Sunday Sermons
An update from last week-end – 14 February 2010.
Cadets Jennifer and David Gosling led the meetings, Jennifer in the morning and David in the evening.
David and Jennifer Gosling
Jennifer’s meeting was the second of the series based on Genesis 1: 24-31, called Day Six-Responsibility. The main points of her meeting in the morning were:
When God created us He intended that we be ‘green’. It’s not a new and trendy concept at all, but God’s idea all along. We look at the role and repsonsibility given to humankind, God’s role and our role within the covenantal relationship, how we can respond to God’s mission for creation, and realising that care for the earth is a spiritual concern. The congregation were invited to respond by thinking about ‘changing one thing’ that will make a difference. This might be a very practical thing to do with the environment (e.g. switching telly off standby at bedtime), or getting involved in the community where they live to make surroundings better. Or, it may be a more personal response to change an attitude or characteristic that isn’t godly.
Jennifer showed the EARTH dvd clip produced by The Salvation Army’s International Development dept, which is all about a project that is concerned with the global effects of climate change and helping to equip developing countries that are affected because of the actions of the Western world. This is the fundraising project for this year at college.
David’s meeting was the second of two based on Psalm 12.
Last time we looked at how God’s promise of protection is worked out in the world, this time we looked at how that same promise is worked out in the lives of the individual. We make decisions based on our own self-deceit that lead us into bad life choices e.g. inappropriate relationships, addictions, unmanageable debt, poor work/life balance. We believe that we can handle these things alone, but if we allow God’s rule in our lives then the values that come from Him help us to avoid making bad decisions. It might not fix our problems overnight, but it will help us to realise the consequences of the decisions we are making and be honest about them, so we can avoid the inappropriate relationships, addictions etc. We can readjust our priorities and steward our time and money better. We don’t have to do this on our own, God has promised His protection. Last week we talked about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit, and it is the Holy Spirit’s presence in the life of the Christian that counsels and guides our decisions.
Songs chosen included SA 8, SA 42, and SA 33 in the morning and SA 324, SA 732,SA 580 and SA 755.