Hebrews 10:24

ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER TO GROW STRONGER IN FAITH

(May 07, 2023) Carol Round encourages us to bless others.

Meeting over lunch with a Christian friend, I wanted to encourage her during her time of uncertainty and need.

She’d lost her job and was now working at our church as the senior pastor’s administrative assistant. However, the pay was much less than her previous job.

1 Thessalonians 5:11ERV tells us to ‘… encourage each other and help each other grow stronger in faith, just as you are already doing.’

My faith grew through tough times
So, since I could relate, I shared stories of how God had provided for me after I retired almost 20 years ago. After taxes and health insurance, I could barely meet my needs.

I’d obeyed God’s leading when I left my 30-year teaching career to write full-time. But He provided not only for my needs but opened doors of opportunity. Those doors led to ways to supplement my retirement income.

As I continued to share the stories of God’s miraculous provision at just the right times in my life, my friend was amazed. I also knew, without a doubt, that my friend was in the right place, serving in our church. (And I’m also not the only church member who believes our friend is right where God wants her).

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PRIORITISED 2022 RESOLUTIONS

(January 01, 2022) Brian Bell shares afresh on some of his December thoughts as we move for Jesus into this new year…

Christmastime is over and 2022 is here!

Like some others, maybe you too are looking back on difficult 2021 life experiences. Amid the uncertainties of life perhaps some situation injured you, people may have hurt and or disappointed you.

Perhaps you had failed the Lord in some way, or you made poor decisions and thought He won’t forgive you. Well, a December Features was on the very spirit of Christmas… forgiveness (Christmas – Perfect Time for Forgiveness).

There is a wrong tendency with Christians to feel difficult circumstances must be an indication of sin in our lives, or that we have displeased and or failed the Lord… and this can hinder us from moving ahead, especially into every God-given new year.

Now there may be times when we have made choices that have contributed to our certain circumstances. But we need to remember that varied, changing and indeed difficult circumstances of life are common to everyone, believer and non-believer. So, I encourage you to deal with whatever needs dealing with, perhaps putting things ‘right’ with another believer… and resolving to move on!

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FELLOWSHIP – κοινωνία  – KOINONIA  

September 13, 2021) Dr Jim McClure, noted theologian, shares…

‘Fellowship’ is a word that Christians often use. It is one of the great New Testament words but is has been used so much to describe such a variety of ‘church meetings’ that it has become devalued. 

What is ‘fellowship?’  Is it just a term given to differentiate Christian groups from non-Christian groups – Men’s Fellowship, Women’s Fellowship, Youth Fellowship and so on? 

Or, does the New Testament use the word in a different way? That is what we are going to explore.

The Greek words κοινωνία and κοινωνέω
In the KJV the Greek noun κοινωνία (koinonia) has been translated by the words…

  • Fellowship (12 times),
  • Communion (4 times),
  • Communication (once),
  • Contribution (once), and
  • Distribution (once).

The verb κοινωνέω, ‘to share’, has been translated to partaker of, communicate and distribute. It is clear that it is a much more significant word than is suggested by the way we frequently use it.

Before it became a New Testament word, it was used in secular Classical Greek generally as a business word to indicate, for example, partnership in a business. 

It was also used in the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, to translate the Hebrew word חבר (chaber), which means to bind or join together in any context.

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