Morning tea after the 10am service will be recommencing on Sunday 7th February in the Parish Hall. Because of Covid restrictions everything will be disposable, so no washing up. All food will be served in individual packages provided by the church, consequently there will be no need for those serving to bring food from home.
I am needing to make a roster for serving which initially will be for term 1 only until we see what restrictions will change. If you were on a previous roster but know of days when you will be unavailable could you please let me know, or if you were not on a previous roster but would be happy to serve in this ministry I would love to hear from you. If you contact Di or Carmen at the office they can put you in touch.

Sally Henderson

Why You and I Should Be In One

QUOTES FROM SOME OF THE NAMES GREAT AND SMALL WHO HAVE ‘GROWN’ BEFORE US
Spiritual growth consists most in the growth of the root, which is out of sight.
Matthew Henry
If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one,
check your pulse. You may be dead.
Gelet Burgess
There is nothing more dangerous to your own salvation,
more unworthy of God, and more harmful to your own happiness,
than you should be content to remain as you are.
F Fenelon
Gradual growth in grace, growth in knowledge, growth in faith, growth in love, growth in holiness,
growth in humility, growth in spiritual mindedness – all this I see clearly taught and urged in Scripture,
and clearly exemplified in the lives of many of God’s saints.
But sudden, instantaneous leaps from conversion to maturity,
I fail to see in the Bible.
J.C Ryle
They’re right, …. join one of our Bible Study ‘Growth Groups’ today
Sign up- sheets are up the back of the church building

No, we are not suggesting there’s about to be a sudden or temporary break out of love and caring at our Church. Hopefully, compassion (as a virtue) thrives and is permanently present among us.

On Sunday February 14th, the Christian Child Sponsorship organisation COMPASSION will be visiting both 10 am and Evening Church. Bruce Boyle is a leading Compassion advocate and will be preaching that day and informing us of the work of “Compassion’. Compassion’s explicit aim is to ‘Deliver Children from Poverty in Jesus’ name’. They are one of the very few Christian Child Sponsorship organisations that have managed to remain Christ / gospel focused while being engaged in the work of Christian Compassion’. Here is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to be obedient to God’s command to witness to the world through our compassion for the disadvantaged.

It really is very simple. If you want to grow you have to be fed. Not one of us would hope or expect the plants in our gardens to grow and thrive without us providing the inputs they need. We water, fertilise, weed, and tend our gardens with great care in the hope and expectation of growth.

Members of St Paul’s, we simply HAVE to be growing as disciples of Jesus Christ. Christian growth is not merely an optional extra in the Scriptures. It is demanded, commanded, and expected. If we are not growing, then we are at serious risk of falling away. Can we therefore exhort and encourage you to become a member of our network of small group Bible Studies. These groups are ‘growth groups’ – places where Christians are fed and nurtured, and places where our relationship with God, and with each other has the best chance to flourish.

You NEED to be part of one our Bible Study Groups. We (the rest of us) NEED you to be part of one of our Bible Study Groups. The growth of the one fosters the growth of the other. Please, sign up, for your sake, and for the sake of the rest of us. We are one body. The more our individual members grow, …. the healthier the overall body.

SAVED BY JESUS CHRIST
Absolutely everything we are and everything we do here at St Paul’s begins
with God himself. God created the world from nothing, and he saved the world with zero contribution from humanity. Our very existence as a race, our very existence as a family of forgiven sinners, all begins with Him. We are a saved people.

Ephesians 2:8

‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own
doing, it is the gift of God, ….’

GROWING IN JESUS CHRIST
We aim to grow because we are already saved.
Jesus is the source of our salvation and also the source of our growth.
It is the power of his Spirit that moves us to want to surrender our lives
into his hands.
St Paul’s seeks to be, in our Lord’s strength, a family of Christ’s disciples
growing in our love, knowledge, and service of God as we await Christ’s
return.

Romans 12:2

‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of
your mind, ….’

PROCLAIMING JESUS CHRIST
We have nothing of value to offer the world other than to proclaim our
Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing is more important than people being right with
God before they meet him face to face on the final day. Jesus is God’s gift
of righteousness to his people in the forgiveness of our sins.
He alone is humanity’s only hope of making sense of this life
and of being ready for the next.
So it is Him we proclaim in both word and deed.

2 Corinthians 5:1

‘Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we seek to persuade others, ….’

A new prayer collective has been added and can be found here.

