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Church Bulletin<\/span><\/p>\n I have been taking Cameron to a local park to practice dribbling, ball control, shooting and tackling (soccer skills for those who may be wondering what I mean). A few weeks ago he hit me in a tackle which left me on the ground holding my ankle in considerable pain. My ankle has been further tortured showing him how to curve a ball with the out-step of the foot. After each session I usually feel it in my legs and feet for a couple of days. I can\u2019t believe that routine things which were undertaken with ease now have side effects. Don\u2019t get the wrong impression, I\u2019m not falling to pieces just yet and I thoroughly enjoy the exercise. <\/span><\/p>\n It does remind us however of Paul\u2019s words in 2 Cor 4:16, <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward\u00a0man is being renewed day by day.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0Our bodies are not unimportant but they are not to be our chief concern. Paul also said in 1 Tim 4:8, <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is enjoyable to spend late afternoons at the park kicking a soccer ball with my son. It is beneficial to stretch one\u2019s legs and fill the lungs with air. In this life however, the outward man and the inward man are heading in two different directions. One day they will be united in perfection, but as we remain on this earth it is upward and onward for the soul, while it is downward and decay for the body. As the years roll on we should not become too dismayed that our eyes are not what they once were; we no longer have the energy of years ago; aches and pains come a little more easily. They are all signs that we are getting closer to heaven when mortality will be clothed with immortality and corruption will put on incorruption.<\/span><\/p>\n The apostle says \u201cwe do not lose heart\u201d because something wonderful is happening even as our bodies degenerate. The inner man is being renewed. The idea of renewal is renovation. Our love for Christ is getting stronger; the fruit of the Spirit is growing; our convictions are becoming clearer; our desire for Godliness is increasing. This inward work is causing us to press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Thank God He has delivered us from the futility of living for this physical realm. We can embrace the decline of our bodies in contentedness and expectation as He prepares us for better things. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Church Bulletin I have been taking Cameron to a local park to practice dribbling, ball control, shooting and tackling (soccer skills for those who may be wondering what I mean). …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1274"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4070,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274\/revisions\/4070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}