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    The Bible Standard July 1982

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    135 views12 pages

    The Bible Standard July 1982

    Uploaded by

    Anonymous hQK4kSP
    The Bible Standard July 1982

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 12
    re-elected a s xo Bert Polglase to the diaconate. nd Meg Evans have left for extended trips overseas and Dor and Ngaire Shute and family, also Doris Hood have returned frou their“trips to America. The Term ministry conducted by Bro John Nicholls during May was much appreciated and the lessons gained from the life of Elijah could surely be applied to us tods A number of members attended a special series of addzesses on ‘The End Times", delievered in the Whiticra Chapel by Mr, J, Duight Pentecost. ‘Sis Nell Buick had a fall at Trevellyn Home and fractured her left arm. Those who visited the Conference considered it a very good one and hope that great things will emerge as we commence our second’ one hundred years of witness. A.R. VWALYERS ROAD: We are Walters Road send our greetings to all. Not a lot to report this month; our meetings are continuing as usual with Tuesday evangelistic Bible Study at the home of Steve and Dianne Polglase; Wednesday, for al interested, at the home of Bruce and Ruth Ware; and of course our highlight, the prayer meeting held every Thursday at the church at which we ~ pray for individuals and for revival in the Holy Spirit for us all. We give praise to God for the visit of Rev Shepard and the great encouragement he was. We will remember what he caid about revival. "Any church which doesn't really believe that God can or will bring revival will die." Rev Shepard told of a church which, as they put it "didn't want to get too big", he told us that church was now closed - what a warning for us; we have heard people say that we should not expect revival in this day Well lets hear it no more ~~ we have 2 big God and we are pray for big things. Praise to God for an Elders retreat held at Red Beach on 22 May. God blessed the attending elders and they returned to their ministries blessed and pleased at having been able to meet in this way. The message God has been giving for quite sone time now would seem to be (1) Prayer; (2) Power from on high; i.e. the Holy Spirit; (3) Obedience; (4) Need to abide as in John ch.15 the vine. May God bless you all. K.W.B. Frank 8. Raynel ~ 2 Sprinofield Cres. Hamilton 1908 Pubienes by Churenes of Cust ie & Advend Assciaton, New Zealand Reglevared as 8 : The Sais ISSN 0110-g45x BIBLE .—s—.. STANDARD JULY 1982 Vol, 102 NO. 7, PRICE 40 cents WHEN CHRIST WHO IS OUR LIFE SHALL APPEAR, ‘THEN SHALL YE ALSO APPEAR WITH RIM IN GLORY. COL, CONTENTS THE 100th CONFERENCE OF THE € CHURCHES OF CHRIST (Life & Advent) ASSOCIATION INC. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS CHRISTIANS AND A CHANGING WORLD JUNIOR STANDARD CHURCH NEWS The 106th AAAUAL CONFERENCE ‘The 100th Annual Conference of the Churches of Christ Life and Advent Association Inc, opened with devotions led by Pastor T.W. long. ‘The President, Bro E,J,Schache extended a welcome to 1 present, including Rev, Adrian Shepard, Vice President of 1e Advent American Christian Conference and his wife Joyce. Kev. Shepard later addressed Conference and outlined Harvest Now - our Thrust in Evangelism’, a commitment which has been entered into by Advent Christians in America. We thank our Brother in Christ for his ministry to our churches and for his contribution to our Conference. It is hoped to share some of this ministry through the pages of this and succeeding Bible Standards, and we will also endeavour to share other addresses given at Conference and at our Auckland churches over this special weekend, Qe susmess sesst0Ns: Over one hundred brethren and sisters attended each of the Saturday and Monday Conference sessions when reports from the churches and departments were received and discussed. Resolutions were passed to permit thorough studies for the providing of a new camp site; an alternative basis for budget apportionment; and the employment of fulltime personnel by the Association. Bro John Caneron retired from the office of Treasurer after 16 years of dedicated service to the Association and his Lord. Sincere thanks were extended to Bro Cameron at Conference, Qoonsenence rearunEs Centennial celebrations were held on the Saturday night when Bro E,J.Schache delivered his Presidential address to a very large gathering. The evening allowed opportunity for reminiscing and singing and concluded with a speciai supper, The President's address is included in this issue of the Bible Standard, © Qysunnay speciaL senvices: Sunday night was 2 combined service of worship at East Street Church when 243 persons were present. The main speaker was Rev, Adrian Shepard, Pastor Grant Cameron presided and led in communion around the Lord's tatle. Pastor Cameron's Communion