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Midweek News
Public Launch: Matthew Stanley Foundation
Tomorrow the Matthew Stanley Foundation will be launched at 10:00am at RCRC. Please feel free to come and be part of this event, and show your support for the desire to break the cycles of violence that we all too often witness. ABC 612 will broadcast Madonna King's entire morning show from RCRC from 8:30am to 11:00am.
Emma Miller' Memorial Service
Emma Miller died early on Wednesday morning: something she had been seeking for a number of years. While Emma will be buried in Sydney next week sometime, a memorial service will be held at RCRC coming Saturday (June 2) at 1:30pm. This will be a celebration of Emma's life and witness, and the entire church family is welcome to attend. These are great times to support and encourage those who are grieving. Enquiries: Jo Lindeman djol@optusnet.com.au (0423 438 079). Bill and Corrie Lindeman are planning to cut short their trip, leaving from Canada tomorrow morning. Please uphold the family in prayer, remembering the hope we share in the Gospel of Jesus is a certainty: the guarantee of life being written in his own blood and confirmed in his rising again.
Sunday
9 am: There's little doubt that Paul is a passionate man: he seems so driven. But why? What is it about following Jesus that makes him so energetic, so focussed? Is it the internal consistency of the Gospel? Is it that it's scientifically verifiable? Its historical tradition? Its ability to transform, or even harness social and political power? The answer might surprise you, and it might just change your life.
5 pm: Good things happen to good people. Right? That's the assumption, that somehow the law of Karma means that God will reward those who have done well, and punish those who haven't. Which is all well and good if you can be considered in the ‘good' category. But the story of Jacob blows that out the water, because Jacob is a crook and the thief - and yet somehow gets a blessing from God that we might only dream of. So maybe there is something else at work. Remember, read Genesis 25-35 in preparation for Sunday Night.
Kids@Church Year 6/7
Sadly, due to the lack of Kids@Church helpers and volunteers, at this stage we will be suspending Kids@Church classes for year 6 and 7, from the beginning of term 3. This is a regrettable situation, and as soon as we have the people resources available, we will recommence the groups.
If you would like any information about this, then please speak to Clinton (0424 477 487, clinton@redlandscrc.org.au).
We would encourage parents to continue to bring their children of this age to church to be a part of the service and to continue encouraging and nurturing them in your home. If you would like any ideas / suggestions of how to do this, then please speak to me. Clinton
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
- 2007/2008 Budget. Eddie Bos will present the budget for the coming financial year. Ministries and groups are asked to forward allocation requests without delay. Printed material will be made available well before the meeting.
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.
PRAYER
- Matthew Stanley Foundation Launch will be positive and honouring to God.
- Family and friends of Mrs Emma Miller as they come to terms with their grief.
- Bec Cooper as she recovers from another knee operation.
- Members of our congregation who are suffering with illnesses, and those caring for them, that they may have the strength to do so.