Bulletin Announcements – 18 September 2016

16 September 2016
  • Ladies Fellowship Today: The ladies are meeting up TODAY!! Join us for a time of reflection, discussion and fellowship as we tackle the topic of CONTENTMENT with three panelists. Time: 10:30am – 12 noon; Place: At Alice Cheng’s home (37 Albyn Road, Strathfield.) Please come along!! All ladies welcome!!

 

  • The famous Westminster Shorter Catechism says: ‘The sacrament of baptism is a washing with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is a sign and seal that we are joined to Christ, that we receive the benefits of the covenant of grace, and that we are engaged to be the Lord’s.’ It’s an outward sign of an inward reality.  Do you have that inward reality? Then, you have the opportunity to publically declare it in November. Please speak to one of the pastors.  A preparation group will commence in October.

 

  • Diaconate Announcement: Notice is hereby given to all members of the church that the Annual General Meeting will be held at 12:30pm on Sunday, September 25, at the WSCCC Strathfield Chapel. During this meeting, election of deacons for the next term will be held. The AGM reports, agenda, and deacon candidate profiles are available from the ushers (one copy per family please). If you prefer to receive the 2016 AGM reports by email, please contact the church administrator (Gigi) by email (wsccc@optusnet.com.au). Please also contact the deacons of your congregation for the Proxy Form for the election of deacons if you cannot come to the AGM.

 

  • Operation Christmas Child – A reminder to please return the filled shoebox to the church by next week, September 25th. Thank you.

 

  • Sunday school Term 3 will end today. We will have holiday program on 25 September, 2 and 9 October. Term 4 will starts on 16 October. Play Group invites children 5 years and under, and their parents or grandparents, to join our ‘Teddy Bear Picnic’ on Tuesday, 20 September, 10am-12.30pm. We will have play, songs and stories, games and lunch. We are excited to see you there! PS. Please bring your Teddy Bear for the picnic.

 

Ariel writes – a weekly Scriptural devotion:

“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” (Romans 15:7 NIV)

The Christian life is not about being good or doing good in order to get God’s acceptance. No, the reason Christians behave as they do is because of a God who’s already accepted them in Jesus. The way God did this is crucial to understanding Paul’s instruction above. Jesus accepted us when we were in a spiritually unacceptable state; we were “dead in sin”, “lost”, “ungodly”, “under condemnation”, and “deserving of God’s wrath”. How then was he able to accept us? It was because of his costly sacrifice that paid for our sins. He gave something up (his life) in order for us to be acceptable before God. This is where we ought to ask; “Do I accept other Christians in the same way?” It seems some Christians work on the premise of “I’ll accept you when you accept me” or “I’ll accept you when you prove yourself godly enough to me”. How un-Christ-like! How opposite to Jesus! If we’re to bring praise to God we need to be prepared to accept others at some cost to ourselves, after all Jesus accepted us at great cost to himself.

from pastor Ariel