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Weekly Greeting: Sunday 3 May
Submitted by Brian Smith on Thu, 2009-04-30 19:04
Dear Friends
This week we start a series called "When Life Breaks Down". It is a journey exploring God's Word for us at times when life doesn' quite work out as we expect or hope. The Series will run for the month of May and conclude with a weekend healing mission led by Trevor Hudson and Alexander Venter, who oversees a number of Vineyard Churches in his region; and is on the national leadership of the Association of Vineyard Churches in South Africa.
Earlier this week we held a funeral for a young boy, Christopher, whose life was suddenly and tragically ended. We hear daily of people's lives shattered by the news of a tragic death, unexpected news about one's health, the breakdown of relationships, the precarious state of the economy, careers that come to an end, and now the sudden outbreak of the "swine" flu that is traversing the planet.
I watched a documentary the other day about truckers in Alaska. It depicted the dangers of trucking on ice. I was particularly intrigued by the "end of season" runs. As the ice started to melt, the truckers tried to fit in as many last minute runs as possible before it was too late and the ice had disappeared. Some truckers would break through the thin ice with catastrophic consequences. Sometimes it feels like we are living life on thin ice. RUshing madly, all of a sudden the ice breaks and we crash through - sometimes with catastrophic consequences. I guess life can be that fragile.
In Philip Yancey's book, Where is God when it hurts, he asks the question: "Does God order our suffering" Does He decree an abusive childhood, orchestrate a jet crash, steer a tornado through a community? Or did He simply wind up the world's mainspring and now is watching from a distance?" Or is there another alternative?
And so: Discover God's community, Discover God's Plan, Discover God's Bigness, Discover God's Spirit, Discover God's Healing. The invitation is to journey together for the month of May.
Suggestion - bring a friend who needs just such a Word.
Blessings
Brian
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