The Day of the Lion – The Book of Amos

Amos is a powerful Old Testament book – it is full of power and justice, yet tinged with grace. It is a book well worth pondering over. So, following our current sermon series on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (The Rebel’s Guide to Joy), Steve Tran – one of our 5:17 elders – will be bringing us a 3-week series on the book of Amos. The series will be called The Day of the Lion.

• July 19: Amos 1:1-3:8 – The Lion is angry
• July 26: Amos 3:9-6:14 – Prepare to meet your Maker…
• Aug 2: Amos 7:1-9:15 – Visions of the End

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The Time of our Lives: Living Wisely in a Hyperactive World

While Keiyeng and I were at college, we had the privilege of meeting and learning from Kirk Patston. He’s one of the Old Testament lecturers at Sydney Missionary and Bible College. One of the subjects Kirk taught us was Wisdom Literature – and it was an amazing class. We learnt so much about how to live well in God’s world.

We recently heard that Kirk preached a small series on the book of Ecclesiastes at a Sydney conference. Ecclesiastes is one of the most famous books of the Bible. And I reckon there’s no better person to help us understand Ecclesiastes and living well in a hyperactive world than Kirk. So from August 9-30, we at 5:17 church will be watching the following video sermons:

Aug 9: The Cycle of Time – Ecclesiastes 1-2

“Is our world the place for more and more chatter about ‘gain’ and what is new, or is it the place where we receive gifts from God? Do you want mania or peace?  Do you want to own the world or enjoy it?”

Aug 16: The Lord of Time – Ecclesiastes 3

“Let us ask God to give us the wisdom to live in this unpredictable world, not counting the minutes and worrying but bringing His grace and beauty to each event, and so find joy.”

Aug 23: It’s Time! – Ecclesiastes 11

“Even though we cannot control our world, we must take responsibility for our lives, be generous, take some risks and entrust ourselves to a wise and generous creator.”

Aug 30: The End of Our Time - Ecclesiastes 12

“When just one person dies it is like the end of the world.  Life is short so let us embrace the moment, fear God, keep his commandments and so find life and joy.”