Preacher Joseph Kim Jonah 1:1-17 “WHEN GOD LOVES YOU ENOUGH TO INTERRUPT YOU”
God who is loving, gracious and slow to anger, uses interruptions in our lives not to get on our nerves but to redirect and reset our lives to be in line with his will. Ps. Joe will be sharing some of his own Jonah moments with us.
The service will focus on the young people of our church, but will be relevant to all who attend.
Ps. Joe is a 1.5 generation Australian-Korean Melbournian. He is currently serving as the Youth Pastor at Oakleigh Baptist Community, which has an English and Korean speaking congregation. He is studying full time at Whitley College and is also a part-time teacher at a local school. He is married to Alisha and has two beautiful children: Isabel (12 yo) and Joshua (9 yo).
THIS WEEK: Bible Studies and Conversational English are having a break for school holidays.
COMING UP SOON: Community Lunch, 18 April. As long as Covid remains controlled in Melbourne, we hope to have a more normal Community Lunch, with everyone bringing food. It is also planned not to have Table Talk on this occasion. Sounds like a celebration!
Last week we witnessed Vivien testify in her baptism of her commitment to follow Christ. We welcome her, and pray for her as she grows in her faith.
Also, when we had our church meeting the week before, we accepted Murray as a member of the church. Murray has been a long-term follower of Jesus, and we are blessed to receive him as a member of our family at Balwyn.
At the other end of the scale, we learnt last week of the death of Daphne Pretty on 30 March. She and Allen came to worship at Balwyn in 2015, and it didn’t take us long to appreciate them both. Unfortunately, very shortly after his first attendance Allen began to develop dementia. It was a hard road for Daphne once Allen needed to go into care. She was very diligent in her care of him, and she mourned his death on 28 9 2018. More recently, Daphne experienced some ill health, and became are resident of The Orchards Community, Templestowe. There, she found another avenue for her ministry of encouragement, and she will be missed not only by her family, but also the family at The Orchards. Helen and the family plan to hold a memorial service for Daphne in Sydney.
NOTE: Daylight Savings ends, so make sure you adjust your clocks.
Preacher Jun Tan Acts 2:41-42 “BIBLE, BAPTISM AND BREAD”
Three things were essential in the life and growth of the early flourishing church that was born out of the experience of Easter: Bible, Baptism and Bread. We are called to build and develop this New Covenant culture.
THIS WEEK: Bible Studies and Conversational English are having a break for school holidays.
COMING UP SOON:
11th April： Pastor Joseph Kim, the Associate Pastor (Youth) at Oakleigh Baptist Community, is coming to speak at our Youth Sunday .
18th April: Community Lunch. As long as Covid remains controlled in Melbourne, we hope to have a more normal Community Lunch, with everyone bringing food. It is also planned not to have Table Talk on this occasion. Sounds like a celebration!
As a society, we have been through the Covid crisis, and that has affected our church. The whole process takes 24 – 60 months to complete. The phases of the crisis are:
Sudden impact: A little over a year ago, we heard for the first time of Covid-19, and it did not take long for the impacts to be felt. In addition, some communities had also experienced fires.
Heroic phase: We saw people responding to the crisis, phoning each other, and generally saying, “I’m OK.”
Disillusionment phase: We get tired of the limitations of the crisis, and generally feel tired. This is the stage we are in at the moment. You’ve reached the end of the disillusionment phase when you are able to acknowledge that no amount of heroics change the fact that this loss has occurred, while also goodness still exists in life.
Rebuilding and restoration phase: There efforts are different from heroics, because they exist beyond disillusionment, in full awareness of loss, which is why this phase includes times of grief, unexpected remembering, and times of memorial, alongside new initiatives and creations.
Wiser living phase: where people rethink their identity, pause, re-pivot. At this point God may be trying to teach us something different.
Preacher Geoff Ryall John 13:1-20 “BE THE ONE TO BREAK THE MOULD”
Jesus broke the accepted mould, doing things very differently to what were the Jewish expectations of the Messiah. He calls us also to break the mould, so that others can understand what a relationship with him truly looks like.
(If viewing online, please turn your video on at the end of the service so we can greet you)
Church meeting: There will be a very short church meeting after the morning service.
THIS WEEK: Bible Studies, Conversational English continue, with many having a break for school holidays.
