Meet our new arrivals – Eva and Natasha!

God has greatly blessed two families at the Dandenong Bible Education Centre. They each have a new baby daughter. What joy! God says in Psalm 127:3:

“Sons (and daughters) are a heritage of the LORD, children a reward from him.”

What a blessing for each of these two little girls to be born into a loving family where she will be taught about God and his ways.

Take a look at the pictures of Eva and Natasha and you will see how beautiful they look. Each one has her own distinct appearance and character, and each is a gift from God!

When only one week old Natasha “starred” in her role as baby Jesus at our Christmas Eve Service!

It’s time to book in for term one courses

Enclosed with this newsletter is the brochure outlining the courses for term 1 at the Dandenong Bible Education Centre. There is something suitable for young or old, and for a newcomer to the Bible or an experienced Bible reader. Please take the time to read through the descriptions of all the courses to find a suitable one (or more) to book in for. “How to enrol” details are in the brochure.

Our courses are available online here.

Now is a great time to start your kids at Bible Explorers

The start of the school year is a good time for your kids to begin exploring the Bible – 11.30am-12.30pm each Sunday for primary-school aged kids. Book now!

Bible Explorers information and a registration form are available online here.

New Life Class topics

These are the topics for the coming weeks at the New Life Class (held each Sunday from 11.30am-12.30pm):
Jan 13 – Video “Introducing Jesus”
Jan 20 – The kingdom: today’s hope for tomorrow’s future
Jan 27 – Christian living: keeping your word
Feb 3 – Free time? Using your time wisely
Feb 10 – Why are the four gospels different?
Feb 17 – Promises in the Bible
Feb 24 – Israel – chosen nation of God

Information about the New Life Class is available online here.

New Year’s Resolutions

Recently at the New Life Class we considered new year’s resolutions. The speaker used an acronym to help us – we should be SMART as we set personal goals for our lives. These goals should be:

S   Specific
M   Measurable
A   Achievable
R   Realistic
T   Timely

This is the time of year when we hear a lot about resolutions. At the close of one year and the beginning of a new one many companies take stock to see where they are and where they are going.

It seems appropriate for us as individuals to also review and take stock for the future. However there isn’t much use making a long list of resolutions if we break all of them the first week and throw the list away the second. To resolve to improve ourselves should not be limited to once a year either. There is room for improvement in all of us and we should work to do better every day.

Instead of the usual type of resolutions, we might be wise to follow the example of Benjamin Franklin who discovered that he lacked many of the attributes he wanted to acquire. He found that he could not adequately give attention to all his faults at once so he chose those virtues he most wanted to acquire and those faults that he most wanted to conquer. He then took one each week and gave it his full attention. He discovered that a significant change could be noticed in concentrating on one at a time. He chose thirteen and devoted a full week to each. In a year he was able to work on each one four times and by that time he had completely transformed his personality.

Those who want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ wish to become more like him. They want to acquire the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

It seems reasonable that we can not do this all at once and yet we shall never arrive unless we begin. Instead of making a list of resolutions that are broken before the ink dries, why not try thoughtfully selecting those faults we want to conquer and those virtues we want to acquire and take one at a time and devote a whole week to it. By Saturday we will find that it is much more a part of us than it was on Monday.

To resolve to improve should always be in season but the start of a new year can be a good time to be specific about the attributes we want to acquire and give our full attention to each one for a full week. A concerted effort of this type will have God’s blessing and we will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Adapted from “Minute Meditations” by Bob Lloyd.

An additional crossword puzzle is available in the PDF version of this newsletter

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January/February 2008 Newsletter	44.22 KB