address appears in this issue, and Rev. Shepard's address will appear in a later issue. " Association speakers at special services were ~ Walters Road (W.L. Richdale), Kaurilands (T.Spicer}, Forrest Hill (C.C.Warner), East Street (K.N.Bhana), Takanini’(A.Shepard). Where possible these addresses will appear in the Bible Standard, An "Open Day! was held at Powley House on the Sunday afternoon of Conference weekend. Quarronmenr oF OFFICERS The following officers were appointed for the ensuing year. Mr. E.J.Schache Mey JUHA. Salisbury Pastor T.W. Long Mr, B.W. Carter President Past President President elect Vice President Secretary Mr, F.N. Raynel ‘Treasurer Mr. D. Campbell Publisher Mrs. B.N. Raynel Bible Standard Editor Committee of Five Mr. PLN, Raynel G.R.Aldridge, G.R.Cameron, C.Josephson, 'D.Kern, C.C.Wamner To be appointed by the youth Conference Youth Representative Qctunci nepresennarnve Where a church is not otherwise represented on the Executive (other than by life members or section directors) they will be requested to appoint one representative, F.N, RAYNEL ~ Secretary, 3. DRESIDENT’S ADDRESS to CONFERENCE 1982 Look back in thankfulness, Look up in worship. Look forward with confidence, Just @ few weeks ago, 2 speaker at a ladies fellowship meeting at fone of our Churhces, used these three headings as a basis for her address, I feel that they are most appropriate to the special occasion in the history of our work that we celebrate this weekend. At the end of our first one hundred years of service for our Lord, I believe that we can profitably spend a few nonents considering ‘the past, the present, and the future, with these exhortations in mind, LOOK BACK IN THANKFULNESS Each one of us can look back to Yesterday, last week, last month, last year and beyond, and can say with the Psalmist of old .. "Oh, how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for these who fear thee, khich thou hast wrought for those who trust in thee before the sons of nen." Psa, 31-19. We can thank God for His wonderful goodness, and acknowledge that not only has He provided for our every need, but He has richly showered us with blessinge beyond number. | In particular, we look back in thankfulness to the day when the great God of Heaven and earth, with all HS power and glory, dealt with each of us on a personal, individual basis, through the power of His Holy Spirit, and brought us to the point where we acknowledged our need of a Saviour, Then He showed us our Saviour, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we became sons and daughters of God through gur faith im Him. Paul said it so well in 2 Cor, 9:15 when he said .. "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." It is true that we cannot a adequately express our appreciation for the salvation from sin to eternal life that is ours in Christ - but we know that God sees and knows our very thoughts and innermost feelings. We can look back in thankfulness to the men and women who have been faithful to the gospel in past days, and who have nurtured us, guided us, adnonished us in the Lord. We are. the better for ‘them, and for thetr dedication. _We can look back in thankful~ ness to an organisation which has faithfully preached Biblical truths for one hundred years. We cannot know how many hearts have been touched by the efforts of our organisation, but we can rest in the knowledge that in the purposes of God's will, the fruits of the labours of our organisation are known to God. ‘The Scriptures which we hold so dear are full of exhortation to thankfulness. David, who has been called a man after God's own heart, said these words in Psalm 100:4-5. "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and unto: his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good: his nercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." Paul, the greatest apostle that the world has ever known, said this in 1 Thess. 5:18, In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Yes, truly, we ean look back in thankfulness. LOOK UP IN WORSHIP God told Moses, that He was prepared to meet With; and commune with His people and receive their worship, from @ position above the Mercy Seat, which was to be on the Ark of the Testimony. King David, as his reign over Israel prospered, made an expedition to return the Ark of God to its rightful place in Jerusalem. As the joyful procession finally made its way into the city, David had appointed a number of Levites to minister before the Ark of the Lord, and as 1 Chronicles says, "to invoke, and to thank, and praise the Lord God of Israel." This was a wonderful day for the people of Israel, and for their King, and it is in this situation that the writer of Chronicles records excerpts from a number of Psalms. Included in those excerpts are the wonderful words of 1 Chron, 16:23-29. Surely ‘these words set out the message that we have to take to the world in 1982, Surely for one hundred years we have sought