Welcome to our service today. It is great to have you here and we would love to invite you to stay after the service and join us for tea and coffee.

The Holy Spirit gives us strength to endure the unreasonable hatred and evil in our world and the hostility many have toward Christ. This is especially comforting for those facing persecution. Jesus uses two names for the Holy Spirit - Helper and Spirit of Truth. The word Helper conveys the helping, encouraging and strengthening work of the Spirit. Spirit of Truth points to the teaching, illuminating and reminding work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit ministers to both the head and the heart, and both dimensions are important. 

In His last moments with His disciples Jesus warned them about further persecution, told them where, when and why He was going and assured them they would not be left alone, but that the Spirit would come. Jesus knew what lay ahead and He did not want their faith shaken. God also wants us to know that we are never alone. We too, have the Holy Spirit who lives within us to comfort us, teach us the truth and enable us to carry out the work He is calling us to do. 

Blessings,

Sandra

Welcome to our service today. It is great to have you here and we would love to invite you to stay after the service and join us for tea and coffee.

Jesus' first words to Simon Peter were "Follow Me”. His last words to him were "You follow me". Every step of the way between those two challenges, Peter never failed to follow - even though he often stumbled.

When Jesus entered Peter's life, this fisherman became a new person with new goals and new priorities. He did not become a perfect person however, and he never stopped being Simon Peter. We may wonder what Jesus saw in Simon that made Him greet this potential disciple with a new name, Peter - the "rock." Impulsive Peter certainly didn't act like a rock much of the time. But when Jesus chose His followers He wasn't looking for models; He was looking for real people. He chose people who could be changed by His love, and then He sent them out to communicate that His acceptance was available to anyone - even those who often fail.

We  may wonder what Jesus sees in us when He calls us to follow Him. But we know Jesus accepted Peter, and, in spite of his failures, Peter went on to do great things for God. Are we willing to keep following Jesus, even when we fail?

Blessings,

Sandra

Welcome to our service today. It is great to have you here and we would love to invite you to stay after the service and join us for tea and coffee.

If we live our lives as a witness for Christ it will result in some people making fun of us and even avoiding us…..or perhaps worse.

When we develop the lifestyle of a witness we will see all kinds of different responses to Jesus. There will be people whose hearts are ready, who are searching. These people will be eager to talk with us and to receive what we share with them as they journey towards Christ. Others will be open to discuss these deeper things with us but will not be ready to respond to Christ yet. We are sowing seeds that will need time to grow and develop in their hearts and minds. Some will simply dismiss us as irrelevant. With these people, we need to keep loving them and praying for opportunities to go deeper with them. But we do need to recognise that their hearts are not open and pray for things to change. Some people are angry at God. Because of that they won’t hear anything we have to say and may even get angry at us.

One thing I’ve come to realise is that we will never have conversations with those who are ready to respond to Jesus if we aren’t willing to have the conversations with those who aren't, because only God knows the heart and mind of each person. Today could be their day of salvation! So let’s be encouraged to keep praying and keep taking every opportunity the Lord brings before us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Blessings, Sandra

In 1 John 4 we read that "God is love". What we don't read is that "love is God". Our world, with its shallow and selfish view of love, has turned these words around and contaminated our understanding of love. This was also pointed out in the movie "Enemies within the Church" that some watched last Sunday evening.
The world thinks that love is what makes a person feel good and that it is all right to sacrifice moral principles and others' rights in order to obtain such "love." But that isn't real love - it is the exact opposite - selfishness. And God is not that kind of "love". Real love is like God, who is holy, just and perfect. If we truly know God, we will love as He does.
For those of you who were not able to view the movie on Sunday night, we will be showing it again on Sunday September 18th at 6pm in the church. We encourage you to come and watch this and invite any friends or family that would find this helpful.

Blessings

Sandra