Weekly Newsletter of the Christian Reformed Church of Perth Inc.
5 Colombo Street, Victoria Park
Worship service times: Sundays 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Pastor: Reinier Noppers CHRISTIAN WHEATBELT FELLOWSHIP
Phone: 9356 7490 Pastor: Geoff van Schie
Mobile: 0450 926 707 6 Booth Street,
Email: WONGAN HILLS 6603
Phone: 08 9671 13 49
Church Website: Email:
www.crcperth.org.au
April 26th, 2015 AD Worship Services In Perth
9:30 a.m. Pastor Reinier Noppers Mark 8:31-38, Luke 5:27-32, Luke 15:8-10 “A Silver Coin”
5:30 p.m. Pastor Geoff van Schie Luke 1:26-38, Text: Matthew 1:18-25
The Virgin Birth – Essential Gospel Pillar or Just a Cute Myth?
(3rd in the series of Essential Pillars of the Gospel).
WELCOME
A warm welcome to all who have come to the services today, and a special welcome to visitors.
May the Lord bless each of us as we worship together, that His Name may be glorified and that we are encouraged and strengthened in faith. A crèche is available at the back of the building for those who wish to use it for children aged 0-4 years of age.
Please join us for refreshments and fellowship after the service.
Meditation
The parable of the lost coin may not make too much sense to us at first reading, after all, who would make so much fuss over one coin? Our most valuable coin is $2.00, which doesn’t buy you a great deal now a days. If we lost one of those, we might look for a few minutes but soon enough give up and move on! Mind you, when you consider that a silver coin in Jesus day was about a day’s pay, we might try to look a little longer. A day’s pay, even at the minimum hourly rate in Australia is already $135.00, with casual rates 25 % more, making such a coin worth anything up to $170.00! Would that be worth spending a little time of searching? How long would it take before you gave up if you had lost that much money in the house somewhere?
More significantly, when we realise that 10 silver coins was a common dowry presented at a wedding; it is more like losing your engagement ring… and I suspect most of us would quite some effort in if we lost something like that!
We will always make extra effort for something which is precious to us! And this short, precise, beautiful parable develops a real heart when we realise this is the effort God puts into finding us, and the joy He has when each sinner repents! Which should also make us search our hearts: what value do we put on those around us who are lost? What effort do we put into “finding” them? How often would the needs of souls around us feature in our prayers? How much time are we prepared to commit to reaching out to the “sinners” around us, and what desire do we have to share in that heavenly joy as people repent, and are saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Pastoral
Yvonne Herft is still in St John of God Subiaco, although thankfully the infection she had has cleared up. However further complications with a blood clot pressuring the nerves in her spine means that she still has a way to go before she can return home. We give thanks for the treatment she is able to receive, we pray that she may receive further healing from the Lord and that He would also grant her patience at this time.
Ina Eikelboom is undergoing rehab after her stroke around Easter. She is currently in Bentley Hospital and again we seek God’s healing hand upon her through this trial, and peace of mind in determining what the future may hold.
Arie van der Linden is hanging in there, in Murdoch Hospice. He is weak, and finds it hard to be comfortable. Sedation does help a little in that regard. We are thankful for the care Arie receives and commend Him into the sovereign hands of our warm and loving Father God.
It was a beautiful day last Saturday and we give thanks to God for a wonderful response at the Manoah Market Day, with approximately $14,000.00 raised. Let us continue to pray for the work at Manoah, as they care for the elderly members of our congregations.
Session meets this Tuesday evening, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the church. Please pray for our elders and deacons as together we seek to provide leadership and pastoral care for this congregation.
Catechism is still on hold: but only for one more week! We start again Monday 4th May.
JPastor Reinier
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Session will meet Lord willing this coming Tuesday evening, April 28th , 7:30 p.m. at the church.
Shared Lunch will be on again after the morning service next Sunday May 3rd. If you are planning to stay, please bring something whether it be hot or cold, sandwiches or savoury, so we can share a time of fellowship and food.
After School Catechism: will start again on Monday 4th May.
Dear partners in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Can I please ask you to join the Church Planting Taskforce in concerted pray for the work of church planting? We depend on God, and believe that He is willing and able to answer our prayers. Between Easter and Pentecost Sunday we would ask congregations to focus on the work of church planting in their congregational prayers. Here is the prayer point(s) for this coming Sunday April 26th.
Pray for Pakenham Christian Community Church (PC3), Pakenham, VIC
By God’s grace, the PC3 Church Plant continues to steadily gain momentum. We’re currently searching for a part-time Ministry Worker to help our core group with the work being undertaken in our local community. Sunday services are now averaging around 30 people. Our main outreach ministry is the PC3 Community Cook Up where we serve dinner and desert to about 50 people on average. The recent Christmas Community Cook Up saw us serve 150+ people dinner, desert and we were blessed enough to be able to hand out Christmas gifts to our community kids too. PC3 Pals is another little program that is in operation now which is a mother’s group get together. These two outreach streams tie back into our research that was completed prior to this Church Plant being started. Praise God, but we’re not too far away from starting an Alpha course soon too. In terms of ‘in-reach’ we’ve been running a Sunday School program which we’ve called ‘JAM’ (Jesus and Me). We’ve also tried getting a Friday Night Social gathering on a monthly basis too. We’ve been blessed beyond measure with a really hardworking and committed core group that will see us celebrate our 4 year anniversary on 24 July. Praise God! For more information about other new CRCA churches being planted, check out the link to new churches on the CRCA website:
http://www.crca.org.au/about-the-crca/new-churches.html . Prayer Points:
Wisdom for Leadership as we seek out and interview candidates for our part-time Ministry Worker
Strength and patience for our Core group to stay the course through the valleys and mountain peaks… Church Planting isn’t easy at times!
