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Midweek News
Sunday
9AM: The Lord Jesus teaches us to make the glory and holiness of God an important part of our prayers.
Hallowed be Your Name. May Your Name be honoured as holy.
So we are to pray to our heavenly Father to help us direct all our living - what we think, say, and do - so
that His Name will always be honoured and praised.
To pray like that is very much needed in our world, where God and His Name are either ignored or blasphemed.
5PM: Is Jesus merely your drug of choice? Is he simply the ‘thing’ you turn to when you are down, broken, and have nowhere else to go? And if he is, is he really any different then to a pill, the bottle or whatever else people choose to get them through? And if he is, what do you do when you don’t have problems, you aren’t down? When people ate the food that Jesus produced they thought “GREAT!!! We’ll have some more of that, thanks” But Jesus says “Hang on, I’m more than a vending machine – I am the Snickers Bar of Life”
Big News: Next Door available for purchase!
It’s amazing how God causes opportunities to develop while others appear to slip away. We’d been saying to one another in Church Council that it looked like the contract on the Plumbers Block (Delancey St, behind RCRC) was not going to amount to anything. This was a tough realisation because we really do need to expand to cater for future needs.
Then, Tuesday morning, Church Council received a letter from the owners of 84 Sturgeon St (next door: motorbikes, piles of dirt, old white cottage) asking whether Redlands CRC was interested in making an offer for their property. This was a wonderful development, because to this point the neighbours had not at all been interested in discussing any sale.
Church Council has discussed this, and believe very strongly that this is an opportunity that we must not refuse. The owners of 84 Sturgeon have already been approached by developers keen to buy the property, fortunately the owners have given RCRC first option to purchase.
We want to publicly acknowledge and affirm the Knight brothers, acting for their aged mother, as they have honoured their previous agreement to give us first option to purchase. Church Council feels that if we don’t act now the property will be snapped up by developers keen to build multiple dwellings on the property.
After initial negotiations with the owners, we have unanimously decided to offer a contract on the property with a sale price of $700,000 (in the vicinity of the price offered by developers). The proposed property is 2967 m2 while our current property is 4746 m2
The contract we have offered includes the following conditions
• A 14 day period to attain congregational approval on the sale (church council cannot act independently of the church membership in this regard)
• A 21 day period to arrange finances
• A 60 day settlement period
We are of the opinion that this property can be utilised to
• Relieve pressure on the Kids@Church ministry.
• Allow us possibility of expanding our premises at a future date
• Be one more step toward a larger area for Redlands CRC in the future
With all this in mind, Church Council calls an extraordinary congregational meeting for Wednesday Nov 15, 7:30pm in the auditorium. We will be asked to discuss and decide upon the following motion:
That Redlands Christian Reformed Church purchase the property at 84 Sturgeon St, Ormiston
Friends, we need full attendance at this meeting.
His meeting is open to all attenders at Redlands CRC. Voting, however, is limited to those who hold membership in the church.
Please cancel all small groups, and anything else you have on the night, and make a plan to be at the meeting
Please continue to pray for the Lord’s guidance in this, and seek his confirmation that this is a step we need to take.
Please send any feedback to Dave Groenenboom, dave@redlandscrc.org.au, 0418 383 055, 3286 4700
Would Jesus go to Schoolies?
Redlands CRC, 9am & 5pm
• What are we to make of the whole schoolies phenomenon?
• What does the church have to say on the matter?
• How should parents be responding?
• What guidance will you give to your children, grandchildren and teens you know and love?
• In fact, what might Jesus have to say about any celebration we might undertake? How would he RSVP to any party you have?
Some have wondered whether this Discovery Service is just for those who are completing Year 12.
The answer is ‘no’.
The whole schoolies thing affects people of all ages and all walks of life. It’s really about how we celebrate, how parents set an example for celebration, how we make life choices, and how we live with the consequences.
This is an all church, all age, any-walk-of-life, cross-community service. We’d love to see a full attendance from the entire church family! Mark the date, and make a commitment to be there.
Further: take a wad of flyers and promote it in your neighbourhood. There are enough copies for everyone to cover their whole street.
Questions: justask@redlandscrc.org.au, Dave 0418 383 055; Clinton 0424 477 487
Making Redlands a great church community!
Over recent months we’ve had reasons to discuss the way we receive people into the Redlands CRC community. These discussions include what we do to welcome people informally on Sunday and at other times. Small Groups have also been discussing these things as a response to a questionnaire circulated by our Ministry Intern, Michelle Hudson.
Church Council is happy to let you know that Sherri Greef will be heading up a new area of ministry. Sherri will be our coordinator for fellowship and community development. Sherri has already set about meeting with people to share and gather ideas that will enable us to grow in this work.
So… if you get a phone call from Sherri asking to meet and chat with you, recognise that she has a passion and mandate to help us develop the family feel here at Redlands. The idea is that through all this we become more like the sort of Christian community the Lord would want us to be.
We’ll be introducing Sherri to you in he near future so you’ll be able to put a face to the name.
If you have questions please email Sherri at communitylife@redlandscrc.org.au or dave@redlandscrc.org.au . You can also phone Sherri on 0415 835 533
Prayer
• Damien Bos arrived safely home last Tuesday. After 15 months in the northern hemisphere, it’s great for him to be back. Give thanks to the Lord who makes all this possible
• The developments with the block next door are an outstanding testimony to the work of God. Give thanks to the King for his sovereign work. Ask him to guide the church family as they consider this important development.
• Prayerfully consider who you will bring along to the Discovery Service on Nov 12. These are prime opportunities to introduce people to the good news of Jesus. Please seek the blessing of God on this work.
• John & Diny Kapinga are moving to the Prins Willem Village. These moves are always significant and difficult to undertake. The sale of their unit was nothing short of remarkable – and we give thanks to God for his intervention. Please uphold them in this difficult time, asking the Lord for special strength and a smooth transition.
• Danielle de Kok and Will are happy to announce the arrival of Cody-Lea Maria last Tuesday! We rejoice in the gift of new life and we pray that God in his grace will uphold Danielle, Will and little Cody-Lea.
• Peter Forno’s mother died earlier this week while Peter, Rowena and the boys were holidaying in Fiji at the time. Ask that the grace and comfort of the living God will surround the Forno family in their grief.
• In the region: there seems to be trouble among our pacific neighbours: East Timor, Solomons, Fiji. Please pray for cool heads (both in Canberra and the capitals of these nations) that peace might rule and violence be defeated