My Testimony today is about the blessing of being Forgiven 1) The Beginning.. Some time ago, when I last spoke to you, I mentioned that I was having a major life problem but I couldn’t share it with you at that time. Today I feel that it is time to share it with you ………… 2) A year and a half ago.. My world fell apart. My wife came to me and told me that she was leaving me. This was a big shock and totally unexpected; I had no idea that this was going to happen. I learnt later that she had warned our 2 daughters about her intentions just 2 days before she advised me. She must have been unhappy for a long time, but informing the daughters before informing me, caused massive communication problems with my youngest daughter. I did not realize or was sensitive to the many problems that came between us, and I did not have the chance to talk over our problems with her. 3) Our Family situation. I have two daughters, the eldest 23, lives with her boyfriend, for the past 3 years, in a very harmonious relationship. My youngest daughter, aged 21, left to live with her mother. This left me, by myself, an absent father to my daughters, also trying to keep the love and fatherly contact with my own children. My eldest daughter is the most understanding, and we have shared many a lovely evening meal both at her place and at what used to be the family home. But my youngest daughter, the one living with her mother, chose only to hear one side of the story, and did not allow me to have the normal father-daughter relationship that we once had. 4) The hurt to my feelings.. My communication with my youngest daughter, was at best polite, but not fulfilling and she seemed to be drifting away from me. This really hurt, as alone by myself in the family home are reminders all around me of what our family was once like: Can you imagine the tears in my heart as I pass by the “Growth markings “ on the window support where I mark the heights of the girls at their different ages, every time I cleaned the house or went to the bathroom? Can you imagine the hurt in my soul when every invitation to lunch or dinner, was politely refused, and in some instances never responded to. Can you imagine the hurt, when despite many offers of having a Family Celebration to commemorate her 21st birthday, that I was not allowed to attend any celebration of my daughters birthday? Can you imaging the hurt, when quite by accident, I passed my wife’s car, seeing both my daughters with her, and they all on the way to my daughter’s 21st celebration, and I am left out? Can you imagine the pain in my heart at loosing contact with my daughter? and the severe emotional pain seeing my youngest daughter withdraw from any association with me. Can you imagine,….. 5) The breakthrough . . I realized that healing and reconciliation to broken relationships would take time, perhaps even years to repair the damage done. But in my case, nothing seemed to be happening. It seemed that relationships had come to a standstill. 3 weeks ago, Pastor Chris touched on the topic of ‘forgiveness’ in his sermon, and it was also the topic of discussion in our Life group. The act of forgiveness” an interesting topic, but, Forgive you ask??? Why? What had I done??? Why forgive?? I had a long think about the processes of asking for forgiveness and how it might help me. BUT.. Do you know how difficult it was for me to even think about asking for forgiveness for something that would have seemed to be better coming from my daughter to me? Two Saturdays ago, I happened to be in the vicinity of my ex wife’s house, I called in on spec to see if my Daughter, was home, … She was….and came out onto the front porch to chat with me. I chitchatted with her about the responsibilities and difficulties of parent hood. There is NO manual for “How to be a mother or father”. There is NO “Dummies Guide” to the “Perfect Parent”. It was, and is, definitely, a “Learn as you go” process. The only guiding force might be that of your Parents or Grandparents, but in our case, both sets of Parents and Grandparents had long since passed on. I considered our parenting skills were excellent as both my ex wife and I had exceptional parents. In my conversation with my Daughter I explained that ALL of my efforts in parenting were to work as hard as I could to provide them all that they needed. I apologized to her that if my working 24*7 had left her in doubt of my love for her. I apologized for not always being there……. Then I ate humble pie, and quietly asked her to forgive me………… ……….. She replied….. “Yes Dad”….. We hugged…. 6) The reconciliation and relief Can you imagine the weight lifted from my heart??? Can you imagine the tears in my eyes as we stood on the porch?? Can you imagine,….. Can you??? I explained to my Daughter that if I could change the past I would, but as we had more control over the future, could we rebuild our relationship??……. she replied… “Yes Dad” We Hugged again. ………… Can you feel the feeling of belonging? When you hear those words,… “Yes Dad”? Those two simple words “forgive me”… have started a seemingly impossible father daughter relationship rebuilding. It will katake time, but it’s on the move in a positive direction. I thank the Pastor for his sermon on “Forgiveness” and I praise the Lord for giving me the strength and conviction and the opportunity to say “Forgive Me”? I will, with Gods help, rebuild the broken relationship with my youngest daughter. I praise the Lord! “Shangdi cifu ni ( God bless you)…. AMEN.

