Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn’t.” Other characters in our culture rephrase this as – never let truth get in the way of a good story.

Truth huh! Wouldn’t we love to know it when many of our politicians are embroiled in controversy; when our financial and petroleum institutions justify their pricing structures; when we are lured by subtle advertizing to buy, but the product doesn’t measure up?

Yes we’d love the truth to be evident before the consequences surface.

Each of us knows in our heart and conscience the truth will never let us down -sometimes we’ve just gotta trust it. It may take a bit for truth to surface, but like an air bubble in the ocean, it inevitably rises to the surface.

Jesus made the statement,”I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This statement deserves our full consideration because if it has interacted with our heart and conscience, faith calls us to follow.  

This Sunday morning the senior EBKidz will be leading the morning service with support from the other Kids ministries. The theme coming through their year of Sunday school has been that statement – I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life. We look forward to seeing how they have interacted with Jesus’ words.

Please consider sitting upstairs if the church is looking full Sunday morning.

On Saturday while EBKidz are practicing, Gingerbread houses/men are being created over at Eddies. It’s not too late to join in on the pre-Christmas fun there.

Tuesday night we had our AGM and if you weren’t there or need clarification on something, please contact the office or speak with one of the pastors for more details. On Sunday evening we will continue in our series looking at: Confronting the things we often tolerate. Ps Joe will be speaking on the topic of Judgementalism.

Joe

Did you hear about what happened to the Kalwolski family? John has supposedly been involved in some fraudulent activity and the pastor has kicked him out of the church! John’s children still want to come to Sunday School but John is now angry with the pastor and won’t let them come so the Sunday School leaders are going to ask the pastor to let John stay in the church so that the kids can still come to Sunday School. Members of John’s Lifegroup heard about it and have also become involved because they are all close to John so they discussed it as a group. Most were angry with the pastor and they decided to talk to others and rally support for John because they want John to be able to stay in the church and also to maintain his role as a teacher in the Lifegroup.

When the pastor finally heard about what was happening and the discussions that were taking place amongst numerous individuals and groups in the church he was bewildered at what he was hearing. He went and spoke to John about what he had heard and learned that John’s colleague at work had been charged with fraud and had been dismissed by his employer. John had told his wife what had happened and that he was going to the pastor to ask for prayer for his colleague.  As further investigations unfolded John and his wife realised their eight year old daughter had overheard part of their discussion and had thought it was her dad who was in trouble and was going to be kicked out of the church by the pastor. This troubled the child who thought she could no longer attend Sunday school so the child shared her concerns with the Sunday School leaders.

Sadly this fictitious story can be all too true in churches as snippets of information are passed on from one to the other like a series of “Chinese whispers.” Sins of the tongue are a very real issue for us as Christians and is the topic of this Sundays messages as Tom Golding shares with us in the morning and Don Reddin in the evening. Gossip, slander, half-truths and criticism can cause hurt and damage the reputation of others and can easily create division in the church. It is a topic we all need to be aware of so come along and learn what God’s Word has to say about this area of our lives.

This Sunday morning I will be speaking at Oakden Baptist Church and will be away on leave for seven days from Monday the 23^rd.  Please remember to pray for Encounter Schoolies this weekend and don’t forget our AGM is on this coming Tuesday the 24^th at 7:30pm.

Remember ‘silence is golden’,

God bless,

Our God is a God of immeasurable grace and mercy, whom we humbly worship, giving thanks for His grace, compassion and patience towards us. Scripture tells us however, that His grace and mercy will at some point cease and instead He will exercise a fiery judgement upon the earth that will consume His enemies. All those who scoff and mock, those who refuse to believe and those who oppose Him and refuse to accept the gospel, will find themselves consumed in a time of fierce and overwhelming judgement.

It seems strange to pause and think about this, because we like to focus primarily on the attributes of God that remind us of His rich grace; but we must keep in mind that God is perfectly just, and is righteous as much as He is perfectly gracious. This means He will not diminish His justice, righteousness and holiness to accommodate grace and mercy. We can be sure of a perfect demonstration of His previously withheld justice and righteousness in coming days, with the proof of many passages of Scripture. For example Hebrews 10:26-30,

²⁶ For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (ESV)

“Vengeance is mine, I will repay”, “outraged the Spirit of grace”, “the Lord will judge His people”, “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” - these are not the kinds of statements we normally associate with our gracious God. Incredibly, they are directed at believers, or more perhaps, faltering believers, and remind us that the Lord will indeed judge His people if we reject the truth and go our own way. Not all of this is easy to understand or reconcile - especially for those of us, like myself, who believe in the eternal security of the believer - but it does alert me to the fact we can have a distorted understanding of grace and mercy which we commonly inflate at the expense of justice, righteousness and holiness. God is perfect, as are all His ways, so if judgement begins with God’s people, what kind of fearful judgement will remain for those who stubbornly refuse His gracious offer of forgiveness in Jesus?

As Scripture says elsewhere, what kind of people ought we to be in light of God’s impending judgement that will come upon this world?

This Sunday morning Pastor Edwin will share with us and in the evening Elliot Keane will speak, continuing the series: “How to sin and get away with it” with this week’s topic “Anger and Jealousy”. We wouldn’t get angry and jealous would we?

In awe of God,

The Melbourne Cup has come and gone for another year and no doubt there are some very excited owners, trainers and jockeys for those connected with winning the most prestigious horse race in Australia. The race is the focal point for horse owners, trainers and jockeys from around Australia and for many around the world. Years of preparation, hundreds of thousands of dollars and a huge amount of man power go into getting horses ready for this one race, a race that lasts for a matter of moments. The outcome for the owners can be worth millions of dollars, no wonder they are so excited and can’t stop jumping around and smiling as they enjoy the fruits of victory being both fame and fortune.

I was reminded of the analogy of being in a race being used to describe the Christian life. A race that we are constantly running, not just one day for a few moments once a year, instead our race is every moment of every day whether we feel like it or not. Unlike the Melbourne Cup there is no doubt we will not receive fame and fortune of the kind recipients of the Melbourne Cup enjoy but we will definitely enjoy a blessed result from a race well run for the glory of God.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians and encouraged them to run to win, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1 Cor. 9:24 Running to win takes many qualities such as; determination, perseverance, commitment, discipline and passion. Most of all it requires a deep love for the Lord Jesus because this race is all about spreading the good news of the gospel and living in a way that pleases Him. Hebrews 12:1 continues the analogy of a race with these words, “Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

So how is your race going, are you continuing at a steady pace, making progress towards the goal? I’m glad that God doesn’t whip us like a jockey does a horse but with grace, love and sometimes discipline he encourages and motivates our participation in the race toward the goal of eternal life with Him. On the day we arrive we’ll be the ones jumping up and down for joy because of the prize of life that will far exceed any fame and fortune in this life.

This Sunday morning I will continue our series on sin with the topic of pride, Alan Millhouse will speak to us in the evening on the same topic from a different perspective. Please pray for our year 12 and Uni students at this time of year as they face significant exams.

See you in the race toward eternal life...