to "show forth fror day to day His salvation", Surely it is our will, and it is the will of God Himself, that ell men would "give unto 5. the Lord the glory due to His name." As we come today in worship, as we show our devotion, our respect, our adoration, for our God, we must remember that the apostle John reminds us in John ch.4, that the only acceptable worship, the only accept- able gifts that man can bring to God are the gifts of the Spirit - love, loyalty, obedience, devotion. True worship is when man attains to friendship and even intimacy with the great God of heaven, Ne can worship our Heavenly Father as He desires to be worshipped, only because the way has been opened for us by Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. LOOK FORWARD WITH CONFIDENCE William Barclay translates the first ‘Five verses of 2 Thess.5, like this ;: "Finally brother, keep on praying for us, that the word of God may run its race and receive its crown of glory - as it does in your case, and that we might be saved from these wicked and evil men, for the faith is not for everyone. You can rely on the Lord who will make you steady and who will guard you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you both do and will what we command you to do. May the Lord direct your hearts so that you may feel the love of God, and display the endurance which Christ can give." Barclay goes on to say that the inward characteristic of the Christian is the awareness, the realisation of the love of God. A love that is unchanging, a love that will not let us go, One of man's greatest needs is security, and in our knowledge that God's everlasting arms are underneath and round about us, we can be completely confident. The outward characteristic of the Christian is the endurance which Christ gives. More and more in our world, we have people feeling that they cannot cope with life - people afraid to look ahead to tomorrow for fear of what they might see, and have to face up to. As Christians we do not, we dare not, turn our faces away from what lies ahead, but with the love of God in our hearts, and with His strength in our lives we can face anything the world can throw against us. The apostle John reminds us in 1 John 5 that it is our faith that is the overcoming principle - that gives us confidence. ‘The Christian's confidence belongs to today, to the day of the coming of the Lord, and to the judgment day. With such 6. confidence, with no fearfulness for today, for the future, or for eternity, the Christian is free to commit his all to the service of the Lord, One has said "Our confidence in Christ does not make us lazy, negligent or careless; but on the contrary it awakens us, urges us on and makes us active in living righteous lives and serving Him." As we look to the future, with confidence, and consider the work that we seek to do, we would do well to keep in mind our Lord's words as recorded in John 15:4-5 ., "Remain in me and I will remain in you, No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine, Neither can you bear fruit unless you renain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” During His earthly ministry, Christ often used the principles of horticulture, to teach His people. We are reminded that horticulturists can today produce increased quantities of high quality fruit, by grafting excellent fruiting Stock onto good healthy vigorous root stock. To use the words of our Lord, that I quoted earlier, as a guide to our work for Him in the future, I believe that we must resolve to get rid of the 'suckers'. In horticultural terms, suckers are sprouts or branches which grow out from below the graft - from the root stock, the wild stock. Because the suckers grovd from the vigorous root stock, they grow rapidly, but alas, they bear no fruit. As | they grow they take the strength and goodness of the roots, and they divert it from the fruiting branches. There is growth but no fruit. If the plant is to bear fruit on the branches above the graft, the suckers mist be discouraged - they must continually be pruned off. The more suckers, the less fruit. As individuals and as an organisation, we can find @ lesson in this principle. We are wild in nature, because of our Adamic | heritage. We begin life with a natural sinful nature. At conversion, the power of God's Holy Spirit performs a graft to the basic root stock - we are grafted into the vine the divine life and character of Christ from whom our strength and nourishmeat comes, Ard we are able to bear fruit Gal.5:22-23. But the old sinful nature is still there, and if left without pruning, our efforts may suffer and be stunted, even fruitiess. The secret then, of individual victory, is to get rid of the suckers (and they are listed for us in'Gal.5i0-21 and in 2 Tim, 3:2-5) and nurture the fruitstock .. Eph. 4:22-24, I believe that the secret for our corporate success - in our churches and in our Association of churches, can be found in the same principle, We mist regularly and carefully and prayerfully examine the activities that we are involved in, and into which our time and efforts are being channelled, We must carefully examine the results of our efforts, and perhaps make what will be painful decisions to change the emphasis of our efforts. We must be prepared to realise that the fact that we have done sonething a certain way for many years does not necessarily mean it is the best way for today. In contrast, however, the enthusiast for change must be prepared to realise that there may be much to be gained from looking to the experiences of the past. In our work together, for the Lord, we must be prepared to get rid of the suckers - the activities which are bearing no fruit, but which are sapping vital strength, and we must continually seek God's will as to what activities He is leading us into, But as we change our emphases, as we test and try new spheres of activity and service, we must remember that the God who we seek to serve has not, and will not change. His standards are the same today as they have always been. We must beware that we do mot try to change the message that we preach, to suit the day and age in which we live. Certainly the standards of the world are getting broader - deteriorating - but Paul reminds us in Hebrews 8:13 that the Saviour that we Seek to present to the world is unchanging. "Jesus Christ, the seme yesterday, and today, and forever." Whatever we do and say, however we do and say it, the unchanging Christ must be the basis and foundation of our efforts, With so many signs pointing to the imminent return of our Saviour and Lard, Jesus Christ, we mst realise ‘that we may have little ‘time left to proclaim the message of Life in the Lord Jesus Christ. This message is the only hope for thousands of men and women, who at this point of time, have no hope for etemity. ‘They need to hear the gospel, and we must make ourselves as efficient as possible, as a branch of the Church, in bearing fruit. ‘The story is told of two men who bought @ cow between them, A chalk mark was drawn around its middie, given the front end to one man and the back end to the other. After a while the man who owned the front end complained .. "I'm putting all the food in, and you're getting all the milk out." But he had a solution which he later explained to a friend, "It was easy" he said, "I stopped feeding my end, and the other end died.” ‘There is a tendancy for us all to put chalk marks around our areas of responsibility. We isolate our duties and concerns and efforts, instead of seeing them as dependent on one another, and We fail to see ourselves and our service as being inter-related, through Christ, with our fellow Christian workers. If we stop feeding our end as it were, if we do less than our utmost for our Lord, the work was a whole may suffer and even perhaps di Paul, seeing the need for interdependence both in the church of his day, and in the church of today, used the analogy of the human body.’ In I Cor. 12 he said, in effect, that if the Christian church is to function properly, then no single part of it can be done’ without. In those words from John 15:4-5, Christ spoke of the great dependence which His followers were:to have on Him "No branch can bear fruit by itself, but only if it remains united with the vine .. I am the vine, and you the branches." ‘The lesson of spiritual dependence and interdependence applies to us all. Without a source of spiritual nourishment we suffer spiritual malnutrition. Without proper recognition of where we belong in the purposes of God and His church, we will forget the needs of the others in this world. Their greatest neéd is the Lord Jesus Christ - I say that we should wipe out the chalk marks that ere around us, and get on-with doing God's work together, Helen Keller, that wonderful woman who achieved so much in spit: of her terrible handicaps of blindness, deafness, and her inability to speak, wrote these words .. "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. Green, the historian, tells us ‘that the world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker." Tt-would be my prayer that in the second century of our'work for the Lord, as an Association of churches, that the .ggregate of the efforts of each individual worker, will be pleasing to God, and will bring many to know Him, whom to know is Life Eternal, E.J.SCHACHE - PRESIDENT 9. CHRISTIANS and a CHANGING The WORLD REV, ADRIAN SHEPARD |, JUNIOR re ory sara STANDARD Executive Dinner held 28 May 1962 He told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though tive the ensllont of ail your conde, yet when 4¢ grove, © in JULY 1982 tha largust of garden plants and become» tree, so, out the Bisde of the nis cone and perch in ite branches." (mater 29¢31-90) Fels eee ew eh e ar aciencieees National History. They were looking at the changes in and the COVER, . b future of our natural vorld; and were devoted to