Birkdale Baptist Church

Life, Heart and Hope in Jesus

For those who missed it, here's an edited version of the slides from my message on Matthew 5:27-30 at Boost.

Credit: Thanks to Presentation Helper for their presentation templates.

Hi folks,

Hi everyone,

By now most of you will have heard about former pastor Mike Guglielmucci and his exposure as a fraud.  For those who haven't heard, here's a nutshell overview:

I've been reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Things Done and this morning i came across this analysis and advice:

What, then, makes one company or one branch more productive than another?  A growing number of human resource professionals point to the passion that prevails within the organization. ...

Be on the lookout for ... "purpose by default." If your purpose fails to reflect your true, underlying passion, this can lead to a lack of focus and less-than-desirable performance ...

For those who have been wondering why they couldn't get to our Battle for Purity blog, it wasn't you - it was us!  I've discovered and fixed the issue, and now you should be able to get to it by all the usual methods, including RSS & Google (see the welcome page for more info).

How well are you doing in the battle for purity?  See how you go on the following questionnaire:

Building Church Leaders has an interesting article entitled "Discerning your church's hidden core values", which highlights the difference between expressed core values (what we say) and actual core values (what we are).  Our church has an expressed list of core values.  Do you think they match what we really are like?  How do you think we can determine whether there are differences?

In Ephesians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul wrote about the reason why we must pursue purity.  It is simply this: because we are God's holy people.  Ephesians 5:3-7 says:

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.

That's a pretty serious statement, so let me make sure you've caught it: No immoral, impure, or greedy person has any inheritance in Christ's kingdom.  I don't know about you, but that scares me.  (I don't think Paul is trying to say anything one way or the other about "once saved, always saved" [1], so let's not get distracted by that.)  What Paul is getting at is: God's people are pure!  God is preparing us "as a radiant church, without any stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph 5:27).  How many times have we failed to be that spotless bride that Christ is seeking?

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One of the most important things in fighting the battle for your sexual purity is getting control of your Internet usage. Here are some tips that might help you:

1. Install a web filter:
   • Safe Eyes is a content filter provided for free to all Australian citizens by the Australian government.

I was asked the question at our EYMB study group last week whether sex is an essential component of marriage. At the time i said that yes it was, but after thinking about it afterwards i feel that there are some important qualifications that need to be made.

There are plenty of marriages where one or both of the partners is unable to have a normal sexual relationship due to some physical disability such as birth defects or injury. A friend of our family has just been engaged to a guy who is paralysed and will need constant care all his life. My guitar teacher when i first started learning guitar was the same - he was wheelchair-bound due to a motorcycle accident when he was a young adult.

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