Saying Goodbye to Good Friend from China

For the past year, it has been a blessing to get to know a young man named Jason Meng-Lin from China over the last year.  He has been studying at the local university and has been attending our church.  We have really enjoyed studying the Bible together and fellowshipping with one another.  Please pray for him as he travels back to China on Sunday to visit his family over the summer.  Lord willing, we will be seeing him again this autumn as he returns to the UK for another year.  I included some pictures of us together.  We just got back from eating a wonderful meal at his apartment.
  

Children’s Bible Class

Bro. David Laverty is starting a Children’s Bible Class on Tuesday nights at 7.30pm at Northwest Baptist Church for all the primary-age young people who are interested. 

The class is designed to teach young people the basics of the Christian faith in a child-friendly format.  I hope that you parents will bring your children to the class.  We will also have our usual Bible study and cup of tea for the adults and teens.

At the end of the summer, there will be a special party and presentation for all those young people who complete the class!  For more questions, contact David Laverty at 079 3400 8871.

Guest Preacher: Graham Anderson

I am looking forward to the services on tomorrow.  I hope that you will join us in the morning as we look in Acts at the life of Stephen.

In the evening service, Bro. Graham Anderson from Rathfriland Baptist Church will be preaching for us.  I know that you will be blessed and encouraged as he ministers God’s Word to us.

Please come and bring a friend!

Chairs for Northwest Baptist Church

 
We are looking at buying some new chairs for Northwest Baptist Church in Derry/Londonderry.  We can get some nice stacking chairs for 15 pounds per chair.  At the moment, we need 50 chairs, so if you would be interested in buying some of the chairs, please let me know you.  You can give your gift through the offering at church or you can send $25/chair to Macedonia World Baptist Missions (PO Box 519, Braselton, GA, 30517) and mark your gift "Snode Building Fund."  Thank you very much.

Favour With Men

Daniel 1:8-9 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.  Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

 
Daniel’s decision to not defile himself was acceptable to the prince of the eunuchs because he was brought into favour and tender love of the prince of the eunuchs.  We need God to bring us into favour with men so that our life would not take away from our message.  Notice the following:
 
We should seek first to please God.  The whole duty of man, Solomon says, is to fear God and keep Him commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13).  He is our Lord and master.  We are willing slaves who should do His will every day.  If pleasing God goes against what men think we should do, then so be it (Acts 5:29).
 
Pleasing God should bring us into favour with men.  Doing what God wants us to do should make us more pleasing and favourable to men rather than offensive and unfavourable.  If men are offend, it should be by our message not our manner.  Notice  in the Bible how pleasing God made people at the same time more pleasing to men:

• 1 Samuel 2:26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.
• Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man
• Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

As a result of pleasing God and obeying His commands, we should be…

• More obedience and submissive to authority
• More kind and compassionate toward others
• More considerate toward the needs of others
• More helpful to our neighbours and friends
• More forgiving of our enemies

God is the one who gives us favour with others.  Notice the following passages of Scripture:

• Genesis 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
• Exodus 3:21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty:
• Daniel 1:9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

What does God think of You?  What do others think of You?  Does being a Christian make you more favourable to others around you?  Should you ask God to bring you into favour with others?  Will you let the Word of God and the Spirit of God make You a more kind and considerate person?

Shuttle Bus for Northwest Baptist Church

 

Due to parking constraints at Northwest Baptist Church in Derry, we have had to start a shuttle bus that runs between the church and Foyle Road Car Park on Sunday mornings from 12.00 – 12.30 pm. 

There are about 90 FREE parking spaces at the Foyle Road Car Park which is on the bottom level of the Craigavon Bridge on the cityside. 

All you have to do is drop your passengers off at the front door of the church, go park in the car park, and then hop on board the shuttle (a silver citroen synergie).  You will be dropped off at the front door and then given a lift back to your car after the service.

If you have any questions, phone 028 7122 6164.

The Stephen Kennedy Family

We have Stephen Kennedy and his two children visiting with us right now.  They are missionaries to Ireland with Prayer Baptist Missions.  They are here on a survey trip to see the country and pray about God’s direction for them.  We have enjoyed the fellowship with them. 
 
Bro. Stephen preached on Tuesday and Wednesday night and did a great job.  He told the story of Margaret Stringer, which you really should read about.  This lady got out of a helicopter with a translator in Irian Jaya 50 years ago and was used of God to see cannibals comes to Christ!
 
Today, we are going to do some more travelling around with them.  Please pray for God’s direction and guidance for them in the days ahead.
 

English Language Joke

My pastor sent me this joke and thought I would pass it on to you:

An American visiting in England asked at the hotel for the elevator. The portiere was a bit confused, but then smiled when he realized what the man wanted.

“You must mean the lift,” he said.

“No,” the American responded. “If I ask for the elevator I mean the elevator.”

“Yes, of course,” the portiere answered, “but over here we call them lifts.”

“Now you listen,” the American said, rather irritated, “someone in America invented the elevator!”

“Oh, right you are sir,” the portiere said in a polite tone, “but someone here in England invented the language.”

What is Faith

I really enjoyed this quote from John Pearson’s quote of the day:

 
"Faith, if you like, can be defined like this: It is a man insisting upon thinking when every thing seems determined to bludgeon and knock him down. The trouble with the person of little faith is that, instead of controlling his own thought, his thought is being controlled by something else, and, as we put it, he goes round and round in circles. That is the essence of worry. That is not thought; that is the absence of thought, a failure to think."  – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Sunday Report

The Lord blessed with a good day yesterday.  In Limavady, we had a good time in the Word of God.

In Derry/Londonderry, we have our anniversary services.  In the morning, we showed a video of the last year.  The message was on “The Second Persecution of the Church” from Acts 5. 

In the evening service, we had some testimonies from people in the church about how God had worked in their life over the past year.  It was a very precious time, and I am so thankful for our church and for all that God has done.

Below is a video that we showed of the last year.  I hope you enjoy it.