CINNAMON GARDENS BAPTIST CHURCH
CGBC NEWS
November - December 2008
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öPastoral
Letter
öChurch
Calendar öFeatures öNoticesPastor Rev. W. Warshamanage 120, Dharmapala Mw, Colombo 7 Telephone: 011-264-9423
Pastor Rev. Gary Dean Telephone: 011-250-0357 Mobile: 077-752-0482
Secretary Mrs. Ruby Weerasinghe
96/18 Kottanuwatta Road Tel :472-2057 (Office) Tel : 282-1962
Treasurer Mrs. Shalini Jayasooriya 79/4 Kuruppu Road Colombo 8 (9411) 268-2825 Mobile: 077 731-1549
Deacons Mr. Ravi Algama; Mr. S. Kumar; Mr. Thilal Nanayakkara; Mr. Giyan Senapathiratne; Mr. Premalal Ukwatte
Church Representatives
Mr. Malik Perera; Mrs. Nirmala Riza
Dev Piya Sevana
Secretary - Mrs. Alohoma Moses Treasurer - Mr. Nihal Silva
Some Christian News Links
 Visitors
We had the joy of having the following Members of the Church who live abroad, visiting and worshipping with us recently: Mr. and Mrs. Ranjith Amerasekera, Mr. Gamini Amerasekera, Rev. Fred George and Mr. Jayampathy Silva. Sick
Please uphold our brother Sunil Rupasinghe, who needs a kidney transplant, in your prayers. If there is a donor available, please contact the Church Office. His blood group is 'O positive'. We pray that God will supply his need and restore him to good health. Our prayers are also with Rebecca as she mourns the recent loss of her mother in Australia and also as she cares for her husband at this time. We also ask for prayers for healing for Iroma Jansen who is in and out of hospital for her leg trouble. Please pray for our Lord's healing touch on Jean Vanniathamby, wife of Edward Vanniyathamby. She is ill with cancer. Congratulations
Our congratulations to Mrs. Manel Nanayakkara on her recent appointment as National President of the YWCA. We are proud to have two Baptists at the head of the YWCA and YMCA (Mr. Ravi Algama) and prouder still that they are both members of our Church. May God bless them in their numerous tasks and travels in connection with their work. Travel
Chitrani Wijetunge and her husband left for a month's holiday in Australia. We wish them a happy reunion with their daughters, Devani and Ishani. Dr. Clive Stebbings left for Australia to be with his family for Christmas. We wish him too a happy and refreshing holiday and a safe journey back to Sri Lanka in early January. Welcome to new Members
Mr. Jayashantha Perera, Mrs. Saumya Perera, Mrs. Lakshmi Ragavan and Mrs. Niranjala Kumari were received into membership of CGBC on 2 November 2008. Pray for our elders
Please continue to pray for our elders - George Henricus, Beatrice Silva, Walter Rupasinghe, Ivor & Enid Senapathiratne, Tiddy Senap-athiratne and Lakshmi Ameresekera, Walter Perera and Mr. Jackson Fernando. Births
Our congratulations to Rabuni and Regina on the safe arrival of their baby son. Deaths
Mrs. D. L. E. Perera, fondly known as Aunty Lettie. We praise and thank God for her life and witness within her family and in our Church. She was a regular worshipper on Sundays in spite of her physical disabilities in the later stages of her life. The Wednesday Prayer Group for ladies which she conducted was a blessing not only to Church members but also to those who came to pray in the Chapel as well as to other callers. We say 'thank you' to all the family members for providing the flowers, lunch and cake for our 195th Church Anniversary in her memory. We extend our deepest sympathies to her children, Jayantha, Lalani, Susantha, Sriyakanthi, Vasantha, Shantha and Nishanthi, sisters Sarah and Lydia and brothers Vincent and Hector and all their families. vvvvvvvv Mrs. Enid Senapathiratne was called home on 5th October 2008. She was a quiet and gracious lady, who was well loved not only by the family but also by all others who touched her life. Our prayers are with her husband, Ivor, and her children Dushantha & Kumudinie, Giyan & Sumudu and the grandchildren Dinuk, Osanda, Pradan, Thisal & Lavinidhi. vvvvvvvv Mr. Karunadasa Ukwatte, father of Premalal Ukwatte was called home on 4th November 2008. We sympathize with him and his mother Prema, Premalal, his sister Kumudini and her husband Shanthilal and with Devika. vvvvvvvv We are also sad to mention the tragic death of Delicia, mother of our former Pastor, Pastor Heshan de Silva. She was a teacher who served in our Baptist schools, always smiling and well loved by all. Our sympathies are with Pastor Heshan & Ronali and all the rest of their family as they mourn the sudden loss of their Mother.
