Bulletin Announcements – 26 July 2015
- Faith Promise Giving 2015/16 – Today is the last Sunday that we will be collecting the return slips. A total of 134 return slips have been received totalling $158,475. If you wish to participate in the Faith Promise Giving, please fill in a return slip and place it in the offering bag today.
- SALT Forums 2015: A Block of Salt: At no time in history has there been so much discussion, confusion and debate about gender roles and the nature of human sexuality. Therefore, this year’s August Salt topic will be: ‘Gender Issues’. Not only is Salt one of Jesus’ symbols that describes the positive impact that his followers are to have on the world, it is also our acronym for Speaking, Acting, Living and Thinking like Christ. These Q&A style forums will be held on the four Wednesday evenings in August (7:30pm) at CP10, 49A Boyle Street, Croydon Park. RSVP to Chadd at chaddhafercp10@gmail.com.
- The Ladies Fellowship will meeting again on 2nd August 10:30am at Alice Cheng’s home! Please join us for an encouraging and fun morning where there will be lots of opportunities to meet and fellowship with other women from our congregation. Morning tea included. For more information, please talk to Solan Chiu or Betty Wong.
- The church will be broadcasting a number of talks from the 87th Hong Kong Bible Conference in August/September. Please refer to the insert for the Broadcasting Timetable at WSCCC. Please also note that we have particularly chosen some talks given by Dr. Chris Wright on Deuteronomy, and these talks will be presented in English and translated into Cantonese.
Ariel writes – a weekly Scriptural devotion:
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5 NIV)
“Blessed”; the word means to be happy, fortunate, well off, even to be envied in a good way. Then without a doubt Jesus quotes Psalm 37:11 when he says; “the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” But what does this mean? Firstly, “will inherit the earth” is an expression commonly used by the prophets to speak of receiving the Promised Land. Yet, the soil itself is not in view. The idea here is one of abundant blessings that the land provides, all because God gives these blessings, and ultimately he himself is there. These words speak of a profound, prosperous, and personal relationship with God. Secondly, “the meek” can also be translated as gentle or quiet but these too do not capture the full meaning of this word. The Greeks used it to describe horses that had been broken in and brought to the bridle. No longer wild and free but under someone’s control. Therefore, to be meek is not to be powerless, rather it is to give your power over to someone else. Nietzsche actually understood this verse well when he criticised it as Jesus’ “slave morality”. Yes, this is indeed what Jesus means – a person who is submissive to God! Does this sound like you?
from Pastor Ariel