taine's remarkable personal story of a Jewish man, who was raised from the dead to the glory of God .
Following Jesus, Fishing for People
Over lunch Steve and Michelle Addison from Movements, , introduced forty people from one2one Gillies Street Church of Christ to the Following Jesus, Fishing for People training that Steve will be conducting at the church starting Saturday 20 April.
Copies of Steve's book, Movements that Change the World, and his more recent book, What Jesus Started, were made available.
More information on Movements and Steve's books can be found at http://www.movements.net/. There are other useful resources on the website that are available to download.
As a result of Steve's arrival and training program across April, May and June In the Deep End is in recess. However, this will be reviewed in the light of Steve's training and may be reinvented to further compliment the training.
Copies of Steve's book, Movements that Change the World, and his more recent book, What Jesus Started, were made available.
More information on Movements and Steve's books can be found at http://www.movements.net/. There are other useful resources on the website that are available to download.
As a result of Steve's arrival and training program across April, May and June In the Deep End is in recess. However, this will be reviewed in the light of Steve's training and may be reinvented to further compliment the training.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Shaun's story...
Bruce: How come
you started attending one2one Gillies Street Church of Christ?
Shaun: A few days before Christmas 2011 I attended
hospital for some treatment. While there I struck up a conversation with one of
the medical staff and inquired what they might be doing over Christmas. The
common response of spending time with the family was given but along with that
was an explanation that they would be attending the 11.00 pm Christmas Eve
service at one2one Gillies Street Church of Christ. Furthermore the person
extended an invitation to me to come along and I would be most welcome to join
in.
After leaving hospital
I didn't give the invitation much further thought. However, as Christmas Eve approached
I gave it serious consideration. The 2011 Christmas Eve service at one2one
Gillies Street Church of Christ was the first time I attended and I have been a
regular attender at the Sunday evening services ever since.
Bruce: Shaun you've got cerebral palsy, can you tell us what it has been like growing up?
Shaun: Growing up as a young person with cerebral
palsy was very difficult particularly at school where I didn't have many
friends and was teased constantly. Although I was quite good at mathematics I
struggled at school and the constant abuse weighed me down. There have been some
very dark periods where I was very fearful of what might happen.
Bruce: So what’s
changed since you started attending one2one?
Shaun: It’s been good. The medication I’m now on
has helped and I’m much more optimistic about life. My circle of friends has
increased dramatically. I continue to attend church of an evening where I’m
rostered to help out on the door and I often go out for supper afterwards. Also
I have been attending Bible study group on a Tuesday afternoon.
Bruce: Shaun we've discussed from the Bible how you can know God personally.
Shaun: Yes, I've come to know God and have put my
trust in Jesus as my Saviour. Although I still have some down days I now know
that God is with me each day.
Bruce: One other
thing, you take communion each Sunday evening, the cup of grape juice and a small piece of
wafer. How does that work for you?
Shaun: Well at the start the small cup was a bit
difficult to manage and there were a few accidents. However, with the cerebral
palsy, I concentrate and work on it…the good news is you can now stand beside
me and be confident you won’t get sprayed.
Shaun, front left, with his Bible study group.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Janine's Story...
6 years ago I was a lost sheep ... Wandering through my life. I was lonely, depressed, and wondering if this was all life had for me. Sure I had things to be thankful for - my loving husband and a beautiful 2yo boy who brought much joy to my world - and I was pregnant with a beautiful girl - another blessing! But yet something was missing in my life. I couldn't put my finger on it. I yearned for more but deep down I knew the world could not fill it - no amount of shopping, eating or chasing after success could satisfy that part of me that felt empty.
About this time I had been going along to Mops (Mothers of Preschoolers) here at one2one. It was such a lifeline to me. As a first time mum I was so lonely. I enjoyed being a mum yet at times it was overwhelming and no-one in my normal circle seemed to know how to help me. It was the love of the Mops mums that kept me sane. Indeed, the Mops leaders (Patsy, Tanya, Sally, Helen, Karen and many others) were wonderful. They cared. They loved on me. They listened to me. They accepted me. And they had something I didn't - an inner peace and joy - and I wanted to know why!
