Working 9 to 5

During the past few life groups, we've had quite a few discussion on work: people unhappy in their job, people applying for new jobs, other people loving their jobs, as well as discussions on how our employment related to the purpose for our lives.

I've been doing a little bit of reading lately, and have stumbled across some encouraging words re: jobs and work, so I thought I'd share :)

I loved this verse from Ecclesiastes:

"This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for people to eat, to

drink, and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labour under the sun during the few days

of life God has given them - for this is their lot.

Moreover, when God gives people wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy with their toil - this is a gift from God." (Ecc 5: 18-20)

I've been reading a book called "Guidance and the Voice of God" by Phillip D Jensen and Tony Payne, that a girl from work lent me. Here are a couple of excerpts from this book:

"...All the same, for all work's frustrations and imperfections, we can be positive and enthusiastic about it, knowing that out daily labour is one more avenue in which we can act 'in the name of the Lord Jesus'. Work remains a good part of God's creation, which Chrisitans are urged to be engaged in out of love for others. The results of our work may pass away, but the love never passes away." (p.121)

We all struggle with reading the Bible, and I thought this paragraph was a good reminder that instead of continually contemplating whether we are on the right track or not, we should be going back to the "light for our path"...

"How is God going to guide me? By talking to me.
How do I hear his voice? By reading the scriptures.

Do they show me the way I should go? They most certainly do, for they teach me how God wants me to live. They rebuke me when I depart from the way. They correct me to show the way back. They train me in the right way to go. They guide me every step of the way to the great destination that God has for me - to be conformed to the image of Jeses, and live in God's glorious presence for ever". (p.75)

I thought this was great:

"In all normal circumstances, Christans should seek to be usefully and gainfully employed. We should avoid laziness and idleness. Even if we are unemployed, and are having difficulty finding work, we should use our time well, and do what work we can to contribute to others". (p.130)

Well I hope that a few of you were able to gain some encouragement from this post. I am certainly trying to change my attitude about work at the moment!

I'll see you all tomorrow, hopefully it won't be as hot as today!!

Love Sal

Verses of the week

Thank you to everyone for sharing their inspirational verse of the week... here are the ones that were shared tonight...

"For God does speak - now one way, now another - though no one perceives it." (Job 33:14 TNIV)

"Jesus answered, "It is written: 'People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4 TNIV)

"The purposes of the human heart are deep waters, but those who have insight draw them out." (Proverbs 20:5 TNIV)

"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other." (Ecclesiastes 7:14 TNIV)

"Do not pay attenion to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you, for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others." (Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 TNIV)

Thanks for sharing guys, and happy reading this week!

Love Sal

Passage of the Day

"...pay attention to what I say;

turn your ear to my words.

Do not let them out of your sight,

keep them within your heart;

for they are life to those who find them

and health to one's whole body.

Above all else, guard your heart,

for everything you do flows from it.

Keep your mouth free of perversity;

keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

Let your eyes look straight ahead;

fix your gaze directly before you.

Give careful thought to the path for your feet

and be steadfast in all your ways.

Do not turn to the right or the left;

keep your foot from evil."

Proverbs 4: 20-27. (TNIV)

Know The Word

""Is not my word like fire," declares the Lord, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?""

Jeremiah, 23:29.

Passage of the Day

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
(A message from Paul, Philippians 4:8-9)

Passage of the Day

I mentioned in Life Group a couple of weeks ago about letting me know any of your favourite passages you wanted posted on the blog...well this is one of my favs:

"...And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all of the fullness of God."
Ephesians 3: 17-19. (TNIV)

Feel free to email me (sal_wml@hotmail.com) with any you'd like to share :)

Love Sal

Preach to yourself

"If there's anything in life that we should be passionate about, it's the
gospel. And I don't mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean
passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it
to colour the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first
importance to each of us. And only the
gospel ought to be."
C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life.

Pastor Ralph reiterated on Sunday night how important it is to be consistent; to be devoted to the 'discipline' aspects of our faith.

