News 22-23 June 2019

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OUR BIBLE TALK

This weekend we continue our series ‘Hope Beyond Chaos’ as Jodie opens up Judges 13:1-16:31 with our eighth talk, ‘Saint and Sinner’.

NEXT WEEK’S TALK

Next week we conclude our series on Judges as Jodie opens up Judges 17-21. as we hear talk nine, ‘Idolatry and Immorality’. 

MISSION OF THE MONTH

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

PIES FOR SCRIPTURE

Support the ministry of Kiama High School Scripture by buying some tasty meat or sweet pies for $10. Order on the form in the hall before this Sunday 23rd June.

COMBINED LEADERSHIP GROUP

Our next quarterly meeting is on this Tuesday 25th June at 7pm, as we prayerfully review and plan our ministries.

YOUTH CAMP

Our first-ever ‘Alive’ camp is coming up for our teenagers on 9-11 August at Burrill Pines on the South Coast. Keep the date free, invite your friends, and see Rayne for more details. Talks are on the topic “A Christ-centred Identity”. Cost is $150 (with subsidies available). Should be a great weekend of fun, fellowship, and Jesus!

JEMIMAH AND JACOB’S WEDDING

Jemimah McNeill and Jacob Mierendorff are getting married at Kiama Anglican on Friday 5th July at 12.30pm. You’re invited to celebrate with them at the service.

CHURCH REFURBISHMENT

At our recent Parish Council meeting decided to undertake a refurbishment project to modernise our kitchen, grounds, parking area, children’s gate and play equipment, and other improvements. To enable this, we have decided to borrow $95,000 over 15 years, with weekly payments of $166. If you wish to find out more or make a formal comment to the Diocese, please see the documentation at the Church door and the Hall.

GIVING UPDATE

Each week we need to receive $6300.00 in order to meet our commitments. In the last calendar month, our average weekly giving was $5402.00, leaving a gap of $898.00. Olimometer 2.52 Up to the end of the last calendar month we needed to have received $81,900. Compared to that total we received $71,624, leaving a gap of $10,276.Olimometer 2.52

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.

Sing Hallelujah to the Lord

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Protesters sing Hallellujah in Hong Kong (CREDIT: Twitter @machinetta)

This week I was reminded of two significant memories from the 1980’s.

The first was the iconic images of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, when civilians were gunned down by Chinese soldiers during a protest for democracy.

The second was the song ‘Sing Hallelujah to the Lord’, a song I sang repeatedly throughout my teenage years in youth group and church.

These two memories came together as I witnessed news reports of the millions of people protesting in Hong Kong against the threat of being extradited to mainland China for trial for dissent.

Due to an anomaly in the legal system, there is a greater leniency towards Christian gatherings than political protests.

So, as the crowds gathered to protest, they followed the singing of Christian voices who turned this iconic chorus of the 70’s and 80’s into a modern meme for freedom and democracy.

Yet, as this song rings out in the public sphere, there is another level of subtle political subversion, for the lyrics of this Christian anthem unite the singers in praising the name of the Lord above all other rulers.

For as they sing on earth, they are united with the multitude that also gathers in Heaven to worship Jesus, whose shouts sounded “like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder”, as they cried out”Hallelujah! For our Lord Almighty reigns!” (Revelation 19:6)

As they chose to proclaim this Hebrew word ‘Hallelujah’ which means ‘Praise the Lord’, they made the bold statement that Jesus is the true ruler over all.

And as the millions gathered in Hong Kong to protest about the threat to freedoms, they also invoked the name of the Lord, who is the true ruler over all.

No matter what political fights we might experience, the greatest ruler of all is Jesus, the Lord of all, who is truly worthy of praise.

JODIE McNEILL

Coming up this weekend 22-23 June 2019

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One of the Bible’s most famous ‘power couples’ is Samson and Delilah… but for all the bad reasons. This dysfunctional couple represent so much that is wrong with the way that God’s people have acted in their worst moments of history. Yet, our Lord God worked through the extraordinary circumstances of Samson to bring deliverance to his troubled people.

This is the topic of this weekend’s Bible talk, as we consider Samson, who was both sinner and saint, and who acts as a most-unlikely saviour to God’s people.

