For Sunday the 4th of March - 9:00am

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am. For this week I'm including a summary of the readings:

GENESIS 15:1-12,17,18: This vision given to Abraham repeats and affirms the promises made to him previously when God called him to leave Haran. Abram asked, 'What will you give me?' because as yet there was no natural heir to give credence to a future land occupied by his descendants. Abram had followed common Mesopotamian custom in naming Eliezer (his slave) as heir in the absence of a natural heir. The answer to the matter of descendants lay in counting the stars. Abram's 'belief' of God's promise expresses the response God always looks for and honours with his fulfilment of promises. The answer to the question of land is given in the establishment of a covenant. The cutting in two of the sacrifices expressed the curses which might fall upon whichever party should break the covenant agreement. The passing of fire and smoke demonstrated the Lord's own presence and his assumption of the curses to himself personally. Thus God took full responsibility for the fulfilment of the promise. The huge territory promised, from Egypt to the Euphrates, only came about in King David's time.

PHILLIPAINS 3:17 - 4:1: There are always those in the church who agree to the teaching of salvation by the cross of Christ, yet wish to live for the pleasures of earthly appetites. Paul tells the Philippians not to follow this way of destruction to which those people are inevitably heading. The sure hopeful expectation of heaven, deeply imbedded in Christian faith, cannot help but move the believer to a life of willing obedience to Christ. This foreshadows the future eternal joy. Christians therefore, unswayed by worldly example, remain single-mindedly firm in the Lord.

LUKE 13:31-35: Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, knowing that he would suffer and die. The messengers from Herod were probably trying to head Jesus off from Jerusalem. However, Jesus' determination to continue in accordance with his own plans recognises that his time to die was not in Herod's hands, but his Father's. It had to be that he should die in Jerusalem because of its hardness against God's messengers. His piteous concern for the inhabitants still recognises their inability to repent. Hence they would only greet him one day in judgment.

For Sunday the 25th of February - 10:00am

This week we will be hearing one of the most powerful promises that the Bible makes: ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’. This is a universal promise that God makes to every person, and it’s a promise that shows how gracious, merciful; and compassionate God is.

This promise is very important for us to hear because we sometimes do things that we know are wrong. Maybe in moments of weakness we say hurtful things to people that we love, or we selfishly keep for ourselves things we should share, or we break trust with people who are relying on us. In these situations we may experience God’s disapproval, and we may fear being honest with God about our behaviour. But in these situations we are also free to trust that in Christ Jesus, who was tempted but never sinned, we have access to God’s grace and peace.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00am for a service with Holy Communion. The Sunday school will meet at about 10:45am

God’s peace,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

Pancake Tuesday (the 20th of February) and Ash Wednesday (the 21st of February)

Tuesday the 20th from &;00-8:30pm is an open house at the Pearce's for Pancakes. It's a social event, and members and friends are welcome.

On Wednesday the 21st there will be an Ash Wednesday service at the church at 7:30pm. This special service marks the beginning of Lent.

Hymns for Sunday the 18th of February - 9:00am

This Sunday we will be celebrating the Transfiguration (although I'll be preaching mainly on the Gospel reading for what would have been the 7th Sunday after the Epiphany). The service will be the Service Alternative Form. The hymns will be:

222 Thou whose almighty word
858 Make me a channel of your peace
152 Fairest Lord Jesus
747 How good Lord to be here

For Sunday the 18th of February - 9:00am

This Sunday we will be hearing some of the most confronting and difficult of Jesus’ teachings. These include his commands that we love our enemies, that we refrain from condemning other people, and that we forgive those who hurt us.

While we may acknowledge that Jesus’ teaching has the ring of truth, and that the world would be a far better place if we lived according to Jesus’ teaching, we also have to acknowledge that obeying his teaching doesn’t come naturally. No matter how hard we try by our own strength, we will never be perfect examples of Jesus’ teaching in our words and actions.

There has only been one person who lived up to Jesus’ teaching, and that is Jesus himself. It’s as we place our trust in Jesus that we experience his power in our lives, and that we receive strength from God to love, to give, and to forgive.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am to listen to God’s Word, to give thanks to God, to pray, and to receive the Lord’s Supper. As we do this we will experience the gracious presence of God with us to help us and heal us. Our Sunday school will meet at around 9:45am.

God’s peace,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

Service Order and Hymns for Sunday the 11th of February 10:00am

This Sunday we'll be using the Service with Communion (p.6 in the Hymnal).

The hymns will be:
270 The law of God v1,2,5,6
265 How blest are they
837 Feed us now
266 God's Word is our great heritage

For Sunday the 11th of February -10:00am

All human beings meditate – we all spend time every day daydreaming or thinking about things that are important to us. What we daydream about – what we spend our time thinking about - has a big influence on what we end up saying and doing. In fact it seems fait to say that a person’s words and actions are the best evidence there is as to what they’ve been thinking about.

This Sunday we will be hearing from the Bible about meditation. We will be hearing about the way that God gives us refreshment and strength as we spend time thinking about the teaching that he gives. As the Holy Spirit leads us to think about God’s word to us, our way of life changes, and God brings us home on the path that leads to eternal life.

This Sunday we will meet at 10:00am. As we receive Holy Communion we will have an opportunity to meditate on the word of God made present to us in the body and blood of Christ. Our Sunday school will meet at about 10:45am, and our AGM will follow the service.

God’s peace,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor