Unfortunately Simon Benham was not able to speak today since he has gone down with Covid-19. As a result, Esther decided to use a talk that she gave in early 2020 rather than struggling to prepare a new talk in a very short time. She speaks from Mark 6:30-44 about the anonymous boy who gave his lunch so that Jesus could miraculously feed a group of 5000 men along with many women and children. It didn't matter how big the amount of food that was given but Jesus needed his offering to be able to perform the miracle. Esther asks 5 questions:
- Do you come and go, or do you stay?
- Are you connecting with Jesus regularly?
- Are you driven by compassion or duty?
- Do you feel that your offering is too small?
- Is your offering your security?

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EUJdjrPNbFNCjN5AInPE7a8BT1WHO376NgrnL7zwwDnL4Q?e=ePmQXg

Esther continues our "Parables of Jesus" series by looking at The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders in Matthew 7:24-27 and Luke 6:46-49. She discusses issues about building on sand compared to building on rock and looks at the importance of having good foundations. God has already laid the foundations and Jesus is the rock on which we need to build our lives. He wants us to be doers of His word not just hearers.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EbvS-MYa89VPo24T9HcJIEkBu12jS8nfTT-S2Tce_3w0Vw?e=nTKIWT

Today's meeting was a more informal meeting where attendees had an opportunity to share some stories of what God was doing in their lives. In order to keep these within the group it has been decided not to include them in the podcast. Therefore this recording contains only the worship at the beginning of the meeting plus Esther's comments after worship and at the end.

Esther continues our series "The Parables of Jesus" by looking at The Parable of the Lost (or Prodigal) Son from Luke 15:11-32. She looks in turn at the 3 characters in the story - the younger son (who left but eventually returned home), the father (who represents God and welcomed his son back home) and the older son (who was reliable & stayed at home the whole time) - to see what we can learn from them and how we can apply it to our own lives.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EX_xbP0Ha9hHhP83LSBo_YcBDJU3vnNrmyFAEhmZMOsI6Q?e=t7d5pC

At the start of a new school year Esther starts a new series looking at some of the Parables of Jesus to see what are the meanings behind them and how we can apply them to our lives.
She starts with the Parable of the Sower in Matthew chapter 13 verses 1-9 & 18-23. This parable is actually more about the ground that the seed is being sown into - along the path, on rocky places, among thorns or on good soil - and what happens to the seed in each case. The 4 types of ground are representations of our hearts and how we can receive God's word when we hear it. So finally Esther asks how do we go about ensuring that our hearts are "good soil" so that we will response correctly in order that fruit will grow in us?

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/Edsr5IClfB9FlKnu_XhniEkBS6I983d4r0enRcuEBgnijA?e=31Akdf

Our guest speaker today is Michael Bentley who spoke to us from Jeremiah 2:1-13 where God states that His people had committed 2 sins: they had forsaken Him and had dug their own cisterns (gone their own way).
Michael says that we Christians sometimes behave as if we think that we know better than God and he asks if we have done the same as the Israelites.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EcoiR5XNnCRHm3JJ9SLeREMBY5BQR3tAvnqrbftypbAFmw?e=2tXZJ8

The questionaire that Esther spoke about can be found at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EVAz_gElmYhHjmqjlxNyeFkBFQbbYEohEXHj2z4xiIwDhg?e=1LdN2j

Esther summarises the series so far and reminds us why God chose to take the Israelites on the Desert Road - what were they supposed to be learning during the journey?, how was God going to reveal Himself to them?, how was this relationship between God & His people going to start to materialise & deepen & develop?, what were they learning & what can we learn from their experiences & what they went through, how do we apply those things to our own lives?
She ends the series leaving them on the border to the promised land after they have refused to go in and hence are condemned to spend 40 years in the desert while the whole unbelieving generation die out & before their children will be ready to take possession of the land.
Attendees are given a list of key quotes from the various talks (see https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EdVB2KMTEotFsZKuwG03T3UBKTiwEOy4MMqMkdYAJyX4mQ?e=yFH3Hi) and have the opportunity to discuss which ones have impacted them.

Esther continues "The Desert Road" series looking at Number chapters 12-14 where a leader from each of the 12 tribes of Israel is sent to scout out the land of Canaan. Although all 12 of them saw that the land was good and flowing with milk & honey as God had promised, 10 of them spread a negative report because of fear of the people who lived there and the difficulty of the task of conquering the land. Only Joshua & Caleb had the faith to declare that God would go with them to give them the land.
Esther asks 2 questions: "Whose report will you listen and respond to?" and "Whose eyes are you seeing things through?".

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/ESOv3tuNYeRBsdPmLIM43UEBDAq223W6_T77CjYGT03Hcg?e=imYw2e

Due to various technical difficulties with Zoom today we did not manage to record any of the worship or the initial part of Esther's talk, and we had to restart the Zoom meeting a couple of times so there are a couple of short breaks in the middle of her talk.

Esther continues our series "The Desert Road" by looking at Moses, the Man of Humility, and talks about 3 things that we can learn about humility from Moses.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EemmSReGX4pDukMMmsRfVLoB9--pM4nRDkM-27r17OK37g?e=yGUVaV

Esther continues our series "The Desert Road" looking at Numbers 9:15-23. When the cloud of the Lord's presence lifted from above the tabernacle the Israelites moved on and when it settled over the tabernacle they camped. As they watched for the cloud rising or settling, so we need to be attentive to the Holy Spirit guiding us each day and learn to stay in the presence of God.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EXjGROgROhVDh_zdqvqZKdABj3M2aB_G7ruy2tiYQfV1rw?e=AG2X18