During our church services we’ll be having answers to these questions which you asked over the last week or two:

1 Since Jephthah was foolish to make his oath, why did he still keep it instead of admitting his folly?
2 Why didn’t God provide an animal for Jephthah instead of his daughter?
3 If a spouse leaves the marriage without mediation should the deserted spouse seek to negotiate?
4 If someone bullies you then should you negotiate or retaliate?
5 What happens to Christians in the time between when we die and when Jesus returns?
6 Why is it so hard to forgive people when they say sorry, but keep doing the wrong thing?
7 What do you do if your friend shuts you down when you try and talk to them about God?

We’re also looking forward to celebrating ‘CMS Sunday’ at our services this weekend, which is a great way to help keep global outreach to the whole world on our agenda.

So, please come and join us. The action begins at 5pm on Saturday, with all-age church and a kids’ program, followed by an awesome dinner and then youth program. Or be with us at 9am on Sunday for a more classic kind of Anglican service, followed by terrific espresso coffee.

If you’ve never joined us before, then this is the perfect weekend to break the ice and be part of the special things that God is doing in our awesome village and valley of Jamberoo.

Grace and peace, Jodie.

Hope Beyond Chaos 7: The Limitations of Negotiations Judges 10:6-12:15 Jodie McNeill – 15 & 16 June 2019

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Do you love a good _______?

Negotiation matters when _____________ fail.

The _____ of salvation and sin has come around.

God was sick of their _________.

We must be _______ with God’s provision.

We hurt God’s ________ when we sin.

Jephthah was a _______ with a tragic upbringing.

Jephthah __________ with the elders of Gilead.

Jephthah __________ with the king of Ammon.

Jephthah acknowledges that the Lord _____.

In every conflict, the Lord is in _______.

The ______ of the Lord comes on Jephthah.

Jephthah __________ with the Lord.

God leads his people in a crushing _______.

Jephthah takes no ______________ for his foolish promise.

Jephthah’s __________ led to his personal disaster.

Jephthah ________ the Ephraimites.

Insecure leaders produce tragic ________.

We must not _______ with God for his grace.

Download a copy of this as a PDF with drawings to colour in here: Download

News 15-16 June 2019

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OUR BIBLE TALK

This weekend we continue our series ‘Hope Beyond Chaos’ as Jodie opens up Judges 10:6-12:15 with our seventh talk, ‘The Limitations of Negotiations’.

NEXT WEEK’S TALK

Next week we will continue our series on Judges as Jodie opens up Judges 13:1-16:35 as we hear talk eight, ‘Saint and Sinner’. 

MISSION OF THE MONTH

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

INTERCHURCH GATHERING

We are hosting the first of the all-new gatherings this Sunday 16th June at the new time of 3pm in the church hall. If you’re coming, please bring along some afternoon tea to share. Jodie will be speaking on the topic ‘In Christ Alone’.

PIES FOR SCRIPTURE

Support the ministry of Kiama High School Scripture by buying some tasty meat or sweet pies for $10 each. Order on the form in the hall before 23rd June.

COMBINED LEADERSHIP GROUP

Our next quarterly meeting is on Tuesday 25th June at 7pm, as we prayerfully review and plan for our ministries.

CHURCH REFURBISHMENT

At our Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, we decided to undertake a refurbishment project to modernise our kitchen, grounds, parking area, children’s gate and play equipment, and other improvements. To enable this, we have decided to borrow $95,000 over 15 years, with weekly payments of $166. If you wish to find out more or make a formal comment to the Diocese, please see the documentation at the Welcome Table and the Noticeboard.

GIVING UPDATE

Each week we need to receive $6300.00 in order to meet our commitments. In the last calendar month, our average weekly giving was $5402.00, leaving a gap of $898.00. Olimometer 2.52 Up to the end of the last calendar month we needed to have received $81,900. Compared to that total we received $71,624, leaving a gap of $10,276.Olimometer 2.52

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.

Be Strong and Courageous

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When the Lord of the universe is on our side, we should not be afraid (CREDIT: Nick Webb via Flickr)

One of my favourite all-time church songs is ‘Be Strong and Courageous’ by Colin Buchanan.