For the annual PC3 Trivia Night where funds raised will go directly to supporting the PC3 outreach work as well as our Part-time Ministry Worker fund
World Development Relief
has a new name and logo.
As part of our 50th anniversary we are having a makeover. We are now called World Transform.
The logo seeks to show a "W" in the shape of a globe and the cross that defines our task.
Soon we'll be launching our improved Web pages that better explain what we are doing.
We believe:
Relief is goodbecause it helps peoplein crisisin their moment of immediate need. Developmentis our priority because itempowers communities to do more for themselves. Itis lasting help which TRANSFORMS.
As best as we can, WT will seek to be involved with holistic Christian development for the needy.
World Transform -also realizes that believersin the developed world also need to be"transformed" in their thinking. Romans 12:2.
Russian Fundraiser for 2015
Help support Phillip Oostryck ( from our own congregation) and others who will be participating in the Russian Mission Trip this year.
We are excited to make the ‘Revelation Unveiled’ event available South of the river on Saturday May 9th at 7p.m. at the Elizabeth Jolley Lecture Theatre at Curtin University
The production has been written and composed by Rev. Joe Vermeulen and is presented by the music team and choir of the Grace Christian Reformed Church. It was received with a standing ovation when first performed north of the river earlier this year. The link below will give you a little appetizer!!
The proceeds of this event will go towards the 2 Russian teams leaving end of June this year. Philip Oostryck will be part of that this year, so your presence will be a real encouragement to him! Tickets $15.00 each and are available from Phillip
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnZly9oyg90&feature=youtu.be
RALLY FOR LIFE: Tuesday 12th May, 2015
This event will mark the 17th anniversary of legalised abortion in Western Australia and commemorate the over 141,000 babies killed by abortion since May 1998.
This year there will be a particular focus on the "missing generation". The first cohort of babies legally aborted in Western Australia in 1998 would have been turning 17 this year. Like other 17 year olds they would have been graduating from high school, getting their drivers' licenses, thinking about university, apprenticeships, and careers. Tragically, they were never given this chance and we will never know what contribution they might have made to our community.
Assemble at Florence Hummerston Reserve,
Corner St George’s Terrace and Mount Street
at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday 12 May.
We will then walk to Parliament House and join with prolife MPs to rally outside Parliament House to continue to show our objection to abortion. Please put the date in your diary and come and speak for LIFE.
God's Image
When a Roman penny was made, the image or likeness of Caesar the emperor was stamped upon it, and those who used it were reckoned as his subjects and expected to obey his laws. Ages ago God Himself made something and stamped His likeness upon it, as a sign that it belonged to Him and must be used in His service. It was not a coin God made. It was a man. And God's image has been stamped upon each of us to show that we were made, not to follow our own pleasure, but to serve him.
LIBYA: Ethiopian Christians Murdered by Islamic State
Militant Islamic terror group Islamic State released a new video on Sunday 19 April, reportedly showing the gruesome murder of 30 Ethiopian Christian men in Libya
The footage alternates between two scenes: one in northern Libya on a Mediterranean beach where 15 men were beheaded, and one in the desert in southern Libya where another 15 men were shot in the head, execution-style.
The men werebelievedto have been travelling through Libya en route to Europe. Tens of thousands of African migrants have been leaving Africa via the Mediterranean Sea for Italy and other European destinations.
The video bears striking similarity to one IS released in mid-February depicting the beheading of 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians and one non-Egyptian on a Libyan beach.
The video furtherthreatensChristians in the region to pay tribute to IS as prescribed by the Koran, or face death."You pay with willing submission, feeling yourselves subdued. Our battle is a battle between faith and blasphemy, between truth and falsehood, until there is no more polytheism ' and obedience becomes Allah's in its entirety,"the narrator says.
IS considers Christianity to be a polytheistic religion because of the belief that God exists as one in three persons as the Trinity.
The Ethiopian community is saddened by the tragedy, but remains thankful that the men in the video died bearing the name of Christ."We are proud of our brothers. They are poor, but they gave their lives for Jesus,"Helen Tamene told International Christian Concern
Source: International Christian Concern
Prayer Points
Praythe Lord will uphold the friends and families grieving the loss of their loved ones during this time. Pray they may take comfort from His Word and fix on things that are eternal.
Praythat Christians throughout Ethiopia will not be discouraged or frightened, but put their hope in the Lord.
Ask the Lord to protect and provide for Christians fleeing violence in Africa.
WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK
TUESDAY 7:30 p.m. Session meeting @ church
WEDNESDAY 9:30 a.m. Bread @ the church
FRIDAY 7:00 p.m. Calvinettes meet @ Gosnells CRC
7:30 p.m. Youthgroup @ Gosnells CRC
SUNDAY SHARED LUNCH after the morning service
WHAT’S COMING UP
May 9 Russian Fund Raiser…Music night ..Revelation Unveiled
May 10 Mother’s Day
May 12 Rally for LIFE outside Parliament House
May 17 NO EVENING SERVICE at CRC Perth
May 17 Opening Service of Synod at Gosnells CRC 5:00 p.m.
May 17-23 CRCA Synod at Gosnells CRC
SECOND OFFERINGS
April 26th Train Workgroup
May 3rd Ministerial Aid & Mutual Assistance
May 10th Reformed Church Children’s & Youth Ministry
May 17th W.A. Needy Churches Fund
WORSHIP MINISTRY