Heartland News & Prayer

December 12, 2010 by Wendy Carter.

Christmas Greetings Once Again:

Wendy
wendy.carter@kainos.org
This blog is a summary of our 9:00 Sunday morning services held at 7777 Churchville Rd., Brampton, ON L6Y 0H3, 905-230-8116.  It can always be found at www.blog.heartlandfellowship.ca.

Real Blessings by Gary Carter: William likes our “beautiful” red 2006 Hyundai with windows that roll up when it rains; it can heat up in the winter and cool down in the summer as we wish.  In Myanmar he is used to 1985 Toyota taxis whose windows stay open during the heavy rainy seasons.  We have so many blessings that we take for granted e.g. our homes with so many rooms and dishwashers that wash the dishes.  But real blessings are not in all these things.  The real blessing is in the anniversary we remember and celebrate of the greatest birth of all even though it can be very emotional for some who have lost loved ones.  We need to appreciate what we have. After travelling so many miles a real blessing for our church is William’s visit here with us this Christmas. This week we learned that his Burmese name means “all people should worship” and that his cousin is Richard whose orphanage we have been supporting for several years.

Light of the World – Matthew 5:13-16 - by William:  When we are born again or Jesus is born in our hearts we become like salt on the earth.  Salt gives flavour and preserves food.  There is no refrigeration in Burma. When we don’t want to listen to teachers in school or we don’t want to go to church any more, we no longer become useful as salt.  We misuse our freedom.  We need to encourage and help those who are going to perish.  God has given each one of us a purpose, a vision or a goal to be a light to shine in the world.  The church is a place to charge our batteries and then go out and bring people in.  This is what Jesus wants us to do.  If we don’t love God then we can’t automatically love our brothers.  Buddhists try to find righteousness in works; they must find God first.  Good deeds are signs that we love God.

When William started his own church in Yangon a year ago he had nothing.  Others didn’t think he should begin.  When he prayed, fasted and humbled himself before God the Holy Spirit made it known to him that God is with him.  But no one came for the first 3 months.  Again going for a long walk and praying (his feet were burning it was so hot) he realized in his heart that this was God’s responsibility to bring the people.  The next week his first family came to receive Christ on their own.  Since then they have introduced their friends to the church who have come out.  He has baptized 20 people in one year.  It is important to start and it is important to find one friend.

Ampliatus (Romans 16:8) by Steve Macdonald: This gentleman is another “dear friend in the Lord” of Paul’s.  His Latin name was common in the imperial household so that might have been his background.  He was one of the 70 Apostles and a follower of Andrew.  He became a Bishop in Odessos (in the Balkans, the eastern block) which was an early Christian centre.  All we need to know is that this man was “in the Lord” and “served Him only” (Matthew 4:10; Luke 4:8).

Martin Luther (Part III) by Chris Burton:  Due to constant attacks from the church and being ordered to recant his teachings on Dec. 10/1520 Martin Luther burned a Papal Bull of excommunication and a book of church law  in Wittenberg. The legend goes: A Wittenberg student, an enthusiastic follower of Luther, was in love with a girl whose grandmother was equally enthusiastic about the old church. On the day of the burning, the woman supposedly wandered to that spot with her granddaughter out of curiosity. There they ran into students who were excitedly talking about what Luther had done. The grandmother was overcome by anger and rammed her walking stick into the ground; while doing this, she swore that the student would not be allowed to marry her granddaughter until the stick had turned green. This student planted a young oak on that very spot. The following spring, the student reported this “miracle” to the grandmother… A Luther Oak stands there today.  Luther was formally excommunicated from the church in January 1521.  From 1520-21 he wrote 3 books which were really the beginning of Protestant ideas.

In Germany there were lots of castles with princes who hoped to weaken the Pope’s political influence through Luther.  One such prince was Friedrich the Wise of Saxon who demanded that he not be outlawed and imprisoned without a hearing.  Luther was given a 21 day free pass to go to the City of Worms for a Diet or general assembly.  He preached along the way and it became more of a victory march than an opportunity to recant as the church hoped for.  Appearing before the Emperor he still did not recant as there was no logical reason why he should.  He was declared an outlaw that any one could kill but Friedrich had staged his kidnapping beforehand which Luther knew about. This guaranteed his safety and a time to disappear for a while to stabilize and strengthen the Reformation.

Blessed are Those that Mourn – Matthew 5:4 – by Gary Carter:  The promised blessing seems like a contradiction in our way of thinking. Jesus encouraged us to mourn to be blessed and receive comfort. Since all the beatitudes deal with spiritual truths we can assume Jesus was not focusing on natural mourning over a loss. He wants us to mourn for our own sins, the sins of his people and the sins of the world. When we mourn about our own sins we must think of our sinful actions but also the things we left out - our sins of inaction.  There is also mourning over the sins of the church and then the sins of the world.  How much mourning do you do?  Are there hidden lights buried under our chairs and tables?   We don’t know when the comfort will come but hearts are stirred deeply when someone responds to the grace of God.  The battle is not done but comfort and rest will await God’s people on the other side (Hebrews 4).

Foreign Affairs(Part III) by Steve Macdonald:

Amicus Puriae: platonic friend
J’y suis, j’y peste: I can stay for the weekend!
Apres Moe, le deluge: Larry & Curly get wet.
L’etat, c’est moo: I am bossy around here.
L’etat, c’est Moe: All the world’s a stooge.
Ca va sans dirt:  And that’s not gossip!

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