TSCF Hamilton

Hamilton Christian Fellowship is a TSCF group based in the Waikato. For the moment, Li Lian, TSCF staff worker, hopes to put up micro components or micro-ideas as a resource for students to create their own material suitable for their groups. In time, it is hoped that students will take over the management of this space.

[tscfhamilton]

This account will no longer be updated.

We are re-shaping our use of social media and this account will no longer be in use. 

Thank you for your interest please keep in touch on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HamiltonTSCF/.

[jeanniephan]

Seek refuge from the rain by Jeannie Phan

[tscfhamilton]

[thecrafternooncottage]

Recent sketchbook pages

[ryannotbrian]

I made a little animation to pretty much sum up my weekend. :D

[bookmania]

The Round Bookshelf (by nikolajnewyork)

[tscfhamilton]

Justice

Ecclesiastes 3:16 Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, Wickedness was there; And in the place of righteousness,Iniquity was there.17 I said in my heart,“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

Ecclesiastes 4 Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, But they have no comforter—On the side of their oppressors there is power, But they have no comforter. 2 Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, More than the living who are still alive.3 Yet, better than both is he who has never existed,Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

[tscfhamilton]

Fear God

Ecclesiastes 3: 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

Ecclesiastes 5:7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.

Ecclesiastes 7:18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.

Ecclesiastes 8:12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God,it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,For this is man’s all.

[tscfhamilton]

Work diligently and invest wisely

Fourth, diversify your investments (Eccl. 11:1–2). “Send out your bread upon the waters” does not refer to charitable giving, but to investments; in this case, the “waters” represent a venture in overseas trading. Thus, giving portions to “seven” or “eight” refers to diverse investments, “for you do not know what disaster may happen on earth” (Eccl. 11:2). 

Fifth, don’t be overly timid about investing (Eccl. 11:3–5). What will happen, will happen, and you cannot control that (Eccl. 11:3). But this should not frighten us into putting money under a mattress where it yields nothing. Instead, we should find the courage to take reasonable risks. “Whoever observes the wind will not plant; whoever regards the clouds will not reap” (Eccl. 11:4). 

Sixth, understand that success is in God’s hands. But you don’t know what plans or purposes he has, so don’t try to second-guess him (Eccl. 11:5). 

Seventh, be persistent (Eccl. 11:6). Don’t work hard for a little while and then say, “I tried that, and it didn’t work.”

The Teacher’s search for knowledge about the future ends at Eccl. 11:5–6 with a triple repetition of the marker phrase “not know.” This reminds us that although working wholeheartedly, accepting success and failure as part of life, and working diligently and investing wisely are good practices, they are merely adaptations to deal with our ignorance of the future. If we truly knew how our actions would play out, we could plan confidently for success. If we knew which investments would turn out well, we would not need to diversify as a hedge against systemic losses. It is hard to know whether to hang our heads in sorrow for the disasters that may befall us in this fallen world, or to praise God that it is still possible to muddle through, and maybe even to do well, in such a world. Or is the truth a bit of both?

https://www.theologyofwork.org/old-testament/ecclesiastes/

[tscfhamilton]

Wisdom in Ecclesiastes

Like the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes is wisdom literature. Ecclesiastes acknowledges the value of wisdom: "Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor" (7:11-12).

Ecclesiastes imparts wisdom in many areas of life, including law and justice: "When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong" (8:11).

But the special emphasis of Ecclesiastes is relating the limits of wisdom. First, wisdom is often ignored or forgotten: "The wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten" (2:16). Solomon remembered when a poor man saved a city by his wisdom, yet soon this man’s deeds were forgotten. Solomon concludes: "‘Wisdom is better than strength.’ But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.... Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good" (9:16, 18).

Second, wisdom cannot eliminate chance misfortune: "The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all" (9:11).

But the ultimate limit of wisdom is death: "Like the fool, the wise man too must die!" (2:16). Kenneth R.R. Gros Louis writes that the "Preacher...boils everything down to two great realities, to the essentials — death and chance" ("Ecclesiastes," in Literary Interpretations of Biblical Narratives, ed. Kenneth R.R. Gros Louis, p. 278). Wisdom ends at death: "In the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom" (9:10).

https://www.gci.org/bible/poetry/eccles1

[tscfhamilton]

3 John

 The elder,

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

[tscfhamilton]

2 John

 The elder,

To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.

 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.

I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.

[shannontalkstans]

Faith

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. - 1 John 5:14-15

[his-unfailinglove]

Dear friends, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

1 JOHN 5:21 (via his-unfailinglove)

[tscfhamilton]

1 John 5

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.  We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

[roceldahope]

1 John 4:4

Ye are of God, my little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

[whatwewear2church]

THERE IS NO TRUE LOVE WITHOUT GOD

“My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love.”   1 John 4:7,8 The Message

Photo By: Gerry Fortilus @4gvnrbl