From: R & S Scarcella & Family [inbox@webpastor.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 15 November 2000 11:37 PM
To: hits@webpastor.com
Subject: CoGS Weekly Hits! 2000 Vol.11 No.3

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YOUR CoGS WEEKLY HITS! - FREE NETMAGAZINE
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distributed by Rev. Rocco & Mrs. Susan Scarcella
from Church of the Good Shepherd
Bossley Park NSW Australia
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Dear NetFamily,
Turn on the television! Bad news! Turn on the radio!
Bad news! Pick up the newspaper! Bad news! Wouldn't
it be lovely just to pick up something and find only
good news? Try reading the Bible. It's message is this:
Christ died to save sinners. Now that's good news!

READING FROM THE WORD OF GOD
Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited
to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who
believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw
that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced
the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be
blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed
along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Galatians 3:6-9 (NIV)

I like Abraham. He is a real human. He doubts; he schemes;
he disobeys; he lies. I can identify with someone like that.
But how on earth does Abraham rate so highly in God's eyes,
given these (how shall we put this politely)shortcomings of
character? Because God knew Abraham's heart. It wasn't
Abraham's goodness that justified him; it was his faith, his
trust in God. Abraham came from the hub of civilisation, an
affluent city which boasted running water, plumbing and the
invention of the alphabet. Moreover, Abraham was from a
prosperous trading family, and would have lacked no good thing.
Can you imagine then, what it must have been like for this
upper-class gentleman to say to his family:"I am going to the
middle of the desert to live in a tent"? "What?" they would
have asked, then, "Why...?" The answer: "Because my God...no
not one of the regular ones we have been used to worshipping,
and no, I don't know His name...has commanded me to go. He
says He will give me a land, make me into a nation, and bless
the earth through me. Can you believe that?" Their answer would
have been a resounding "no", but Abraham went all the same. And
God did grant him a country -Israel- and make him into a nation,
and all the earth was blessed through him. He became the ancestor
of Jesus, through whom the world is saved. God continued to mould
Abraham throughout his life, but the building block of trust in God
was there to start with. Do we trust God? If so, we too, can have it
credited to us as rightousness.

TESTIMONY
God Can Work Through You!
Moses stuttered.David's armor didn't fit.
John Mark was rejected by Paul.Timothy had ulcers.
Hosea's wife was a prostitute.
Amos' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.
Jacob was a liar. David had an affair. Solomon was too rich.
Jesus was too poor.Abraham was too old. David was too young.
Peter was afraid of death. Lazarus was dead.
John was self-righteous. Naomi was a widow.Paul was a murderer.
So was Moses. Jonah ran from God.Miriam was a gossip.
Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
Jeremiah was a bullfrog (just kidding); he was depressed and
suicidal.
Elijah was burned out. John the Baptist was a loudmouth.
Martha was a worry-wart.Mary may have been lazy.
Samson had long hair.Noah got drunk.
Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
So did Peter, Paul - well,lots of folks did.
But God doesn't require a job interview.
He doesn't hire and fire like most bosses, because He's
more our Dad than our Boss.
He doesn't look at financial gain or loss.
He's not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging, sassy,
or brassy, not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need.
As much as we try, God's gifts are free.
We could do wonderful things for wonderful people and still
not be. . .Wonderful.
Satan says, "You're not worthy."
Jesus says, "So what? I AM."
Satan looks back and sees our mistakes.
God looks back and sees the cross.
He doesn't calculate what you did last year.
It's not even on the record.
Sure, there are lots of reasons why God shouldn't have
called us. But if we are in love with Him, if we hunger
for Him more than our next breath, He'll use us in spite
of who we are, where we've been, or what we look like!
I pray that as Christians, we will step out of our
limitations into the illimitable nature of who God is.
Then our passion for God and our passion to communicate
to Him will make mince-meat of our limitations.
~ Author Unknown ~

PRAYER POINTS
** Thank God that He loves us in spite of what we do!
** Praise God for the death of Jesus, which pays for
our shortcomings.
** Praise God that He is in the business of renovation
and transformation.
** Pray for stability in government. Pray for the USA
as the results of the Presidential elections are still
unknown. Pray for the Philippines where the President
is about to be impeached.
**Pray for the meeting of Asian heads of state, that
the countries of the region can work together.
** Pray for the UK and other European countries hit badly
by floods and for the relatives of those who died in the
Austrian ski disaster.
**Pray for outreach to our communities as Christmas approaches.

HAHAHA CORNER
*** Quotable Quotes
"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force." -Dorothy Parker
"We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain
the success of those we don't like?" -Jean Cocteau
"Hollywood -- a place where the inmates are in charge
of the asylum." -Laurence Stallings
"Old age is always 15 years older than I am." -Bernard Baruch
"Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into
an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed
for the purpose." -Winston Churchill
-submitted by Chris F.

*** Twisted Proverbs
-Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes.
That way, if he gets angry, he'll be a mile away - and
barefoot.
-A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
-If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've
never tried before.
-Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life
is serious.
-For every action, there is an equal and opposite government
program.
-Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.
-A closed mouth gathers no feet.
-Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.
-Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.
-Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.
-No husband has ever been shot while doing the dishes.
-Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness
of the waist change places.
-Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
-Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast
to the real world.
-Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall
never cease to be amused.
---submitted by Jennie G.

***EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF CAT BEHAVIOUR
LAW OF CAT INERTIA - A cat at rest will tend to remain
at rest, unless acted upon by some outside force, such
as the opening of a cat food tin.

LAW OF CAT MOTION - A cat will move in a straight line,
unless there is a really good reason to change direction.

FIRST LAW OF CAT ENERGY CONSERVATION - Cats know that
energy can neither be created nor destroyed and will,
therefore, use as little energy as possible.

LAW OF BAG/BOX OCCUPANCY - All bags and boxes in a given
room must contain a cat within the earliest possible
nanosecond.

LAW OF FURNITURE REPLACEMENT - A cat's desire to scratch
furniture is directly proportional to the cost of the
furniture.

LAW OF CAT COMPOSITION - A cat is composed of Matter +
Anti-matter + It Doesn't Matter.

LAW OF CAT OBEDIENCE - As yet undiscovered.
---submitted by Stan R.

--ONE LINER
***It was so cold in New York last winter that three
lawyers were seen walking through Central Park
with their hands in their own pockets.

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Rocco: "Hey, watch out for those last 2 jokes! Any
sensitive cats or lawyers out there reading this
might accidentally get offended."
Sue: "Well Rocco, according to the universal law
of sensitivity, tell them that we should get round
to offending everyone sooner or later."
Rocco: (Groan)... "Here kitty, kitty, kitty... now,
she didn't mean it... no... really!!!"

CYA next week.
Rocco and Sue.

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