So, who are you? Ps Gary is our guest speaker this week and has also addressed us many times in the past. He tells us what the Bible says about what we think and how we will then be. He advises us to consider who we are in Christ. He goes on in-depth to explain that we are not just an individual but a part of the church and that the church is the Body of Christ for which Jesus is the Head.Ps Gary gives us some testimonies of what he was like growing up - these kinds of stories always encourage us to show us that we are all just normal people but we have Jesus living inside of us now that we have become born again. He points out that, when surveyed, 68% of Australians have said that church was not good for society! That is their perception. How can we change that? Ps Gary has much to say about that.Apart from being the Body of Christ, Ps Gary also reminds us that we are the Bride of Christ and what all this means in adjusting our thinking so that we can become what God has created us to be and spread that abroad wherever we go. There are some fascinating parallels between all this and Adam and Eve in Genesis.Ps Gary prays that our eyes would be and lightened to fully see and understand that we are made in the image of God and we are more than we can possibly imagine. This is an amazing message and highly encouraging for us all. The Scriptures that Ps Gary reads will confirm all this.

Ps Hugh begins by describing some building situations in society. For example, building luxury homes. Having been involved in IT as a Project Manager, he described a massive replacement of all their hardware and software at great cost. It had a 5-year life! The Bible has numerous examples about not building our lives and hopes on earthly things but to spend our time, money, passions, and so on, on things that matter. He then mentions a story about Elisha with the point that we need to turn our eyes off natural things and towards spiritual things.Continuing, he talks about not focusing on earthly wealth but on rich relationships. He points out that we are all building something and, whatever that is, how it needs a strong foundation, a cornerstone. This, as you realise, is only a very short summary of Ps Hugh's message today. There's much more! ..... What are you building right now? What would you like to be building?

Ps David serves as the Senior Minister of Empower Church, a thriving church with multiple locations across the city of Sydney and Brisbane. He has visited us here in Bundaberg a number of times already. He has had some experience in the building industry so, coupled with his decades of experience as a pastor and his knowledge of the Bible, I guess he knows what he's talking about!He starts by pointing out that, just as an earthly building needs a blueprint, we have a heavenly blueprint for our lives. God had this ready before we were even born. Pastor David begins with 1 Corinthians 3:9-11. He points out that it is critical that, when building our lives, our foundation must be strong and solid. Jesus! He gives an anecdote about concrete when he thought there was too much concrete being laid. He was quickly corrected! He also relates to Matthew 7:24–27 regarding this matter.Ps David continues with many Scriptures and anecdotes of his own life and how he had to learn to get it right by building upon the Rock. He has much good advice for us that will enable us to withstand the storms of life as, brick by brick, we build our own lives.

In his message today, Ps Danny elaborates on the meaning of the Title of today's message. However, this will get you pointed in the right direction ...... The building is the church body of all born-again Christians. Every born-again Christian is another brick in the wall (you can stop humming that song now). The body of the church is growing all the time as new bricks are being added. Every Christian is also a Temple!After a brief introduction, Ps Danny reminds us that we are all being built day by day. It's all about growth! And some steps in that growth can be quite painful due to traumas and troubles of all kinds. He gives an example of the perseverance of Edison who invented the light bulb. You are sure to be encouraged by this illustration. For each one of these difficult times, Ps Danny advises us to ask ourselves this question to God, "What is it you want me to do?" He also warns us to be careful as to whether the answer comes from our flesh or from the Holy Spirit. Rather than just leaving us alone to wrestle with that, he also deals with how we can grow to be sure that we are getting the right answer and following the right guidance. Do you need this in your troublesome times or have you got it all sewn up now?Success in dealing with those trials, troubles, and tribulations of life throughout our journey, can rely on many aspects. Ps Danny goes through these. For example, he describes God's love for us and encourages us to love ourselves and get rid of any negativity we might have of our own failings.He next goes into various aspects of the building industry, using physical samples to support our spiritual growth, as well as the scriptures associated with them: the Cornerstone, the stumbling block, and more.As you have been reading this Comment you may not know if you are born-again or not. Ps Danny has not forgotten you in this message. Listen carefully at the end, open your heart to the Lord, and follow through.

After a brief 'hello' Ps Hugh gets straight into today's message, Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

He immediately refers to John 1:1 where Jesus is called the Word and that He, Jesus the Word, is certainly alive. He also points out that it could be quite painful to be prodded with the sword but that Jesus prompts us with the tip very carefully and gently.

While gesturing with some fencing poses, Ps Hugh reminds us also that such prodding judges the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. He asks the question, "How will we respond?"

He then points out that, in the story of the woman caught in adultery and who was going to be stoned to death according to Jewish Law, after the crowd had dispersed, Jesus advised her to, "Go and sin no more".

Next, smoothly linking this in with the story of the sower and the seed, Ps Hugh assures us that it's not about seed at all but soil! Four different types of soil are referred to in that parable. Only one of them is properly fruitful. For one reason or another, the other three failed to produce a crop. Ps Hugh points out that When Jesus prods us with His sword, our response to that will produce one of those soils. He asks, "Which soil are you?"

And how does this all fit in with Bear Grylls and Mount Everest? Listen and see as there is much more than what is written above .....

Ps Mark Ironside is our guest speaker this morning. After some decades of being in ministry, he has now been the Senior Pastor at Harvest Point Christian Outreach Centre in Gleneagle QLD for around 6 years. With knowledge in advance, he stepped right into our current series with a great message.