the question of : y See eee ee os Odwy;, Tine sons of these scientists hed moved from the qusstion of how ban we adage to whether human beingy can adapt to the future. C John P.Miley Jnr. stated in the Smithsonian, “the symposium Selo cpened and ¢losed on hopeful notes, ut many of the speeches 11 the working sessions were lese optimistic about our capleity to sane. These acholare Glacuneed imny thinge that could destsoy out planet ~ hunter of tunteeded" people ave £6 now techoclogy. Suriwotld. Shore scientists none clearly worried te humankind sould not aanye to changes it tine to save our apectes, They were shosid be that of she shurch. ob ‘much mors chan Uaty we are Sealing auth tho tives of people reaching tar beyond viwtiar they gap y vy 1 continued on page 15. 10. ft. CHAN3ED OVER Tf you wanted to do something without being seen, when would 8, the best tine to do it? Nicodemus wanted to talk to Jesus with- out anyone seeing him, and he chose night time, These days it quite exciting going out at night in the comfort of a car, Jooking at twinkling Lights ali aromd, —— Moxever, when Nicodenus was alive there were no cars, he would have walked. Thore weren't even any nicely paved footpaths, just dust or mud, depending on the weather. There were no bright street lights, just moonlight, (if it was fine) Nicodemus was a teacher among) the Jews, he was 4 Pharisee. Although he knew a lot he knew he could always leam more, He was humble enough to sealise that the new unrecognised Teacher, Jesus, had wisdom from vhich he could learn. — He was anxious to leam from Jesus but didn’t want others (particularly the other Pharisees), to know about it, so he visited Jesus by night. He obviously approached Jesus, and what he had to say, with an open mind. He was prepared to be convinced that Jesus spoke the truth from God. In fact he had been most impressed with the miracles he had'seen Jesus perform, and recognised God's hand behind then. When Nicodemus wasn't convinced, Jesus related Jewish history concerning Moses and the Children of Israel in the wildemess. He explained that He was to be put before the people on a pole, as Moses' brass serpent was, and in order to live the people mist look at Him, as the children had looked on the brass serpent to be cured from the bites of the fiery serpents. God had’ sent Him into the world expressly to save the people of the werld. We have no indication of exactly when Nicodeiaus believed the Lord Jesus. We do know that he spoke up for Jesus before the Pharisees and chief priests who wanted Him punished, ‘Then, when Nicodemus saw Jesus crucified bringing true the prophecies which Jesus had discussed with him he had fully fomited his life to Christ. He brought 100 pounds of myrrh and sices, to embalm the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Wicodems humbly lasteneg to what Jesus had to say, ang thought carefully about what he had been told. He believed what Jesus tole hi and was prepared to make his belief known, even to those who were enemies of his Lord. This secret meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ completely changed Nicodemus from a secret inquirer to an open believer. When we give our lives to the lord Jesus Christ He can make great changes in our lives, too, if we let Him. 12. Dear Boys and Girls, ‘Thank you for your pictures you are sending for the covers of our magazine. Thank you Delwyn Cameron for this month's Grawing. Deiwyn sent me three pictures to choose from, and they were all the right size, and drawn in black on white paper, to make it easy to copy. ‘The ‘Broken Jar! colouring competition was judged by Mrs Angela Mann, ‘The winners were: SECTION I: Jamie Nicholls ‘SECTION 2; Timothy Fraser ‘Timothy copies out his verse in beautiful decorative lettering. I would like to wish the following children a happy birthday this month: Craig Robson, Penelope Type, Sandra Harris, Mariella McTavish, Tracey Rameka, Alison Stewart, and Claire Mann. Nay God bless all you young readers Your sincere friend MTEL aan ‘SECTION I: Children up to 8 years Colour the picture on your own. SECTION 2: Children 9 years and over —————~ =" Read John 3:1-21 and select a verse or part of a verse as.a suitable caption for your picture. Copy it neatly on your entry. Colour the picture on your own. SEND TO: MARGARET, 3 Halconbe Place, Green Bay, = ‘Auckland 7, CLOSING DATE: 31 JULY NAME: BIRTHDAY: AGE: ‘ADDRESS: continaed from page 10 ... will live out their physical lives, We are responsible for Gealing with the eternal existence of persons in the external king- dom of God. We need to be concerned, that in a changing world, human beings made in the image of God will adapt so that our species will be saved for eternity. change, dramatic change, is taking place in our world, This should not be a surprise to the church - and the failure to accept and recognise change is totally irresponsible on the part of the church. om Sine writing in World Vision