What does fruit on a tree have to do with me?

Fruit can be good or bad to eat depending on a number of things; the soil the tree grows in, the amount of water the tree has received, whether there are any pests on the tree, or if it is diseased.

Both John the Baptist and Jesus applied these ideas to our lives—what we are like is seen by others, just as fruit is seen on a tree. John said:

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Matthew 3:8

And Jesus put it this way:

You will recognize them by their fruits. Matthew 7:20

The apostle Paul said that if we want to be godly, we need to grow “fruit” in our lives. It is called “the fruit of the Spirit”.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

With God’s help, we can grow these characteristics in our lives.

Come to the New Life Class on May 6 & 13 to learn more!

What’s on?

• Each Sunday 11:30–12:30: Bible Explorers, New Life Class
• Each Monday 11:00–12:30: Vital Bible Truths; “End time prophecies about the Middle East”
• Each Monday 7:00–9:00: Learn English using the Bible
• Wednesday 10:00–11:30: Happy Faces Playgroup
• Wednesday 8:00–9:30: Advanced Bible Study (May 9 & May 23)
• Thursday 10:30–12:00: Ladies’ Bible study group; “The Acts of the Apostles” (May 3, 17 & 24)
• Thursday 7:30–9:00: God and you through Jesus
• Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 12:45 Bible readings

We are living in the real “last days” that Jesus and the Prophets predicted!

Both the events in the Middle East, and the world wide fears of happenings beyond man’s control, indicate that we are now in the final stages of human life as we know it on this earth. The only hope for our future is the long promised return of Jesus Christ at “a time of trouble such as has never been before”.

Come and join in our study and discussion class and learn the detail of Bible prophecies, and there are many of them, and what you can do to prepare yourself for these awesome events. It is more a care of preparing our state of mind and standing firm with others with similar convictions.

This class is on Mondays, 11:00am to 12:30pm.

All our plans will happen if the Lord is willing.

Mother’s Day Special Coupon

10% discount on all Helen Steiner Rice books.

The full price of these books ranges from $1.95–$11.95. Discount prices now from $1.75–$10.75 with the coupon from the print version of this newsletter—print it out and bring it in! These books are full of inspiring poetry for your special mother or Grandmother.

Offer ends May 31. While stocks last.

New Life Class topics

(11:30am–12:30pm each Sunday)

Bible related topics for the coming weeks are as follows:

May 6: Fruit of the spirit: joy, peace, patience, kindness
May 13: Fruit of the spirit: goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
May 20: Speaking in tongues and miraculous healing
May 27: The kingdom of God

Mothers in the Bible

The world is full of mothers! Some people like to remember their mother in a special way on Mother’s Day. Of course any day can be a day to remember what mothers do, just as we don’t need to wait until Father’s Day to remember the great contribution fathers make.

Have you ever thought about mothers in the Bible? There are many examples of mothers throughout the pages of Scripture, with some being good examples to follow, and others who definitely shouldn’t be copied!

Here are some examples of mothers who showed great faith:

Hannah was a woman who wanted to be a mother, but years went by and she did not conceive a baby. Finally when she went to one of God’s feasts, she made a special prayer, said with many tears.

Hannah was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and … give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life.

1 Samuel 1:10-11

God granted her request, and baby Samuel was born. Hannah fulfilled her part of the agreement, and he was given to help Eli the priest with the religious work. God’s reward for her faithfulness was to give her five other children. Samuel grew up to become the last great judge in Israel.

Mary was the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful woman she must have been to have brought up the son of God. When an angel told her that she was to have this child, and once she realized that this would happen by a miracle, Mary was entirely willing to obey God.

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:38

Jochebed was the mother of the great man Moses. When Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, commanded all the baby sons of the Israelites to be thrown into the River Nile, Jochebed, and Amram her husband, found a way to save him, with God’s help.

After hiding him for 3 months, she built a floating bed for him, and put it in the reeds, where the princess of Egypt found him. The princess adopted him, and so he was saved. These faithful parents earned their place in the great chapter of faithful people—Hebrews 11 (verse 23).

Lois and Eunice were two faithful mothers—the grandmother and mother of Timothy, who has a book of the Bible named after him. When the apostle Paul wrote a letter to Timothy he said:

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grand- mother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

1 Timothy 1:5

These faithful mothers had passed on their faith to the next generation. In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul speaks of the way Timothy was acquainted with the Scriptures from childhood—through the faithful work of Lois and Eunice.

Lessons we can learn

From all these mothers we can learn to be faithful to God, to be willing to do his work and to teach children about him by reading the Scriptures with them. If parents wish to have godly children, let them talk of godly things with their children every day.

Don’t be like the others!

There are also bad mothers in the Bible, who led their children away from God—let’s not be like them!

Autumn Fair

An Autumn fair is being held to raise money for Bible Mission work in India.