After an introduction, including praying for someone, Ps Mark gets straight to the point - the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. There is much confusion about this but he uses Scriptures to clearly distinguish between receiving the Holy Spirit when being born again and, often at a later time, receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is quite clear that they are 2 different experiences. That is indisputable. He then continues to use Scriptures to show us how some people get Baptism of the Holy Spirit sometime later after being born again and baptised in water. He also uses Scriptures to show that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit can occur simultaneously with becoming born again. God can do what he wishes! If you have ever been confused about this, please definitely listen to this message.

He then goes on to talk about praying in tongues. As with the above, and all the way through the message, there are numerous Scriptures being used to illustrate the truth of the message. And that includes praying in tongues. He shows us that there is great spiritual power in praying in tongues. It's part and parcel of becoming Baptised in the Holy Spirit. This is a most exciting message and the Holy Spirit was moving among many people during the service. He can move upon you while you listen to this message. There's so much more information here, so don't miss out .....

Your life has already been changed drastically since you become born again (if that's not you, this message includes a prayer for that). There is a change of active power in your life still to come if you have not yet been Baptised in the Holy Spirit. That power is waiting for you, for the glory of God, for your edification, and to bless others .....

Hmmm ..... Did I mishear that Part title? Or is it a grammatical error? Neither! Ps Danny will explain it all very clearly and succinctly .....

As with last week, Ps Danny points out to us that this is a personal revelation that he has had. He indicates that he will be baring his soul to talk about it but he believes it will be most helpful to all of us as well.

In spoken English, depending upon the usage, we have 2 pronunciations of the word 'the'. The Greek language has 2 words, each of which can be translated into English as 'word': Logos and Rhema.

Logos: What we read with our mind; Rhema: What we read with our heart.

Whole dissertations are available on those 2 words and the above is a simplification. However, Ps Danny gives numerous examples to distinguish between the 2 and how we can access that difference in our lives.

Reading from John 1:1-5, we quickly discover that the word logos is used to describe Jesus as The Word. That's just the start - there is much more about the operation of both logos and rhema in our day-to-day lives. And many scriptures. The question for us all to ponder is this: Are we just reading the Bible as logos, with our heads, or are we also reading the Bible with rhema, a Holy Spirit revelation? Seriously, if we're not getting rhema into our lives we are missing out on a lot. Listen to this message and be inspired to seek God for an understanding of both kinds of words. And read and pray as you go.

This week, Ps Danny gets personal - he says that he's preaching to himself and that we can listen in. He advises that we take notes so that we can later check ourselves out against what he says. I think we won't need to wait until later but, listen in, and see if that applies to you.

Ps Danny quickly reminds us that the Bible tells us that life and death can be in our words. He reads some details from James 3 about the untamable tongue, the smallest part of us but it has the most power. With our tongues, we can bless or curse. Our words come out of the well that is in our soul. Do we have clean water or brackish water down there? Our tongues need to be bridled but no human can control their tongue. We cannot save ourselves. But, Ps Danny provides us with the solutions that we need.

The first step is for us to be willing. We have a responsibility there. God has the responsibility to teach us how to get to the right place. Listen carefully and take notes as Ps Danny quotes many Scriptures from both the NT and OT on how we can manage our tongues. We all need this. We know that already, don't we!

And ..... Do physical hearts actually have a mind of their own? Check out the amazing testimonies that Ps Danny reveals to us on this matter.

Ps Hugh begins with asking a few questions .....

- How does our speech line up with the Word of God?

- How does our speech affect others?

- How is it affecting our own lives?

- Words are powerful. We should read the Word. Why?

He then reminds us of some things we are all guilty of .....

- Saying something that we can never take back and spending many years wishing we could.

- Talking about people instead of talking to them.

- The quality of a marriage is determined by how we speak to one another. (How's that going for you these days?)

There is much more. Hugh uses numerous Scriptures to show us how we should speak in positive ways instead of dwelling on the negative, which comes out in our speech. The Bible, the Word of God, is replete throughout with how to speak positively and bless people instead of cursing them, including ourselves. We all do this! We all need today's message because ..... at the end, Ps Hugh outlines the solution to us and how we can get it right.

The Secret Sauce? What are you going to do with this, Ps Ashleigh? Where are you going with it? Let's see .....

After giving some commendation to some of our faithful congregation members, and then praying, Ps Ash commences talking about food and especially the 'secret' sauces that they all seem to have, without which the taste would not be effective. We siallhere in the congregation eager to find out what the secret sauce is and how it is related to this series on Discipleship. She reads from Mark 9:30-37.

And then she reveals the word which describes the 'secret sauce' for Discipleship. Applying that 'secret sauce' is risky! She points out that we can't live a life without risk. Part of that risk is to show our emotions and not lock ourselves up. She points out that discipleship requires relationship and goes into depth about that.

She eventually arrives at mentioning what her favourite sauce is ..... Mayonnaise! She has prepared all the ingredients that make mayonnaise and asks for a volunteer to do the job while she explains the specific functions of each ingredient and why they are necessary. (We have not diverted from the main topic!)

The ingredients to make it are eggs, lemon juice, oil, salt, and whisking. She then ingeniously uses metaphors to show how each one of these can be applied to an aspect of our being effective with discipleship. Each one has its own Scripture applied to it.

What if we don't want to be a disciple? Well, if we are a born again Christian, we already are. It is just a matter of how effectively we are applying that. This carefully prepared and accurately executed message today will prepare us well to act out the discipleship which is in every born-again Christian.