magazine asked, “What are the challenges God's people are likely to confront in the last two decades of the twentieth century? What will be the urgent human needs and compelling opportunities to which we must respond? He goes on to say, "If we are going to be the people of God in an age of rapid change, we must learn to (1) anticipate tomorrow's challenges and (2) create imaginative new biblical response, Let me call your attention to three things: (2) Read the signals of change that are all around you. The church Should be anticipating tomorrow's changes and opportunities before these changes wind up on our doorstep. Churches tend to have a static view of the future - the future is expected to be a little more of the present. That is not true! The unchanging Christ does not mean an unchanging society or unchanging future. an unchanging Christ does not mean an unchanging church. one of the painful things that I have seen since being in this office is the closing of what were once strong, vibrant churches. T sat Gown with a group from one of those a short time ago and wes almost shocked when I learned about the quality leadership the church had experienced, Tt would be like reading a who's who among Advent Christian pastors. Yet, the church died. I do not know for sure, but I suspect that a part of the reason it died was failure to read the signals of change in a changing community, What it was doing during its early history worked Guring its early history. It got the response of a rural oriented society - or at least - a low technology, low industrial- ised society. But, as the community around it became more complex and perhaps sophisticated, the church declined. Did the church fail to read the signals of change? (2) Thig leads me to the second challenge: Respond rather than react to the changes that come, I believe that the church has 18. always found it hard to fathom the power of a loving Christ. "Z£ tbe Lifted up I will draw all men unto myself" has been hard for men to internalise. "I will carry your pack for an extra mile” Or "Here is my coat as well as my sweater" are forms of responses to the world that are difficult to fully live. changes are taking place all around us - some we do not like very Such What will be our stance? Will it be a sensitive response be will it be an abrupt reaction? There are some things in our Gractices in our churches that are not by Scripture absolute ~ we go them the way we do them because we like to do them that way. They have nothing to do with being.Seriptural or God ordained. 1 think there are crucial response situations such as to community change. George Zajis was a good friend of mine vho died recently. fe died just after a testimony at the Prairie States Conference being held at Hope Church in Chicago. It is said by some that Hope Church may not be today had it not been for George. The community around the church had become black. Many of the people Gantea to relocate. Someone xeported that George many times had Kept the board into the night to keep it from saying ‘no’ to that Community, There was 2 move of some'to a new church in the Suburbs, but there were those who remained for a ministry in a Changing community. | They responded rather than reacted toward Change. Today, there are two churches instead of one. First - read the signals of change in your community. respond rather than react to change in your community. reap the benefits of change in your community. Jesus said *7he Fingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man tock sna sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it nas grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." ‘the kingdom of heaven is acquainted with change, It has not remain~ ga and does not remain the tiny seed sown in the hearts of men. father, it de the growing power of God in the lives of people. Think of yourselves in your community as holding in your hands the feed of spiritual harvest. All around you is a community growing and changing. | People are nore plentiful. ‘he problems of people grow as the number of people grow. But_you have a seed to be sewn in the hearts of these people. You have the seed of the king- Se ct God when sown Growe into a bush or a tree, It expands into something of greatness in your community. 