The Link

March 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

March 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

Barb Adcock, Lyn Ryan, Irene Downie Monica Kennerley, Catherine & Peter Warnecke

LifeChurch

Finances
March 2013 Giving Target Cash Giving to date Electronic Giving to date Total Giving March 26,385 2,715 2,420 5,135

Account Name: Unley Park Baptist Church Inc Offerings Confidential BSB: 704 922 Account Number: 100013066

Just a Minute
turn your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding (Proverbs 2:2) I never cease to be amazed at the number of opportunities God gives us to learn wisdom. However, Solomon is right; we need to have our ear turned or tuned to hear it. But that's not the end of it; we also need to apply our hearts to understand the implications of that wisdom. I had an unusual opportunity to learn some wisdom this week. Over the last week I have been consumed with rats!! I won't go into the theological conundrum of why God made these creatures but for someone like me who is not a great lover of animals; rats are definitely at the bottom of the list! I didn't invite these creatures to my house. They came in numbers and made themselves at home in our roof and decided to party on the bedroom ceiling every night between about 1 and 5 am. I thought about getting a professional exterminator to deal with the problem but that was going to cost me more than the value of the house, so I became an expert in these things overnight. I put bait in sneaky places. I crawled along the length and breadth of my ceiling and traced their movements so I could hunt them down! I waited patiently for 5 days. Every night they seemed to snub their little noses at me. They ate my bait happily, they continued to tap dance on my ceiling. They left every morning and came back every evening. I made continual forays into the ceiling but I was not winning this battle. Slowly but surely the rats were consuming me. I was spending more time in the ceiling of our house than in the living room!! Then, on Tuesday night it happened! The dancing in the ceiling stopped. The bait was no longer disappearing. No more little creatures skating along the fence. At the time of writing this article, they have not returned. What has all this got to do with wisdom? It reminded me that many of the crisis, or upsets or problems we face in life are actually not our own doing, nor are they related to some failure or inability on our part. They come into our lives uninvited, unwelcome and before long they consume a disproportionate amount of our time. What are the 'rats' that have made their way into your world? What's consuming you, distracting you? What's got you so focused that you can't enjoy a whole lot of other things happening in your life? What's got you living in the 'roof'' instead of the living room. We can't ignore the 'rats'. That's not an option. Cont

Jesus knew what it was like to be invaded by pressure, crisis, need, opposition and complexity. There were sick people who needed healing, broken people who needed loving, sinful people who needed saving, hungry people who needed feeding, disciples who needed training and religious cynics who needed answering! How easily these things could have consumed Jesus. But we read that one day while he was walking along in the midst of a great crowd he stopped and said, 'who touched me?' People must have thought he was crazy. He was being touched by dozens of people in the crowd. But then a lady stepped forward and said, 'It was me'. This dear lady was desperate and Jesus healed her. Imagine if Jesus had been so consumed by everything else that was 'invading' his life that he missed that momentary, last, desperate touch of a woman who had nowhere else to go. Un-common Key: Understand that things will invade our lives but pray for wisdom that will feel the 'touch' or hear the cry or see the need that we could easily miss. God Bless Neil

2013 Small Groups

BELONG, CONNECT, GROW! There are significant and exciting developments within the small group ministries at UPBC in 2013 and there is no better time than right now to join a small group. For more information and enquiries please contact one of the ministry team, or the office during the week.

Discovery Group
A new group, now starting Wednesday 20th March 7:30 - 9:00pm at 5 Coreega Ave Springfield, will meet fortnightly for 5 evenings over 10 weeks. The focus will be discovering the Christian story in an informal, relaxed, non-threatening and interactive way where we will learn what the Christian faith is all about. You may have a neighbour or a workmate or a partner who you wish to bring or maybe you are exploring or wanting clarification on what Christian's believe. If so, this is a group for you where you can learn and have your questions answered. For more info contact Peter and Anne Hillan (83578186) or Rob and Robyn Waldron (83796030/0407795235)

2013 UPBC Winter Basketball Season

The beginning of the 2013 UPBC Winter Basketball Season is not far away. Both Ladies and Gentlemen are invited to join our teams - new players are always welcome. To register your interest, or for more information please contact Peter Battersby pbattersby@adam.com.au by Sunday March 17.

