The Best Medicine Tastes Bitterest

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

I thank the Sovereign Almighty God, our creator and healer, for His grace and mercy through all the trials that we go through, especially in sickness.

Please read the short reflection I wrote hours before being discharged from the hospital on 10 November. May it encourage and inspire all of us.

Working Bee on Saturday, 25 November, 9:00 AM

Please bring your tools, equipment, and anything else to keep us buzzing. We aim to clean and beautify our surroundings while having fun and fellowship.

Thank you!

Life Concert by Neil and Joanna Johnston

Neil and Joanna were the previous pastors of Oamaru Baptist Church. After serving in Baptist pastoral ministry for 26 years, they followed God’s lead into a music ministry for churches. 

Watch their Life Concert on 25 November at 7:00 PM at Reach Church.

Weekly Reminders

• Youth Ministry – Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00 PM
  NOTE: Please ask Tom or Bevan for more information. Thank you!
  
  
• Prayer Meeting – Thursday from 3:00 to 4:00 PM at OBC.

Carols in the Park Oamaru Gardens on 9 December

This Christmas season, we have an exciting opportunity to bring Oamaru the message of love, joy, peace, and hope through “Carols in the Park.”

Tom Francis is the event’s Master of Ceremonies.

OBC Christmas Events Schedules

24 December, Sunday, 10:00 AM – Regular Sunday morning worship

24 December, Sunday, 2:30 PM – Carolling at the Sandringham House

25 December (Monday) – Christmas Day Service at 10:00 AM

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” – Luke 2:14

Supplementary Food for the Spirit

I am sharing some links to articles about our Baptist faith and life. Please take the time to read. Thank you!

• Church Life Survey: first response
• Prophet or priest: pastoral leadership for extraordinary times

Thank you, Bevan, for sharing this photo with me last week. Perhaps you want to show the beautiful view and animals you have one fine day in Oamaru while I recuperate.

Whenever I see photos of livestock, Romans 8:36 always comes to mind: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

The bright shining light of Christmas

Amidst the myriads of dazzling lights, Christmas trees, lively music, and glittering adornments to mark the festivities of Christmas is the sad reality that many people neglect the most important person of the season. What makes Christmas merry?

Gail’s Christmas decorations she put up a week ago at the church remind us all that Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season. He is our amazing grace, who has brought peace, love, joy, and hope to humanity.

No amount of beautiful lights could match Jesus Christ, the one true light who illuminates the whole world from the darkness of sin. Jesus said, “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness” (John 12:46).

Let Jesus Christ be the one true light shining in our lives, now and forever!

CHRISTMAS 2022 SCHEDULES

18 December at 4:00 PM – Carolling at Sandringham House

24 December at 6:30 PM – Christmas Eve Service. Please bring supper to share

25 December at 10:00 AM – Christmas Sunday Worship

But when the time had fully come,
God sent His Son, born of a woman,
born under the law, 
to redeem those under the law,
that we might receive our adoption as sons.
Galatians 4:4-5

Prayer Meeting, Preparation, and Working Bee

In preparing our church building for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Worship Services, we will clean after our Wednesday prayer meeting at 3:00 PM.

Those who cannot make it on Wednesday, please come for a Working Bee time on Saturday, 24 December.

Indeed, friends and family members will come to town for Christmas and join Oamaru Baptist Church’s worship services.

New Year’s Day is a Sunday

What an excellent opportunity to start the first day of 2023 with a worship service at 10:00 AM.

Oamaru Baptist Church will hold the regular worship service on 1st January 2023.

Discipleship through home Bible studies

We have identified a home Bible study area in the Totara-Teschemakers-Kakanui area. Home Bible studies are one of the ways we can make disciples for Christ. The Lord God is growing His church.

Let us pray for more Bible study groups to be organised- as we look forward to training group leaders in 2023.

OBC’s Direction – Where are we and what’s next?

As I mentioned last Sunday during my message, we have stopped at the “Spiritual Gifts Inventory” to focus on the Advent and Christmas seasons.

We will resume in February 2023. The diagram below indicates that we will focus on “Faith-Wisdom Discovery” next.

