Bulletin Announcements – 23 August 2015
- SALT Forums 2015: A Block of Salt: This year’s August Salt forums are on: ‘Gender Issues’. Our final question at this Wednesday’s forum (26 August) is: Are Christians anti-sex? If not, what positive messages do we have to share with the world about human sexuality? The panelists will be: Parisa Hafer, Scott Reid, Ali Maldonado, Tim White, Ying and Ivy Yee. This forum begins at 7:30pm in the CP10 hall.
- The Induction Service for Rev Dominic Ku will be held at the Chapel on 30 August at 1:30pm. Please come and join together to give thanks to God and to show our support to Rev Ku. Before the induction service we will have a welcoming lunch for Rev Ku and family at 12:30pm on same Sunday, everyone is welcome and please bring a dish.
- Public profession of faith: If you have you become a Christian through repentance of your sins and trusting faith in the Lord Jesus, there will be an opportunity for you to publicly declare that faith by baptism or confirmation on the 22 November. A preparation group will commence meeting very soon. Please indicate your interest to Rev Ariel Kurilowicz or Chee Yee Kwok by 30th of August.
- Salt & Pepper Fellowship is having a gathering on 19 Sept. A talk “Health Living Older” at 4:30pm and Dinner at 6pm. Tickets on sale now $20pp. Please contact Andrew Chiu or Derek Hong.
- Notice is hereby given to all members of the church for the Annual General Meeting, called by the Diaconate, on Sunday, October 4 at 12:30pm at the Chapel of WSCCC Strathfield. Annual reports and agenda will be distributed from September 13.
Ariel writes – a weekly Scriptural devotion:
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” (Matthew 5:13 NIV)
Being the “salt of the earth” is a common expression which many people understand but what does Jesus mean by salt losing its saltiness? Chemists know that pure salt can’t lose its saltiness; Sodium Chloride is a stable compound. But the salt in Jesus’ day was hardly pure; collected from around the Dead Sea it contained a mixture of other minerals, so when washed it left behind a useless residue that lacked a salty taste. So what did they do with this so called leftover “salt”? Well, they threw it on the ground or mud to make a hard path as the leftover minerals had a hardening effect. People would then walk right on top of this “salt” and trample it into the ground. Such is the fate of those who claim to follow Jesus but don’t live out his words (Matthew 7:21-23, 26-27). Spiritually speaking such a person is bland, useless, “no longer good for anything”. We would do well to heed Jesus’ warning.
from Pastor Ariel