John 12:1-11 “Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. 3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. 7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. 9 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; 11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.”

John 12: 1-11 gives an account of our Lord Jesus having supper at Bethany. Six days before the Passover, our Lord entered Bethany and was at the house of Simon the leper. Martha was serving supper to her Lord, perhaps to thank the Lord for what He had done for  Lazarus who had been raised from the dead by Him. At the table with the Lord Jesus was Lazarus, who was fellowshipping with the Lord. Another person there was Mary, but it seemed that she had nothing to contribute to the occasion since the meal was already cooked and served. Mary must have loved her Lord with her heart because she took a pound of spikenard ointment, which was very costly, and anointed the feet of the Lord Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. What a beautiful scene it must have been of people giving of themselves to serve our Lord! If either Lazarus, Martha or Mary had not provided their service to the Lord Jesus, the feast would have been incomplete. There must have been a special love for the Lord Jesus in each of them to contribute to such a serene and comforting time with  Him in the midst of a hostile situation, days before He was betrayed and crucified on the cross. We do not read of any of the three complaining while serving the Lord Jesus, but they did so willingly. The service that each provided for supper was important because their individual talents and work were united, supplementing each other in their collective service for the Lord.

When we heard the wonderful news that our sister church, Ebenezer Bible-Presbyterian Church in Melbourne had purchased a new property, an opportunity was given to the Hopefuls to assist in raising funds to help our brethren to pay for the property. We decided to organize a food fair and garage sale. It seemed at times to be quite a formidable task to mobilise sufficient Hopefuls because all of the church’s capable youth and young adults were taking their exams right up to the week of the fair, but  it is indeed  God’s grace that we were able to hold this event without incident and be able to raise funds for Ebenezer B-P Church. It has been a joy for all of us to witness many people using their time, labour and talents to build God’s Kingdom. Like the supper at Bethany, all were able to participate. It is a testimony that everybody had a gift of helping in some way. The Sunday School children played their musical instruments; the teens, young adults and seniors prepared and cooked food, planned the games, made banners and signs, price tagged items for sale, created games stalls, sold coupons, invited people to come, staffed the stalls for several hours and helped in the cleaning up after the fair. It was indeed a blessing that we were able to meet members of the public and friends who came by to support this cause. One lesson we learnt from organizing the fair is that whatever amount of funds we raised is less important than the opportunities the fair had provided to all Hopefuls in serving our Lord. We learnt to be grateful for the amount of funds raised at this event because we know that whatever funds raised were all only because of His grace. Let us therefore never be ungrateful and complain that the funds raised could have been more. Let us just stop and think for a while how this would sound to our gracious God -  we would sound ungrateful!

We know that God has been generous and merciful to all of us.  We know that God has given us different gifts and talents. What will we say to the Lord Jesus on Judgment Day, if we did not do anything and have wasted the talent, gifts, and wealth He has entrusted to us? Did we invest any of these to profit the kingdom of God? If we examine our hearts and our lives and see where we fall short, let us uphold each other and pray that God will move us to be united in the loving service for our Lord.

I would like to specially thank:

The members of the organizing committee for the Food & Garage Sale. They were willing to serve God even though they were busy with their studies and work;

The AFG, Ladies’ Fellowship, YAF, and Teens for their hard work and contribution;

All those who had contributed their time, labour, talents, and food & products so willingly.

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you” (Phil 1:3)

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14 Bedford Square, Colonel Light Gardens, South Australia 5041