Well, this week seems to have bell, or some similar upward then downward motioning, curved out for me…
Monday night at growth group, we looked at Luke 10:38-42, which gives the account of Jesus’ interaction with Mary and Martha. So often I identify with Martha, being someone who does things all the time, but the story tells us that Mary chose the good portion, of sitting at Jesus’ feet, and it is implied that she was being taught by Him. We had some interesting discussion, and drama over the passage, including a soiree into social justice, and it’s place within Christianity… I came away with the thought that we need a happy medium between the two, that the importance of the word is first and foremost, and that should lead to service; something that is reiterated in James. We also had a feast of gluten-free chocolate cake for Victoria’s birthday, as well as delicious cup-cakes, 2 of which I got a take home box for!!
Wednesday night I got out to see a movie with Geoff. We went to see Safe House starring Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington as they address the secret services of the CIA and MI6, dealing with safe houses and information trading. I thought it was quite a good movie, with plenty of action parts and some suspense and a couple of twists…. I thought it seemed a bit like The Departed, just not as good…
Friday was really quite busy, with many many things being accomplished throughout the day. I was pleased that the sun came out to play, as that meant that there were more touch players that followed its lead. We ended up with almost 10 a side, and that resulted in an enjoyable game. I managed to score one or two tries, as well as put Mike over the line with what Bruce described as an Oscar-worthy pass, which kind of went over my right shoulder as he darted to the left, whilst I drew two defenders to me. SALT was run by the year 12s, which was a good experience for them, especially in looking towards future leadership. It was however particularly tech-heavy and without enough notice given to me, making it a bit of a stressful night…
Yesterday was a fairly lazy, lack-lustre day. I spent the morning researching website designs, watching television and reading comics, before heading out to pick up some helium balloons to take to my brother-in-law Arthur’s surprise 30th birthday party. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing much the same as the morning, before dropping a DVD off at the Conway’s place en-route to pick up my folks and take them out to the city for the party, which was held at Mr Chow’s Peking Restaurant on Kent Street. There was a good 24 people there for the party, which my sister had organised, from church friends, to sporting team-mates and of course family. Arthur was under the impression that they were having dinner with his family, so when he saw all of us, it was quite a surprise. There was quite a feast to be had:
- Jellyfish with shredded chicken
- Drunken Chicken
- Peking Style “Smoked” fish
- Siew Long Bow
- Garlic & Ginger Dry Fried Lobster
- Salted Egg Yolk King Prawns
- Camomile Fish
- Tea Smoked Duck
- Chinese Vegetables
- Peking Noodles
The food was tasty, and I’d recommend the place. It’s not too pricey and the surrounds are very quite comfortable.
This morning I made a return to 7:45am Church as they came together for breakfast church. It was good to sit down to eat with them for a continental breakfast. I managed to get a croissant and a few muffins in, which were all still warm!! Peter Kemp spoke from Acts 2:42-47 on God’s New Community, encouraging the relationships within our Christian community, getting us to think about how we can improve the experience of our community, highlighting the priorities of our community, following the lead of the apostles with
- The Apostles teaching
– The scriptures
- Fellowship
– distinct from socialising, as this involves the scriptures, and is centred on Christ
- The Breaking of bread
– taken to be sharing a meal together and finishing with the Lord’s supper.
- Prayer
and finally acknowledging the growth of the community, both numerically and in spiritual maturity.
I didn’t get to catch up with Nic today, nor my flatmates for fellowship, which wasn’t good.
At lunch I went home to my folks for lunch with them, my sister and brother-in-law and some family friends from Hong Kong.
graceat6 tonight was a bit of a stress-fest for me… With dis-organisation came stress, but after being told not to worry about it, and chatting to Cath I calmed down a bit and was able to do some serving as our growth group was on backend. Mike preached from Exodus 19 & 20 on Saved by… Saved for….
I’m really struggling to find my place at the moment in amongst everything… It just seems like a big mish-mash of blurred lines, and I would love some clarity. As much as these lines are blurred, the combination seems to alienate me from most groups, and that, I think, is a (my) problem. I also think that I am becoming, or at least giving the impression, that I’m being hyper-critical, so maybe I just need to shut my mouth and not say anything at all…
