He remembers a time from his childhood when he and his little brother were chopping firewood…

‘Leon had his hand on the piece of wood that I wanted to chop.

“Move your hand’, I demanded. No”, he replied. I chopped anyway. He screams. I recall an image of a V shape in his hand, with blood spurting. He runs inside with terror in his scream and my mother was distraught threatening me with the police. Soon I was sent to call the ambulance. As my brother and mother were taken to the hospital I was left with nowhere to hide, isolated and lost.

When my father comes home he hears the story and does not immediately respond. He carries out his usual chores (and finishes cutting the wood) then he calls me into his room. I am dying inside, shattered to silence. He allows the silence to continue for what seemed a lifetime before he said, “Do you know what you have done?” I replied “yes”. More silence. I felt shame and guilt deep into my soul. Finally he said “You have been punished enough”. I expected a hiding and the lost of parental approval. I thought I was going to grow up isolated and condemned. My father taught me about forgiveness and grace that day.

I still had to make it up to my brother and I became the ideal big brother protector. But I never forgot those words of my father. I experienced the reality of grace and it set me up to properly understand God’s grace and forgiveness. The consequences of my mistake took months to repair. Other mistakes we make in life may take years to repair. However we can face those consequences secure in the knowledge that God is gracious. Jesus has died in our place. He was punished enough.’

Stephen Semenchuk

Senior Pastor

I teach scripture at Primbee Primary on Thursdays and this week I stared the next section in the teaching book which just happened to be 1 Samuel. In 1 Samuel we see that even though people were continuing to reject God, God still remembered them, he still cared for them and he had a plan. This plan would was bigger than anyone would have expected and it was not just for his people of Israel but for all people.

The passage today is when Samuel had grown up into a boy and someone called out to him while he was sleeping, Samuel thought it was Eli but it was God. We live in a world where there is so much noise and so much distraction that we can’t hear God calling to us and we ignore him.

This morning, Nigel Dixon will be speaking to us. Nigel and his wife Natalie and their four children Kaitlyn, Janet, Melise and Lazarus have been going to Dapto Anglican for many years now and Nigel is employed by the Churches in Kiama to teach scripture at Kiama high school. Feel welcome to get to know Nigel over a tea of coffee at the end of the service.

John Doughton

MTS Worker

2010 seems to be going quickly, school holidays are now in the second and final week. Don’t forget about the SHREK and the Unexpected King pupil free fun day on Monday the 19th, 9am to 3pm, invite your grandkids, your neighbors, anyone year K to 6. Amy has more postcards with the all the details on it or they can see the postcard here

Next week we meet out new link missionaries, Phillip and Deanne Gerber and Phillip will commence our first sermon in the 1 Samuel series “Looking for a Leader” April is looking like at great month!

Yours in Christ,
John Doughton

Imagine being an athlete who starts numerous races but never sees a finish line; it would surely not be long before you became frustrated with this turn of events!

The example above seems like something you would never want for yourself, but sadly it can be our practice. If we are to find the ‘secret of being content’ that Paul speaks of in his letter to  the Philippians (4:12), than we might need to make some adjustments to the way we approach our prayer life and relationship with God.

Here is what I have learnt from the letter.

Pray – Specifically and with God’s purposes in mind. 

Watch – Don’t forget to watch for God’s hand at work. The more specific your prayer the easier it tends to be to see how God is working.  This is easily the forgotten step; it is like starting a race with no anticipation of the finish.

Rejoice – Having seen God at work, rejoice and celebrate the God who is at work.  Don’t fall into the trap of considering things “lucky” or “fortunate” but instead having asked God, having seen him work, Rejoice and Rejoice in the Lord!

When our minds are attuned this way, and focused on Jesus, the secret of being content becomes less elusive.

‘And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.’ Phil 4:19

Shane Dirks.

 When Dorothy clicked her heals together and said ‘There’s no place like home’ in the Wizard of Oz she may well have been on to something. The home Dorothy thought of was a place where she belonged, things were in order, and the various tribulations of OZ were left far behind.

You may not realise it but we’re not in Kansas any more Toto! What I mean is to say our here and now is not all together right, and as we live we find our selves tormented by and contributing to the torment that is inherent in a fallen world. So what to do?

Ruby Slipper are not required, but thinking of home is! The letter to the Philippians teaches us that we are citizens of heaven, and so St. Paul teaches us that we should think about the things of home: ‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy– think about such things.’ (Phil 4:8) And the promise is that ‘the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil 4:7)

There’s no place like home!

Shane Dirks

 

I had a great pair of Sunglasses, that my family bought me for my 30^th birthday, they were not cheap and I loved to wear them. Unfortunately I was on a friends fishing boat a few weeks ago and they fell of my head and into the murky depth never to be seen again. You can bet if I ever get another pair I will guard them a lot more closely! As they say ‘Once bitten, twice as shy.’

 Strange thing is I see the exact opposite thing going on in the bible. The principle for the apostle Paul is if something or even someone is precious then it/they may just be the very thing to give away for the sake of the Gospel. So Paul (whilst in prison himself) sends his best guys, his most treasured colleagues Timothy and Epaphroditus to the Philippians in order that the church at Philippi might be strengthened.

 I am still going to take good care of my sunglasses but what I do learn is a loose ownership of those things that I may be able to surrender for the Gospel.

Shane Dirks