Pinch and a Punch!

02 Jun Pinch and a Punch!

Yes…I wrote this Sunday! 😉

And just like that…it’s June 1^st!

What a wonderful Biggest Morning Tea! PLUS…we have over $1000.00 to share with the Cancer Council! I tell folks all the time that Living Water disciples are among the most generous I’ve ever met. That always proves true. Well done y’all! And Thank you!

I’m having some minor eye surgery this week…nothing serious, but if you try to reach me & I don’t answer my phone or get back to you straight away…blame it on the post-surgery self-care. I’ll hopefully be up to full speed by Friday…pray for skilful hands & speedy recovery.

So…for the days ahead…like I mentioned last week…a full calendar for June…

1. Zoom Bible Study Catch-up
   Friday 6^th June 2025  @ 1:00p.m.
   Join Zoom Meeting  —  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89674789066  —  Meeting ID: 896 7478 906!
2. Pentecost Sunday!

Sunday 8^th June – Power Tools

A well-stocked toolbox is essential to tackle the tasks you need to do. But when some jobs are bigger than your toolbox…remember God’s toolbox is stocked to the brim. God’s tool box equips us for the work he calls us to do. Each tool given to us and powered by his Holy Spirit. Each one the perfect tool for whatever task is right in front of us. So join us as God gives us his Spirit empowered tools, instructs us in their use and send us out to use them to build his kingdom in every situation.  PS – Wear RED!

3. Ladies Fellowship

Thursday 12^th June @ Kay’s House

1 John 3:1-10

4. LWF Annual Bonfire @ High Valley (Jeff & Norma’s Country Bungalow)

Saturday 14^th June…Lots of details forthcoming, so stay tuned. This is always a great afternoon fellowship event with food & lots of joy. Bring a friend or three!

5. Soup & Safe Church after worship

Sunday 15^th June – again…we’ll have more details this coming week, but this is when we take time to review how we make Living Water an open & welcoming fellowship & learn together how loving one another is done in a God-honouring way that is also encouraging & open-heartedly hospitable for guests. We’ll have a soup & bread lunch together while we learn & grow as a family of disciples.

6. Living Water’s 12^th Birthday! Have we really been serving God this way for 12 years? WOW! Is God good all the time or what?

Sunday 22^nd June – What’s your favourite Living Water moment or memory? Remember, it’s not just about us, but how God has used us uniquely for his Kingdom.

This morning, my daily Bible reading was from 2 Corinthians…2 Corinthians 4:16-18 to be exact. Paul has just explained that we possess the riches of the gospel in our very fragile bodies. But this is really a good thing because it makes it obvious that the treasure we possess is otherworldly & not from ourselves. We live with all manner of struggles & trouble but this gives us the opportunity to reveal in our suffering the suffering & triumph of Jesus. The power we have is his at work in us. So he continues…

Therefore we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed day by day. For our present troubles are light & momentary, yet they are producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure. So we fix our eyes not on what can be seen but on what cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

It’s really easy to get tied up in knots by the current crisis, chaos, catastrophe or calamity…some of which happen in our own homes. But what Paul says we are to do as followers of Jesus is to see all those things through the lens of eternity and know they won’t be there. The top news story today may not make it to tomorrow & it certainly won’t see it through to the last day. My particular crushing dilemma isn’t going to cross the threshold of heaven. When the day comes when there is “no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever”.…so will everything else that shrouds today in darkness. I believe quite firmly that we can claim those promises now & truly live the renewal Paul describes in unbeatable hope & unsullied joy. AND…our capacity to point to our hope & joy in the midst of difficulty is perhaps our most effective witness. We are not bulletproof in this life. To pretend that somehow as Christians everything suddenly comes up roses is ludicrous. BUT…we can point to the suffering Saviour as he knows & shares our pain & leads us through it toward a day when pain isn’t even a memory any longer. Let’s keep our focus on the One who holds us forever…then the things that fade, falter & fail can suddenly start to lose their grip on us.

I’m looking forward to seeing you Sunday…I might look a bit out of sorts…but I’ll come good soon enough.

Thank you for your prayers!  Know that I’ll be praying for you too…I can do that with one eye bandaged closed.

John