So when they invited me to come along to a Journeys course to find out more about the Christian faith, I thought sure, why not? I trusted these ladies and thought maybe I'd find some answers! So off I went with my young baby Emma on my lap, and I heard about how having a personal relationship with Jesus had changed people's lives - and it dawned on me ... I too could have a personal relationship with Jesus and my Heavenly Father ... That was what I was missing in my life! It wasn't about religion or doing good works - it was about knowing God. This was a turning point in my life, and I gave my life to the Lord.
Now I'd like to say my life miraculously transformed overnight - but alas that was just the beginning of my wonderful walk with God. Yet He is so clever! He knew to bring me closer to Him He would have to throw me in the deep end so I would learn to rely on Him and build that personal relationship with Him.
So about a year after becoming a Christian, God called me to lead the Mops Ministry at one2one. I can tell you I had many Moses moments of "why use me Lord?" And "but I can't speak to all those people!" Yet after much deliberating, I decided to be obedient ... and God was faithful - when He calls you He equips you. He surrounded me with the love, support and leadership gifts of some wonderful Mops leaders, and together we loved on our Mops mums to shine Jesus into their lives.
See God knows serving Him in a leadership role will bring you closer to Him like nothing else - it humbles you and makes you realise how dependent on God you are. It puts the spotlight on those aspects of your life that need to change - no longer can you remain selfish, demanding and self-centred. And God gently peels off the layers of hurt and shame from the past, so you can in turn help others to do the same.
After 4 years of Mops leadership, I found myself graduating and wondering where God would lead me next. I couldn't imagine a life without serving Him in ministry - loving others and helping them to come to know a personal relationship with Jesus. I wanted to continue to grow in my relationship with God and serve Him. Many times I prayed fervently He would guide me towards His path for my life. I didn't just want to jump into anything to keep busy and I didn't want to return full-time to my existing job. I knew I wanted to serve Him where he needed me.
You see, through leading Mops I have learnt how to trust God, how to lean on Him, and I discovered His unconditional love for me. He healed me of many hurts from my past for which I am so grateful. He encouraged me and helped me believe He had great plans for my life - One of my favourite scriptures is Jeremiah 29:11.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares The Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
So now I embark on a new adventure at one2one as Director of Groups and Newcomers. God has opened doors for me that I couldn't have ever contemplated on my own. And yes I found myself having more Moses moments of "why me God" and "I can't speak to all those people" ... Yet I trust God implicitly ... I have seen his faithfulness, His goodness, and I am so thankful yet again for the opportunity to serve Him. And at those times when I catch a glimpse of His vision for our church and I feel awed at the task ahead, He gently reminds me He is in control and He will be with me!
Maybe God has been inviting you to dive in the deep end, to take on something new or pick up something you have let go? Maybe he wants you to discover more of Him and His wonderful love for you?
I am so thankful for all God has done and is doing in my life. I am even more thankful for what His son, Jesus, did for me - how he died on a cross for my sins so I could have a personal relationship with His Father - our God.
Bruce's Story...
I grew up in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne in an area known as Hartwell.
During that time the family, my parents and five older brothers, moved house twice. Initially the family moved from a home on a residential block to a home in the Hartwell shopping strip. Alongside the home was an operating dairy and at the front a milk bar. After several years the family moved again to a home on a residential block around the corner in Summerhill Road.
All this time, and while I was completing my primary and secondary schooling, the family worshiped at the Hartwell Church of Christ where my father was church secretary and my mother, who had a lovely soprano voice, sang in the church choir and prepared the flower arrangements for the Sunday services.
The evening services were traditionally known as the Gospel Service where the minister on finishing his sermon would give an altar call for anyone, who wanted to commit their life to Christ, to go forward to the front of the chapel.
I recall when I was aged fifteen my friend at the time, Ian, responded to the invitation. He got up out of his seat on the pew and went forward to the front of the chapel. I chose to stay!
Next Sunday after the morning service the minister at the time, H.J. Patterson, a wise and wonderful minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, quietly came alongside and suggested that I would have liked to have gone forward that evening with my friend Ian. I responded in the affirmative and H. J. invited me to join him and Ian in his study for a series of lessons in preparation for our baptisms.
