After last week's introduction of our new "The Desert Road" series, Esther reads Exodus 14 and talks about Crossing the Red Sea. She brings 4 things out of the passage that are relevant to our lives today:
- Trusting God - no matter what!
- Keep moving on!
- The Presence of God is enough
- Fear of the Lord and trust in the Lord - Both are needed

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EUQCmkqK7f1BmpsTXOkNjUMBSCoLi9V9nrRcoJBbLFZ-yQ?e=rUO6zj

Esther gives an introduction to a new series called "The Desert Road". She starts with a history lesson of how the Israelites arrived in Egypt through Joseph and eventually escaped under the leadership of Moses. They could have reached their destination by the shortest route but God chose to take them through the desert instead. In this series we will look at some of the lessons that can be learned from their journey in the desert before entering the promised land since God is more interested in the process that we go through than He is in the destination that we get to. She closes by looking at 4 promises for our desert road.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EbJd2jOp2jBNtslSBhGC_9wBW_-G9on-OGqU9zCGGg5RtQ?e=UdFeJN

Our guest speaker this week was Alan Lander, who used to be one of our elders. He states that it's not how you start that's important, it's how well you finish. He looks at several bible characters who started well but didn't finish at all well. He talks about the danger of pride amongst several areas that we should seek to avoid and finishes with a list of practical steps to enable us to finish strong.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EcCPrFX45ONNiLSRHqx0xKEBTClhGNEquXspB9gaGck9JA?e=hQzhuW

This week Esther completes our "Who Do YOU Say I Am?" Series, firstly by summarising the previous weeks and then looking at the final issue of testing. She talks about Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness experience to be tested and then emerging in the power of the Holy Spirit to start His ministry. If you want more of God, more of His power and His authority in your life, then you have got to go through the testing. There is no cheap or easy way.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EXffZlOMfGhBhKY_ejmePNMBW_GD13NCL7rXkIHx7uDPEA?e=VJTizO

Our guest speaker today is Michael Bentley. He speaks from the book of Haggai where the prophet encourages the Israelites to listen to God and invest their time & energy into rebuilding the temple that was in ruins rather than working on their own houses. He encourages us to stop making excuses and to get on with the work that God has called us to do for His kingdom.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/Eck-bZ4JXsJDuUI2F2Up8vkB9NXdc7oAD8qtc5CRhEuPiA?e=GJhIzi

At the end, we played By The Rivers Of Babylon by Boney M, which can be found on YouTube at http://youtu.be/rpDj1UTIn4Y

Our guest speaker today is Catrina Benham, our senior pastor's wife. She speaks to us on the subject of Unity from Ephesians 2:11-22, looking at the 3 areas of Gentiles & Jews, Peace and Togetherness. She states that Unity is a gift from God and it's a witness.

Due to a problem with the recording we were unable to include the worship on this podcast. The songs that we sung were as follows:
- To Be in Your Presence by Noel Richards - https://youtu.be/typ7cueKdT4
- In The Presence of a Holy God by Mark Altrogge - https://youtu.be/BRxJZGuz3Lg
- God Is Here by Lara Martin - https://youtu.be/G37Te12NpNA

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EdFpOwMS-1dPk9RgDQ8pZoUBo1ODxeQFzsGpnHBQObJyFQ?e=ideonG

Esther resumes our "Who Do YOU Say I Am?" series firstly by recapping the areas that we have covered in the previous 9 sessions. Then she talks about being anointed by the Holy Spirit, clothed with God's power and being a witness for Jesus as a result.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EV-pqm9ax3lCk2Q2nHNbDzcBu37Dk487TzwhjCRRigS3Yw?e=vgazbW

Our guest speaker today is Simon Benham, our senior pastor. Continuing on from his message on Sunday he uses Deuteronomy 2:1-3 to say that God is calling us to move on from where we've been for the last couple of years into the new things that He has planned for us. He states that God will reveal those things as we get alone with God to hear from Him and encourages us to go on Pilgrimage.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EYhmABfIlChAvRHRZyzX3E4BHILwDRRrB_Lg24fiYq3cng?e=Us04Ch

As we start a new year, Esther looks again at the character of Isaac in Genesis 26 with a view to us pausing to take a look at our lives and ask where it is today. She talks about 3 types of wells - those that have already been dug, those that need re-opening and those that need to be dug.

See additional notes at https://kerithcommunitychurch-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/encounter_kerith_church/EYTJ3Es7aYtBu5TCG8YKU4sB1c5pHMZG_8IlMbZ-FmMweQ?e=uEtGA7

This week we held our Christmas Encounter meeting, which was our last official meeting of 2022. We had a video, a couple of poems, a reading and several carols, plus Esther spoke on the subject "Interrupted by Good News Of Great Joy".

Here is the outline of the meeting:
- Introduction
- Video – Southland Christian Church - https://youtu.be/suowe2czxcA
- 1st Carol - "Hark The Herald Angels Sing"
- Prayer and Formal Welcome - Esther Carter
- 1st Poem Reading - "Christmas Tree" - Liz Hogan
- 2nd Carol - "Angels From The Realms of Glory"
- Reading - Luke 2 v 8-20 - Tony Fulford
- Message - "Interrupted by Good News of Great Joy" - Esther Carter
- 3rd Carol - "Oh Come All Ye Faithful"
- 2nd Poem Reading - "Reason For The Season" - Glynis Challis
- Closing Prayer - Michael Bentley
- 4th Carol - "Joy to the world!"
– Close Meeting - Esther Carter