Hi Men,

Only a bit over a week til HBC blokes go to Katoomba Mens Convention.  It’s a great conference and often life changing for the guys who go along.  We’ve still got accommodation spots and seats on the bus and we’d like them filled!

Details of the conference at http://www.mkc.kcc.org.au/

Register and pay for yourself online https://secure.kcc.org.au/

Then let either me or James Dean know you’re coming.  We’ll help you figure out transport and accommodation details (richard@hunterbiblechurch.org)

Hope to see you there!

Richard

If reading the whole Bible this year was one of your new year resolutions, you may be starting to flag by now.

But it’s ok! Help is available. Join up to the Unichurch “Read the Bible in a year!” page to be encouraged to keep going with other Bible readers.

Here you can: share your thoughts about verses, be encouraged to catch up when you fall behind, ask each other questions, and delight in God’s word together.

And it’s not too late to join!

The link is:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_178946898792778

Let’s be a Psalm 19 church that delights in God’s word.

⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the LORD are firm,
and all of them are righteous.

¹⁰ They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the honeycomb.

Being pure and especially being sexually pure is difficult for men.  The Bible recognises how especially hard it can be for young men (see Proverbs 5:1-14).

I was reading Psalm 119 today and was struck by the simplicity and helpfulness of verse 9:

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.”

This verse helps us see that we must feed our relationship with God through his word if we are to avoid impurity.  Rules, internet accountability software and accountability partners cannot replace regular time with God in his word.

Will we, the men of HBC (young or otherwise) heed this advice in 2011?  Will we live according to God’s word?

photo credit: dhammza

Most of us (me included) start the year at church thinking, ‘Right, what’s in it for me?’  That is, we think about how church serves my needs,  provides the kids ministry I want, the growth group that suits me, the ministry that fits my preferences, the friends I crave and so on and so on.  We think and act as if we are the most important person at HBC.

God says, ‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves’ (Phil 2:3).  The example of course is Jesus who served others to the point of death on the cross (Phil 2:5ff).  Therefore, in obedience to God, we should actually consider ourselves to be the least important person at HBC.

So we now start the year at church thinking, ‘Right, what’s in it for other people?’  That is, we think about how we can serve the needs of church, how we can help ministry to other people’s kids, how we can join the group that needs our support, how we can do the ministry no one else wants to do, how we can befriend the friendless and so on and so on.

Are you willing to be the least important person at HBC?

It’s getting to be that time of the year where we think about Growth Groups at HBC.  Here’s a short post with some stuff to help you now:

Basically, Growth Groups are weekly small groups where people dig into the Bible, pray and care for each other under the leadership of mature Christians.  They are primarily for Christian maturity but will also be places where people magnify God, grow in concern for mission, express membership, and serve in ministry.

Our hope is that every Christian who is part of HBC would commit to a Growth Group.

Groups start afresh each year.  This is because leaders take a break, new leaders start, and its good to reconsider which group you’re in each year.  In general there’ll be a mixture of change and continuity across church.

Group sign ups will happen on Jan 30 at AM/PM and around Oweek at Unichurch.

For more, make sure you have a look at the ‘Growth Groups’ section under ‘who we are’ in this website.  You’ll find out what groups are about and answers to a few FAQs

Katoomba Mens Convention is a key event on the HBC calendar.  This is a short trip away for the men in our church to experience great fellowship, hear excellent Bible teaching and to commit to growing in maturity as men.

This year the theme is ‘Life Outside the Garden’ and the speakers are David Cook and Justin Mote.

HBC will be going on weekend one which is Friday 18 and Saturday 19 of February.  We’d love you to register yourself online (http://www.mkc.kcc.org.au) and then let us know you’re coming.  James Dean and I are working on things like accommodation and transport so that your trip away is as stress free as possible.

Look forward to talking with you more about what a great weekend it will be!

I love summer - relaxation, cricket, beach etc.  But with Growth Groups on break I reckon all of us miss hanging out together to study the Bible, pray and enjoy each others company.

So this summer, HBC is running ‘The Summer Sessions’.  Basically, it’s for whoever’s around week by week.  We’ll get together at the church office, share some dinner (probably a $2 BBQ or something), and do some Bible study.  Greg or one of the other staff will get us going on a particular parable and then we’ll split up into random groups and discuss it, apply it and pray.

The plan is we finish up by about 9 and then head off to the beach for frisbee, soccer or whatever.

So hope you can make it!  Here’s the details:

Time:  7pm for simple dinner, start study by 7:30.

Date:  starts Tuesday Nov 23 for Unichurch people.  5pm can join us around Dec 7.  New people / non-Christians welcome.

Location:  Church office- 50 Hudson St Hamilton

Bring:  Bible, pen, a bit of money for food, stuff for the beach afterwards.

Content: A different parable each week (including some real mind-benders).  Parable of the sower first up.

RSVP:  not really necessary, but let me know (richard@hunterbiblechurch.org) if you’re coming so we can cater better.  Contact me with more questions if you have them.

Sweet.

See you there.

This question came up at the White Horse Inn last week.

Did God renege on his promise to Eli? (1 Sam 2:27-36)

This is a significant question because of what God says elsewhere about his character. For Numbers 23 describes God as a promise keeper:

NIV Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Is is possible that God doesn’t always keep his promises?

A few thoughts:

1. In verse 30 ‘I promised’ could be an overtranslation. It is literally just ‘I said’. We don’t seem to have an oath or covenant here. Could this have been a more conditional arrangement? We don’t have a record of God’s original word to Eli.

2. Eli’s ancestor Aaron and his descendents were appointed and anointed as a priest/s forever (Ex 28:1ff, Lev 8:1ff). Despite Eli and his family losing the priesthood (See 1 Kings 2:27), the Aaronic priesthood continued through others. This attests to God’s faithfulness to his original plan.

3. Eli and his son’s faults were so bad they compelled God to remove them from the priesthood:

○ Eli failed to honour God above his sons (1 Sam 2:29)

○ He failed to restrain his sons (1 Sam 3:13)

○ Effectively Eli despised God (1 Sam 2:30)

4. Ultimately God showed himself faithful and committed to his creation and his people by appointing Jesus to be the perfect High Priest (Heb 5-9). ‘Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant (Heb 7:22)

5. The passage in 1 Sam 2 warns us that we cannot presume on God. We cannot continually despise him and expect his goodwill. For those of us who have though, forgiveness is always available. As Hebrews says, Jesus always lives to intercede for us (Heb 7:25).

Anyone from Unichurch who’s up late on Sunday and wants to think and talk theology is invited to The White Horse Inn.

Praying with your kids is a great thing to do but it can be hard.  For a while our kids were in a prayer rut, praying the same things over and over again (much of which made no sense).  Something that has helped is a family prayer box.  We took a shoe box and put in missionary postcards, family photos, photos of friends, sponsor kid etc.  Each night after Bible reading we pull out the box and the kids take it in turns to pull something from the box.  Now they love it and protest when we don’t get out the box!  So I can recommend it - post a comment if you give it a go!