]]> http://www.nlcc.com.au/?feed=rss2&p=278 http://www.nlcc.com.au/?p=260 http://www.nlcc.com.au/?p=260#comments Sun, 10 May 2009 06:24:54 +0000 admin http://www.nlcc.com.au/?p=260 To all our Beloved Mothers,

Thanks for all your Love and Kindness to us over the years. May God Bless you all abundantly in every single work of your hands. May His Peace and Joy be with you always!

On behalf of the international students of NLCC, I would like to say a Big THANK YOU to all the Mothers in NLCC including the spiritual mothers. We are indeed very grateful to have such LOVING mothers who continuously nurtures us with the word of God and showed us the way of living a life of servanthood.

Here’s a poem that I created for you all:

When we were happy, you laughed with us;

When we needed someone to talk to, you were there listening to us;

When we needed a hug, your arms were wide open ready comfort us;

When we cried, you were there with tissues ready to wipe off the tears of ours;

When we got into trouble, you patiently helped us;

When no one else seems to care, you gently whispered. “Jesus cares and so do I.”

Thanks to you all, Wonderful mums of NLCC.

Happy Mother’s Day! We love you!

With Love,

Josephine

Creative Ministry of NLCC

NLCC ministry outreach team “Relentless” will be a guest on Rhema Radio, an Indonesian radio station. They broadcast on the 4th of March, Wednesday at 1.30pm (Adelaide time) from Surakhata (10am local time).

To listen to their broadcast please do the following easy steps:

1. Download and install winamp (FREE) 9.4mb. *Winamp is the only player that will work, all other media players have been tested and does not work.
2. Download the file: Rhema Radio Channel. 0.2mb
   
3. Open listen.pls in winamp with connection to the internet and begin to listen instantly.

You can also visit their website at http://www.rhemaradio.com/main/.

Please note this radio station stops broadcasting at night. If you are trying to listen at night you will get an error ICY 404 error. Check back during the day. Thank you.

From Sunday, 1 March to Monday, 9 March our team of 6 NLCC members minister the healing, saving power of God to the people of Indonesia.

They are ministering in a number of villages in and around Semarang, Indonesia and we look forward to hearing great reports of all that the Lord has done on this mission trip.

Continue to join your hearts with our team through prayer & intercession, declaring a great manifestation of the awesome presence of God to lift the hurting people and to bring salvation and healing to all.

Special gathering to join our hearts with the team of 6 NLCC members [Ps. Anne Liew-Sandstrom, Aaron Chen, Henry Lee, Patricia Chan, Rowan Fox & Stig Sandstrom] who will be in the air on the way to Semarang, Indonesia while we cover them with prayer during that very evening!

As one, united community of faith, we go to Indonesia - either in person or in sprit, to plunder hell and populate heaven … to preach the Kingdom of God is at hand and see the demonstration of the power of God through signs, wonders and healing!

Let us join our hearts and effort to make this mission trip one that impacts eternity!

SEE YOU AT 8.00 for a powerful time of calling in the favour and blessing of God over the team and the people of Indonesia!

Ensure that the team touches down at their designated time of arrival in Semarang [11.40pm, 28 Feb.] with the love and support of the entire church.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Congratulations to our 9 baptismal candidates that will be celebrating their decision to enter a new phase of their walk with God this Sunday!
Baptism is the first test of obedience.

why baptism?

Many want to become Christians and decide to ‘believe’ in Jesus as Saviour.  Unfortunately, not as many in today’s Christianity prove their belief in Christ.  All true belief is seen in action.  Scripture even says,
“Thus also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” [Jas.2:17].

‘baptizo’

The English word ‘baptize’ stems from the original Greek word ‘baptizo’, which means ‘to submerge’ - hence water baptism is being fully submerged in water and symbolizes the washing away of sin and the old self, drowning it in the power of Christ and arising as a new creation, clean, holy and filled with the Spirit. [Rm.6:3-9; Eph.1:13,14].

Jesus commanded all who want to follow Him and become disciples,
“He who believes AND is baptized, will be saved” [Mk.16:16].
Jesus gives us the easiest opportunity to prove our faith in Him.  Since faith is seen in action, the action of getting baptised is something that anyone, regardless of age, intellect or background, can fulfil - as long as there is water, you can be baptised! [Acts 8:26-39]

must i be baptized?

Jesus Himself was baptised. As it is recorded, “Now when all the people were baptised, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptised; and while He prayed the heaven was opened…” [Lk.3:21]. Jesus then said,
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” [Mt.16:24].

If you have accepted Christ as Saviour - remember, that to accept Him as Saviour is to also accept Him as Lord, which means you must be willing to surrender your decisions and desires for your own life over to God, who knows best, and allow Him to be Your Lord and Master.  In doing so, you will be completely and utterly submerged into the protection, saftey, security and blessing of being a true child of God.

