Moving and finding a suitable church
Long time no blog! The summer has been so eventful and as much as I miss the sunshine (where has it gone?!), whilst Autumn is pretty much in full swing, I’m pleasantly glad to be back in my term-time routine.
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Reflections, Announcements, & Updates from the BCEC
BCEC Summer Day Retreat 2015
“Autonomous Christianity never works, because our spiritual life was designed by God to be a community project.”
–Paul Tripp, Dangerous Calling.
Come join us for our Summer Retreat Day on Saturday 29th August.
We have a few awesome things lined up to mark the end of summer with this one-day event…
Food for thought
Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
Psalm 34:8 NLT
Growing older increases your chances of your metabolism slowing down. (I’m pretty sure mine stopped years ago!) But I’m like most girls, conscious of their selves: particularly the body shape. There was a postcard meme trending for a while saying “Everybody thinks a girls dream is to find a perfect guy. But it’s actually to eat without getting fat!” I’d say it’s true, I can’t speak on behalf of every girl out there. But it’s true for me! Could it be true for guys too? Perhaps..
The Art of Procrastination
After declining the lovely offer to socialise due to a crazy amount of school work that urgently needed attending to, my supervisor/pastor/bert said to me “I’m looking forward to reading some good content on the church blog then!”
i9:2 – The Pursuit of Happiness
“I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.”
-Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
What makes you happy? What gives you pleasure? What’s the difference between happiness and joy? For most of us, “living the dream” is something that was mapped out for us — university, work, marriage, kids — but are those the elements that really make us happy? Even in our pursuit and following of God, sometimes happiness seems so elusive.
Missions Month 2015: Praying for the nations
Here at BCEC, during March we focus on Missions (not to say we don’t normally. But we like to look more into it this month!)
Occasionally during prayer time I like to pray with scripture in mind. Of course I don’t always remember scripture off by heart (shamefully, I always fail to remember the old memory verses that the Sunday school teachers used to try and drill into us!). So I find having God’s Word in front of me open and ready very helpful during prayer times.
Missions Month 2015: Jesus says “GO”
The month of March is probably my favourite month, because at the BCEC we have March Missions Month. And this year we have some great things lined up, with some guest speakers too. But yesterday, we kicked off with Bert’s message which can be downloaded here in case you missed out on a gem of a sermon.
Jimmy’s thoughts on baptism
Here at the BCEC, we have baptisms lined up for April 26th 2015. I thought it’d be nice to have one of the teens from our youth group write a blog post on his own experiences and thoughts on baptism. It’s always nice to get a refreshing stance and seeing how far God has moved someone since the process of baptism. Read on and enjoy…
Our God is a great big God
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
Psalm 8:3-4 (NIV)
Are we attempted to be God and control every element in our lives? Or micromanage everything else? Or playing God in the instance of creating babies from three people? Or shouting at each other, or our kids and family members all in the name of love–just to be heard and get our own way? I find it interesting when someone says “Are you following Jesus or are you making Jesus follow you?” Have we just become a generation where it’s me-first and then everyone, and if I have time and I can be bothered, eventually I’ll think about God and pray to Him?
But if I think about it, God went all out for us.
heart pressing
The question I like to ask people sometimes is this:
What are some things that have been pressing on your heart lately?
Perhaps it’s not necessarily facebook-status worthy for you to share out in the social-media-sphere (or maybe it is but it’s too personal?) But I’m pretty sure everyone always has at least something that has got them thinking about something or someone. Something that occupies your thoughts, either about something that happened, or a current situation, or a concern for the future. Something fills our minds and hearts. It might get you anxious and worried. It might be something you have a tendency to put off until the day before the deadline. It might be uncertainties.
Losses in life
I like to subscribe to certain Christian newsletters so I can receive a dosage of encouragement in my inbox every so often, God willing and Godly-appointed. Yesterday I received a timely message. One that I wish to share with you. Not my words, but an author. It is an excerpt from a book entitled “The Soul” by J.P. Moreland. I hope it encourages you as it did to me…
Fear Not
I remember when I was a wee kid, probably about 2, I went with my mum to college. She would be upstairs in a class. And I would be downstairs in the child day care room. One time, I was the only one at the end of the class, and my mum was still upstairs. So the teacher took me upstairs. My mum was talking to a scary-looking man. She introduced me to him. And I remember hiding behind my mum’s leg while the man remarks “Isn’t she shy!” I remember that was my first ever feeling of being scared. Shy? I don’t think so. On one hand there was a scary man, on the other hand, I was seeking comfort from the security of my mum. It was the first feeling of fear in my life.