It’s one of those rare songs that is able to mix simplicity with depth of meaning, and it brings people of all ages together in a powerful anthem that leads us to grow our trust in the Lord.

The context of the song is the famous verse that was said by the Lord to Joshua in the time before he was to boldly lead God’s people to the Promised Land.

We know now that the story ends in victory, but for the people at the time you would have expected that there was genuine fear in the hearts of all.

To make matters worse, their trusted leader Moses had passed away, and the new leader Joshua needed to stand up and lead through a challenging time.

With all this in mind, God graciously speaks directly to Joshua, saying these words:

Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. […] This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:6-9)

When it seems hard to obey God’s good word to us, we can take these comforting words to heart: “be strong and courageous… do not be afraid or discouraged”.

When the true Lord of the universe is on our side, we should not be afraid to follow his loving rule over our lives, even if to do so seems scary.

We should be strong and very courageous, for the Lord is with us.

JODIE McNEILL

Coming up this weekend 15-16 June 2019

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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.

Hope Beyond Chaos 6: The Son from Hell Judges 8:29-10:5 Graham Errington – 8 & 9 June 2019

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Last week – the story of Gideon, who refused the offer of ______________

1. Abimelech wants to be King 

But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord will rule over you! 

Gideon had ________ sons by many wives down in the town of Ophrah. 

But up in Shechem, Gideon’s other son  ___________________  decided he would make himself King. 

In Shechem they had replaced the true God with a local god called _____________     __________________ . 

In the story of Abimelech, there is no external enemy like the Midianites, but rather it is going to be ___________________ versus ____________________ a virtual civil war in the land! 

2. The Son From Hell 

Abimelech persuaded the people of the town of ___________________ to support his quest for the Kingship. 

To do this, he had to kill his  ______________ brothers down in Ophrah. 

But the youngest of the brothers called _______________  got away. 

He stood on Mt Gerizim and recited a “fable”, which turned out to be a prophecy from God. 

Of the four trees, ________________ didn’t want to become King, but the ______________ did want to be King. 

One day some real nasty types showed up in Shechem, this was _____________ and his gang. 

Gaal wanted Shechem to get rid of _____________________  and reassert its independence. 

3. Jotham’s prophecy comes true 

Abimelech reacted to Gaal’s challenge by turning up at night and surrounding  the town of _______________________ .

Gaal thought he saw them but the town governor lied to him, saying it was just  _______________________ on the hillside. 

So Gaal had to engage Abimelech and his forces in a fight to the death. 

Abimelech proceeded to _________________ as many people as he could and he burnt down the Temple of ________________  _______________ .

Not satisfied, Abimelech went off to do the same to the town of Thebez, but a woman hurled down a  ____________________ which crushed him. 

In this way the prophecy which _________________ spoke came true. 

CONCLUSION: 

Israel won’t get the right King until they get a man who is totally loyal to God and his covenant, and this is ______________ .

Download the PDF here Download

News 8-9 June 2019

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OUR BIBLE TALK

This weekend we continue our series ‘Hope Beyond Chaos’ as Graham Errington delivers the sixth talk ‘The Son from Hell’, from Judges 8:29-10:5.

NEXT WEEK’S TALK

Next week we will continue our series on Judges as Jodie opens up Judges 10:6-12:15 as we hear the talk ‘The Limitations of Negotiations’. 

MISSION OF THE MONTH

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

PARISH COUNCIL

Meeting this Tuesday night at 11th June 7pm in the church hall.

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. Full 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.

LADIES’ GUILD

Rescheduled meeting is this Saturday 15th June at 3pm at the church. All ladies welcome to pray, plan and prepare for ministry to women and families throughout our village and valley.

INTERCHURCH GATHERING

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

GIVING UPDATE

Each week we need to receive $6300.00 in order to meet our commitments. In the last calendar month, our average weekly giving was $5402.00, leaving a gap of $898.00. Olimometer 2.52 Up to the end of the last calendar month we needed to have received $81,900. Compared to that total we received $71,624, leaving a gap of $10,276.Olimometer 2.52

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 are you looking forward to?

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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