If you have not been baptised yet, enrol to be baptized at the next opportunity!  Do not delay!

The members of the Creative Ministry would like to wish you a Happy Chinese New Year with a year of INCREASE ahead! May God add to you in everyway so that you are able to share with the people around you!

We had a great all night prayer last night and this morning!Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

Warmest Regards,

Creative Ministry of NLCC

“Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued ALL NIGHT in prayer to God”

- Luke 6:12

WHY AN ALL-NIGHT PRAYER MEETING?

§  If Jesus needed and desired to pray all night to God to receive fellowship and direction, how much more do we, His disciples need to follow Him and do likewise?

§  An all-night prayer meeting is an opportunity for us to come and pray corporately.

§  It is an opportunity to commit our lives to the Lord and to:

-          Orientate our lives within His presence and for His purposes

-          Seek the Lord corporately to cover the church in prayer and the favour of God

-          To humble ourselves through the denial of the flesh and seek His will to be done and the evidence of His Kingdom to be expressed through our lives

-          Break strongholds and ‘clear’ the spiritual atmosphere over our city

-          To position ourselves to hear from God and receive direction for 2009

WHO SHOULD COME?

§  Those who have a desire to pray and a desire for change.
- in their lives, families, church, the nations.

§  All are encouraged to come, especially if you would like a breakthrough in your own prayer life.

WHAT SHOULD I BRING?

§  Bible, notebook and pen, cushion/pillow, bottle of water.

§  Come wearing comfortable clothes.

DO I HAVE TO ATTEND FOR THE WHOLE NIGHT?

§  It is your decision if you want to stay for the whole night, or for a nominated period of time.

§  The goal is to have prayers and intercession lifted up to heaven continuously throughout the night.  To facilitate this, it would be good to coordinate your nominated period of time with friends who also wish to come along.
e.g.  Bob will pray from 1-3am, so Frank will arrive and pray from 3-6am, etc.

§  If you feel tired halfway through the night but would like to stay in the presence of God and those who are praying, you are can rest when you are tired and someone else will continue in prayer.

§  If you only want to pray for a nominated period of time, please see Ps. Anne so that time slots will be well coordinated.

IS THERE A FORMAT TO THE MEETING?

§  Yes.  The night of prayer will be broken into 1 hour blocks, from 8pm - 8am.

§  During each hour-block, there will be worship and prayer covering various themes
- eg.  Dedication, repentance, commitment, reaching out, spiritual warfare, etc.
- Scripture verses will be given to declare & pray over
- Individuals are encouraged to read the Word to one another or to themselves

§  The meeting will be casual, relaxed, informal.

§  At various times individuals present will:
-  group together and pray
-  enter into personal prayer, petition and intercession
-  join in corporate prayer and worship

§  When tired, individuals may rest - either within the Sanctuary, or in another room

Our church is a G12 Cell Church & our ‘life groups’ are the network that forms our Community. To find out more, speak to a cell leader or the Pastors.

Adult Life Groups:

Wednesday 9.30 am in NLCC Details: 8362 4293

Friday 8pm, Auldana. Details: 8331 2910

Sunday 4pm, Auldana. Details: 8332 5513

Young Adults Fellowship [YAF]

Every Friday at 8.00pm @ NLCC
Join our awesome bunch of youth - learn to connect with God & with other youth. Meet new friends, be a part of cool activities, food events, and so much more! God has created you to experience a life that better than your wildest imagination can dream up! How can you discover this life? Come along to YAF and find out for yourself.

Prayer & Healing Meetings:

First Wednesday of every month @ 8.00 p.m.

Prayer is our gift from God to connect with our Creator & as Christians, we know the power in praying to Jesus Christ. Many have testified of instant physical healing in their bodies, emotional & spiritual refreshing & renewal, a fresh zeal for life & in their faith & so much more from being a part of these meetings.

ALL are welcome & encouraged to attend to be blessed & be a blessing to someone else!

Audio Ministry:

Get a Sermon on CD! [$2 ea. Order forms in the foyer]. Hand completed forms with payment to the audio team or if you prefer to listen direct from our website, check out or ‘Sermons’ page, click on the sermon & start listening straight away for no charge.

Fun & Fitness Fellowship:

Want to learn how to dance? Here’s your opportunity!

Sessions are held every Thursday, 10.00 a.m. in our activity hall. All are welcome!

$2 per session. Coordinator: Dorothy Chin.

Table Tennis:

Every Wednesday, 1.30-3.00pm. All Welcome! Come and have a casual game of table tennis in a relaxed indoor environment - bring your friends and test your skills out together! *FREE*