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Pastoral Letter
Dear Church Family,
Recently I watched via YouTube a very well know Christian Leader identify the most serious problem that the world is facing today. This particular Christian leader has had an impact on my life through his writing, though I have never met him. I then began to wonder, what is the most serious problem that Sri Lanka is facing? What about Cinnamon Gardens Baptist Church? When I walk around our Church compound, I can’t help but notice that though we have made incredible progress with our Church building (a special word of thanks to all of you who have given and to those who have been directly involved in seeing that the much needed work is done) there is still considerable need for repairs to be made on our Church Hall, Thomas’s flat and even the Manse! Returning to the question; what is the most serious problem that the world faces today, this particular Christian leader said it is the HIV/Aids epidemic. I disagree with him! As a country, how can we overlook the war and it’s consequences for so many of our people. This is a very serious problem, but I don’t believe that it is the most serious! Then as a Church, is the most serious problem we are facing the urgent need that our buildings have for repair? The answer is no. When I turn to the Bible, it seems to me that the greatest problem our World faces, our Country faces and our Church faces can be summed up with a three letter word. That word is SIN!! It‘s not a pleasant topic and it is one that I confess I seem to avoid in my preaching. Paul writes that…”Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—“ (Rom 5:12) Earlier he writes…“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) What this means is that in all of human history there has only been one exception to this disease the Bible calls SIN. That one exception is of course Jesus Christ. This means that without exception, every woman, man, boy and girl has been infected with SIN!You won’t find the cure to SIN at your doctor’s office, in the nearest hospital, the Government doesn’t have it, not even Bill Gates, the richest man in the world today, is distributing the cure to SIN! You know that it is Jesus Christ and ONLY Jesus Christ who cures SIN. WE know the cure!!! Wow, isn’t that incredible and amazing. I think it was Mother Therese who said that her motivation for helping the poor was that when she looked at those poor wretched individuals, she saw Jesus Christ. I am convinced that when we look at people in our great city, we should look at them through the eyes of Jesus. When we do we are going to see people who are separated from God by SIN. YOU know the cure! You have the answer! What are you doing to make sure that the ones you Love, the ones you meet day in and day out have the opportunity to take the cure to SIN? Pastor Gary Dean.
A Christian is someone who has been born into God’s family by trusting Jesus Christ. The Church is another name for God’s family. The Church is not a building. It is a family of people who belong to God here on earth and in heaven. It is a family in which all are brothers and sisters bound together not by flesh and blood but by the Holy Spirit, who gives us love for Jesus and love for one another. The Church is not a sect or denomination – Catholic or Protestant. It is a great world-wide body of people whatever their colour, background or intellect who trust and follow Jesus. There are many local churches, part of the one universal Church – Anglican or Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal – to name just a few. To be a Christian means you belong to the world-wide church, but also to a local church. For a Christian to talk about ‘going to church’ is really rather ridiculous. He or she is already in the church. What is meant of course is going to a local church to worship God. ‘But must I go to church every Sunday?’ Put the question another way. ‘Must I visit my parents or friends?’ The answer is ‘no, you don’t have to, but you do because you love them’. The Christian faith is built on love – on a love relationship. God loves us – that is why he sent Jesus. We love him – because he first loved us. We love one another – because we are in God’s family and because he has poured his love into our hearts. If you really want to follow Jesus, you will want to worship God and meet with fellow members of God’s family to thank him for all his love and goodness to you. You will want to show openly that you belong to Christ – going to worship God each week marks you out as a follower of Christ. You will want to learn more about him as the Bible is read and explained and so grow stronger in faith. You will want to join with other Christians to pray together. You will want to give generously to support God’s work at home and abroad. Paul the apostle said that the church was like a body with Jesus as the head. There are many parts to the human body – arms, legs, eyes and ears, to name but a few. All are important and all have a special job to do, each dependent on the others. And this is how it is with the body of Christ, the church. Each member is important with a special contribution to make for the proper functioning and growth of the whole body. This means that every Christian is vitally important to the whole church. No one is unimportant.Taken from the Book ‘What’s the point’? by Norman Warren.
