Winter 1988
At this time of' year the professing church celebrates the coming of Christ into the world about 2000 years ago. Not only the professing Church but the world at large from atheistic communism to those of the Muslim faith acknowledge this great profound effect on the external destiny of mankind.
Christmas is generally portrayed very often as a family scene with Mary and Joseph watching over the Child in the manger, but I wonder if people have grasped the miraculous happenings which accompanied this seemingly ordinary event?
Let us therefore consider what the scriptures teach about this important element of the Christian faith. Firstly, why was it necessary for the Son of God and Lord of Glory to come down from the splendour of Heaven to this sin-cursed world with all its suffering and sorrow? The scriptures tell us that the Incarnation (that is God becoming man) was necessary for "the Son of man to seek and to save that which was lost" Luke 19 :10. Mankind since the fall of Adam, was in a state of sin and misery and under the wrath of God. Sin had to be punished if the justice of God was to be carried out; therefore it was necessary for God to provide a Saviour to redeem Adam’s vice. The plan of salvation was agreed in eternity past by the Triune God, in that God the Father was willing to give His only Son and the Son was willing to be humbled and take upon Himself the human nature of man without sin.
How
then was all this to be effected? How could Christ, the Son of God become man
without receiving the fallen nature of man?
Luke 1: 35 explains
in the words of the angel to Mary "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore that holy thing which
shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God".
This shows that the birth of Christ was the supernatural operation of the
Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. The doctrine of the virgin birth is based on the
following passages of scripture Isa.7: 14, Matt.1: 18-20, Luke
1: 35 and
Gal. 4: 4. It
must be remembered that the babe who lay in the manger was none other than the
Lord of Glory and Creator of all.
Perhaps we should consider more at this time just what it cost the Lord Jesus to come from Heaven above to earth beneath. Consider the humiliation and the reproach that He suffered not only in birth but throughout His life and finally climaxing in His death on Calvary's tree.
Taking an example on the human level could we imagine any royal prince vacating his throne to live in a slum area of an inner city?, and this could in no way be compared to the humiliation of Christ. No wonder the hymn writer wrote:
Jesus my Savior to Bethlehem came,
Born in a manger to sorrow and shame.
Oh, it was wonderful, bless be His Name,
Coming for me, for me.
It was too wonderful for our finite minds to understand why Jesus should come to this world, give so much and receive that punishment which was our due.
As we celebrate Christmas in 1987 may we who profess to belong to Christ truly “Come and adore Him Christ the Lord”.
Billy Colville
'The Difference'
I got up early one morning
and rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish
that I didn't have time to pray.
Problems just tumbled about me
and heavier came each task.
'Why doesn't God help me?' I wondered;
He answered,, 'You didn't ask'.
I wanted to see joy and beauty
but the day toiled on grey and bleak
I wondered why God didn't show me;
He said, 'But you didn't seek'.
I tried to come into God's presence;
I used all my keys at the lock,
God gently and lovingly chided
'My child you didn't knock'.
I woke up early this morning
and paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish
that I had to take time to Pray.
Diane Alexander.
'Thus Speaketh Christ'
Thus
speaketh Christ our Lord to us -
Ye call me MASTER and OBEY me not:
Ye call me LIGHT and SEE me not:
Ye call me WAY and WALK me not:
Ye call me LIFE and DESIRE me not:
Ye call me WISE and FOLLOW me not:
Ye call me FAIR and LOVE me not:
Ye call me RICH and ASK me not:
Ye call me ETERNAL and SEEK me not:
Ye call me GRACIOUS and TRUST me not:
Ye call me NOBLE and SERVE me not:
Ye call me MIGHTY and HONOUR me not:
Ye call me JUST and FEAR me not:
If I condemn
you; BLAME me not.
Diane
Alexander
WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP
As
I sit down to write this report and
think back over the past months I give thanks that the Lord has indeed been one
of our number and we have enjoyed times of rich blessing.
Our fellowship meetings began on Sept. 23rd with a visit from Mr Liam Joyce from the Dublin Christian Mission and it was wonderful to hear how God is continuing to bless the work there and especially among the Young people. On October 14th we were again blessed by a visit from Pastor Hamilton Moore who brought some friends along to sing and testify. Mr J. McIlvenna from Scripture Gift Mission was our speaker in November. Our brother brought along some slides and it was thrilling to hear how the Word of God is being distributed in so many different languages. Many precious souls are being reached in this way. Our prayer meetings continue on the last Wednesday of every month when one of our ladies brings a word from the Lord. Our thanks must go to each of them. Sadly the attendance at our meetings and especially the prayer meeting has been very small. Dear sisters in the Lord the need is great and time is short. We have missed some of you and others we have not yet seen. Come out and meet with us that we might encourage God’s faithful servants and pray for them and each other. We need also to pray for our families and our own fellowship. May God in these days so burden us that "we will give ourselves continually to prayer". (Acts 6 v 4). We look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks if the Lord spares and tarries.
