Church news 10-11 August 2019
OUR BIBLE TALK
This week Jodie continues our 18-week series on the book of Acts called ‘Launching the Church’. Today’s talk is on chapter 3 and 4, called ‘The Launch of Persecution.’.
NEXT WEEK’S TALK
Next week Jodie will continue our Acts series with the fourth talk on Acts 4:32-6:7 entitled ‘The Attack of Satan’.
MISSION OF THE MONTH
Support CMS through the ‘Mission Table’ by buying or donating stuff.
YOUTH CAMP
Our ‘Alive’ youth camp is on this weekend.
COUNTDOWN TO HOLIDAY KIDS CLUB
We’re running a four-day kids’ club during school hours on the second week of the school holidays (8-12 October). If you’re available to help let us know via response slip. And get the word out to everyone!
REAL WOMEN, REAL STORIES
Come along to our first Ladies Guild afternoon tea this year on 25th August 2-4pm in the hall. RSVP Mandy 0425 222 339.
LADIES GUILD MEETING
Sunday 18th August 3-4pm. All women invited to join to plan the afternoon tea the following week.
DINNER DONATIONS
From now on we’re just asking for donations for dinner, with no fixed price.
PARISH COUNCIL
This Tuesday night at 7pm.
NEW WEEKLY PRAYER MEETING
Join us each Saturday morning 7.30-8am in the hall. 30 minutes of prayer, plus a cuppa if you’ve got time.
NEW VISION GATHERING
At the new time of 8-11am Saturday 7th September in the hall for prayer, planning, review, training, and brunch!
LANDSCAPING WORKS COMMENCING
From Monday this week we’re embarking on the new landscaping project.
GIVING UPDATE
Each week we need to receive $2650.00 in order to meet our commitments. In the last calendar month, our average weekly giving was $3381.00, leaving a gap of $-731.00. 
Electronic giving is a great way to give! It helps us prayerfully plan our giving, and then the bank will help us keep that commitment, even when we may be unable to attend. To give by direct transfer then these are the details. Account name: Church of England Jamberoo. Account number: 10081274. BSB: 062562.
None of our Business?
Over the past week my Facebook feed has been filled with Christians stating that the abortion bill should be defeated so that all citizens in NSW should be subject to the ethics of the Bible.
But what right do Christians have to influence laws that affect people who don’t share our religious belief?
At one level it is simple: Christians are citizens like anyone else, and we have a right and responsibility to voice our opinions and influence the decisions of the politicians who represent us.
However, some argue that the Biblical worldview does not apply to those who are not followers of Jesus, and therefore Christians should focus on the behaviour of believers, not the wider population.
Yet, the reason we get involved in social ethics is ultimately out of love for others, and in particular, love for those who are unable to protect or defend themselves.
The Bible makes it clear that unborn children are as valued to God as those who have successfully made it out of the womb, and that this applies to all people, not just Christians.
And therefore if some people believe that it is acceptable to kill another person who is unable to defend him or herself, then the loving response of Christians is to try and stop that unloving and immoral behaviour.
This is why we are passionate in pursuing ways to try and protect unborn children from being killed by immoral decisions made by politicians.
What’s more, this is why Christians have been so vocal and active in trying to prevent any changes to law to make it easier to kill an unborn child… and why we weep at the decision this week that will make it easier than ever to abort healthy babies in the moments before they were due to be naturally born.
JODIE McNEILL
Coming up this weekend 10-11 August 2019
We’d love you to join us this weekend at our church, whether your the first time ever, your first time in a while, or maybe you’re with us most weekends. We’d love our church to be your church, if it’s not already.
Right now we’re in a series called ‘Launching the Church’, where we’re looking at the New Testament book of Acts and how a gang of a few hundred believers in Jesus quickly grew to many thousands in just a matter of weeks. This week it’s chapters 3 and 4, with the topic ‘The Launch of Persecution’, as we see how the extraordinary kick-start from the Day of Pentecost led to an amazing miracle, which then led to some pretty intense opposition from the legal eagles.
