April 13, 2024 @Alstonville

Sabbath School 9.30

Church Service 11 am

13 April
Preacher: Nick Conduit
Topic: Faithful Works
Memory verse: Ephesians 2:9-10

20 April
Preacher: Shantaya Alsop-Lewis from Arise
Topic: 1 Corinthians
Memory verse: 1 Corinthians 3:6-7
Weekly reading: 1 Corinthians, chapter 1-16

27 April
Preacher: Nick Saunders
Topic: God’s call for a higher standard
Memory verse: 1 Corinthians 1:18
Weekly reading: 2 Corinthians, chapter 1-13

Join us for Friday night vespers each week to open Sabbath and fellowship together. All are welcome! Commencing half an hour before Sabbath (sunset), we will sing hymns and worship together in the Alstonville church, followed by refreshments in the hall.

March 16, 2024 @Alstonville

  Pr Dada Fialho  No Greater Purpose than to Share Jesus

After Pentecost the Holy Spirit was active in the early church. First the Holy Spirit advised the church to send out Barnabas and Paul for the work that He had called them to. The Holy Spirit then sent them to Cyprus where the preached the word of God to the Jews in the synagogues.  They were also filled with the Holy Spirit who gave them the words to preach to both Jews and Gentiles. God reveals Himself to me as I read His word and pray, but He also reveals Himself through the church. When the church asks me to do something, I should ask myself: Is this God speaking to me? What does God want me to do for Him? Sharing what He has done in our lives is the greatest purpose we can have.

Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Acts 14:27

March 9 @Alstonville

So Completely Filled – April Boyd

Stephen was able to do amazing works for God because he was completely filled with the power of God. April encourages us to look at our own hearts to examine what we are filled with. The only way I can be filled with Jesus is to spend time with Him. As I see the love of Jesus for me, it will produce love for others in my heart. Is the joy that Jesus gives me visible to others in the way I live my life? Am I filled with Jesus so others can see Jesus in me?

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Acts 6:8

February 17 @Alstonville

Real People, Real Problems  Ryan Cuff

The Holy Spirit had descended and the early church in Jerusalem were of one heart and one soul. People were selling their land and houses and providing for those who had need. But then came the sudden deaths of Ananias and Sapphira. What had happened? Why didn’t God give them a chance to repent? Perhaps it was because their actions had shown  them unable to truly see the love of God through the sacrifice of Jesus, and to appreciate the gift of the Holy Spirit. They had instead responded to this love with selfishness and pride potentially influencing many with this selfish decision. God doesn’t actually need my money, but how I use my money shows where my heart really is. 

February 12 @Alstonville

The Gift of God – Pr Dada Fialho

Fifty days after the resurrection, the disciples heard the sound of a wind rushing through the house where they were meeting, and tongues of fire landed on their heads. They were then filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and all the visitors to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Harvest could understand them preaching in their own language. Jesus longs to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. I may not do miracles or speak in other languages, but when the Holy Spirit is acting in my life, others will be able to see the love of Jesus in me. The Holy Spirit will help me, guide me and convict me. All I have to do is ask. 

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. John 17:13

January 27 @Alstonville

 Elijah KWASA – I Command You

When someone commands us to do something, often our first impulse is to resist. We don’t like being told what to do! Even obeying God doesn’t come naturally to us. However, God’s commandments are there to show us how to love Him and to love each other. We need to be told how to love, because in our hearts, we are all selfish. In fact, if we’re not obeying God, we are incapable of worshiping Him. Obeying God is actually a higher form of worship than going to church and listening to a sermon. Are you worshiping God by serving others today?

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22

January 20 @Alstonville

The Right Question – Glen Hughes

It is just as important to have the right questions as it is to have the right answers.  Even a genius can be tricked into giving the wrong answer because they haven’t asked the right question. God asks the best questions, because he wants us to know the best answers. The best question of all is: How can I know who God really is? We can see who God is in how Jesus loved on this earth. Jesus is the best answer to the best question. It is only by knowing Him that we can know the truth. 

 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  John 17:3

January 13 @Alstonville

Illuminate – Jared Hughes

Jared explores how a camera is like the investigative judgement: it is all due to the importance of light. Satan wants us to be in darkness about who God is, but when Jesus came into this world, He came to bring us light about God. During the investigative judgement we will see why God has made the decisions that He has made, and in doing so He will reveal His character to not only each person who has ever lived, but also to the watching worlds. It is the illumination of Jesus that enables our re-creation.

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. Revelation 21:22-23

January 6 @Alstonville

Your Yearly Diet Plan – Pr Dada Fialho

You have a resolution to make personal change?  It’s certainly that time of year. Should we be more responsible with money, exercise more regularly, or eat less pancakes? Pr Dada trims off the fat, ramps up the essentials and encourages us to concentrate on spiritual fitness.  A daily walk with God, counting His blessings and being nourished by the bread of life.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Isaiah 55:2

December 30 @Alstonville

God’s Design for Us – Carolyn Thomas

We all know that 1 plus 1 equals 2. But why does it always equal 2? Carolyn looked at the Fibonacci Series in the world around us and how it shows us that God is a God of order and structure. We serve an awesome God who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him? Psalms 8:3-4