(Never underestimate the value of the quiet, personal invitation extended in response to your observations of a person's possible interest in the Christian faith and the prompting of God's Spirit. Take the step and ask, your invitation may lead to someone making a transaction with God that has eternal value.)
Ian and I were baptised into Christ during an evening service at the Hartwell Church of Christ on Sunday 26 July, 1959 and were welcomed into the fellowship of the church on the following Sunday 2 August.
My baptism was an outward expression of what I had known inwardly for sometime that I needed to declare publicly my faith in Jesus as my Saviour, Lord and Friend.
Little did I know that two days later, Tuesday 4 August 1959, my father would suffer a heart attack at work and die, aged 52. His death was a setback for a young lad, who had being growing up in a loving and caring family. However, although I drifted through life for the next few years, I was well aware of God's interest in me. Over the years He has brought wonderful people across my path, who have had an amazing influence in regard to my journey with Christ. God has been and continues to be good to me.
I was presented with a New Testament on the day I was welcomed into the church. Although our older daughter got her hands on it at some stage while she was growing up I still have it on the bookshelf as a constant reminder of God's goodness.
Blessings
Bruce.
Share Jesus Easily...
Share Jesus Easily...
is a heartfelt call to individual personal work in response to the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-21, the parables of Jesus, about the lost son, the lost sheep and the lost coin, found in Luke 15 and the statement of Jesus, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost," found in Luke 19:10 following his encounter with Zacchaeus.The Photograph...
was taken by my friend Michael Kavanagh, who provided it for my Weekly Word of Encouragement e-mail that I started writing at the beginning of 2012. It reminds me of the words of Jesus in Luke 5:1-11 where he speaks to Simon in verse 4,"Put out into the deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."
and again in verse 10,
"Don't be afraid; from now on you will fish for people."
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
In the Deep End (2)
Six people attended the second session of In the Deep End on Monday evening 18 February at one2one Gillies Street Church of Christ. Four others tendered their apologies.
For three it was the first time they had attended so I invited them to share their stories about how they became associated with the one2one congregation.
Their experiences highlighted the importance of extending an invitation to people to consider attending church, join a Bible study group or participate in a course on Christianity.
I had invited one of the three to attend the evening specifically to share his story. As he did so he acknowledging the wonderful changes that have occurred in his life since he first attended a Christmas Eve service at one2one in 2011. His first time attendance was in response to a personal invitation that came very naturally from someone who cared.
There were two other aspects that were highlighted during the evening.
Firstly, while not excluding others, we have an amazing opportunity to attend to the people who come along and start worshiping at one2one. People turn up for all sorts of reasons to worship at one2one. As far back as I can remember, and that's quite a few, there has been a steady stream people dropping in. This was most recently demonstrated with the Welcome2Church services on Sunday 17 March where about 30 new folk attended in the morning and a further 20 attended the evening service.
God has placed before us an open door before us or in the words of Jesus, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Secondly, we noted the importance of building a bridge that can be easily crossed to discuss the Christian faith, that is equipping ourselves for this personal work, sharing our faith one-to-one, and leading the way for people to discover faith in Jesus. What a God-given privilege!
With these two things in mind we discussed the Share Jesus Easily material emphasising how we could cross the bridge by knowing what to say e.g. "Could I run something past you? Has anyone sat down with you and explained from the Bible how you can know God personally? I would count it a privilege to be able to explain, can we arrange a time to meet?"
I have asked the question, "Has anyone ever sat down with you and explained from the Bible how you can Know God personally" on several occasions in recent months and while not unexpected the usual reply was, "No." The ensuing question then led to arranging a time to share the good news of Jesus, again in accordance with the Share Jesus Easily material.
On one occasion, after a little thought, the person recalled where and when they had made, on their own, a faith transaction with God. I was then able to proceed by saying, "I would count it a privilege to arrange a time to meet so that we could CONFIRM your faith decision."