16, ued by the power that is resident in the little seed produces the great tree, Can't you hear that little seed saying, "I can never amount to much, I'm so small I can never make a difference. I wish I was bigger so that I would not go unnoticed”. th se statements have characterised the lives of many Christians churches. That_need not be sc, It is beyond our imagination what power there is in a people whose commitment is to the kingdom of God, | Commitment to the spiritual harvest of lives through the sowing of the seeds of the kirgdom of our Lord can unleash powers we have not known before. smaliness ig not the problem. Rather, not being willing to reap. the benefits of change through sowing the seeds of the kingdom is he dwarfing and deadly peril of the church. If we do not reap The Eenefits of change in our communities, we will die in our communities. ‘Tom Sine says, “The parable of the mustard seed depicts the « reality that the insignificant ard unexpected can silenty change the world. Small acts of kindness, small projects of hope, small struggles for peace and justice in the name of Jesus are mustard seeds of the kingdom, and these seeds will grow into vast trees under which all the people of the world will discover the sheltering love of God.” ing fe old fm Gur bande euch anne of the Kingdon of Sod. further quote? scod is not an impotent deity stuck in the backwash of history. Bhe cod who breathed worlde into being, who walked in the garden in che cooi of the day, who nade a covenane with Abraham, fonec snd saceb, who Liberated the ehilazen of Terael, whe established a holy nation, kingios of priests, end who sent te Gen son ts tive, suffer and die in our midst in order to rise Sguin to take te into tie new futtre = hat Cod se alive and ts Sctively civecting the course of hinan eventayin spite of ce forese of darkness. itis Kinggom shall cone and His will shal be Sone n earth an ii in in Heavens the future of od has Just Sogun and ie invites ua to the dnevedible celebration and adventure ce being a pare of the snbroaking of that new age. Only He Krows the Sksdatence te. can nate in our Lives and in our churches 1f we seek Hie Kingion #iree, COMMUNION ADDRESS - CONFERENCE EVENING oe He are net here as the central act of worship at our Associat~ Jon's Centennial Conference. When we think of a Centenary, he think of celebration, when friends of the past are remembered, and past friendships are restored through reneved fellowship fand communion with each other. This we are doing, but much fore we are enjoying fellowship with our loving Lord. one hundred years is indeed a long time to look back, in fact, there are as many a3 seven generations separating us from those who started the Churches of Christ Life and Advent, which was Conmenced under the title of ‘The New Zealand Evangelistic and Publication Association.' Perhaps it is good for us as we come to this point in our history, to renenber with thankfulness to God, the faith and vision of ‘hose who were responsible for the beginning, and to take note of the reasons why our churches came into being. ‘they came into being, principally because a group of people Gmbraced the teaching we know as ‘Conditional Immortality’, that Go to say, that a man is a mortal perishing creature as indeed Soripture shows hin to bes See I.Tim, 6:12-16; and that there fe but one way that man can ever know immortality, and that this Ys through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as we see in John 3:16. We have sung that wonderful chorus ~ "Majesty, worship His Majesty, Unto Jesus be all glory, power and praise, Majesty, kingdom, authority, ‘Flow from His throne, unto lis own, His anthem raise, So exalt, lift up on high, the name of Jesus, Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King, wajesty, worship His majesty Jesus Who died, now glorified, King of all Kings!” 1 believe our forbears saw this teaching of Conditional Inmort~ ality as giving to our wonderful Saviour His rightful place. hot asa Saviour who somehow redirects the natural immortality oe human kind to either heaven or hell, but rather, we see Jesus Ge a Saviour in very point of fact is, ‘the Life Giver’, Paul 18. es this truth 20 very clearly in such places as Col.3:1-4. ke come to this table, because it draws everything we as 2 denomination stand for together. It shows to us very clearly the purchase price of our salvation, that He was prepared to go to the cross that you and I might be made clean from sin, What does Paul say in Ephesians 1:3~10? "he have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins". However, we also see set forth a risen Saviour, and the promise to us of His glorious appearing, for remember Jesus said, "Do this till I come", Paul says in I.Cor, 15:20-23 that in the fact of Jesus’ resurrection, we see the certainty of our resurrection at His coming. see Eph. 1:12-18. "Where to From Here?" ur purpose as members, and churches of this denomination has not changed, it is to take those things that we believe, and use them to lift high, and exalt the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who we love and serve. PASTOR GRANT CAMERON - AUCKLAND ty church t is composed of peopte Like me, We it i Te ds composed of peopte Like me, We make i what it is, A church that is a Lamp to the path of pitgrims Leading then on to goodness, truth and beauty. Tt wide be ig 1 an. Its pews will be steed - if T nelp to see them, Hewitt do great work - if Tea o Td wie make generous gifts to many causes, if 1 ana generous giver. Tt wil bring others into its worship and

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