Follow this link, and you can download (for free & legally!) The Gospel Primer. This is a (really) little book that helps us to preach the gospel to ourselves daily. Why is this so important? Well, as the author states,

"...if Christians would do more preaching of the gospel to themselves,
non-Christians might have less trouble comprehending its message, for they would
see its truth and power exuding from believers in indisputable ways."
Milton Vincent, The Gospel Primer.

Lord, teach us to pray

From today's post over at the New Attitude blog:

"In Luke 11 one of Jesus’ disciples did all of us a huge favor when he asked simply, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And for the next 12 verses Jesus answered. ... If you’re wondering what to pray for, trying borrowing God’s priorities. You’ll probably discover that the prayer list Jesus gives is more ambitious than you thought."

Go here to read the full post, and download the message from Eric Simmons on prayer (the link is at the bottom of the post).

Be strong, take heart, and wait

We've talked many times about waiting on God, waiting for God, and waiting so long we forget what we're waiting for!

Psalm 27:14 says "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

So here's an encouraging quote from Paul Tripp, commenting on this scripture:

"Waiting on God isn't about the suspension of meaning and purpose. It's part of the meaning and purpose that God has brought into my life. Waiting on God isn't to be viewed as an obstruction in the way of the plan. Waiting is an essential part of the plan. For the child of God, waiting isn't simply about what I'll receive at the end of my wait. No, waiting is much more purposeful, efficient, and practical than that. Waiting is fundamentally about what I'll become as I wait. God is using the wait to do in and through me exactly what He's promised. Through the wait He's changing me. By means of the wait He's altering the fabric of my thoughts and desires. Through the wait He's causing me to see and experience new things about Him and His kingdom. And all of this sharpens me, enabling me to be a more useful tool in His redemptive hands."

(HT: Girl Talk)

Have an inspiring quote, article, book or website you'd like to share with everyone? Send us the link!

If you're weary...

Matt read to us from Isaiah 40 in The Message translation last night at Life Group. We found it a great encouragement, so here it is:

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
or, whine, Israel, saying,
"God has lost track of me.
He doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind.

When God speaks about relationships

by Carolyn McCulley (of Solo Femininity)

QUESTION: I am a single woman and I read an interesting testimony where a single man said that during his personal devotions, God told him to pursue a certain woman. This man wasn’t praying about her or even considering her, but he was sure it was God’s voice. But then he continued to pray about it, sought counsel from others, and over time came to believe he had truly heard from God. So he did ask this woman out and they eventually married. But I don’t get this. If God is speaking clearly, why are counsel and prayer necessary? Isn’t that relying on men and not on God? Does God really speak clearly to mankind today apart from His written word?

ANSWER: This is a great question to ask, because when it comes to discerning God’s leading in the area of romance, our emotions often cloud our subjective evaluation. Some people lean very heavily on their own interpretation of signs and impressions. Others lean very heavily on their own desires and understanding, without seeking God in prayer. It’s easy for us to live in the extremes—but it’s always a mistake to do so.

Does God Still Speak?

Let me start with your last question first: Does God still speak to mankind today apart from His written word? Scripture is full of references to God leading and guiding His people (Ps. 16:7; 25:9; 32:8), but I think one of the most helpful passages about God’s voice is found in the gospel of John...

To read the whole article, click here to go to Crosswalk.com.

Catch up with friends

There will be no Life Group meeting at our place this week. Thanks all for your understanding and prayers last week when we weren't well. Life Group will be back on next week (25.9.07) for the last week of term.

But don't let the week pass you by without getting together with friends! Make plans to catch up with someone you haven't for a while, or plan the time to make that phone call.

Monday morning

"Whatever our morning's need may be, let it, like a strong current, bear us into the ocean of divine love. Jesus can soon remove our sorrow. He delights to comfort us. Let us hasten to Him while He waits for us."

Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening

Evangelism is a big word

It's probably safe to say we all struggle with personal evangelism (at least from time to time) ... even knowing what to say to those nearest and dearest to us can sometimes be a challenge. Yet, we can't ignore our responsibility to share the gospel. As Peter says:

"In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."
1 Peter 3:15, NIV (emphasis mine)

So today we link to an interesting, short interview with Josh Harris centering around the challenges of personal evangelism, and what our focus should really be - sharing Jesus, not just trying to sell the message in a way that appeals to our culture.

Click here to read "Getting Uncomfortable".

We also encourage you to check out the presentation of the gospel here: Two Ways To Live.

Excuse me, are you waiting?

Encouragement for those of you waiting on God:

“If you ask, ‘Why is this or that happening?’ no light may come, for ‘the secret things belong to the Lord our God’ (Deuteronomy 29:29); but if you ask, ‘How am I to serve and glorify God here and now, where I am?’ there will always be an answer.”
(J.I. Packer, Praying the Lord's Prayer)

What's your focus as you wait? Which question are you asking?

Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
(Psalm 37:3-5, NKJV)

Have a great APEC long weekend - see you Sunday night!

(HT: GirlTalk)

Life Group + Waiting

A couple of weeks ago we followed Life Group with a discussion on quiet times. If you missed it, you can let us know, and we'll send you the booklet we discussed, or you can go here for the online links we posted.

The biggest response to our little survey was that you wanted some clarity on what it means to Wait on God, so don't miss this week's discussion following the notes from Sunday's sermon. Come ready to be part of the discussion - bring your questions, answers and suggestions!

So we'll see you tomorrow night for Life Group:

Tuesday 4 September
7:30pm
@ the Marsh's

If you'd like to volunteer to bring supper, please email us or leave a comment so we know it's covered!

Links for your Quiet Times

From the handout we used last night on Quiet Times, here are the links to a couple of helpful sites:

Yearly Bible Reading Plan (change the date at the end of the web address to start whenever you like): click here.

'Morning & Evening' daily devotional by Charles Spurgeon is available here.

And the books we used excerpts from:


The Cross Centered Life (C.J. Mahaney)






When I Don't Desire God (John Piper)

UPDATE: This book is available for download here.

"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul."
Psalm 19:7

“Even on days when every cinder in our soul feels cold, if we crawl to the Word of God and cry out for ears to hear, the cold ashes will be lifted and the tiny spark of life will be fanned. For ‘the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.’”

John Piper

More on William

Inspired by the movie? Here's a few extras available at Koorong if you wanna know more about Mr Wilberforce:



Real Christianity (William Wilberforce)







Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce (John Piper)







Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce (Eric Metaxas)

A good book

It's that time of year where the cold weather (the coldest weather ever, apparently!) and the warmth of indoors means curling up on the couch with a good book and a good cup of coffee... doesn't it?

Well, if you're in need of some encouragement in the reading area, we're here to provide some inspiration. Below is a list of some books we've been reading over the past few months that we've enjoyed (other than the bible of course!). If you want to add one to the list, leave a comment & we'll add the link!

George Muller: Delighted in God (Roger Steer)






Sex God (Rob Bell a.k.a "the Nooma guy")







The 5 Love Languages (Gary Chapman)






The Cross Centered Life (C.J. Mahaney)







The Story (TNIV)
a retelling of the bible stories - this is a great option if you need something to refresh you in your quiet times.




A Spiritual Field Guide (Bernard Brady & Mark Neuzil)







The Power of a Praying Wife (Stormie Omartian)





Suffering and the Sovereignty of God (John Piper & Justin Taylor)






And on our to-read-next list:


Velvet Elvis (Rob Bell)





When I Don't Desire God (John Piper)






Twelve Ordinary Men (John Macarthur)






Driven by Eternity (John Bevere)

Praise Him

"This is how to deal with God. Praise Him before you are delivered. Praise Him for what is coming. Adore Him for what He is going to do. I do not think there is a sweeter song in God's ear than the song of one who blesses Him for grace that has not yet been tasted, who blesses Him for answers that have not been received but are sure to come."

Charles Spurgeon