As part of our weekly church we have a ‘Question and Answer’ spot, where I get to answer questions you’ve asked last week about the Bible talk, or really, anything at all. Here are the questions for this coming weekend:
1 Where does the Bible say that the Holy Spirit is a ‘he’?
2 How did the Bible writer know that Judas went to hell?
3 After Pentecost, did the believers speak their original languages?
4 How long did it take to baptise 3000 people?
5 Why were people healed after touching Jesus?
6 Can Christians perform healing miracles today?
7 What stops Christians performing healing miracles today?
You can see that I’ve really got my homework cut out for me this week! So come and hear my answers and have your world expanded as you consider how God is working in his world.
So, we’d love you to join us at 5pm this Saturday with dinner, kids’ program, and a great, all-age service. Or come at 9am Sunday for a more classic-style Anglican service, with terrific espresso coffee. See you this weekend, God willing!
Grace and peace, Jodie.
News 3-4 August 2019
OUR BIBLE TALK
This week Jodie continues our all-new, 18-week series on the book of Acts called ‘Launching the Church’. Today’s talk is on chapter 2, called ‘Launch Day’, as we look at the events of Pentecost.
NEXT WEEK’S TALK
Next week Jodie will continue our 18-week series on the book of Acts with the third talk on chapters 3 and 4 entitled ‘The Launch of Persecution.’
MISSION OF THE MONTH
CMS is our mission of the month. Support at the ‘Mission Table’ by buying or donating stuff.
YOUTH CAMP
Our ‘Alive’ youth camp is only next weekend, 9-11 August at Burrill Pines on the South Coast. Talks are on the topic “A Christ-centred Identity”. Cost is $150 (with subsidies available). This is the last week to register. Invite your friends!
GEOFFREY RUGGLES’S FUNERAL
The funeral of Graham Errington’s stepfather will be held in our church this Wednesday 7th August 11am.
MINISTRY TO THE INTERIOR
Would you be willing and able to occasionally cook a meal for a friend of our church or a member of our village or valley who is in need? Indicate on the response slip, or tell Shani on 0417 424 445.
COUNTDOWN TO HOLIDAY KIDS CLUB
We’re running a four-day kids’ club during school hours on the second week of the school holidays (8-12 October). If you’re available to help for some of that time please let us know via response slip. And get the word out to everyone you know!
REAL WOMEN, REAL STORIES
Come along to our first Ladies Guild afternoon tea this year on 25th August 2-4pm in the hall. RSVP Mandy 0425 222 339.
LADIES GUILD MEETING
Sunday 18th August 3pm-4pm. All women invited to join to plan the afternoon tea the following week.
GIVING UPDATE
Each week we need to receive $2650.00 in order to meet our commitments. In the last calendar month, our average weekly giving was $3381.00, leaving a gap of $-731.00.
Electronic giving is a great way to give! It helps us prayerfully plan our giving, and then the bank will help us keep that commitment, even when we may be unable to attend. To give by direct transfer then these are the details. Account name: Church of England Jamberoo. Account number: 10081274. BSB: 062562.
What About Me?
This week several NSW politicians introduced a bill to try and change our abortion laws.
The bill proposes that when two medical practitioners agree, a termination can occur right up to full-term after they have considered “all relevant medical circumstances, and … the person’s current and future physical, psychological and social circumstances…”
In other words, a doctor can cause the death of an unborn child if he or she believes that the mother’s psychological or social circumstances might be affected now or in the future if the child is naturally born.
There is no question that raising a child can be hard when everything is ‘normal’, let alone when there are difficult psychological or social circumstances for the parents.
But this debate would never happen if we were discussing the plight of a child who was already born.
Imagine if politicians were proposing that a three-month old infant could be euthanised if they were causing psychological and social difficulties for her mother?
Yet, a child who was four months younger and still in the womb could be killed by two doctors if this bill is passed.
The only reason we’re having this debate is that some people think an unborn baby is not human, and therefore can be removed and disposed of from the mother’s body.
What is it that makes a politician or doctor so sure that a foetus is not worthy of medical care and protection, simply because it hasn’t been able to have the opportunity to be safely delivered?
The reality is that God, who created us all, says that an unborn child is to be valued as much as a child who has been safely born.
The Bible is clear on this, but some of our politicians confidently believe that what God says about this matter is to be ignored.
Please pray that our politicians will listen to God and their consciences and vote to defeat this bill before more babies are killed by the very medical practitioners who made a vow to protect human life.
JODIE McNEILL