We realised ordinary things that we experience everyday had the potential to be extraordinary things for visitors.
– Kylie Stewart
Rangitikei Farmstay
Monthly Archives: October 2013
Sermon Outline
THE CROSS
“‘And afterward,
Joel 2:28-32 (Acts 2:17-21)
Intr.:
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
1. Your sons and daughters will prophecy,
2. your old men will dream dreams,
3. your young men will see visions.
4. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
5. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
6. The sun will be turned to darkness and
7. the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
End:
And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.'”
Being Dedicated
“We have dedicated staff who concentrate exclusively on helping you switch banks painlessly,” says the ASB leaflet, I picked up not long ago. The leaflet is called “Success is trying out a new bank – without trying all their fees.”
And I can only say that I am very attentive. Why?
In my reading of the BIBLE – I started at the beginning of the year with the first book called GENESIS – I arrived at ACTS in the New Testament, and there it says 4 things about the early believers. They dedicated themselves to 4 things: (Acts 2:42)
1. The apostles’ doctrine:
We find 13 letters of the apostle Paul in the New Testament and 2 of the apostle Peter.
2. Fellowship with other believers:
There is secular fellowship and there is Christian fellowship. Christian fellowship is much deeper.
Here are seven things that believers have in common:
a. all born of the same father (John 1:13);
b. bought with the same price (First Corinthian 6:20);
c. members of the same Body (Colossians 1:18);
d. taught by the same Spirit (John 16:13)
e. walking in the same path (Second Corinthians 5:7);
f. serving the same Master (Matthew 23:8);
g. heirs of the same inheritance (Romans 8:17)
3. The breaking of bread:
Who may partake of Holy Communion?
Only those who belong to the family of God. We must be born into the family of God.
4. Prayer:
What is prayer?
“Prayer is worship addressed to the Father, in the name of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Dr. H. W. Frost
The ASB bank has dedicated staff who concentrate exclusively on helping people switch banks painlessly.
I am asking:
“Do we have devoted (dedicated) believers at the present time who concentrate on the apostle’s teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer?
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Money can buy the husk of many things, but not the kernel. It brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintances, but not friends; days of joy, but no peace and happiness.
– Henrik Ibsen
WATER
WELL
“water with a splash of life,” says the advertisement above the entrance to the coffee shop. We are in Taipa, in the Far North of New Zealand, and stopping for some refreshments.
Ardent readers of the BIBLE are straight away reminded of the “living water,” the Lord Jesus Christ talks about.
LIVING WATER IS THE GIFT GOD HAS FOR US. (John 4:10)
In his letter to the Ephesians the apostle Paul teaches that Salvation is a GIFT of God. (Ephesians 2:8)
DRINKING THE LIVING WATER GIVES US ETERNAL LIFE. (John 4:14)
In his letter to the Romans the apostle Paul teaches that ETERNAL LIFE is a gift from God. (Romans 6:23)
The Lord Jesus Christ compares the water from the spring with the water he gives and says:
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.” – John 4:13,14
FALSE TEACHERS!
THE DEAD TREE
Seeing that dead tree today at Taipa Beach, not far from Kaitaia, reminded me of what the apostle Peter and Jude, the brother of Jesus, are writing about the false teachers. Peter writes about them in his second letter and Jude writes about them in his very short letter of 25 verses.
Here is what Jude says about them in the verses 12 and 13:
“When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love,
1. they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you.
2. They are like shameless shepherds who care only about themselves.
3. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain.
4. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots.
5. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds.
6. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.” (NEW LIVING TRANSLATION)
“Longest Life Expectancy in the World”
“Over 20% of Japan’s population is past retirement age. Japan also has some of the fittest pensioners as it has the longest life expectancy in the world (83 years)!
I find this information in a W E C calendar, which was sent to us from Japan.
W E C stands for WORLDWIDE EVANGELISATION FOR CHRIST.
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The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity. – Ludwig Wittgenstein