MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR
The reality of spiritual warfare

Happy new week to you all! I hope that you are enjoying it. I also pray that those who have had colds, flus, and other minor ailments are feeling better, especially as we get into the winter season. 

This past Sunday, Phil continued our sermon series on Joshua, speaking from Joshua 5 on preparing for battle and spiritual warfare.

This is an area many of us do not think about often because it can be quite daunting. However, I liked the challenge that Phil gave: that spiritual warfare is a reality, whether we like it or not.

Tim Keller says that the mistake we usually make is that we give the devil no credit at all, or we are so worried that we give him all the credit. Both of those states of mind are unhelpful (this is my rephrasing of Tim Keller's words).

He concludes by saying that we should have a balance, i.e., know that evil exists and the devil is out to get you, but the blood of Jesus exists and we can call on it, especially when we feel that the battles we are fighting are beyond us.

Phil gave us a helpful way of getting into spiritual warfare, which I am going to share if you did not write it down. 

So how do we prepare for the battle we face?

Before we enter a time of spiritual warfare, we must prepare ourselves. Being baptised is a good start. Knowing God’s Word, being led by the Holy Spirit, and having faith to enter the fray are also important. For the new believer, there is always grace.

Satan accuses the brethren 24/7 before the Father (Rev 12:10). If we have anything on us that Satan can accuse us of, it will be difficult for us to petition the throne of grace as we ought to. 

Firstly, a request of the Lord:

Do we have any unconfessed sin or unforgiveness towards anyone? The Spirit will speak through our conscience. Repent, confess, and be cleansed by the Passover Lamb’s blood—claim the promise in 1 John 1:9.

Put on the full armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and remind Satan that He was defeated on the cross (Colossians 2:15) and that He cannot prevail because Jesus is building His church. Be led by the Spirit into the battle, proclaiming the Word of God as your sword and praying in the Spirit.

Once we are right with God, we can go into warfare. We can do this with boldness and confidence, knowing that Jesus always backs up His word.

Have a spiritually awake week.

CHURCH SUNDAYS
Spiritual warfare

As we continue with our Conquest series, Phil will return to take us through Joshua 6.

The Israelites’ were involved in physical warfare, but we are involved in spiritual warfare.

How did they deal with adversity, and what can we learn from them?

CHURCH SUNDAYS
AGM is this Sunday

Our AGM will be held on Sunday 9th June after the service. We would love if you could all attend.

The Agenda for the AGM will be as followed:

• Confirmation of previous minutes

• Reports from various ministries (Elders, Children, Youth, Home Groups)

• Financial report

• Pastors’ report (and what’s the future?)

• Elder’s ratification

• Trustee’s ratification

• A.O.B (Questions)

CONNECT
Prayer, Youth and Home Groups

We have a variety of home groups at HCC that cater for all.

Ladies home group
Meeting on Wednesday evenings.
Contact Paula for more info: [email protected]

Mens home group 
Meeting fortnightly on Thursday evenings.
Contact Richard for more info: [email protected]

Young professionals home group 
Meeting on Wednesday evenings.
Contact Anna for more info: [email protected]

Mums and bubs group
Meeting on Friday mornings.
Contact Kirstie for more info: [email protected]

Prayer group 
Meeting on Tuesday evenings.
Contact Mato for more info: [email protected]

Youth group 
7pm on Thursday at Seven Oaks School.
Get in touch with our Youth workers Zac (0284038758) or Sinead (0224193096) for more details.

CONNECT

Like to share the news?

We recently tried rolling out a QR code you could scan to sign up for the latest edition of the newsletter. Unfortunately, that has since expired.

This link can be shared to our newsletter website. Simply enter an email address and you’re subscribed to the HCC newsletter.

GIVING

If you would like to contribute to HCC

You can make a donation to:

S.B.S Bank Halswell Community Church

Account: 03-1369-0389284-00

Ref: Tithes and offering

Particulars: Your Name