Toward the end of our evening together one member of the group recalled from his recent reading of Individual Work for Individuals the following words by the author, H. Clay Trumbull (1901),
" When God brings us alongside of one whom we may help, or may feel responsibility for, we are not to consider the obstacles, or difficulties, in the way. God will take care of them. Nor are we to be hindered by religious or denominational differences that seem to stand between us and him. The question is not whether he is a Roman catholic, or a Jew, a Muhammadan, a Mormon, a Maronite, or an infidel. But the one question is, Can we evidence him, in such a way as to impress on him, and to deepen his sense of their preciousness, the surpassing love of God and the blessed fullness of the spirit of Christ?"
The date of the next In the Deep End session is Monday 18 March, 7.15 pm in the Function Room. Can I encourage you to lock the date into your diary now? Also the Share Jesus Easily blog is coming along with additional material being added each week.
Keep in touch
Blessings
Bruce
For three it was the first time they had attended so I invited them to share their stories about how they became associated with the one2one congregation.
Their experiences highlighted the importance of extending an invitation to people to consider attending church, join a Bible study group or participate in a course on Christianity.
I had invited one of the three to attend the evening specifically to share his story. As he did so he acknowledging the wonderful changes that have occurred in his life since he first attended a Christmas Eve service at one2one in 2011. His first time attendance was in response to a personal invitation that came very naturally from someone who cared.
There were two other aspects that were highlighted during the evening.
Firstly, while not excluding others, we have an amazing opportunity to attend to the people who come along and start worshiping at one2one. People turn up for all sorts of reasons to worship at one2one. As far back as I can remember, and that's quite a few, there has been a steady stream people dropping in. This was most recently demonstrated with the Welcome2Church services on Sunday 17 March where about 30 new folk attended in the morning and a further 20 attended the evening service.
God has placed before us an open door before us or in the words of Jesus, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Secondly, we noted the importance of building a bridge that can be easily crossed to discuss the Christian faith, that is equipping ourselves for this personal work, sharing our faith one-to-one, and leading the way for people to discover faith in Jesus. What a God-given privilege!
With these two things in mind we discussed the Share Jesus Easily material emphasising how we could cross the bridge by knowing what to say e.g. "Could I run something past you? Has anyone sat down with you and explained from the Bible how you can know God personally? I would count it a privilege to be able to explain, can we arrange a time to meet?"
I have asked the question, "Has anyone ever sat down with you and explained from the Bible how you can Know God personally" on several occasions in recent months and while not unexpected the usual reply was, "No." The ensuing question then led to arranging a time to share the good news of Jesus, again in accordance with the Share Jesus Easily material.
On one occasion, after a little thought, the person recalled where and when they had made, on their own, a faith transaction with God. I was then able to proceed by saying, "I would count it a privilege to arrange a time to meet so that we could CONFIRM your faith decision."
Toward the end of our evening together one member of the group recalled from his recent reading of Individual Work for Individuals the following words by the author, H. Clay Trumbull (1901),
" When God brings us alongside of one whom we may help, or may feel responsibility for, we are not to consider the obstacles, or difficulties, in the way. God will take care of them. Nor are we to be hindered by religious or denominational differences that seem to stand between us and him. The question is not whether he is a Roman catholic, or a Jew, a Muhammadan, a Mormon, a Maronite, or an infidel. But the one question is, Can we evidence him, in such a way as to impress on him, and to deepen his sense of their preciousness, the surpassing love of God and the blessed fullness of the spirit of Christ?"
The date of the next In the Deep End session is Monday 18 March, 7.15 pm in the Function Room. Can I encourage you to lock the date into your diary now? Also the Share Jesus Easily blog is coming along with additional material being added each week.
Keep in touch
Blessings
Bruce
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Scandal of Grace
Bill Hybels in his book, The God You're Looking For, pp 116-118, recounts a story under the heading of The Scandal of Grace,
I once had lunch with a business executive with whom I'd been building a relationship. I asked for his napkin and his pen. The pen looked as if it cost at least two hundred dollars, so I knew I'd have his undivided attention if I used his pen instead of mine. He wasn't about to let it out of his sight!
Taking his pen. I wrote GOD at the top of the napkin, then drew a line pointing down. Pointing to the word GOD, I said, "here's God's standard of holiness. Here's a line." and following the line downward, "and down here are the bad people of the world. Put and X somewhere on this line where you belong on the morality ladder."
