WERE IT NOT FOR GRACE (lyrics) - Brisbane Croatian Seventh

BIBLE QUIZ
When this seal was opened, there followed a silence in heaven for
"about the space of half an hour".
Eighth seal
Sixth seal
Seventh seal
Fifth seal
Please, choose an answer! ________
WERE IT NOT FOR GRACE (lyrics)
Time measured out my days
Life carried me along
In my soul I yearned to follow God
But knew I'd never be so strong
I looked hard at this world
To learn how heaven could be gained
Just to end where I began
Where human effort is all in vain
Chorus
Were it not for grace
I can tell you where I'd be
Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running but losing this race
Were it not for grace
So here is all my praise
Expressed with all my heart
Offered to the Friend who took my place
And ran a course I could not start
And when He saw in full
Just how much His would cost
He still went the final mile between me and heaven
So I would not be lost
Repeat Chorus
Forever running but losing this race
Were it not for grace
Larnelle Harris
Teaching and Being Taught
By Mikaela Miller
Brisbane Croatian Seventh-Day Adventist Church
I have never seen an angel, been mysteriously pulled from a burning building, or stared death in the
face. My spiritual journey so far may be lacking in marquee, dramatic moments but God has always
been in the background, subtly guiding my path. Taking time to reflect on His presence, I see a
pattern emerge. I have felt the closest to God and gained the most insight about Him through
working with children. From my earliest memories, I have always aspired to be two things: a teacher
and a mother. In my short life I am privileged to be experiencing both.
Fresh out of college with an elementary education degree, I took a year to be a substitute teacher
in a large city. I naively walked into those first few classrooms brimming with zealous confidence
that usually was dampened by the challenges of the day. I faced a classroom of kids from all walks
of life and troubles that I didn’t always know how to relate to. Sometimes their angry disrespect,
tears, or tantrums would shake my passion for a teaching career. I begin to dread facing another
new class each day. The uncertainty of what I could be faced with forced me to take my faith off the
shelf. I depended on God to give me the strength to meet whatever challenges each new class
would bring. Even though it was a difficult period for me, it was invigorating to see my faith
blossoming. The next year, I landed my first teaching job in an inner-city elementary school. I thought
all of the challenges that I faced in substitute teaching would be gone. I could be working with the
same class every day and really get to know the students and meet their needs. However, I was still
a “green” teacher, and I faced challenging students that I wasn’t successfully reaching. I felt very
discouraged, because I had finally realized my dream of being a teacher, but I was struggling to be
an effective one. Once again, I was forced to get out of my comfort zone of self-reliance and give
my shortcomings to God. Slowly God taught me to stop putting all my trust in my carefully
constructed plans and trust in Him when life didn’t meet my expectations. I emerged from that first
year wiser, humbler, and a better teacher because of what I experienced.
Recently, I embarked on the most faith-testing chapter of my journey so far--parenthood. Once
again, I had harbored a false sense of smugness that I was completely prepared to meet the
challenges presented by a tiny baby. I had taught multiple classrooms of rowdy children hadn’t I? I
am learning every day how much I am in need of God. And I need to keep learning lessons of
patience and humble dependence on Him. Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are
converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”
(Matthew
18:3-4,
NKJV).
Jesus
Others &
You
It’s reassuring that God continually cares enough about me to turn seemingly difficult situations into
opportunities to grow closer to Him. Working with children has always been my passion, and God
uses this to mold me and help to see Him through the eyes of a child.
Weekly youth bulletin
Saturday, June 6, 2015