One of the animals that fascinates me is the emperor penguin. The males survive through the freezing arctic winter by huddling together with hundreds of other penguins. They stand together against winds that are -20 C, for up to 3 months. Their secret is that they stand together and support one another.

It is the same for us in our world, which can be hostile, harsh and difficult for the Christian. God has given us his church and the Christian family. As we share our needs and lean on one another as the body of Christ, we will get through. To separate ourselves and try to go it alone will mean failure, just as it would mean death to a penguin that separates itself from the group.

Galatians 6:2    Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ

Remember those timeless words of the angels to the shepherds, that the message of Jesus is one of “great joy”. The apostle Paul, as directed by the Holy Spirit, made it quite clear that Christianity is not a new set of laws, but a relationship of trust and joy.

Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking (laws), but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Join with me as we express our delight in God’s salvation by becoming increasingly joyful!

We are meant to enjoy our salvation, not endure it!

This is our first bulletin for 2012. We pray that this year will be memorable and blessed for your family and our church.

This is a great time to set priorities for your home and spiritual life. May I encourage you firstly to do the basics well -

Start each day by praying and reading from God’s word before the daily rush begins.

Covenant to attend church whenever possible on the Lord’s day.

Join a small group in our church to study the Bible and fellowship with other Christians.

Take every opportunity to speak to others about what God is doing in your life and can do for them.

Praise God for the small things in life, which we so often take for granted, but we would miss if they were taken away.

As you prioritise in 2012, I pray that you and your family will experience God’s blessing in every way.

Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Alpha is an opportunity for anyone to explore the Christian faith in a relaxed setting over ten thought-provoking weekly sessions, with a day or weekend away.

People attend Alpha for a wide variety of reasons;

- some want to investigate whether God exists.

- others may have gone to church occasionally but feel they have never really understood the basics of the Christian faith.

- Some just want to understand other people’s beliefs better.

In any case everyone is welcome.

Phone 520 1491 for details

As I have tried to hear some of them out, as they have made their policies known in the media, I have noticed a consistent trend. They all seem to be obsessed with the economy – pensions, jobs and spreading wealth around. What troubles me is that there is very little talk about values or being better people. Rather it is all about having more or making more money. I would agree that making ends meet is necessary, but there is more to life than what money can buy and there must be more to a leader than his ability to manage money.

Jesus was so clear on this that values are more important than valuables. Luke 12:15

Let us not fall into the materialism trap. Who we are is more important than what we have. How foolish to spend your life labouring for that which can all be lost in a moment. The writer of Ecclesiastes says it is just a chasing after the wind…..

We ought to be concerned for those things that matter most to God and for the things he values most.

For those of us who followed the progress of our team through the pool phase, the ¼ finals, the semi finals and then the triumphant final, we breathe a deep sigh of relief. It was a closely contested game and we only just won!

As I consider that final game it can be compared to the Christian life. That game was hard, the players had to be disciplined, motivated, focused, committed, and work as a team. They had to give all they had and play hard to the end.

In many ways the Christian life is the same. It calls for discipline, it calls for us to run according to God’s rules, to be focused on Christ, and be faithful to the end. There is no consideration of giving up.

The biggest difference is that as Christians we do not participate for a prize that one day will be taken away. Our prize is Christ and he is permanent. Once we are in the race the end is guaranteed and the prize is eternal.

1 Cor 9:24   Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize

We have possibly learned a lot more about rugby and it is mind boggling technicalities over the last weeks. For our boys to do well, and we hope to win tonight, they will have to play by the rules, and play well together. Rugby is not an individual sport, but a team sport. The media seem to love to select a player and try to focus on him as the star and hero – the key player. They love to emphasize his unique abilities, but in fact, he is at his best when he plays as part of a team, and plays by the rules. This principle has been seen with the loss of Dan Carter. Despite his absence, the team is still a winning combination.

It is the same in the church, we are part of a team and we perform best when we work together and play by the rules. What kind of player are you? Are you keeping fit spiritually? Do you encourage the team? Do you show up for team meetings? Are you keeping the rules?

To be part of the church is to be on Christ’s team. Let’s give our best for our team and our captain.

It is however, heartening to see what a wonderful response there has been to address the carnage. To date about 2 000 people have registered as volunteers. One of the affected beaches has already been cleaned up and one report said that it was hard to believe that it had ever been so badly affected.

This is again proof of what can be achieved when people work together for a common purpose. The Lord calls us as a church to work hand in hand standing together as one people to tell our world of his love and saving grace. Let us do our part and add our voice to others, letting our community and world know that God has a plan and purpose through Christ for a lost and confused world.

Eph 4:16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.