Family First

Today we will be looking at the family structure as God has intended with particular attention to the story of Ruth and Boaz.

There are many advantages to being in a family. While it may seem obvious that children need someone to take care of them, there are advantages for adults, too. Would you believe people are healthier? After decades of studies, married men have been found to have fewer heart attacks. Married men live longer and have more emotionally healthy lives. Not only that, but according to a book which draws on a 20 year US Department of Labor survey of 6,000 men, married men get better jobs than single men.

According to an Australian study, the death rate figures reveal single people, especially men, have death rates between two and four times higher than married people. This study found that the death rate for married men aged 35 to 39 is 0.9 for each 100,000 but for unmarried men in the same age group the rate jumps to 3.6.

Numerous advantages exist for a country with strong healthy families. Families have been called the building blocks of a stable society. When families are damaged and disintegrating, society suffers. Children do best being raised by a father and a mother who provide for their needs. When the child is neglected or abused by their family, they can grow up to be menaces to society. Evidence is overwhelming that the majority of criminals come from dysfunctional, hurting families. Children from God-centred families are likely to grow up to be responsible contributors to society.

A healthy family is important to the church. Healthy families can be said to be the building blocks for God's kingdom. The famous preacher of the 18th century, Jonathan Edwards, said "But the due regulation of your families is of no less, in my mind, and in most respects, of much greater importance. Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church consecrated to Christ and wholly influenced and governed by God's rules. And the family education and order are some of the chief means of God's grace. If these fail all other means are likely to prove ineffectual."

In modern English, Jonathan Edwards was saying that when the Christian family is not what it should be, the work of the church is weakened. What we are as a family is what we are as a church. The church is a family made up of families, and a household made up of households.

The family is the most basic social unit in building a Kingdom for God because from the family, values are taught and institutions are perpetuated. That was true in the old covenant with Israel, and it is true with the new covenant and the church. The family in the mind of God is a kingdom matter.

Please feel free to come and talk to us at any time,

Dave and Heather

It Takes Courage

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point" (Clive Staples Lewis)

This week we are exploring different Bible figures and the way they displayed courage, with particular focus on the apostle, Paul. Paul displayed courage physically inasmuch as he was prepared to die for the sake of the gospel. He also demonstrated spiritual courage when he witnessed to the officials at the risk of his life. Paul heard the voice of God on the road to Damascus and he had the courage to obey and thereafter, he lived a life in total obedience to his Lord and Saviour.

Listening to God's voice is of little value if those called are not will to act on God's instruction. It takes courage to act on God's instructions. Simply hearing the voice of God is not enough; action is necessary to please God and to remain in His will. God may ask for change in lives and hearts. He may request more than we are willing to give. It takes courage to act on God's instructions, but God comes through when we obey and submit our lives to Him.

Christians who have been covered by the blood of Christ and have applied His name to their lives are different than others they see in their schools, in their families, and around the town. Young people who do not let their friends pressure them to be involved in illegal, dishonest, and immoral activities will be derided. A true commitment to Christ shows because changes take place as you move toward being more like Him.

Please feel free to talk to us at any time,

Dave and Heather

Seeking Sincerety

Today, we are exploring the concept of sincerety. Sadly, we do not always detect the phoniness in our own lives until we fall short in some situation. Warren Wiersbe tells of a pious church member who thought of himself as a great Christian. During a visit to the junior department of the Sunday school, he was asked to say a few words to the pupils. As he pompously stood before them, he asked, "Why do you think people call me a Christian?" After a long embarrassing silence, a young voice timidly ventured, "Because they don't know you."

Can those who really know us say that we are "real?" Are we really what we profess to be? If God were to remove our facade, what would the world see?

Please feel free to come and chat with us at any time,

Dave and Heather

Points of Purity

Paul admonished the church in Ephesus to live pure lives. Paul had good reason to be concerned for the people in Ephesus, because, like us, they struggled to separate themselves from the accepted behaviour of their society. Ephesus held one of the ancient wonders of the world, the temple to the goddess Diana. This was a shrine where immoral and perverse acts including prostitution were conducted. Paul feared that the morals of the people of God would gradually bedegraded by the immorality that surrounded them, and so he warned them:

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints (Ephesians 5:3)

Our generation still struggles with this issue. Society presents every kind of perversion as an acceptable alternate lifestyle. The pressure from our surroundings can influence us to lower our morals. We can begin to compare ourselves to the immoral society around us and consider ourselves righteous. However, instead of comparing ourselves to our society, as children of God, we are commanded to compare our morals to His Word. It is not good enough to live a step above the wickedness that surrounds us. Our challenge is to ascend to the standard that God's Word has set for us.