Please refresh yourselves with the sermon series related to the diagram above by clicking the button below.

On the last 9 July working bee, we worked on the inside. This time, we cleaned the church’s surroundings.

Our workers started early. Praise the Lord for the beautiful weather He gave us.

Ray and Bill’s water blasting the church’s walls restored the bricks to their original colour.

Bevan trimmed the trees and bushes, giving much clearing for the sun’s rays on our lawn. You should have seen the packs of cuttings on his trailer.

Tina started weeding the flower patches outside the kitchen and the Sunday school rooms area and proceeded to clear the green area bordering our parking lot fences.

When Jonan arrived at 10:00 AM, the moss and algae busters were fully engaged. So, he joined Tina, clearing the flower patches.

Later, he moved to the back end of the church because Bevan’s chainsaw and Bill’s water blaster generator were rocking a duet. The “music” was too much, he said.

Mic and Nolan came on their bikes. They took the challenge to dig out the box thorn and its root network growing at the side of our building. They did an excellent job at it.

Later, Nolan got a water-blasting apprenticeship with Bill.

Thank you, Mary, for the scones with jam and cream you brought for our coffee break. The working bees also enjoyed the savoury muffins that Diane, Sheryl, and her kids brought later.

Ray saw that the drainage holes along the church driveway were blocked. Bevan opened the drainage grills and shovelled out the silt and other deposits.

It was a challenging but enjoyable day for our working bee team.

We thank the Good Lord for a productive and safe day for all who came. Thank you to those who came and contributed their efforts, labour, food, and equipment. Thank you to those who prayed.

The working bee day was a success. To God be the glory!

Let us labour for the Master in October!

With Labour Day coming on 24 October, I am reminded of a strophe in the hymn, “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder”, that says:

Let us labour for the Master from the dawn till setting sun,
Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;
Then when all of life is over and our work on earth is done,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

Like the new garden season, OBC is planting growth and development seeds that we hope and pray will bear much fruit in God’s time. Let us labour for the Lord!

Working Bee Saturday, 8 October, 10:00 AM

It’s spring cleaning time. Our driveway awaits the splash and swoosh of the water spray. Bring some gardening tools as we do some trimming, planting, and whatever would make our surroundings beautiful.

Don’t forget to bring some food to share during the bee workers’ lunch.

Music Workshop Schedules Set

Calling all singers, musicians, and interested people, young and old! 

• Music Listening Workshop – Sunday, 9 October – 2 PM
• Bass and Drums Basics – Wednesday, 12 October – 10 AM
• Sound and Data Operation – TBA

“Abundant Life” for Bible Study Groups

I will use the “Abundant Life – The Life of Jesus in You” guide and workbook for our Bible study groups.

The workbook is authored and produced by SEAN International. SEAM means Study by Extension for All Nations.

The “Abundant Life” is a nurture course for new believers, which teaches the fundamental Christian doctrines and how to apply them to our lives.

TEE Group Leaders Training on 17-18 February 2023 Tentatively

In preparation for additional discipleship groups that will be organised soon, we are looking at holding a Group Leaders Training on 17-18 February 2023.

TEE, or Theological Education by Extension Aotearoa, will be conducting the training. The trainers are based in Wellington.

The training will be open to interested people from other churches in Oamaru and Timaru.

Reminders…

• Prayer Meeting @ OBC on Wednesday, 3:00 to 4:00 PM. To send in your prayer requests, click on this link → https://oamarubaptist.org.nz/prayer-meeting-obc/
  
  
• Please take the time to look at our Rostering Sheet, and feel free to jot down your name on any vacant slot. Your participation is much appreciated.
  
  
• Invite your friends to come and join our church to worship and serve the Living Almighty God. We are a welcoming and friendly church.

Renewal and Resolution Series

Lessons from Nehemiah

I have started presenting the Ministry Appreciation and Participation Toolkit as an application of the lessons we learned from Nehemiah.

We will be learning practical tools we can use in building our church and community, with Nehemiah as our Biblical inspiration.

I will give handouts on the next two Sundays to ensure carry-over and reference. I hope and pray for enthusiasm and excitement as we learn together.