COMING UP SOON:
2 April: Good Friday Service, 9.30 am, a short reflective service.
4 April: Easter service and baptisms (pray for Amy Zhao and Vivien Qiang),
NOTE: Daylight Savings ends, so make sure you adjust your time.
CHILDREN, TEENS AND YOUTH: We are very blessed to have quite a number of people under the age of 25 in our church. If all of the under 25s (whose parents come to Balwyn Baptist) came to the church on the same day, you would be surprised how many they are. As it is, the teens and youth come, but they find there are few others of the same age there that day, and that is very discouraging. It is also discouraging for the leaders of Kids4God, Tweens4God and Youth Group.
Can you please make this a high priority as you pray for our church. At the Deacons’ meeting on Wednesday we started to talk about this, and we would love to know God’s leading in this area.
We will have a special youth service on 11 April. Please let your families know.
FINANCES: Our offering levels were up $306 against budget for this financial year, also we received special gifts for the oven ($7,040) and $15,000 from Marj Higgins estate.
Expenditure was lower than budget expectations, however we expect to have pay around $13,000 for maintenance soon.
We are expecting that rentals will continue to be lower than anticipated in our budget, and JobKeeper payment conclude in March.
In the year to day from July 2020, we have a surplus of $15,000, for which we are thankful. God is good, and people are generous. Overall, our bank balances are very positive.
Preacher Grace Munro John 8:31-36, Galatians 4:6-9, 4:31-5:1
“BE THE ONE GROWING IN FREEDOM” Being a Christian does not mean that we have no burdens. But there are some unnecessary burdens we carry. We need to remember that Christ has done everything that is needed for our Salvation, and we are God’s love children.
Anniversary: The church turns 104 today!
Community Lunch and Table Talk:Lunch will be provided.
The topic for Table Talk is “Relationships/Invitational.” It is based on a Video clip, about how it might be possible to make the church service more “invitational” for people outside the church. However, the video suggests that the basis for inviting people to come to church is the relationship you already have with them.
EXPLORING BAPTISM: After the service another 2 weeks.
THIS WEEK: Bible Studies and Conversational English continue.
COMING UP SOON:
28 March: Church Meeting
2 April: Good Friday Service, 9.30 am
4 April: Easter service and baptisms (pray for those who will be baptised), Daylight Savings ends.
OAK TREE: This Saturday (18 March), the Oak Tree Group will meet for the first time this year. They will meet at Leon’s restaurant.
Last year it was difficult for the group to meet, but the men continued to have contact throughout the year.
The group, which meets ad hoc, often about once a month, gives opportunities for men to come together, share food, and to talk about the things which are important to them. The time helps to build them up individually, and in their role in their families.
If you would like to join them, contact Chris Zhang.
Preacher Jun Tan Mark 10:35-45 “BE THE ONE CLIMBING DOWNWARDS”
Servanthood is divine, godly and eternal. It is one more step up toward Jesus and another step away from my false personhood.
EXPLORING BAPTISM: After the service another 3 weeks. If you would like to know more about what Baptism means, it is worth being part of this group. Let Jun Tan know of your interest.
THIS WEEK: Bible Studies and Conversational English continue.
COMING UP SOON:
21 March: Community Lunch and Table Talk (It is also the Church’s 104th anniversary)
28 March Church Meeting
2 April: Good Friday Service, 9.30 am
4 April: Easter service and baptisms (pray for those who will be baptised), Daylight Savings ends.
WORKING TOGETHER WITH GOD: At the end of last week’s worship service, it was gratifying, when Zhao, Linda’s husband, expressed his faith in God. We honour his courage for proclaiming his new faith in front of the church. Many people had a role to play in coming to this point.
Linda’s growing faith in God has been a great example to him.
A group of women have met regularly to provide support and prayer for women and their husbands who have been unable to meet because of the pandemic.
Linda is also joins the Esther Group and Seekers, and those members also have prayed.
Jasmine and her family hosted a meal for Zhao and others, and spoke of faith issues. Jun’s sermon (unbeknown to him) gave a clear answer to the questions Zhao had raised. (As a result, Leon has now invited the men’s group to meet at his restaurant.)
While Zhao was in Australia and joined us, Chris Zhang spent time with him and some other men during the sermon time to speak about Jesus.
He saw the friendliness/happiness of the congregation.
Many people had a part to play in Zhao’s coming to faith, butultimately it is God who saved him. Let us praise him, and pray for Zhao as he has returned to China this week.
