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Midweek News
Sunday
9am: Its becoming more and more popular today to be positive about Jesus - but less keen about ‘church.' We even notice some of those trends in our own church community with church engagement dropping - but personal spirituality still very much alive. But is this really possible, is this what God has in mind? Thi Sunday we will look at why the church is so important in God's plan, in the future of the world and in our own lives, and what response this calls for from us.
If you want to read ahead, try Psalm 122 and Hebrews 12:22-24
5pm: If you watch Oprah or read dFine (the local lifestyle magazine) maybe you've heard about "The Secret": How ‘the universe' always answers the requests of people who believe, ask and (expect to) receive. You name it: a nice diamond ring, a new car (or bike), snazzy clothes. Yes, people actually believe this stuff. Interestingly, when Paul writes to the Colossian church he speaks of the Gospel as a mystery, a secret - so what is it? And is God's secret better than the so called ‘secret of the universe'? Hey, you probably already know the answer is yes, but you really want to know ‘why', don't you!
Read ahead at Col 1:24-29
Discovery Service: June 17, 9am (only) "Too much to carry...?"
It's amazing that in a country where there is so much freedom that people can experience such heavy burdens. Like, they are stuck in a rut and they can't get out. The weight of living can be incredibly heavy. Unbearable, even. In the NT world, the great gods were Rome's peace and prosperity and the religious power typified by Judaism. Neither of these gods brought freedom. Nor do the gods of today. They only freedom worth considering is the freedom Jesus brings. This service will especially be for your friends and family who do not know Jesus. On Sunday everyone will receive small invitations to pass on to others: please use them liberally. Please also pray that God will call people to himself through this service.
Breakfast meeting: June 23
You're invited to another RCRC Happy Meal! We will get together for a breakfast meeting on June 23! We'll be discussing
- Latest developments in the building program. The committee will be presenting options to the congregation before the meeting. These options will outline the nest recommended stage of development for the facilities at RCRC.
- Leadership Structure: Sometimes people ask ‘what do the elders do here?' - the new leadership structure has enabled us to refocus the elder's role in a way which we believe will benefit ministry at RCRC. We'd love to be able to tell you more about it
AM Church
If you've been at RCRC the last few weeks you will have noticed a change: more space. The main reason for this is that a swag of people - at our encouragement - have switched to the evening service. The whole idea with this was to make more space in the auditorium, and that has been achieved. Of course, there is a greater purpose in all this: that we have more opportunity to build the AM service attendance once again. We get to refocus and redevelop the AM community. That will take a bit of effort, but the returns always outweigh what we contribute in time, energy and resources. If you identify AM Church as your ‘home' I would like to encourage you to do the following:
- Bring your friends. Did you know that there is a high percentage of people in the general community who would probably attend a service in a church if they were asked by a friend. That's you! Do you have friends who don't know Jesus? Then make a point of asking them along. God in His sovereign plan may use you as an instrument of grace, just one of a number of ways he may use to draw people to himself (Rom 10:14-15). We're planning some AM services designed specifically for people who don't know Jesus (more about this next week), so start thinking and praying about this now.
- Become more regular in your own attendance: make a commitment to be here every week. We all know there are lots of things on our agenda, life is busy. Sport. Leisure. Need for extra sleep. Yep, got that. This big issue here is that none of this builds the church! None of that extends fellowship. None of that encourages your brothers and sisters in Christ to follow their King. The reality is that the church is blessed when followers of Jesus are committed and regular in meeting together. That's why there are hearty calls in the New Testament to do just that. When the Christian community is meeting and worshipping with their best, the church is strong (Heb 10:24-25; Acts 2:42-27)
- Make a commitment to use your gifts more effectively. More gaps apparent = more gifts required. There are more opportunities than ever for you not only to show your thanks to the Lord for new life in Jesus Christ. Using your gifts is a great way to show the nature of the Kingdom. That by grace we are salt and light, and God is in the business of restoring and reconciling his world to himself in Christ. So be bold. Sign up on the sheets provided in the newsletter, and let's continue to build God's new community.
Further, we believe the PM service is well full enough now. We want to have both services in a position where there is plenty of room for newcomers, so we don't need any more people to ‘do the switch.' We want to see both services as places where there is a good variety of ages. So if you're not one of those original people who indicated they would make the move, please retain your commitment to the AM service - it won't help to have the AM service under resourced. These things will take a little time to ‘settle in', and at the end of it all we're confident that RCRC will grow into these challenges quite effectively.
Feedback: dave@redlandscrc.org.au