Under 10s Basketball Team

We have 3 or 4 kids interested in playing basketball for UPBC this season. We are keen to find out if there are any more children in the church that would be interested in playing. (girls or boys) Please contact Peter Battersby pbattersby@adam.com.au by Sunday March 17.

Newcomers
If you have recently commenced attending Unley Park you are invited to an Information th Session which will be held in the Lounge, straight after the morning service today, 10 March. This is an opportunity for you to find out more about Church life and to meet with the Pastors, the Ministry Leadership Team and Church Leaders in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The session will be brief with hot & cold drinks available. Please come and join with us for this occasion. For further details please see Garry Gooden

Pre-service prayer meeting

Each Sunday at approx. 9.45 a.m. we plan to meet for pre-service prayer in Pastor Neil Ryans office. Please come a little early and join us (before coffee!) to wait on God in prayer and praise for differing aspects of our church life and the many needs of the church family. IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD. Gen. 18:14 Let us see what the Lord will do as we wait on Him.

Thursday Prayer Meeting

The next meeting of the Thursday Prayer Group will be 14 March at the home of Margie Stevens, 2 Neweys Road, Mitcham at 1.30 p.m. New members would be most welcome! Come along and enjoy a coffee! For information please contact Noelene Hunt, 82783075.
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Our Missionary Families

The Ames Family Owen, Sarah, Rachel, Jessica & Joshua OM/TEAM Church Planting, Tokyo, Japan Next month Joshua will start at the Japanese kindergarten and this week we found out that he will definitely be in the same class as his friend Yoshiki (there are two classes for 3 year olds). We are very thankful for this as it will be a big help to him as he enters this new environment. Please pray for us as we continue to prepare Joshua for this big transition, especially that he will adjust to communicating in Japanese quickly. Today, David and Haru will be volunteering at the orphanage. Please pray for them as they work with the staff and children, that their love and attention will be a great testimony. This week we are looking forward to finally seeing our good friends, the Rae family returning. After almost 2 years at home they have found it very hard to leave. Please pray for them as they re-settle into life in the Philippines and in a few weeks, start to learn the ropes of managing the Manila Center. Please pray especially for their two children, Ben (9) and Lucie (6) who have found it VERY traumatic to leave their friends in Scotland. On a good note, we should receive Kaitlin's new birth certificate at the end of this coming week. There is still no movement on Annalise's new birth certificate being approved.

The Badger Family Tim, Bron, Stephen, Joshua, Amie, Annalise & Kaitlyn OMF, Manila, Philippines

Pray for these families

Names for this week beginning March 10: Bruce & Val Battersby Peter, Tam, Asha, Max & Jed Battersby Peter, Lijean, Gabriel & Reuben Beier May Bennett Stephen, Kellie-Anne, Amy & Raquel Bettess

Advance Notice
April 7 - Church Picnic. Please put this date in your diary.

House swap or house sit

Is anyone interested in having their house looked after over Easter until the following Friday? Or a house swap in Blackburn Vic for the same time? Please contact the church office for more information.

Unley Park Baptist Church

LEISURE CLUB
Takes a cruise with Archie Badenoch
Date: Friday 15 March

Transport arranged. The afternoon is suitable for people with walkers.

This Week at UPBC

Playgroup Tuesday March 12 9.30-11.30 Tuesday March 12 9.30-10.30 Tuesday March 12 11am-12noon Tuesday March 12 5.30 - 8.00pm Wednesday March 13 Wednesday March 13 7.45-9.00pm Thursday March 14 9.30am Friday March 15 7.30-9.30pm Sunday March 17 10.00am Sunday March 17 5pm

Prayer Team

Hilighters

Munchiez Food Van

Playgroup Bible study at the church

Know Your Bible

Elevate Youth Group (year 8-12)

Morning Worship

LifeChurch

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

MENS BIZ
For retired Semi retired Or men who can just make the time Returns for 2013 on JOIN CARL AND THE GUYS FOR A COFFEE AND INFORMAL CHAT ABOUT Wednesday LIFE IN THE LOUNGE March 6 ON THE FIRST AND THIRD WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH. 10-11am (SCHOOL HOLIDAYS EXCLUDED)
Mens Biz is a Link Ministry of Unley Park Baptist Church