Living hope

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ( 1 Peter 1:3-4)

Prayer Friday #18

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19)

  • Thank God for the finished work of Jesus
  • Thank God for non-Christians who were at church this morning
  • Ask God that he would bring people from death to life as Jesus’ death and RESURRECTION is proclaimed this Sunday
  • Ask God that he would be at work through his word on phat
  • Praise God for Bec (Row’s sis) & Tony’s new son… born today!

I uploaded another TALKCAST last night. Check it out here… they were from PHAT last year. Peaceout.

Turning to God from idols

I’ve spent some time recently in 1 Thessalonians and been reminded of the way in which the Thessalonians turned away from their idols to serve the true and living God. It’s been helpful to reflect on how this is similar to my experience.

I grew up in a Christian family and have always known about Jesus and his death and resurrection. However during my teenage years I spent most of my waking hours (+ countless dreams!) pursuing the idol of soccer. It wasn’t until I started to come to Central Coast Evangelical Church in mid-1998 that I “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” (1Thess 1:9-10 NIV) What impressed me about CCEC was the clarity of Bible teaching week after week and the clear explanation of how the death and resurrection of Jesus ought to impact on all areas of life. Praise be to God!

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Guessing competition… a warm fuzzy for each correct answer – 4 warm fuzzies can be redeemed as a coffee:

1) How old was I when the above photo was taken?
2) In which Western NSW regional town was the championship played?
3) What position did I play?
4) What year was this photo taken?