Enter in, Child of Redemption,
Lo,
the door is opened wide;
There’s
a precious place of blessing,
Close
beside the Saviour’s side.
Wouldst thou tarry at the threshold
Of a realm so wondrous fair,
When the Master beckons to thee,
Sets before thee treasures rare?
Enter -into thy possessions,
Tarry not outside the gate.
Art thou hungry, art thou thirsty?
Lo the feast of love awaits.
Dost
thou love Him? Dost thou trust Him?
Then with earnest, eager heart,
Tarry often in His presence,
Choosing thus the better part.
Emma
Simpson
Speaking Personally…..Alison Calderwood
As a child I had the privilege of being brought up in a Christian home, where both my mother and father faithfully taught me the Word of God, and sent me to Sunday School and Church. So from an early age I knew that I needed to be saved, and at the age of five, I accepted Christ as my Saviour.
Throughout my years at school, the Lord was with me, helped me through my exams, and kept me through times of trial and temptation, and although I have failed Him many times, He has always been with me, and he’ll always be there when I need Him.
“We love Him because He first loved us” 1John 4 v 19
The Twenty-third Channel
The TV set is my Shepherd
My Spiritual growth shall want
It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for its name sake
Because it requireth all my spare time.
It keepeth me from doing my duty as a Christian
Because it showeth so many good shows that I must see.
It restoreth my knowledge of the things of the world
And keepeth me from the study of God’s Word.
It leadeth me in the paths of apathy
And doing nothing in the Kingdom.
Yes, though I live to be a hundred
I shall keep on viewing my TV
As long as it will work
For it’s my closest companion
Its sounds and its picture they comfort me
It presenteth entertainment before me
And keepeth me from doing
Important things with my family,
It filleth my head with ideas
Which differ from those
Set forth in the word of God.
Surely, no good will come of my life
Because my TV leaveth me so little time
To do the will of God,
Thus I will dwell in the house of idleness
And sloth forever.
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. Psalm 101v3 Deuteronomy 7v26
A.Alexander
Young
People’s Fellowship
This season our speakers have been Girvan McCorkell – Oct 11th, Arthur Williams (Starour) – Nov 8th, Monkstown YPF – Nov 22nd, with two special meetings, the first being our annual praise service held on Nov 12th and the other being a question time where the young people put forward questions on a range of topics to be answered by two ‘wise men’ from the assembly.
After low attendance at our first two meetings the numbers have steadily improved and it is very encouraging to see a number of new faces in the meetings.
We have been trying this season to get the young people to take a more active role in the meetings and towards this end we have been asking one or two each week to pick their favourite verse from the Bible and to tell us briefly what makes this verse special to them. The response to this has been very good and it seems to have been a very successful exercise.
November 12th was the date of our annual ‘Praise Service’. Those taking part this year were The Word of Truth, The New Life Quartette, Katherine McMahan and our own Youth Fellowship Choir, all who brought messages in song. The speaker this year was Ivan Thompson who is no stranger here at Ballee. The attendance at this meeting was very encouraging and a blessed time of fellowship was had by one and all.
YPF activities will be brought to a conclusion again this year with our Christmas dinner on the 14th December which will be held D.V. in the Old Oak Restaurant in the town.
We thank and praise God for the things He has done in the past year and now look to Him to bless in the year which lies ahead.
Ecc 12v1
Good
News Club
The summer holidays over, the Good News Club began a new session on Monday 14th September at 7pm. We had some first time attenders on the opening night, though it was equally pleasing to welcome back a number of “regulars” from the previous season, and from our Holiday Bible Club. We thank God that we have had around forty youngsters turning up at the club every Monday night since then.
Our theme this autumn has been “the life of David”. It has been encouraging to see the way the children have listened attentively to the lessons each week, and have been able to demonstrate their attentiveness by answering the weekly quiz questions with such enthusiasm. We have also had regular times of prayer, chorus singing, and scripture learing (Psalm 23), with occasional Sword Drills as well.
We have had two visiting speakers so far this season: Mr Tommy Wright (who used a jug of water and mixtures of various colours to show that the blackness of sin can be removed only by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ), and Miss Janice Warwick (who used the story of the Prodigal Son to speak of the eagerness of God to forgive the sins of all those who will but come to Him). Both lessons were extremely were extremely well received by the youngsters, and we hope to continue this practise of inviting guest speakers from time to time into the New Year.
We thank God for His presence throughout our meetings to date, and for the way He has met each need as it has arisen. We thank Him especially for the children, of course, and we pray that He will continue to lead them to the Club. Do invite any children you know between the ages of four and twelve, and encourage them to join us on Monday night at 7pm
“I love them that love me;
and those that seek me early shall find me”.
