Thoughts from the Desk

I’ve been working on the next men’s breakfast (Aug 29) called “What God Does When Men Lead.”  I came across this great quote from G.K. Chesterton quoted in Bill Peel’s book fo the same name as our breakfast:
A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying.  He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then that would be suicide, and he will not escape.  He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it.

As men rise in courage and leadership and new dawn will rise.

Also this Sunday:
It our first time listening to God’s word from a pediatric surgeon!
We will also be finishing the 90 day Bible reading challenge with a newer, easier challenge.
Don’t miss it!

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The team that returned from PNG gave us a teaser about what God has done in and through them. It was great to hear words like “learned, grown, trusted, answered.” This Sunday coming will be a service devoted to hearing from the whole team. There will be pictures, video, stories and more. It’s not to be missed.

All of it is evidence of God at work.  Perhaps you are one of the people that can last a week, or even months without seeing God? You wonder, where has he been? Why doesn’t he do something? Paul encourages us in Philippians 4:4-9, practice the presence of God in your emotions (Rejoice!), in your friendships (gentleness), in your circumstances (pray), in your thought life (detox!).  These are all areas we live with every day, and are all areas where God can be seen. If we do manage to practice his presence, it will help us live in this promise that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

David Smith

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The PNG team are in transit back home as I write. This Sunday we will hear from them in a small dose, but the following Sunday there will be a whole lot more!

In each of us there’s an anxiety,an unsettledness, or an insecurity. Am I doing the right thing? Is my life of any worth? What about me? My life? What’s the significance of this bag of bones? It’s a nervousness, a restlessness… It’s what we know about ourselves, and don’t like. It’s what we don’t know about ourselves and wish we did!

Philippians 4:2-9 proves to be quite a challenging passage, if we’re to practice the presence of God in our emotions, realtionships, circumstances and thought life. But the promise of peace, real peace is a bit too hard to ignore.

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

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It was great to hear from Martyn Smith about the difference that buying Fair Trade can make.  I think he could have sold double the coffee he brought!  When we were first introduced to Fair Trade coffee a few years ago, the available brands were limited.  Sometimes it felt like that in order to prevent abusing the farmers, you had to abuse the drinkers!  Now, due to market pressure, there is a range of quality instant and ground coffee available.  For some reason decaf instant is still harder to find, especially if you want to avoid chemical decaffeination process.  If you haven’t done it, make the switch to Fair Trade.

This week will be the second week of the PNG mission trip.  Keep praying for the team as they serve schools and churches this week.

On a more practical note, the new divider door in the hall has started to be installed.  This will allow for more flexible use of the hall, especially for children’s ministry.

David Smith

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Great news from PNG! The team is having an awesome time and God is doing some amazing things. They have been out to the Duke of York islands working with schools and families there. No power, no hot water! A great experience. They stayed there for three days. This weekend they are ministering in churches in Rabaul.

Keep praying for them. They return on Friday.

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This Monday we remember Bruce, Katey and their family as they participate in Bruce’s dad Bevan’s funeral in Crystal Brook.  Bruce shared in church last week about the godly encounter he had with his dad during his last days.

I spoke at the Pt. Lincoln Baptist church on Sunday where Leigh Philp was ordained.  It was a real sense of celebration.  Leigh shared for a while and from that you could see his love for Pt. Lincoln and the church.  The church’s response showed their love for him.  It’s good to be connected.  Parkside has a good link there.

This week we look forward to a great service.  One of Garry’s relatives, Martyn Smith runs a cafe called, “The Difference Coffeehouse”.  Finding out what the difference is will be part of our adventure this week.

David Smith

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I’m away this weekend in Pt Lincoln attending the ordination of Leigh Philp (previously of Parkside fame!).
The PNG trip starts on Saturday and Kent is bringing the Sunday message from Philippians 3.

Here’s a few lessons that I’ve learned since I learnt it all…
1. I should give people what they need, not what they want
2. There is no substitute for the Christ centred, Spirit filled, community of faith
3. Neither the church nor I can do it all!

David Smith

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