When DIY is a Death Trap
By Not Known ‘Do It Yourself‘ (DIY) is back in vogue. We head to the hardware store, buy some gear and tackle that home project. But DIY can be our nightmare and a contractor’s dream – we mess up and then pay up as the contractor repairs our damage. DIY can be a nightmare in home repairs. DIY is a disaster when it comes to repairing our…
Dying to Go?
By Not Known Advances in medicine mean that we now have increasing control over both ends of human life. Children who were once inconceivable are now healthy toddlers. The timing and manner of death is now more manageable. However, increasing control also means increasing dilemmas. Euthanasia is back in public discussion. Consider these scenes … Uncle Jack is in the…
Homosexuality
By Not Known Our church family includes men and women who struggle with homosexuality, along with such heterosexual issues as premarital sex and adultery. It also includes people who struggle with greed, selfishness, hatred and such like. That should not surprise us, for Paul saw the same struggles when he looked at the early church (see 1 Cor 6:9- 1O for a fuller list).…
Cutting clutter
By Not Known My wife and I have moved house ten times since we married. Each move sees plenty of clutter to be sifted and trashed. Clutter accumulates. It’s the same in the church of Jesus Christ. By the time of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation there was a huge problem. The church still professed the basics of the faith, but these basics were almost…
My Way God’s Way?
By Not Known A friend was so excited that he kept telling everyone he met after a church service, how inspiring, how full of zing and how ‘anointed’ the sermon was. His jaw however dropped and was at a loss for words when a fellow congregant asked him what had he learnt from the sermon. A similar mindset was reflected during the recent financial crisis when…
Deadling With Rejection
By Not Known Saul, as the first king of Israel gave us much for for thought. His recklessness and arrogance had caused his downfall in so many ways. He failed as God’s king because he took things into his own hands and did many things with utter disregard for God and his instructions. He went for personal honour instead of God’s. In the end, he was rejected.…
Spiritual Dementia
By Not Known Our Sunshine fellowship recently had a talk on Dementia – a degeneration of brain function due to damage or disease with numerous symptoms. ‘Do you remember locking your car dȯor just now?‘ It is easy for younger folks to simply dismiss the topic as one for the aged and to worry about it at later times. But this illness creeps silently and…
The end of Congregational Care?
By Not Known This is the last Sunday in our month-long focus on congregational care. Slide shows, interviews, a CC booth, a mystery meal, Bible studies and Sunday messages have all informed us about different aspects of care in the Bible and here at ORPC. Let’s review: Christian care arises as a response to God’s care for us in Jesus and that we should love…
Soul Care
By Not Known God made us as people with multiple aspects. These different aspects are on view when we are told to love God with all our heart, soul and strength (Dt. 6:4; latter exanded to include ‘mind’ Mt 22:37) Heart, soul, mind and body all matter to God because he made them. Further, they are all linked rather than being separated. For example, a sikness…
A Call to Alms
By Not Known Our theme this month is ‘People Helping People‘. Jesus challenges all of us to a deeper engagement with one another through his teaching (Mat 5:38 – 6:4). His words are sharp and demanding. For a start, people helping means going beyond our obligations and it may even take us against our instincts (5:38-42). Thus the insulting slap of an…