Please feel free to come and chat with us anytime,

Dave and Heather

Loyalty on the Line

Loyalty is a quality that is best displayed when it is returned. Loyalty involves relationship. Throughout time, men and women in relationships, both with God and with others, have exhibited loyalty.

The benefits of loyalty include:

• Dependable friends
• Security in relationships
• Rewarding relationships
• Reliable support system
• Greater depth of love experienced
• Fidelity in marriage
• Stability and maturity in church

Today, we will be exploring the relationship between David and Jonathan as set out in 1 Samuel 18:1-4. Even during King Saul's persecution of David, Jonathan stood by his friend and pledged his allegiance to the man whom God had anointed to be Israel's future king.

Jesus, of course, showed the epitome of loyalty to us. He took upon Himself all of our sins, suffered indignity, abuse, and brutal beatings, and allowed Himself to be crucified as our sacrifice. But He did not stop there! In Matthew 28:20 Jesus promised that He would be with us always, even unto the end of the world. His loyalty to us endures even to the end of the world.

We will be discussing three aspects of loyalty: loyalty in the workplace; loyalty in friendship; loyalty in our relationship with God.

Please feel free to discuss any concerns you have.

God bless you,

Dave and Heather

Heroine of God

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.

(Judges 4:4 )

Deborah is a prime example of how God uses women to lead people. Deborah was a judge over Israel during a time when the Canaanites were harshly oppressing the Israelites. Deborah's ability to hear from God, her faith in God's Word, and her cunning leadership ability led Israel to victory over its enemies and also to a time of peace for God's people.

God's mode of operation throughout the Bible is to choose the very weakest and small things of our world to show His great strength. Though this logic is hard for the human mind to comprehend, God does not limit Himself to work within our finite frames of reference. He does not conform Himself to our thinking; He transforms our minds to coincide with His thinking.

In the story of Deborah's victory over the Canaanites, we see God intervene on Israel's behalf in a very similar manner. He used the weakness of several key factors to bring victory to Israel. One of those factors was a woman named Jael.

In this day, women do not like to be called weak. In fact, nobody does. To people, being called weak is an insult. But to God, weakness is a vehicle for tremendous strength. The apostle Paul said that when he was weak, then he was strong, because God's strength could work through him. And in comparison to men, the Bible says that women are the weaker vessel. Is that an insult? No. It is a physiological reality. Does that weakness mean that God cannot use a woman to accomplish His purpose or that women are of lesser value to God than men? No! It means that God gets great glory from using women to fulfill His will.

Deborah's role as judge and prophetess was significant to Israel during a time of severe oppression. Deborah's willingness to fill God's purpose for her life resulted in the liberation of the people of Israel and the destruction of their enemy.

God will use anyone who makes themselves available.

God bless you and we pray you have a safe and happy holiday,

Robin, Dave and Heather

A Reluctant Hero

This week we are learning about Gideon and his walk with God. Gideon was born at a time when Israel was under the oppression of the Midianites. In Israel, the judges were military leaders whom God raised up at specific times to deliver Israel from the oppression of their neighbours. These judges also served an administrative function in settling disputes amonth the people. At this time in Israel's history, God's people were a fairly loosely connected group of tribes with no central monarch to govern them. This was the time period when the tribes had entered into Canaan and were settled in the land after the death of Joshua. The period of the judges ended when the last judge, Samuel, anointed Saul as the first king of Israel.

The period of the judges was a dark period in the history of Israel. Israel continually turned from the Lord to serve the Canaanite gods of the neighbouring peoples. Even after the miraculous signs at the Red Sea, in the wilderness, and at Jericho the Israelites continued to rebel against God. Throughout the Book of Judges the children of Israel repeat a cycle of sin.

Then God raised up a man, Gideon, to deliver His people. Gideon was threshing wheat when an angel of the Lord appeared unto him and announced that the Lord was with him "thou mighty man of valour." Gideon's response to this was that he was from a poor family in Manessah and he was the least of his family.

God went on to use Gideon, in spite of Gideon's initial objections, and the result was the deliverance of Israel from the oppression of the Midianites. Throughout the book of Judges we see a recurring theme - God using the foolish and weak things of the world to topple powerful oppressors. Within the cycle of sin, God raised a deliverer up but used small, powerless objects to grant victory to His people. The Lord explained to Gideon that this mode of operation would assure that the proper One received the glory for victory - God.

Sometimes, we get discouraged and think that we do not have enough strength or ability to fight our battles. But the battle belongs to the Lord. Gideon proved that the winning formula for victory was this:

God's Power + an Obedient Attitude = Peace and Victory

Please feel free to come and speak to any of us at any time.

God bless you,

Robin, Dave and Heather