He did, and then I continued, "The gap between you and the holiness of God is the problem. You have fallen short of the standards of God's holiness by your own admission. That gap is what you will stand accountable for on the day of judgment."
I turned the napkin over and said, "All people tend to do one of two things with that shortfall." I drew a line across the middle, then wrote, "The Moral Self-Improvement Plan."
This is when people spend the rest of their lives trying to bring their X mark up a little higher. The Bible says it doesn't work even if you give yourself a hundred lifetimes. You can't get up to the place of moral perfection if you're a fallen human being."
Then on the other side of that dividing line, I wrote, "The Grace Plan."
The guy said, "What's that?"
"You're not going to believe it. In the 'Grace Plan' God says, 'I see the gap and I know you can't make it by your own human strength, so I'm going to send Christ, My Son, to pay for the shortfall. Salvation and adoption into My family will be made available to you as a gift.'"
"Which of the two are you in?" I asked, "The Grace Plan or the Moral Self-Improvement Plan?"
"I'm in the Moral Self-Improvement Plan."
I agreed. "From all i see of you, I think you are too."
I'll never forget what happened next. He looked up and searched my eyes. In that one, five-second glance, he was thinking, If only what you are saying is true. If I felt that today I could just abandon the self-improvement plan and receive grace as a free gift for an undeserving sinner like me, it would change everything.
This "sanctified suspicion" is what keeps so many people away from Christianity. If somebody tells us all we have to do is show up and get a free car, we know it can't be true, so how can we expect a free ticket to heaven? This grace business just sounds too good, too easy. Successful people who have worked long and hard to obtain their place in society and their nice house and their big office and their imported cars simply don't want to believe that God would give them a place in heaven. "Nothing gets handed to you on a silver platter," they insist, and most of the time, they are right. But in this case, they are tragically wrong.
That's why when you open your life up to Christ and you experience the grace explosion, you will be pelted with the shrapnel of relief. In the back of your mind, you knew you couldn't earn your way into heaven, and now you realise you don't have to. Instead of defining your relationship with God by your own efforts, you'll watch in amazement as God draws near of His own accord. Hope will nourish your soul: Maybe with God's help I can start my life over again. Maybe I can walk with a clean slate into a different kind of future.
Actually, there's no 'maybe" about it. It just comes down to grace, and it's true. It's also enduring.
(Note. While Bill used both sides of the napkin in his illustration consider forming a "Cross" on one side drawing the horizontal line through the "X")
I once had lunch with a business executive with whom I'd been building a relationship. I asked for his napkin and his pen. The pen looked as if it cost at least two hundred dollars, so I knew I'd have his undivided attention if I used his pen instead of mine. He wasn't about to let it out of his sight!
Taking his pen. I wrote GOD at the top of the napkin, then drew a line pointing down. Pointing to the word GOD, I said, "here's God's standard of holiness. Here's a line." and following the line downward, "and down here are the bad people of the world. Put and X somewhere on this line where you belong on the morality ladder."
He did, and then I continued, "The gap between you and the holiness of God is the problem. You have fallen short of the standards of God's holiness by your own admission. That gap is what you will stand accountable for on the day of judgment."
I turned the napkin over and said, "All people tend to do one of two things with that shortfall." I drew a line across the middle, then wrote, "The Moral Self-Improvement Plan."
This is when people spend the rest of their lives trying to bring their X mark up a little higher. The Bible says it doesn't work even if you give yourself a hundred lifetimes. You can't get up to the place of moral perfection if you're a fallen human being."
Then on the other side of that dividing line, I wrote, "The Grace Plan."
The guy said, "What's that?"
"You're not going to believe it. In the 'Grace Plan' God says, 'I see the gap and I know you can't make it by your own human strength, so I'm going to send Christ, My Son, to pay for the shortfall. Salvation and adoption into My family will be made available to you as a gift.'"
"Which of the two are you in?" I asked, "The Grace Plan or the Moral Self-Improvement Plan?"
"I'm in the Moral Self-Improvement Plan."
I agreed. "From all i see of you, I think you are too."
