Bulletin Announcements – 3 August 20124
Faith Promise Giving – A total of 135 faith promise slips received totalling $150,462 of the $170,000 target. Please do continue to pray that God will help us to reach the set target to financially support our missionaries.
SALT Forums (Christ and Culture) – This Winter we will have a new and exciting set of seminars called SALT, that will run for 4 Wednesday nights (7:30pm) in August at Croydon Park. Sessions will be a Q&A panel discussion format where different topics related to Christ and popular culture will be examined.
WSCCC will join the Moon Festival activities on 6th September organised by and for Rhodes community. We will run a Gospel Stall, and participate the community program for the day. This is a part of our Local Mission in the neighbourhood areas. We call for Mandarin, Cantonese and English congregations to join this event. For those who interested, please contact the following for further information and enrolment. Mandarin: Burhan Tan; Cantonese: Richard Chui; English: Pastor Andrew Bardsley; CP10: Pastor Chadd Hafer; CPM: Paul Lim. Please also remember this Local Mission Act in your prayers.
Announcements from Diaconate:
+ Diaconate Announcement: At the Annual General Meeting of the church on 5 October 2014, election of deacons for the next Diaconate term will take place (5 deacons per language group). Please reflect on 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and prayerfully consider whether you are moved to serve, or nominate someone amongst your congregation to serve in our church as deacon. If you do, please first contact a member of Deacon Nomination Committee (see the names below), and ask for the nomination form & related information. The closing date for nominations is 29August 2014. Please be prayerful and prompt. The English Deacon Nomination Committees are: Lydia Tan, Les Lee, Anthony Choong, Cerise Yeung.
+ The diaconate is pleased to inform brothers and sisters that following the advice from CRS (Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service) Australia on 29th May 2014 we have asked Rev Ariel Kurilowicz to work two and half days per week from home commencing in July 2014. CRS Australia is closely monitoring Rev Kurilowicz’s rehabilitation progress and will advise us from time to time if he has the capacity to work longer hours. Please continue to pray for Rev Kurilowicz’s recovery.
+ The diaconate is pleased to announce that in our meeting on 13th June 2014 we unanimously resolved to renew Rev Keith Noldt’s contract to be the part-time Interim Minister of WSCCC to serve the Strathfield 9am English congregation for another term of 12 months from 17th October 2014. Rev Noldt has kindly accepted the offer on 9th July 2014. We thank God for His guidance and also thank Rev and Mrs Noldt for their contribution to the church. Let us pray that God would continue to bless and use them greatly in the year to come.
Ariel writes – a weekly Scriptural devotion:
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21 NIV)
What are we to make of this verse? Why is it mentioned? We know Adam and Eve had just committed a grave sin by disobeying God. This opened their eyes and so realising they were naked they made coverings for themselves using fig leaves. Now, what is of interest to us is that God went ahead after this and made coverings for them using animal skins. But why? Was it because fig leaves weren’t durable enough? Maybe still too revealing? Maybe even out of fashion? I think not; rather we are told at the end of this verse that he clothed them. You see, it wasn’t until an animal had been sacrificed (took their place) that their sin had been properly dealt with. Now, they were properly clothed (covered). Not only would this have been a very powerful, bloody, and grizzly lesson for them but also a very gracious act on God’s behalf. In Galatians 3:27 Paul takes this idea and writes; “for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” What a wonderful picture we have here. Not only is Christ our sacrifice but also our dress – only in him are we properly clothed!
from Pastor Ariel