You will be hated by everyone
because of me,
but the one who stands firm to the end
will be saved.
Matthew 10:22 [NIV]
Don't just believe it,
Something I have been thinking a lot about over the past month is equality, more specifically being treated different for being a Christian. Something I read this week is that “59% of teen Christians loose there faith by the age of 18”. This saddens me and got me thinking, “why does this happen?” The answer is that it can be due to many things. “Is this the church’s fault?” No, not always. Something that I struggled with when I was younger was living in my Christian bubble. This being the bubble I surrounded myself in that made me oblivious to the world around me. Yes it’s good to get away from it all and focus completely on God, but when someone comes along and pops my bubble, my faith would take a hit. I would be left questioning God, the church and my faith. So what I'm getting at is we as Christians need to be 100% focused on God but still be aware of the things around us, how can we show people around us how amazing God is if we are in our bubbles? Life can be really tough sometimes and sometimes we can feel detached from God and want to hide away, but these are the times when we need to stand high and show people that no matter what happens we are going to stand for God in everything that we do no matter what...
By Chloe Willis
Jesus Arrested - Matt 26:47-56
“Friend, do what you came for.”
Matt 26:50 [NLT]
Jesus is in the garden praying, he knows what is coming next and
Judas turns up with an armed crowd to arrest him. But notice what he says and does. He says greetings Rabbi and kisses Jesus.
His words suggest he considers Jesus his teacher. A kiss is normally kept for friends. Yet his heart was betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. And Jesus says “Do what you came for. Jesus knew exactly what Judas was up to despite the greeting and the kiss.
We can quickly point the finger … But the challenge comes to us…
Do our words, actions and heart all line up faithful to our Saviour.
Release International was inspired by the first-hand experience of persecution of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who was imprisoned and tortured by the Romanian secret police during the Cold War years of the 1950s and 1960s. It was founded in 1968, when it was known as Christian Mission to the Communist World. Since then it has expanded its work to cover the plight of all persecuted Christians throughout the world. It helps us actively engage with our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world, praying with them, helping them, standing with them and learning lessons of true Christian discipleship with them.
In the New Testament Jesus’ life is marked by persecution. The One who came as the Light of the World was constantly accused of breaking the Law. In many Countries today Christians do not have the freedom to share their faith and face serious punishment if they are discovered, especially in North Korea.
REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AROUND THE WORLD
· Lord we ask that you fill North Korea with the wind of Your Holy Spirit.
¨ Please restore the consciences of the North Korean leaders.
¨ We pray for members of Huoshi Church in Guiyang City, China who have been banned from meeting as a body and forced to divide into small groups.
¨ Release Partner China Aid reports a seven-fold rise in persecution of Christians in China since 2008. Thank God that He is still sovereign in that nation.
¨ We pray for many young Christian girls in Egypt who are forced to convert to Islam and marry Muslims.
¨ We pray that God will heal survivors of Lahore’s Easter Sunday suicide bomb. Many have serious health issues arising from ball bearings lodged in their bodies from the blast.
If you would like to give to Missions just put your Missions gift in an envelope marked Missions and drop it in collection any time along with your offerings. Each month, you can read a little more about Christian Mission organisations and what they do.
>For Salvation for our family, friends & Neighbours.
>Keith Willis (Kidney Stones)
>David John, Viv Thomas, Gladys James, Vilma Pelzer & Liz Savage
>The open the book teams as they take God’s word into Primary Schools in Morriston
OCTOBER SPECIAL EVENTS
HARVEST SERVICE
3:30pm Sun 2nd Oct
Collecting for Foodbank
Followed by a buffet
JOINT SERVICE WITH SPRING TERRACE AT LIFEWELL CHURCH
We’re having a special joint service
3:30pm Sunday 30th Oct
at Lifewell Church.
The speaker will be Alan Hewitt from Newtown. Alan is the AOG Area leader for Wales. Don’t miss it!!!
LIGHT PARTY
6pm—7pm Mon 31st Oct
3rd Anwen James
4th Daniel Davies
5th Rhiannon Davies
5th Viv Thomas
8th Timothy Screen
8th Andrew Parker
9th Donna Thomas
14th Bradley Jones
15th Dave Whitcombe
16th Gregg Howell
18th Sam Clement
26th Ruth Jones
OCTOBER ANNIVERSARIES
24th—Simon and Catherine
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Sunday
10:30am - Morning Service
3:30pm - O-Zone Family Service
Monday
7:30pm - 17/10/16 - LifeLounge(18+)
Wednesday
7:00pm - Prayer Meeting
12/10/16 - Mission Focus
19/10/16 - Kids/Youth Focus
Thursday
9:15am - 11:15am - Coffee Morning
Friday
7pm-8pm- R-GEN (11+)
8pm-9pm- R-GEN After Hours
There will be no R-Gen on Friday 28/10/16