Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Christmas has obviously passed, which can only mean one thing....the end of the year!

What is 2006 going to be like for you?
Why would it be any different?

My simple thought for you over this special time of year is...pray.
Seek God for 2006. Seek out his hopes, dreams, vision, whatever you want to call it.
The reality is that we get what we go for most of the time. If you just roll on over into 06 you'll probably be the same as in 05.
But if you find something in God for this new year....I can guarantee your year will be so much more exciting and worth looking forward to.

Please know that we are praying for you! Asking God to bless you in 2006!!!

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Well it certainly is Christmas!
Everywhere you look you will get reminded of it.

When I was thinking about what to say this week, I actually think I would like to pass a couple of things we talked at Cafe Church last week.

If I think back on all the Christmas I have experienced, the most memorable events were not the items of food or the places…

It is the people who made up those Christmas…

Like the year that my Uncle Donald turned up for Christmas with no teeth.

That week he had had them all removed ready for false teeth. He wore a tshirt that had a picture of Jaws on it with no teeth…and the phrase ‘Gums’ underneath.

All he could eat with soft white bread with a little jam.

And even then he complained about the pips getting stuck where the teeth used to be.

Like the year that every grand child received an awesome toy from Grandma except me.

That year I received a bible, and I wasn’t happy about it.

Like the following year...

Where all the kids got something cool…and I got a shoe shine kit…again from Grandma.

Like the year I woke up on my own in a house I was housesitting.

I’ll never forget the way I felt being alone. That no matter how much I told myself it was just one day…I still felt so dissappointed.

Like the year where it was the first Christmas for my Grandma after Grandad died.

I remember her waundering around the garden on her own for long periods of time while we sat inside…and no one seemed to know what to do.

But mostly I remember the excitement, the fact it was the time of year when all of my family came together.

In fact it was the only time of the year when the whole family came together.

Christmas is all about being with other people. Sharing that day is what makes it special!

So let's make sure we all are sharing it with someone else...

If you are going to be on your own, please let us know, cause we want to help.

If you have room for one more, please let us know, cause we know people who need somewhere to go.

And finally, from myself and my family. I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

This is the season for finding God. I know he wants to bless your life.

Go for it! Have a great time, a great rest, whatever you need.

And remember we are still here for you over the holidays.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

We talk a lot about gifting, using that gifting...but how do you find out how/where you are gifted?

There is a common sense approach, in that whatever you do that you are good at and that others think you are good at...is probably your gifting.
It is pretty obvious when someone is gifted in sports, they do well at it. The same with ministry!
So how do you figure it out. I like to think of it this way...just try some stuff and see what works...

There are also some tests you can do to test your "giftedness". Tests to see how you tick and are 'wired'. I found some recently that you might like to have some fun with...the links are included below.

Now before you race of at a million miles an hour checking these out, can I give you some advice?
These are not definitive, they are a guide. Nothing beats good counsel and seeking God, and trying things out.
The results can also vary over a lifetime due the experiences you have had.

But don't be put off. Have a look if you like?
If you want to talk to us about your results or what your 'giftings' are we would love to help!
And remember, God has given everyone gifts. No one misses out
...we just have to find them or use them for his glory and purpose.

Bramalea Church Spiritual Gifts Test
Living Hope Spiritual Gifts Test
Site with personality tests

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Each month we receive some stuff in the mail from the Willow Creek Association. They are the megachurch guys in Chicago lead by Bill Hybels.
Late last week the pack arrived as per normal and one of the articles they shared I thought would be great to share with you...

So you think you’ve got problems? Consider Brian Hise..

Brian Hise had more than his share of bad luck in July. When his apartment in Provo, Utah became flooded from a broken pipe in the apartment above his, the manager told him to go out and rent a water vacuum. That’s when he discovered that his car had a flat tire.

He changed the tire and went inside again to phone a friend for help. But the electric shock he got from the phone so startled him that he inadvertently ripped the instrument off the wall! Before he could leave his apartment a second time, a neighbor had to kick his door down because by now water damage had jammed it tight.

While all this was going on—someone stole Hise’s car! But it was almost out of gas so he found it just a few blocks away. He then had to push it to a gas station where he filled up the tank.

That evening Hise attended a military ceremony at the university he was attending. He injured himself severely when he somehow sat on his bayonet, which had been tossed in the front seat of his car!