(Proverbs 8v17)
Missionary Focus
It’s time once again to share with you some things concerning the different missions and missionaries. First of all let me ask you to pray for all missionaries throughout the world over the Christmas period, many will not be able to meet with their families as we can at home, and they may feel homesick or lonely. Pray that God will strengthen and encourage them at Christmas time. I have received another nice letter from Geoffrey and Gillian McGrath, and they say things are going well for them, although it’s hard work, they have just a few weeks left of their first term at “boot camp” and then they hope to go to Canada to visit Gillian’s Uncle and Aunt, who work with the Faith Mission there. Geoffrey and Gillian have had the opportunity to speak and sing at different services and they feel that God has been working and souls have been challenged to give their lives to the Lord for full time work, so this is tremendous. They would like us to pray for Gillian’s skin complaint and that God would help them with the rest of their training, they would also like to thank you for your prayers and financial support.
Walter Burrell and his wife Mary continue to do a tremendous work for the Lord down at the docks in Cork, recently he was awakened at 1 am by someone knocking on the door and peering out into the darkness he could see a young unmarried mother with two little children, one three years old and one three months and the so called ‘husband’ full of drugs. A tremenduous row had taken place, so Walter and Mary brought them in and made some food, counselled them and brought about a reconciliation. Walter has managed to get both of them to church and he would ask us all to pray for them. Walter has also been on another Russian ship and got to see the Political Officer and after much persuasion he got him to take a copy of John’s Gospel. He has told me some other very sad stories about the young girls on the ships – young lives who are shackled by sin and really need God’s great salvation. Please pray for this great work.
Recently I had the opportunity of being at Sandes for an evening of praise and it was quite thrilling to see the results of the work that Sam and Anna do up there. Many of the soldiers’ children were taking part, singing and quoting scripture and quite a few soldiers and their wives were in the service, including the Padre and other high ranking army officials. I feel this is a very important work for the Lord as some of these men and women may never hear the Gospel presented in this way again. So do pray for Sam and Anna and their co-workers in this great task of winning souls for Christ.
The latest news from JEB working in Japan is very good, God is working and souls are being saved. So let’s praise the Lord for this. Dear friends the work of missions goes on and on and the need for prayer and financial support is greater than ever. Many missionaries are on the field today living by faith, not knowing where the next meal will come from while we at home have all we need, so could I encourage you to pray and give. I would like to thank all who give so faithfully to Missionary Enterprise but sad to say many have stopped giving. I realise some support different missions personally, and that is good, but if you don’t I trust you will join us in trying to help those in need. Recently I heard about a young couple working for the Lord in Taiwan, they had a young family and one of them had been very ill. They had incurred a lot of expenses, so when I heard this I was able to give them a gift from Missionary Enterprise so that is what Missionary Enterprise is all about. Please join us if you can.
It was good to see and hear James McKeown in the church a few Sundays ago, we do pray for him and trust that God will bless James and his wife as they labour for Him.
Do let me take this opportunity to wish you all a Blessed Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Once Christ gave his life thy ransom
That thy soul with Him might live
Now the service He demandeth
Can thy heart refuse to give?
Seasons Greetings - Sandes Home… Dec 1987
Dear Praying Friends,
Greetings in our Saviour’s Precious Name! Yes He is precious to those who believe. 1 Peter 2v7.
As we centre our thoughts only on Him, then how blessed and meaningful this season will be.
This year has been both difficult and busy and we are indebted to all who have faithfully upheld us in prayer.
As the Lord has given us a burden for the souls of these young men, we can see a great darkness and spiritual need in the camp, so please pray for the highest in rank to the lowest, including wives and children so that we may see God’s hand move in the coming days.
Pray for Brian saved in 1983 while serving with the British Army, then finding it very difficult he had back-sliden. Then on the 7th Nov he phoned us and asked if he could come over and see us because he needed to get right with God. Sam took him to the mission in Larne under the ministry of George Bates and he came back to the Lord. Do pray for him.
Anna feels at time the weakness of the body, we trust that what we have shared with you will enable you to pray more intelligently for us.
We would like to wish each of you a happy, peaceful and blessed Christmas and only God’s good and perfect and acceptable will for 1988.
Yours in the Service of the King
Sam & Anna Irons.
