Greensy Grumblings

The Red Sheild Appeal is next weekend.

If anyone in the Greensborough Area would like to help out, shoot me an email.

I am organising collecting at Intersections (traffic lights) for those over 16 and also door knocking.

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

 
 

a-lonely-girl:
if you would like to know more about our bible study then just send me an email.
You can find my address in my profile.

I got a memo in my pidgeon hole this morning.
It cames from our Divisonal Commander (big boss),
I will quote a bit of it for you:

"This year is an important one for gambling in Victoria due to the imminent state government review of many aspects of the gambling industry, including the renewal of pokie machine licenses beyond 2012. One of the practical issues is the proximity of Automatic Teller Machines to gaming venues."

" ...help in a campaign by the Taskforce in trying to get ATMs out of pokie venues. By comparison EFTPOS poses less risk to people with gambling problems due to the interaction with venue staff to access EFTPOS"

So the Inter Church Gambling Taskforce is currently trying to lobby government to remove ATMs from pokie venues.
What a great idea.
Perhaps it is time for a letter writing campaign.

Did you know that by far the highest rate of problem gambling is experienced by those under 25 years old.
it is estimated that more than a quarter of all problem gamblers are aged under 25.
The rate of problem gambling among young people (18-25) is estimated at between 3.5% to 8%, compared to the general population's rate of 2.15%

With the government set to review gambling legislation this year, now is the time to act.

Well, I have been busy since the Liquid conference.
Been playing a few games of football, but am still yet to make a start. Hopefully this saturday.

After Easter Camp we have started a new bible study topic.
We had to change nights of Bible study, so more people could come and also switched the group to meeting at our house.
It has been good to meet at our house so far, it is a bit more informal and relaxed. Everyone is enjoying our TV chairs (you would have to see them to know what I am talking about).

So we are looking at the book of Exodus.
It is great how it has worked out, starting Exodus after Easter Camp.
We are looking at how God saved the Hebrews, which of course parallels with the Easter Story.

It was great last week, we discussed Moses and the burning bush.
A few people found out some things about Moses that they had never realised.
James loved the fact that he was a real bloke, and that he wanted to get involved with the Hebrews even before God told him to. (Killing the Egyptian who was beating the Hebrew slave)

This week we looked at Chapter 6.
It was great to hear the young people share about the struggles they have sharing the gospel and their faith with their friends.
I think our bible study last night was a good encouragment for us all.
We were able to look at how Moses had this message of good news (gospel) for the Hebrew slaves, but they weren't able to hear it.
So we talked through what that meant for our own lives.
We also talked through the aspect of suffering and how God doesn't necessarily intervene at the moment we want him to.
Some talked of the need for God to test our resolve, others shared about how it is a process of God intervening, but realising that he intervenes, even if we think he isn't acting fast enough.

I love our Bible study.
I find the young people's stories so encouraging. They share about what it is like to be a disciple in their school and with their friends. it encourages me to see that the things we discuss are relevant to them and how helpful they find it.
To talk about something one week, then come back the next week and hear how they have tried to put that into practice in their life is both an encouragement and a challenge for me.

I don't know who gets more out of our bible study times, the leaders or the young people.
It is a great opportunity to get together and learn from each other.