Doctors were able to stitch up Brian’s wound but no one was able to resuscitate four of his canaries who were crushed to death from the wet, falling plaster in his apartment. After arriving home and slipping on the wet carpet where he badly injured his tailbone, Brian said he began to wonder if, (and I quote) “God wanted me dead~ but just kept missing!"

The Bible says “Is your life full of difficulties...? BE HAPPY’ for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you’ll be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.” James 1:2-4 [LB]

Remember Warren’s Laws of Stress Management:

Law #1 Don’t sweat the small stuff’

Law #2 Remember it’s ALL small stuff!

Copyright Rick Warren, Saddleback Church.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

This week I thought we could do with some fun.
So for your entertainment here are a collection of silly one liners and a link to a silly video clip...
Enjoy!

  • The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
  • The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."
  • Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. ! It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands.
  • The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
  • Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
  • For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
  • Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
  • Barbara remain s in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.
  • Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
  • At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What Is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.
  • Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
  • Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.
  • The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
  • This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
  • The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him! their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
  • Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
  • Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

And finally the stupid video can be seen by clicking here

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Do you have enough friends?
Do you have too many friends?

Last sunday we resurrected something we had not done for over a year now...
A group of us got together and had lunch after church. It was simply called "International Lunch" for obvious reasons.
Now this group is quite diverse! Kiwi's, Asian's, African's and a guy from South America...
And what did we eat. Chinese Food.
Why do I mention all this?
Simply because we had a great time, and I don't know anybody who doesn't want friends!
Friends are what makes a church fun. Yes, you can be religious and do all the 'church stuff'. But you need friends.
They help you to keep going on your jouney with Christ...

Acts2:42
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship (being friends/hanging out) , to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

We talk a lot about being like they were in the Bible (without the weird clothes).
I think they had something special together as friends...and look what happened because of their commitment and relationship...

Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.
….Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

I think we all like to hear encouraging stuff...
Regularly I get things sent via email that are supposed to encourage. They do help, but they are mostly made up stories.
The ones that encourage me the most are the stories that are real, where God does some amazing things...that only God could do.
It reminds you that God hasn't changed, and the 'impossible' is God's specialty. Enjoy...

In the 1930s, Stalin ordered a purge of all Bibles and all believers in the former Soviet Union. Millions of Bibles were confiscated and multitudes of believers were sent to the gulags (prison camps), where most died for being "enemies of the state."


In Stavropol, Russia, this order was carried out with a vengeance. Recently, the CoMission ministry, which Campus Crusade for Christ sponsored, sent a team to Stavropol. The city's history was not known at that time. But when our team was having difficulties getting Bibles shipped from Moscow, someone mentioned the existence of a warehouse outside of town where these confiscated Bibles had been stored ever since Stalin's day.

After much prayer by the team, one member finally got up the courage to go to the warehouse and ask the officials if the Bibles were still there. Sure enough, they were. Then the CoMission asked if the Bibles could be removed and distributed again to the people of Stavropol. The answer was "yes"!

The next day the CoMission team returned with a truck and several Russian people to help load the Bibles. One helper was a young man, who was a sceptical, hostile, and agnostic collegian who had come only for the day's wages. As they were loading the Bibles, one team member noticed that the young man had disappeared. Eventually, then found him in a corner of the warehouse weeping. He had slipped away hoping to quietly take a Bible. What he found shook him to the core. The inside page of the Bible he picked up had the handwritten signature of his own grandmother! It had been her Bible!

Out of the many thousands of Bibles still left in that warehouse, he stole the one belonging to his grandmother -- a woman persecuted for her faith all her life. No wonder he was weeping -- God had just dramatically revealed Himself to this young man. His grandmother had no doubt prayed for him and for her city. Her prayers had followed him, and now this young man's life has been transformed by the very Bible that his grandmother found so dear.
Source: Campus Crusade for Christ

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

We had a great time last week at Cafe Church. The guys from Answers in Genesis were interesting, and certainly gave us something to think about.
I know it is tricky sometimes when people ask those questions like "what happened to the dinosaurs?" None of us wants to look silly.
These guys gave us something to say...
But in saying that, God knows! He knows we want to say the right things to people.
He promises to give us the words to say when we have no idea. That is one of the things the Holy Spirit does for us.

If you are curious for more info the website is
www.answersingenesis.com

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

I have been getting into reading lately, which is not normal for me.
I am a slow reader which means big books seem to take forever to read.
But two in particular have really impacted me recently, so I thought I would mention them to you.

  • The Vision_The Vow by Pete Greig
  • Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

Both books really speak to our generation and are quite challenging.