‘Soap
and Salvation’
Year
1982-1983
The story of a Polish Bible your money bought through aid to the persecuted (A.P.), (as told by a Polish Lady, sister Ludmilla)
As I waited in the long queues every day for milk, bread or whatever I needed, I noticed a woman in tattered, dirty clothing. She waited patiently a distance from the rest of us, and walked up to the counter only after everyone had left to take the scraps that might remain. After watching this day after day, my curiosity overwhelmed me and I decided to ask her why she waited. I approached her and said, “Excuse me, ma’am, but you always wait outside the queue until everyone else is gone. Don’t you know you must stand in line if you expect to get anything”? The lady shuffled her soiled feet in their worn sandals and still looking at the ground haltingly replied, “Well, you see, I stink, I smell awful, and the others will not let me in the queue”. “Yes”, I thought to myself, as the strong smells wafted through the air towards me, she did stink. Sobbing softly, the woman began to tell me about her mother who lay at home dying. The stench of the terminal illness permeated the house and their clothing because, she sobbed, “ I have no soap, I haven’t had any soap for nine months”. Though the stench was nauseating, I put my arm around the woman and said “Come with me, my dear, I have something for you.” Only the night before, Christian Brothers from the west had visited me and brought me soap, washing powder, food and clothing, Bibles and Christian Books. Now I could share them with this needy soul. As we walked along, the woman continued to cry, telling me more about herself, and told me over and over how kind I was. She had been an outcast for so long. I knew all too well what most people think her in my native Poland. If they are not Christian they generally care nothing for others. Certainly no one would care for a smelly woman who was an offense to the senses. We arrived at my home and I gave the woman several bars of soap, a large box of laundry detergent, a Bible and a little booklet called “ The Way To Salvation”. After telling her about Jesus and His love for all mankind, I urged her to read the Bible and booklet.
As the lady hurried away with the soap under one arm and the Bible under the other, she was beaming with happiness, saying over and over how much my concern and love had meant to her. She washed everything in the house. I do know she read the Bible, and that night she was washed in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Soap and Salvation came to that radiance of Jesus all over her face. Many months have passed, but twelve souls have received Christ in her family since then – one being a high ranking communist on the Local Town Council. All this in a communist town, a town rebuilt after World War II, without a single Church. Over a hundred believers meet in this town now, and it is not hard to imagine who will be leading the campaign in the Town Council for the legal papers to establish a Church!
Praise the Lord!
M. Robinson
The
Day Before
Sometime some ordinary day will come,
A busy day like this, filled to the brim
With ordinary tasks, perhaps so full
That we have little time or thought for Him.
And there will be no hint from silent skies,
No sign, no crash or cymbals, roll of drums,
And yet that ordinary day will be
The very day before our dear Lord comes!
The day before we lay our burdens down,
And learn instead the strange feel of a crown,
The day before all grieving will be past,
And all tears wiped away at last, at last.
When we shall bid farewell, nor see again,
That bitter-sweet, lifelong companion, pain,
For by unmerited, unfathomed grace,
Our rapt eyes shall behold our Saviour’s face!
O child of God, awake and work, and pray!
That ordinary day may be to-day,
And yet the setting of tomorrow’s sun
Will find a billion souls still here, unwon!
Composed by Martha Snell Nicholson
Copyright 1952 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago……….M Robinson
The Annual Missionary Weekend (D.V.) will be on Sunday 28th February, when we hope to have C.E.F. represented.
Monday 29th Feb E.C.M. will be represented by Sali Rahmani. The only Albanian Christian Broadcaster in the World.
Tuesday 1st March, Martin and Isobel Dudgeon from Bolivia will represent S.I.M.
We look forward to a profitable time once again as we listen to what God would say unto us through His servants.
Dates for your diary
1988 Preacher Singer
Sun3rd Mr Howard Martin Mr Bob Cole
Mon 4th- Fr 8th Week of Prayer
Sun 10th Mr Stewart Hughan Mr Ken Maxwell
Tue12th Mr Ken Brown
Sun 17th Mr Harry McCullough Word of Truth
Tue 19th Mr Ken Brown
Sun 24th Mr John McFarland Mr William McBride
Tue 26th Mr Ken Brown
Sun 31st Mr John McFarland Mrs Jean Manson
February
Tue 2nd Mr Ken Brown
Sun 7th Mr Ken Brown Ballymena Gospel Choir
Tue 9th Pastor Hamilton Moore
Sun 14th Mr John McFarland Katherine McMahon
Tue 23rd Pastor Hamilton Moore
Sun 28th Missionary Weekend Mrs Irene McMahon
Mon 29th Missionary Weekend Mrs Irene McMahon
March
Tue 1st Missionary Weekend Mrs Irene McMahon
Sun 6th Mr Sherrard McKay Yvonne and Noleen
Tue 8th Mr Stewart Hughan
Sun 13th Mr Ronald Wylie Robert and Margaret McMaster
Tue 15th Mr Stewart Hughan
Sun 20th Mr Lindsay Allen Joel and Rae McConnell
Tue 22nd Mr Stewart Hughan
Sun 27th Mr Dennis Jess Emanuel Bible College Group
Tue 29th Mr Stewart Hughan
May we take this opportunity to thank you all for your faithful support in the past year, and look to God in 1988 for His continued help and blessing.
Yours in His service, Robert, Ronnie and James