I am sure that you have all heard about the sad story in the news where a man in Austria locked up his daughter for twenty-four  years in a dungeon, subjecting her to abuse and other degradations. Not only did he lock up his daughter but also another three children who were his illegitimately. None of us have any idea of how terrible it must have been for those locked up, we are so used to our freedom that the thought of being locked up for twenty-four years is inconceivable.

Freedom is important to us and we guard our freedom closely. Think of our children as they grow up, isn’t gaining “freedom” one of the greatest dreams? Don’t they seek to get their driving licences as quickly as possible so that they can be mobile and “free”?

We like to think that we are free but unless we know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour then we are not. We are actually slaves, slaves to sin as the Bible puts it. The trouble is, we often don’t feel like slaves. We don’t see the eternal picture, we only see the universe around us. All we know is what we see, hear, taste, feel and smell and that has become our whole world. We think that we are free because we can make choices but without the knowledge of the eternal world we can choose nothing of value.

Jesus offers us true freedom, freedom from the power of sin, freedom from the tyranny of death and freedom from the foolishness of the self. Allow Jesus to rescue you from the dungeon of sin, seek the freedom that brings life, eternal life.

In love, Alan

What would we be without mothers? While we all know that not all mothers are what they should be, we praise the Lord for those who are and we thank Him for their love and devotion to we, their children. Who does a baby want when they are hungry? Their mother! Who does a child want when they are scared or upset? Their mother! Who do we often turn to when we want special love, care and attention? Our mothers! When our mothers pass away we grieve sorely because we have lost the one person who we see from the moment we open our eyes and onwards.

It is unfortunate that not all people get to enjoy the blessings of their mother. Some have mothers who neglect and others are called away where they can’t access their mother. The Lord Jesus knew that these things would happen and so He made adjustments. One day His disciples answered Him saying that they had left their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers to follow Him. Jesus answered that they would receive recompense many times over for what they had left. What Jesus meant was that within His church we would find family, mothers, fathers sisters and brothers, all to care for us and satisfy our needs.

As the people of NorthWest we must be mindful that we are the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers to our family of God. As we celebrate mother’s day today, let us remember that someone here may need our love, our attention and our care. Let us celebrate the motherhood of this congregation and the mothers within who love us with God’s love.                        In love, Alan

I was reading in today’s paper about one of our local soccer players who, although he is currently under suspension for hitting an umpire, is being allowed to play for Australia in the Olyroos soccer team. His suspension is being curled around the Olympic competition merely so that he can represent Australia. The umpire that he punched is quite upset and other umpires have come to his defence asking the question, “What is the value of a suspension if it can be cast aside for other things”? I can understand their consternation. Why reward someone who is under punishment, doesn’t it merely encourage them to trivialize their bad behaviour?

We all know from the front pages of the newspaper that a similar incident involving a member of the swimming team ended with the team member being suspended from the squad. We Australians need to remember that winning isn’t everything. Who do we want to represent us, people who are violent in character or people who do their best while maintaining their self-control? In the end, Australia will be unchanged by the number of medals we win but we will be changed if we reward those who do wrong merely to extend our tally of gold.

As Paul says, we must each run the race of life in order to win the medal, but the emphasis is on running the good race, not crushing the opposition in the race to get to the finishing line. For each of us the true performance of our lives is the discipline, perseverance, self-control and good behaviour that gets us to the starting line, not the selfish drive that gets us to the finishing line first.           In love, Alan