THE
CLUTTER-HEARTED LISTENER Listen to this prayer.
"Lord,
make them understand that I'm happy and content to just show up on Do we
allow the weeds of life to dominate our spiritual lives, to overwhelm
It is
characteristic of modern life that it becomes increasingly crowded and
such grip of him that he is too tired to think of anything else. It is not even that a man
deliberately banishes prayer and the Bible and the
The Ministry Team discussed the matter of those using the overnight accommodation facility and gathered that they were appealing to individual members for assistance whilst they use the Ferguson Hall. They felt that this was not a satisfactory procedure. After much deliberation, the Ministry Team decided to request Church members to route their contributions through the Church. You can make your contribution indicating to whom it should be given and put the envelope in the offertory bag. The Ministry Team can distribute it according to their needs. Ministry Team. OFFICE BEARERS AND MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH COMMITTEES AND AUXILIARIES The following were elected for the year 2008/2009 at the Annual General Meeting held on 14th June, 2008. Deacons : Mr.Premalal Ukwatte, Mr.Malik Perera, Mr.Thilal Nanayakkara, Mr.Giyan Senapthiratne and Mr.S.Kumar. Church Secretary : Ms.Ruby Weerasinghe Church Treasurer : Ms.Shalini Jayasooriya Church Representatives : Mr.Ravi Algama, Ms.Ramya Samarasekera and Ms.Nirmala Riza. Evangelism Secretary : Mr.Sugun Nevins. Superintendent KMM : Ms. Sumudu Senapathiratne. Women’s Fellowship : Ms. Booshana Weerasinghe. Men’s Fellowship : Mr.Lorenzo Kariapperuma. Youth Representative : Mr.Roshane Samarasekera. Other Appointments Church Newsletter : Church Office Superintendent KMM : Ms..Sumudu Senapathiratne Flower Secretary : Ms.Priyadarshini Algama Choir Leaders(English): Ms.Kumudumala de Silva, Mrs.Mary Oyat and Ms. Beryl Bobbart. Choir Leader(S/T) :Ms.Devika Ukwatte. Organists :Ms.Kumudu de Silva, Mrs.Ranjani de Alwis, Ms. Nimasha Samarasekera, :Ms.Shilanthi Wijesinghe and Mrs.Nelathie de Zoysa. Communion Table Arrangements : Ms. Nilanthi Warshamanage and Ms/Alohoma Moses. Bible Society Representative : Ms.Manel Nanayakkara. Cradle Roll Secretary : Ms.Priyanga Ukwatte. Master of Works : Mr. Dayantha Senapathiratne Electrical & Audio Visual – Mr.Dinuk Senapathiratne and Mr.Roshan Sivan. Church Steward : Mr.Lalith Weerasinghe. DPS Board Secretary : Ms.Alohoma Moses Treasurer : Mr.Nihal Silva. Board Members : Pastors, Church Secretary, Church Treasurer, Ms.Ramya Samarasekera, Mr.Nihal Perera, Mr.Sugun Nevins and SLBS Representative. Building Committee : Pastors, Church Secretary, Church Treasurer, Mr.Lorenzo Kariapperuma, Mr.Nihal Perera, Mr.Roshan Nanayakkara, Mr.Sunil Rupesinghe, Mr.Nihal Silva and Ms.Alohoma Moses.
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