The Link

November 10 2013

Neil Ryan Senior Pastor

Seth Emery Youth Pastor

Kathy Heath Childrens Pastor

Gavin Jones Pastor, LifeChurch

Allan Stanley-Smith Pastor, Pastoral Care

Welcome

November 10 2013

Welcome to Unley Park Baptist today. It is great to have you with us. If you are new to Unley Park, we appreciate that it can be daunting to walk into a new church, so as much as we can, we want to help you feel at home here. In the pew in front of you please find a black folder that contains a white care card for you to complete. There is also a "Welcome Pack" available for you that, among other things, has a special Care Card for you to record your visit and for us to follow up any requests you make. All Care Cards should be "posted" as you leave the church, in the locked box on the table by the "Baptistry Door".

10.00am Morning Tea: Morning Tea Next Week: 5.00pm

Morning Worship Neil Ryan Cherene Slater, Gisela Toelken, Joan Kidman Lyn Ryan, Mark & Jane Ryan Life Church

Finances
Total Giving November 2013 Giving Target 26,385 Cash Giving to date 2,727 Electronic Giving to date 5,147

Account Name: Unley Park Baptist Church Inc

BSB: 704 922 Account Number: 100013066

Offerings Confidential

Just a Minute
I have wanted to walk on the Great Wall of China since I was a boy in school learning about the mystical world of the Orient and a place called Peking! [Beijing]. We all remember the epic movie 55 Days in Peking starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardener and Robert Helpman. Two weeks ago I arrived at the Mutianyu section of the Wall and set off for 5 exhilarating hours walking the walk of a lifetime. Sometimes you look forward to something so much it turns out being a disappointment. Not this time! The moment I touched the Wall I had that sense of awe and wonder that was born in me about 50 years ago. My first thoughts were caught up with the history of it all. The Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west. It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass. At its peak the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men. It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall. The Wall was built in part to protect the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC; these, later joined together and made bigger and stronger, are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty. Other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signalling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor. However, as much as I salivated at being surrounded by the Great Wall with all of its history and grandeur, it was three people who left me with an unforgettable experience. The first was a 79 year old man whom we met at one of the high points of the wall. He knew no English and I knew no Chinese, but he wanted to tell me he was 79 and still climbing the wall, and I wanted to tell him I knew he was old and was impressed that he was still doing something so adventurous! That conversation remains as one of the great testimonies that there are more ways to communicate than with words. By the time we had finished with hand gestures, finger pointing, smiles, pats on the back and laughter, we both knew what the other one wanted to say! Cont

Then there was a group of three men walking together. We all stopped at the top of a high point of the wall to take a break and drink some water. I said hello and one of the men replied in good English. I was surprised and asked him where he learned to speak English so well. He told us he had studied in Australia for 3 years and it was the best time of his life. I asked him which university he attended. He said, Flinders University, in Adelaide! There are 1.2 billion people in China and the one I could talk to, had studied in my home town! Then there was the 5 year old Chinese boy walking the wall with his Dad and his Uncle. As we went along I passed him a couple of times, so when he went passed me again, I reached out and asked for a high 5. He didn t understand my words but he slapped my hand with one of the best high 5s Ive ever had! I then discovered his father spoke some English. I told him to tell his son that if he raced me to the top of the next guard tower, I would give him some lollies. The little boys face lit up and away he went with me racing after him. We all had some fun over the next few minutes. For one of the few times in my life I was happy to let someone win! His face lit up in triumph as he got to the top just one step ahead of me! I gave him some lollies, and then some for his Dad and his Uncle. Here I was on the Great Wall with its rich history and grandeur, and yet I realised again that it is people who bring us to life. Whether a 79 year old man who wants to celebrate with a stranger that he s still climbing; or a young university student who feels like he has found a family member from Adelaide; or a young boy who knows nothing of language or cultural barriers when it comes to having fun; the reality is, I now cannot think of the Great Wall without thinking of an old man, a university student and a little boy! God has brought us all together in this place this morning from a vast diversity of backgrounds, culture, race, age, life experience and circumstances. Who will you meet this morning? Who needs to meet you this morning? Dont look around and just see a bunch of people in Church. Dont worry about how youre going to communicate or what you are going to talk about. Just bump into someone and you might be amazed at what you discover. God does that whether we are in Church or whether we are on the Great Wall of China! God Bless Neil

Baptismal Service
This Sunday, 10th November, two men from Iran, Barham (Benjamin) Khojasteh and Ahmad Ali Hosseinzadeh will be baptised. This is an opportunity for us to hear their story and celebrate this occasion with them. This will be followed by a BBQ at the church after the morning service. Anyone who would like to share fellowship with these two men and join the BBQ are asked to contact Allan Stanley- Smith for catering purposes.

