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Christmas Message 2022

Christmas is traditionally a time for us to come together and to celebrate the warmth and security of God-given family relationships.  Yet we live in a world that is increasingly anti-family in many different ways and the traditional family unit is constantly under attack, sometimes from surprising sources.  For Bevan's Christmas Message, click below:

 Christmas Message 2022

 

Zoom - 27 November 2022

Online Worship Service

Our Online Worship Service is now hosted on Zoom every Sunday at 9:30 a.m.  Anybody is welcome to join, by logging on between 9:20 and 9:30 a.m. and using Meeting ID 287 359 2166.

Meetings via ZOOM

With the corona virus disrupting lives across the world, and without access to our usual meeting place at Opal, we took the bold step this week of setting up this morning's worship service via ZOOM.  In four localities, instead of one, we linked up just before 10:00 a.m. to break bread and to fellowship.  What a blessing, to meet in the safety of our own homes, but through the technology available to everyone with a reliable internet connection.  Praise to our wonderful Father!

25 August 2019

Our meeting at Opal today.  From left:  Jacob, Meci, Marie, Nane, Bill, Tevita, Maria, Grace, Rick (Photo by Bevan)

16 June 2019

Our first meeting at Opal... From left:  Marie, Nane, Tevita, Bill, Grace, Rick (Photo by Bevan)

New meeting place...

From Sunday, 16 June 2019, we will be meeting in the Ground Floor Meeting Room at the Opal North Lakes Aged Care Centre (2 North Lakes Drive, North Lakes) at the new time of 10:00 a.m.

The Example of Philip the Evangelist

This morning's lesson looked at Acts 8:26-40 and the example of the evangelist Philip, called by the Holy Spirit to minister to a nobleman travelling along the desert road which lead from Jerusalem down to the Philistine city of Gaza.  The eunuch held the distinguished position of Treasurer in the government of Queen Candace of Ethiopia and was apparently a proselyte to the Jewish faith for verse 26 tells us that he "had come up to Jerusalem to worship" (International Standard Version).

Hearing him reading from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, Philip asked if he understood what he was reading, and was invited to join the eunuch in his chariot.  Luke tells us that Philip "began at the same Scripture and preached unto him Jesus."   

Their brief encounter is just one of many conversions presented in the book of Acts which demonstrate the nature of Biblical baptism.  Firstly, baptism is a full immersion in water (verses 36-39), not a sprinkling or pouring as some falsely believe.  Secondly, baptism always follows quickly upon a believer understanding and professing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (verse37).  There is no waiting or delay.

Philip's message was simply the gospel of Jesus, nothing more, nothing less.  As a result of his obedience to Philip's teaching, the eunuch went on his way rejoicing, and Philip was "caught up" by the Lord to continue preaching to the villages along the Mediterranean coast.

The Fruit of the Spirit

This morning's message came from the apostle Paul's letter to the Galatian church, Galatians 5:22-23:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law."

  • Love – The ability to overlook the sins and faults of others (Matthew 18:21-22)
  • Joy – The ability to worship God from the heart under adverse conditions (Job 1:21)
  • Peace – The ability "to be still and know that I am God" during tough times (Psalm 46:10)
  • Long-suffering (or patience) – The ability to wait on the Lord (Psalm 62:5)
  • Gentleness – The ability to put others before you in kindness and benevolence (Philippians 2:4)
  • Goodness – The ability to live by good, moral worth, even in private (Hebrews 4:13)
  • Faith (or faithfulness) – The ability to believe God when "common sense" says otherwise (Hebrews 11:6)
  • Meekness (or gentleness) – The ability to be tender in spirit, exhibiting no spiritual pride (Numbers 12:3)
  • Temperance (or self-control) – The ability to rule over the desires of the flesh (Romans 8:13)

Salt Cleanses

In this morning's lesson we looked at the Bible's teaching on salt and on how it preserves, how it flavours, how it cleanses, and how it creates thirst.

If we are to be "the salt of the earth", our teaching must also act like salt.

Firstly, it must preserve the integrity, the purpose and the truth of the gospel message.  Secondly, it must help to draw out the flavour of God's Word, so that we can understand it better.  Thirdly, like salt, our teaching must also be a cleanser, purging our minds of men's ideas and centuries of mixed up thinking.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 teaches us that, "Whoever teaches false doctrine and doesn't agree with the accurate words of our Lord Jesus Christ and godly teachings is a conceited person. He shows that he doesn't understand anything. Rather, he has an unhealthy desire to argue and quarrel about words. This produces jealousy, rivalry, cursing, suspicion, and conflict between people whose corrupt minds have been robbed of the truth. They think that a godly life is a way to make a profit." ("God's Word" translation).

Fourthly, our teaching must create a thirst in others to know God and His Word.

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