Date: Saturday May 5, 3pm–7pm

Place: Christadelphian Community Centre Rupert St, Ringwood

What? Devonshire teas, hot food, games, craft, fresh produce, trash & treasure and much more…

All our plans are subject to the will of God.

Are you thirsty?

We all know what it’s like to be thirsty! After a long walk in the mountains, or maybe on a hot day, we feel the need for a drink.

Did you know that Jesus was thirsty when he was on the cross? After hours in the open, hanging from the cross, it is no wonder he was thirsty. However, did you also know that he said he was thirsty to fulfil an Old Testament prophecy?

‘After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:28–30.

Jesus knew the Old Testament scriptures so well, that even when he was dying in agony, he could bring to mind what great king David had said of him in Psalm 69:21. Once he had a drink, and fulfilled the prophecy, he died.

What a wonderful savior Jesus is!

Come to a service on Good Friday, which is entitled “I thirst”. Learn more of the work of Jesus and meditate on what he did to save sinners, if they would only turn to him, and follow in his ways.

Date: Friday April 6
Time: 10am
What’s on: A program of Bible readings, songs, meditations and prayer.

Learn English class change to Mondays

The “Learn English through the Bible” class will be changing from Tuesdays to Mondays next term. The first night for this change is Monday April 16.

What’s on?

• Each Sunday 11:30–12:30: Bible Explorers; New Life Class
• Each Monday 11:00–12:30: Vital Bible Truths, “End time prophecies about the Middle East”
• Each Monday 7:00–9:00: Learn English using the Bible (from April 16)
• Each Tuesday 7:00–9:00: Learn English using the Bible (April 2, 9 only)
• Wednesday 10:00–11:30: Happy Faces Playgroup (not during school holidays)
• Wednesday 8:00–9:30: Advanced Bible Study April 11, April 25
• Thursday 10:30–12:00: Ladies’ Bible study group “Women of the Bible”
• Thursday 7:30–9:00: God and you through Jesus
• Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 12:45 Bible readings
• Friday April 6: Good Friday Service: “I thirst”, 10am

New Life Class topics

(11:30am—12:30pm each Sunday)

Bible related topics for the coming weeks are as follows:

April 1: Faith (activities)
April 8: Resurrection
April 15: What is the spirit?
April 22: Being led by the spirit
April 29: Fruit of the spirit: overview and love

Do you have a Bible question?

The Bible is a big book, and anyone who reads it carefully finds questions that they want answered. Maybe you have a question about the Bible. It doesn’t matter how simple or complicated your Bible question is. Come along on Wednesday April 11 with your question, and the whole group will try to work out the answer. The plan is to use concordances, dictionaries, cross references in Bibles and any other aid to try to work out the answer to any questions that are brought along. Even if you don’t have a question, you can be challenged to help find answers to the questions of others.

If you are not satisfied with the possible solutions found for your question, you will still learn valuable skills to help with your future Bible study. The evening should be a stimulating one for all involved.

Date: Wednesday April 11

Time: 8pm–9:30pm

End time prophecies about the Middle East

Join a lively daytime discussion group on Mondays from 11am–12:30pm. The topic for the month of April is “End time prophecies about the Middle East”. Israel and the surrounding nations are often in the news. Peace doesn’t seem to come to this area of the world. Whenever there is peace, it isn’t for long. Come and discuss what the prophets in the Bible have said about the Middle East in the pages of the Bible.

Dates: Each Monday in April, except April 8 (Easter)

Time: 11am–12:30pm

Autumn Fair

An Autumn fair is being held to raise money for Bible Mission work in India.

Date: Saturday May 5, 3pm - 7pm

Place: Christadelphian Community Centre, Rupert St, Ringwood

What? Devonshire teas, hot food, games, craft, fresh produce, trash & treasure and much more....

Some verses to think about at Easter!

“...if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

... If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead!”

1 Corinthians 15:13–20 (ESV)

Important? Reading the Bible

What is God like?

Why was Jesus born?

Why did Jesus die in such a horrific way?

Is it important to know what you believe about God?

What has God said will happen in the future?

Did God predict things that came true?

These are just some of the many questions that can be asked about Christianity. How are we going to find answers to these and other questions? The only way to learn what God has done in the past, and what he predicted would happen in the future, is to read the Bible. The Bible is God’s book. It is his way of speaking to us. Is it important to read the Bible? Yes! It is vital. Come along and learn more.

Date: Wednesday April 25

Time: 8pm–9:30pm

Public holiday closures

Good Friday (April 6): Shop closed except for Good Friday service (10am)

Easter Monday (April 9): Shop closed

Anzac Day (April 25): Shop closed

Have you joined our library?

Do you know what is available in our library? There is a wide range of Bible- based books available for loan, together with DVDs and CDs. The books are in a variety of categories such as:

• reference books
• languages other than English
• Christian fiction
• character studies
• history
• life application
• study guides
• kids’ books
• (and more)

Most of these books are not available in a public library, so make the most of this opportunity! With a once-only joining fee of $5, borrow as often as you like!