This edition features reports on the District Apostle’s visits to Redcliffe and Morayfield, a church dedication in Papua New Guinea, the recent divine service for senior members, and photos from Thanksgiving 2019 and 2020.
As we look towards the end of the year, plans have been made to hold an online Christmas concert and we invite participation from all members in our district. Simply select a Christmas themed song and submit a recording of the piece being sung or played, either individually or as a group. As all music needs to be free of any copyright restrictions, it is important to select a piece either from the link found in the attached instructions, or from the attached list of hymns from our hymnal (please note that some hymns in our hymnal cannot be used, so please select only from this list). Should you wish to use a different piece of music, please contact Carley Love ([email protected]) prior to doing your recording so that we can be confident that there are no copyright infringements, as any copyright issues will mean that the recording cannot be included in the concert.
To allow sufficient time for the behind-the-scenes work required to put the pieces into the concert format, all submissions must be received by 30th November 2020.
Further information regarding this initiative can be found in the flyers below, together with some instructions to assist with submitting your contribution.
Many a saddened teacher has perhaps secretly had this thought about a student. All efforts to help equip him for life seemed to have been in vain. The teacher’s joy is all the greater when he later learns that something has become of the student after all, and that the student is now very successful. The seed that the teacher sowed has brought forth fruit after all!
It is the same in our life of faith: often we are unable to recognise any results of our actions. Perhaps the seed has indeed fallen upon infertile soil, but it may also be that it simply needs a little more time and patience to germinate. Or perhaps it has already happened, only we cannot see it yet. When we align our lives by the gospel, serve the Lord, and talk about our faith, we sow a good seed. If it has fallen upon fertile soil, God will take action and cause it to germinate in the hearts of our fellow human being, such that it can bring forth fruit. How great our joy will be then!
Food for thought from a divine service by the Chief Apostle
Source: nak.org
Not every congregation is so fortunate to have its own church. In one congregation in Liberia, for example, services take place on the veranda of the Priest’s house. This is what a young sister from there reports. community has many more compelling stories to offer and reflects the diversity in our congregations around the world.
Dear brothers and sisters,
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). Whenever I read this Bible passage, I think about all of you. We each lead our own lives. We live through our ups and downs, at times filled with fear, and then also filled with joy again. Our comfort is that God is faithful! He does what He says He will do. For us human beings this may not always be perceptible, especially since we only know a tiny portion of the divine plan which He has in store for us.
It is God who has called us into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ. He calls us, He elects us – not the other way around. He knows each and every one of us better than we know ourselves, and He knows about everything. And He leaves each one of us the freedom to heed this call or not.
God calls us into eternal fellowship with Jesus Christ, our Lord.
This is something that Jesus Himself confirmed: He wants us to be with Him where He is. But we are already in the fellowship of life with the Son of God in the here and now. We stand together with Him in all situations of life:
God calls us into the fellowship of the believers—that is, into the church.
God ultimately also calls us into the fellowship of Holy Communion.
Thank You, Lord, for making it possible for me to be part of this fellowship!
Warm regards,
Jean-Luc Schneider
Source: nak.org