Bulletin Announcements – 23 November 2014

21 November 2014
  • Baptism service will be held today at 12.30 pm. 22 people will be baptised, publicly declaring their faith in Jesus Christ. Come along and encourage them. Names are: English: James Chin, Ming En Chin, Kooi Leng Har, Benjamin Ng, Joshua Ng; Cantonese: Elaine Chan, Winnie He, Gloria Lee, Rita Ma, Ying F Ma, Mandy Wong; Mandarin: Yu Zhong Chen, Shui Qing Feng, Angela Hu, Ting Ren, Mandy Sui, Wei Wang, Yi Xu, Lucy Yang, Yu Fei Zhang, Cai Xia Zhong, Lily Zhou.
  • ‘Tea for a cause’: Strathfield 9am will be hosting a women’s event on 29th Nov! This high tea event aims to raise funds for children living in poverty. Tickets are $30/person with all funds raised being donated to Compassion Australia. Kirsty Kurilowicz will also be sharing a message on compassion. For tickets, please see Betty Wong or Joanne Cheng. For more information on Compassion Australia, please visit http://www.compassion.com.au.
  • Children Ministry Announcement: On 30 November, Strathfield 9am (English Service) will have Family Service in the Upper Hall during the service time. We will have puppets, songs, and Kid’s talk. All families are welcome to join. Please note, there will be no 8.55 Sunday school classes on that Sunday.
  • Our annual Christmas in the park is only a few weeks away! This is one of the highlights of the year and the stage production “Angels we have heard on high” is not to be missed! So bring your family and friends for what is sure to be a special time for all. A free event 3-5pm Saturday 13th December 2014 @ Burwood Park.
  • CHRISTMAS IN THE PARK: 2 or 3 volunteers from each congregation are needed for this event. To do face-painting, balloons, and welcome tent. Please speak to Pastor Bardsley or Rev Noldt TODAY!
  • NextGen Training Conference: We have a group of Youth and Leaders going to NextGen in Jan 12-16 2015. Early bird discount closes 12th November. Register as part of our WSCCC Group. See Leo Leung or Youth Pastor Andrew Bardsley for instructions and info.
  • If you wish to support the church electronically, you can donate to these church accounts: WSCCC General Offertory BSB 082 080 Acc 48 243 6244; WSCCC MTEC Missionary Giving BSB 082 080 Acc 52 856 0495. Please make sure that you reference/detail your donation as “donation” or “faith promise giving” or whatever else is appropriate. If you wish to set up a regular direct transfer, please set it up as direct transfer rather than direct debit.

 

Ariel writes – a weekly Scriptural devotion:

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. (Galatians 6:1a)

But what about rebuke? Doesn’t this person need to be told what they’ve done is wrong? What about repentance? Doesn’t this person need to say sorry to God, maybe others too? Doesn’t all this need to happen first before they’re restored? Yes, that is restoration, is it not? A person can only be restored to God and others if they’ve acknowledged and repented of their sin. Therefore, it is the church’s job to help the Christian caught in sin to do so. The danger however is that the church will do it in the spirit of the law rather than the Spirit of Christ. That is why Paul calls for those who live by the Spirit to restore such a person. It cannot be done otherwise. A spirit of grace and love is needed rather than a spirit of condemnation and scorn. It is also to be done in a gentle manner not a harsh one, least the person feel rejected rather than accepted when they do repent. Restoration in the end means the whole community welcoming the repentant sinner back with open arms, after all isn’t that how God welcomes us when we repent?

From Pastor Ariel