Alive with Christ

Someone asked me this week about how church is going, and I was delighted to share that lots of people are joining us every week. If you’re thinking about coming along for the first time, then it’s likely that others will be new, too!

Our Bible Talk for this week is the topic ‘The Limitations of Negotiations’ from Judges 10:6-12:15, as we continue our series from the book of Judges in the Bible, in our series ‘Hope Beyond Chaos’. It certainly was a time of chaos in this era more than twelve centuries before Christ. In this episode we see how one guy tried some fancy negotiations with others and with God, and how they turned out to be a tragic disaster.

We’ve got a bunch of questions that have been asked by you over the past two weeks, and of these, here are seven that I’m going to answer this week (with the other five carried over to later weeks):

1 Why did God lead his people into battle when it’s a sin to kill or murder?
2 Why did Abimelech scatter salt over the ground after he captured the city?
3 What is going to happen in the ‘end times’?
4 Can people predict the second coming of Jesus?
5 What is ‘the Rapture’ and the seven years of tribulation?
6 When we pray “your kingdom come” are we praying for the coming of the Millennium?
7 How can you rebuke someone if they won’t listen?

So, please come along and join us this weekend, and tell your friends to come, too! We meet at 5pm on Saturdays, with creche, kids’ program, dinner, then youth group. Also we meet at 9am on Sundays, with a more ‘classic’ Anglican service, followed by tasty morning tea with espresso coffee.

We’d really, really love to see you this weekend!

Grace and peace, Jodie.

Time is running out before Jesus returns! (CREDIT: Dash Huang via Flickr.)

How would you answer the question, “what are you looking forward to in life?”

It seems likely that the younger you are, the bigger the list!

If you’re at school, then it may be that you’re looking forward to finding a job, getting married, travelling to faraway places, buying a home, parenting children, or maybe even more.

If you’re in middle age or a bit older then perhaps you’re looking forward to enjoying an ’empty nest’ or the opportunities of retirement and beyond.

If you’re older still, then maybe the list of things you’re looking forward to is much shorter.

Yet regardless of your age, the number one thing that followers of Christ must look forward to is his return.

Someone once said, “Live like Christ was born yesterday, died today, and is returning tomorrow.”

If you knew Jesus was coming back in a few hours’ time, then how would it change the way you lived your life in these final moments? How would it change your priorities?

The Bible teaches us that Jesus will return like a thief in the night… at a time when we least expect it to happen.

In the Bible, God gives us some tantilising tidbits about what it will be like when Jesus returns, but ultimately the most important thing we can do is be ready for that day.

And the way to be ready is to be turn away from a life rebelling against God, and to turn to Jesus as loving leader of your life.

And as we wait, we should warn people about the dangers of dying without knowing Jesus.

For when it comes to Jesus’ return, it’s not a matter of ‘if’, it’s a matter of ‘when’.

And this is certainly something to look forward to.

JODIE McNEILL

OUR BIBLE TALK

This weekend we continue our series ‘Hope Beyond Chaos’ as Jodie delivers the fifth talk ‘The Making and Breaking of a Leader’, from Judges 6:1-8:28.

NEXT WEEK’S TALK

Next week we will continue our series on Judges as Graham Errington opens up Judges 8:29-10:5 as we meet ‘The Son from Hell’. 

MISSION OF THE MONTH

CMS is our mission of the month. Support at the ‘Mission Table’ by buying stuff or donating stuff.

SMS MESSAGES

Our ‘Elvanto’ system is now connected to SMS. If you don’t have email, we can connect with you through your mobile. If you don’t have an email, please advise your mobile number on a response slip. 

LADIES’ GUILD

This Saturday 8th June 3pm at the church. Come along to help plan how you can serve our community with love and good deeds, to the glory of God.

GONG MEN’S DAY

Saturday 15th June 8.30am-2pm at Dapto Anglican Church (meet at our church at 8am to car pool). Cost $40 ($30 concession) includes lunch. Speaker: Sam Chan. More details at www.gongmensday.org This is a not-to-be-missed event for the men of our church. Please go to the website to book your own ticket.

INTERCHURCH GATHERING

We are hosting the first of the all-new gatherings on Sunday 16th June at the new time of 3pm.

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 $2561.00, leaving a gap of $89.00. Up to the end of the last calendar month we needed to have received $56,975. Compared to that total we received $52,330, leaving a gap of $4,645.

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.