Having played instruments and sung from up the front of
Christian gatherings for the last 23 years I’ve noticed that
many people simply don’t sing.

Before you get self-conscious. No, I’m not looking at you judging. I too have had times where I’ve not sung for different reasons.

But the Psalms (Psalm 47 being a good example) and Colossians 3:16 changed my attitude:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

Singing is not just for you (though in God’s wisdom, he has instructed us to do so because it’s good for us), but also for the encouragement of others. The Bible has no mention of vocal talent or musical taste. It’s not about that. Psalm 47 does not say:

“Clap your hands, all you nations but only if you have received a Diploma of music majoring in rhythm; shout to God with cries of joy but only if you’ve got perfect pitch. Sing praises to our King when you happen to like the melody.”

Okay, I’m being ridiculous. But in all seriousness, when I’ve asked some people why they don’t sing in church, the responses are not far off from these.

“Oh, I can’t sing, no one wants to hear my voice.”
“I can’t understand half of what those old hymns are going on about. And it’s so hard to follow the melody”

Church should be a place where every imaginable age, sub-culture, political persuasion and musical taste unites. A community that is united by Christ. A family of believers who’ve been impacted by the grace of God, who really do believe the lyrics of the songs being sung.

We are not told to sing only when the music agrees with us. If that were to happen, there would be very little singing in churches across the world. Eph 5:19 urges us to sing for each other’s benefit. Not just for the fulfilment or entertainment or emotional fulfilment of self.

Sometimes we might not sing because they lyrics make us feel dishonest, “take my silver and my gold, not a mite will I withhold” knowing full well that you’re struggling to give even 1% of your salary in the offertory.

Sing them anyway. When we’re finding it hard to forgive someone, we still pray the Lord’s prayer “as we forgive those who sin against us”. Songs are meant to teach (Deut 31:19-22), songs are poetic and express a longing, desire and hope of what may not necessarily be true in that particular moment. They focus the mind on what we as Christians aspire to. The exercise points us all back to Jesus.

…………..Cedric

Dear St Pauls’ family
We are making a sea change! We are moving to the Central Coast on Jan 12th, to be closer to Judy’s 100 year old Dad and our grandchildren. We are very sad to be leaving St Paul’s after 33 years. But we will be back from time to time when summoned by Darrell.

God Bless you all…….Thank you for your fellowship in Christ and your love and support for us and our family over the last 33 years
In His Love
Richard and Judy

Welcome to St Paul’s and St Luke’s today. We are sincerely glad you have chosen to join us. A very special welcome to any new comers or visitors who are with us today. Thank you for coming. There’s an awful lot happening in and around our Church Family but, at the risk of leaving
important things out, I wish to highlight just a few crucial things:
(1) Who are you inviting to join you at one (or more) of our Christmas Gatherings ? It’s through invitations like this that churches grow. We will be working hard to make the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ clear and accessible in all of our Christmas gatherings, so please do your part in
inviting people to come. Who knows, it might just be this time that they respond to God’s call through his spirit.
(2) Speaking of invitations, …. why not use one of the flyers for the 7pm Christmas Eve Carols to invite your neighbours and friends to come and share in that great occasion. Drop it in their letter box or under the door with a little personal note from you on the back. Perhaps you could even
offer to pick them up and then drop them home again at the end. It’s such an easy way to witness to the gospel.
(3) West Tamworth Door Knock. Some good walkers are needed to distribute invitations to letter boxes across our local area. Use the map on the back table to select a street or two to cover and then take an appropriate number of Flyers.
(4) Don’t forget that on Sunday 27th there will be just one service only that day, …. 10am here at St Paul’s.
(5) If you are hosting people in your home on Christmas Day or over the holiday period, …. can I please please please encourage you to say ‘grace’ before you tuck into Christmas lunch or dinner. If you’re at someone else’s home, saying grace is mostly out of your control, but if you are the host, then what better way to name and honour Jesus and to nail your colours to the ‘Christian Mast’. Surely, there can be little excuse for missing an opportunity like this to honour and serve our Lord.
(6) With Diane on holidays over Christmas, hard copy Bulletins will be in short supply over the next few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled for email communications from church staff to stay up to date.
See you at Christmas,
DP

WEDDING…….We rejoice with Chris Whalley and Issy
Batley who will be married here at St Paul’s on Saturday
January 2nd. Chris and Issy are members of Evening
Church and it’s a joy to see them soon to be married.
Congratulations to them both from all of us at St Paul’s.