Pre-service prayer
We meet each Sunday morning before the coffee time and before the service, in Neil Ryan's office for a short time of prayer at 9.45 a.m. All welcome. "Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God"? John 11:40

TEAR Shop
The TEAR shop is up and running again in the breezeway until Sunday 22nd December. TEAR only provides a small number of each of the cards so I usually have to send for more so you can have the cards of your choice so please choose your gifts as early as you can. Please help us to give many underprivileged people the opportunity to experience the love and care of Jesus.

EFTPOS facility and Offering Envelopes

We will be phasing out offering envelopes over the next few months. Please feel free to continue using them if you still have a supply or alternatively use a blank envelope if you would like to continue giving in this way. We will however not be ordering any more envelopes in the future. If you have access to set up an electronic bank transfer using our Offerings Confidential account that would be helpful. It is something that we are encouraging everyone to use. Please see below for details. These details are always included on page two of the Link. As of Friday November 8 we will no longer have EFTPOS facilities. Financial offerings previously given via EFTPOS will now need to be done using the Confidential Offering direct transfer account. Account Name: Unley Park Baptist Church Inc. Offerings Confidential BSB: 704 922 Account Number: 100013066 Thank you.

Thursday prayer group

Our next prayer meeting will be held on Thursday 14 November at 1.30 pm at the home of Margie Stevens, 2 Neweys Road, Mitcham. All welcome. For Questions: Phone Noelene Hunt 82783075.
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Out and About

Bruce Townsend is preaching at Waitpinga Church today, Sunday November 10 at 10.30am.

Pray for these families

Names for this week beginning November 10: Bob & Noelene Hunt Grant & Voirrey Hutchinson, Emily Hutchinson-Turner Joe, Karryn, Abigail & Urijah Hutchinson John & Maddy Irvine Andrew & Michelle Jeisman Gavin, Bec, Ava, Eli & Piper Jones

The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken

When : Friday November 15th @ 7pm Where: Koorong Book shop in the city

Schools Ministry
We have secured bookings for the Christmas Seminars in the schools and we are about to commence rehearsals. Anita has written the script Hark, Harold the Angel It is the Christmas story seen through the eyes of an angel. Our prayer points are that we would have: 1. A full team of the appropriate actors for the role (we always have a need for young ones and mennecessary especially for a Joseph role) *note we have a new recruit, a young man works full time but is prepared to participate in 2/3 of the seminars, praise God. 2. Good health and Gods protection of the team and families. 3. As many children as possible, with open and eager hearts. Blessings on teachers and pupils, that the message would be received deeply. 4. Good rapport with staff and Principals. No problems with the schedule, times and dates 5. Appropriate props and costumes. 6. Glen Osmond Primary School have declined Christmas and Easter this year. Pray for open doors next year.

PERFORMANCE DATES
UNLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL PARKSIDE PRIMARY SCHOOL GOODWOOD PRIMARY HIGHGATE PRIMARY SCHOOL Wednesday 27 Nov 2-3.30 pm (2sessions) nd Monday 2 December 2pm (1 session only) th Wednesday 4 December 9-9.45am, 1010.45am Recess 11.30-12.15pm (3 sessions) th Friday 6 December 9-9.45am, 9.45-10.30am, 10.30-11.10am Recess 11.35-12.15pm & 12.1512.50pm (5 sessions)
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Catherine Warnecke

Operation Christmas Child Dinner

When: Saturday November 23 Where: Unley Park Baptist Church Dress Code: Red and Green Cost: Adults - $25, Children - $10, Family - $65 Money raised goes to Operation Christmas Child Project

This week at UPBC

Playgroup Tuesday November 12 9.30am-11.30am Tuesday November 12 9.30am-10.30am Tuesday November 12 11am-12noon Tuesday November 12 5.30pm - 8.00pm Wednesday November 13 9.30am - 11.30am Wednesday November 13 7.45pm - 9.00pm Thursday November 14 9.30am Thursday November 14 5.30pm 8.00pm Friday November 15 7.30pm - 9.30pm Sunday November17 10.00am Sunday November 17 5.00pm

Prayer Team

Hilighters

Munchiez Food Van Bev Dewhirst Team 1 Playgroup

Bible study at the church

Know Your Bible

Munchiez Food Van Aaron Havers Team Elevate Youth Group (year 8-12)

Morning Worship Neil Ryan LifeChurch

Northgate Street Unley Park PH: 82720258 www.upbc.org.au admin@upbc.org.au