Claim the
promise!
A few
years ago my son spilt water over the keyboard of our laptop computer and it
stopped working. Someone told me that their insurance company covered
accidental damage to electrical goods so I rang my insurance company in the
hope our laptop would be covered. I was told that they didn’t cover accidental
damage to laptops and the lady politely directed me to read the policy booklet
they sent out with my renewal each year.
After the
call I looked through the policy booklet and sure enough it was clearly stated
that damage to electrical goods such as laptops was not covered. This
experience taught me the value of reading the fine print and knowing exactly
what you get in your policy. It was good to know what they promised to do and
what they didn’t promise to do.
Just the
other day I needed to contact our insurance company again and in the course of
our conversation I discovered that they now offered cover that included
accidental damage for specified electrical goods such as phones, iPads and
laptops. Needless to say I specified a couple of items so they would be covered
and was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t increase my premium. I would have
never thought to do this if I hadn’t found out that they now offer this kind of
cover.
This got
me thinking about God’s promises to us. How many times do we expect God to do
something for us that he hasn’t actually promised to do? A common expectation I
find is that people believe that if they live a good moral life then God will
spare them from pain and suffering. Yet God does not actually promise this. If
you read his handbook, the Bible, you won’t find it there.
At the
same time I wonder how many of God promises go unclaimed because we have not
taken the time to discover them? How often do we try to do things in our own
strength and resources when God promises to be with us and provide us with what
we need?
During
this season of Advent at Good Shepherd we will continue to unpack God’s
promises to us in Jesus. The Bible says, ‘For all of God’s promises have been
fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!”’ (2 Corinthians 1:20) God
sent Jesus into this world to fulfil all his promises to us. God wants us to
claim his promises and live by them. A promise is of no use if we do not claim
it and live by it. My insurance company’s promise to insure my possessions is
only useful to me if I subscribe to their insurance and claim against their
promises when needed.
Do you
know the promises of God to you in Jesus? Why not take the time to read God’s
promise handbook, the Bible and grow in your understanding of what God promises
you in Jesus? As you do this I suspect you will discover a fresh joy for your
Christmas celebrations and a new perspective to live by in the coming year.
2014 can be a very promising year as you live in the promise of God.
Pastor
Noel
This Sunday at Good Shepherd
This
week’s message will be “God’s Promise of
Peace” as we continue the series ‘God’s promises in Jesus’
Bible Readings:
Isaiah 2:1-5, Isaiah 9:6-7
Celebration Service:
Thank you to everyone who came along to our
Celebration Service last Sunday. It was a wonderful morning and we thoroughly enjoyed
the opportunity to worship with you. We’d like to extend a huge congratulation
to all the kids and leaders involved. You are amazing and we hope you had just
as much fun as we did. Kingdom Kids has now finished for the year but we’d like
to invite you to continue worshipping with us during Advent. Kingdom Kids will
be re launched at our Back to School service on the 2nd February
2014.
Baby Zone:
Normal lessons will resume this Sunday 8th
December during the 10:30am service and will conclude on the 15th
December with our 2013 Christmas Party. Please note that our final session and
party will be held on the school oval and playground as our current room is no
longer available. We ask that parents and carers (who wish to have their
children involved) stay so that everyone can be safe and accounted for in a
more open space. We are looking forward to moving into our new room early next
year.
Playgroup: The things we love about Christmas!
Come along to playgroup this term to help us
celebrate “the things we love about Christmas”. Each Wednesday from
9:30am-11:30am the church hall is transformed into an inviting play area with
loads of fun and interesting activities for everyone to take part in. Our theme
this week was The Nativity Story followed
by Carols and Community on the
11th December, a
joint celebration with the receptions at GSLS from 9-10:30am on the school
playground and oval. Please bring a plate of morning tea to share. $2 per child or $3 per family. Please contact
Beth Einthal for more info 0438 233 671.
Only $50 to go!
It has become a tradition at our church to give the
children a Christmas pack as they enter church on Christmas Eve and Day, as a
way to include and bless them in the service. To help cover the cost of this
expense, we would like to ask for small donations from the congregation.
$180 has already been donated, which means we only have $50 to go. Please
place your donations in the ‘Kids Christmas Packs’ money house located on the
Kingdom Kids sign in table in the narthex. Thanks in advance for your support
in this way. We’d also like to thank the years 7’s at GSLC who will help us put
the packs together next Monday afternoon.
Laura Carson – Children and Family Team Leader
Prayer
requests
Prayer
requests are not included in the weekly news. If you would like to view the
current requests refer to the email that alerted you to this weekly news. If
you have a prayer request please email churchequiries@paravista.org.au with your request.
Lutheran
Women of South Australia RETREAT 2014
Located at the Australian Lutheran College - Ward
Street, North Adelaide
From 17th to 19th January
2014. RSVP required by 8th January 2014.
For enrolment forms or more information, please
contact Ruth Oster on 8265 0221 or email kroster@senet.com.au
From the office
Christmas
Whirlwind
Last year a number of volunteers attended the church
complex on Christmas Eve and did a general clean of the grounds and exterior
surrounds of the building. I am again looking for a small team to assist in
creating an inviting appearance to our church facility for Christmas.
In order to do this I am planning to hold a
whirlwind of the church grounds and facility exterior on Tuesday 24th
December starting at 9am. Now the more helpers we get the bigger the whirlwind
and the greater the effect. If you have someone else in mind who you could
bring along, do so and it will all be blown over in a jiffy.
If you have a petrol driven blow vac that needs a
dust out bring it along with safety equip and we can have a dust off comp. Last
year’s winner was a blow in who only led by a short puff.
Please mark your welcome card whirlwind, let the
office or Stephen know your availability by 9am Wednesday 18th
December. Thanks.
Christmas
Stalls
Available after both morning services on the
following dates: 8th and 15th December. All
proceeds to Cebu Mission. Thank you for your support.
Research
on conversion to Christianity
Researchers from Flinders University (theology department) are seeking
participants for research on why individuals convert to Christianity. If you
are aged over 18 years, from an English speaking background, have begun
considering yourself a Christian in the past two years and are willing to be
interviewed about your experiences, they would love to hear from you. More
information on the noticeboard or from Lynne Taylor Mobile: 0488 497 881, Phone:
08 8358 2149 or Email: tayl0548@flinders.edu.au
“Past stories of grace inspire future stories of
faith”