I'll never forget what happened next. He looked up and searched my eyes. In that one, five-second glance, he was thinking, If only what you are saying is true. If I felt that today I could just abandon the self-improvement plan and receive grace as a free gift for an undeserving sinner like me, it would change everything.
This "sanctified suspicion" is what keeps so many people away from Christianity. If somebody tells us all we have to do is show up and get a free car, we know it can't be true, so how can we expect a free ticket to heaven? This grace business just sounds too good, too easy. Successful people who have worked long and hard to obtain their place in society and their nice house and their big office and their imported cars simply don't want to believe that God would give them a place in heaven. "Nothing gets handed to you on a silver platter," they insist, and most of the time, they are right. But in this case, they are tragically wrong.
That's why when you open your life up to Christ and you experience the grace explosion, you will be pelted with the shrapnel of relief. In the back of your mind, you knew you couldn't earn your way into heaven, and now you realise you don't have to. Instead of defining your relationship with God by your own efforts, you'll watch in amazement as God draws near of His own accord. Hope will nourish your soul: Maybe with God's help I can start my life over again. Maybe I can walk with a clean slate into a different kind of future.
Actually, there's no 'maybe" about it. It just comes down to grace, and it's true. It's also enduring.
(Note. While Bill used both sides of the napkin in his illustration consider forming a "Cross" on one side drawing the horizontal line through the "X")
Friday, January 25, 2013
In the Deep End (2)
AGENDA, 18 February 2013
1. Welcome
2. Review In the Deep End (1)
3. Our Stories
4. Person of Peace - Handout
5. Share Jesus Easily - Handout
6. Steve Addison
1. Welcome
2. Review In the Deep End (1)
- Our Values, Our Vision, Our Mission (see Matthew 9:35-38),Our Training
- Our Principles
- Prayer
3. Our Stories
- Shaun's Story
4. Person of Peace - Handout
5. Share Jesus Easily - Handout
6. Steve Addison
7. Prayer
Friday, January 18, 2013
In The Deep End (1)
AGENDA, 21 January 2012
1. Welcome
2. Introduction
3. The Holy Spirit
4. What are the principles we have identified thus far?
5. Share Jesus Easily
6. Prayer
1. Welcome
- Our Vision: Acts 1:8
- Our Character: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
- Our Training: Handout
2. Introduction
- People: Name, How long have you been associated with one2one, How long have you been a Christian?
- Purpose: The principles and practice of conveying the good news of Jesus one-to-one
- Prayer: Heavenly Father, guide our thoughts this evening.
3. The Holy Spirit
- Acts 21:1-16
- Acts: 20:22-25
- Acts: 8:26-39
4. What are the principles we have identified thus far?
- Prayer - Seek God's direction through Prayer
- Prompting - Trust the prompting of the Holy Spirit
- People - Build relationships with People
- Purpose - Be Purposeful
- Partner - Partner with others
- Know your Bible
- Seek first to understand then to be understood
- Know the signs of a "God-fearing" person
5. Share Jesus Easily
- Briefly discuss the Share Jesus Easily handout
6. Prayer
- Heavenly Father, across the course of the next few weeks help us to be aware of your Spirit, to be purposeful and to dive in the deep end.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
THE SWAMP
This series of comic strips from The Swamp caught my attention for two reasons.
Firstly, Mort's wonder an awe of the heavens in the night sky. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by all things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,..." and the Psalmist in Psalm 8, "Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,..."
Secondly, Mort's deep sense of concern when he NOTICES a star is missing. While this same concern is obviously not shared by Wart Mort still leaps into action.
I'm reminded of the parables of Jesus, recorded in Luke 15, about the lost son, the lost sheep and the lost coin. The stories were told by Jesus in response to the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes who were saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." In Luke 19:10 following the conversion of Zacchaeus Jesus emphatically stated, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
While Wart is doubtful of the outcome of Mort's course of action to find the missing star by reporting it to the Poultry Squad Jesus calls US to have the same concern and to be engaged in the search for missing stars in God's heaven.
2 Peter 3:9 states, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
In this era of grace there is an imperative about the work of the Kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, "I tell you now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation."
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