Some more dates to note…or to disbelieve?

10 Jun Some more dates to note…or to disbelieve?

I mentioned some historical dates last week…a couple more caught my eye.  June 6^th was D-Day…the 1944 Allied landings on Normandy in World War II. I was struck by the fact that 90% of the soldiers in the first wave of landing craft never lived to leave the beach. 9 of 10 were killed in the first few hours of the battle…if not the first minutes. Some never made it ashore.  Think about that when you think about freedom this week in our sermon series.

The other date was the June 3^rd & 4^th remembrance of the Tiananmen Square massacres in China in 1989. This time, the struggle for freedom was crushed under Communist tanks. What reminded me of this date was an article I stumbled across expressing scepticism that the massacre had actually occurred. It said in no uncertain terms that no such massacre took place.

It was odd reading such a claim. I know we live in a culture of disbelief where “fake news” & “conspiracy theory” are thrown around like snapper at the Sydney fish market. But we seem to be awash in doubt, distrust, cynicism, & suspicion. I know people who are convinced humans have not landed on the moon, and that JFK was killed by multiple gunmen under the direction of either the CIA, the Mafia, Lyndon Johnson, or someone else. Ask around & you’ll find someone who’s sure the assassination attempts on President Trump were faked.

I heard Paul’s voice in my head while I was read that article I mentioned: Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead? – Acts 26:8 Paul is gobsmacked that the very thing Jesus did more than once & that the Old Testament prophets also did with some regularity seems so impossible in the case of Jesus. Even Herod, thinks for a time that Jesus might be John the Baptizer raised from the dead. (Mark 6:16) “What can God NOT do?” is the real question. In fact, the truth of Christ’s resurrection is the piece of evidence that every apostle died confessing. The fact of the resurrection is what the early church refused to deny & suffered in their faith at the hands of every oppressor. The truth of the grave’s defeat is still our great hope & what sets us apart from every other faith expression on earth. Anchor your life in truth not disbelief & find your hope in the One who lives broken free from death’s grip because it’s that freedom he shares with all of us.

We have ample opportunity for that in the days ahead…

• Tomorrow…Thursday June 11^th – Ladies’ Fellowship & Bible Study @ Edna & Noel’s home in Estella 10:00 a.m. & shared lunch afterwards. Romans 6 & 7.
• Saturday June 13^th – LWF Prayer Morning at our house. Starting at 10:00 .a.m. I’ll have the coffee pot fired up & ready to pour, and we can pour out our hearts to God for his great blessing & grace.
• Sunday June 14^th – our worship & teaching theme this week: What if God really could…Set you Free? Our culture often tells us that freedom means having more choices, fewer restrictions, and the ability to decide for ourselves what is right and true. Yet many people discover that having unlimited options doesn’t necessarily make life easier. In fact, the more choices we have, the more overwhelmed, anxious, & uncertain we can become. Sometimes the very things we choose freely end up controlling us. This week, Jesus offers a very different picture of freedom. He doesn’t point people toward greater independence, but toward a deeper relationship with Himself. Real freedom isn’t doing whatever you want; it’s abiding in Jesus.
• HUGE THANK YOU! for your generosity! – Biggest Morning Tea & Giving Beyond Ourselves for the Cancer Council raised over $1000! God is so good & he’s so good through you!
• Saturday June 20^th – We’re hosting a Regional Gathering for our gospel co-workers in the CrossLink Christian Network. From about 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. we’ll have about 20 people from around NSW gathered to pray, worship, learn & catch God’s vision for his church moving into the next years of life together as a Network. We’ve been asked to provide morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. I’ll say “Thank you” now…Some of our guests will be staying over & worshipping with us on Sunday the 21^stwhich is our 13^thbirthday! God is so good & he’s so good through you! And it looks like he isn’t finished yet!

Looking forward to seeing you all Sunday!

John