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.

This weekend we’re going to hear the story of Gideon, one of the most famous leaders in the Bible, and the man known for millions of Bibles in hospitals and motels throughout the world. We’re going to consider his dramatic rise to leadership, and then the events that saw his decline.

In all of this, we will have a fresh reminder of how much God loves us and forgives us, even when we fail to serve him as we should. That’s the theme over and over again in the Old Testament book of Judges, and we’ll see more of it this weekend.

As always, we’ve got a stack of questions that you asked last week, and I’m looking forward to answering. They are:

1. Why does God love us when we constantly sin against him?
2. Why did God make us when he knew we would reject him?
3. Why doesn’t God prevent people from making stupid mistakes?
4. Does God love everyone or only Christians?
5. What was the first Christian song?
6. What’s the difference between submitting and serving?
7. Can you be gay and still come to church?

We’d really love you to join us at 5pm Saturday for an all-age and stage church service, with kids programs for toddlers, infants and primary, followed by a hearty dinner for all, then youth group. Or come along on Sunday at 9am for our classic Anglican service, complete with espresso coffee and great morning tea.

If you’ve not come to church for a while, then this is the perfect weekend to join us. Or if you’re a regular, don’t miss out on a great opportunity to serve each other and enjoy the delights of our community.

Grace and peace, Jodie.

This Saturday there’s something even more important than voting! Come along to hear God speak to you and us as we listen to his word, the Bible, and enjoy food, friendship, and the experience of coming together to enjoy a rich relationship with Jesus.

Our talk this week continues our ‘Hope Beyond Chaos’ series as I teach us about the humorous story of Eglon, and the slightly-underwhelming (but enormously encouraging) story of Barak. The title is ‘Holy Laughter and Lightning’, from the Old Testament book in the Bible, Judges chapter 3:12-4:24.

We’ve also got a bunch of questions that you asked from church last week, which I will answer during our church services. They are:

1 Why did God pass over the houses of the Israelites at the Passover?
2 Why does God ‘give’ cancer to people who don’t deserve it?
3 How can someone ask for forgiveness after they’ve committed suicide?
4 Is it a sin to be angry at God?
5 Why does God make us wait for his answer to some prayers, and how do we gain patience?

So what are you waiting for? It’s a great week to come along for the first time, or bring someone for the first time. We meet at 5pm on Saturday, which is followed by a tasty meal then youth group (for high-schoolers), and 9am Sunday for a slightly-more ‘classic’ Anglican service, with awesome espresso.

See you this weekend, God willing!

Grace and peace, Jodie.

When you join us this weekend, you’ll meet three people with very strong Canadian accents. These guys are working with our church for a month as part of their Bible college training, and they’ll be sharing why they think it’s such a great thing to be friends with Jesus.

If you’re coming along for the first time, you’ll be very, very welcome, and what’s more, you’ll get to hear the first in our new, nine-week series called ‘Hope Beyond Chaos’. I’ll be preaching from the Old Testament book of Judges during this series, and this weekend it’s from the first chapter. The book of Judges is a pretty full-on, almost ‘medieval’ kind of story, but it has very practical implications for living today in God’s world.

Whether you’re a follower of Jesus, or just checking out what he stands for, then we’d really love you to join us.

On Saturday at 5pm we have church that is ideal for people of all ages… with babies, kids, youth, and adults right through to the 90’s. We have dinner (free for visitors) and then youth group afterwards from 7.30 to 9.30. We’ve got a creche, junior kids and senior kids programs running during church, so it’s an all-age affair!

In the morning on Sundays at 9am it’s a more classic Anglican service, which is followed by a delicious morning tea and espresso.

This week there are no questions in our Q&A spot, so we’ll have an extended interview with our Canadian friends about life as a Christian.

We’d love you to join us! See you Saturday and/or Sunday!

Grace and peace, Jodie.

Easter is a very special time to be at church because it’s the time when we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus. Our services this Easter weekend are:

GOOD FRIDAY 9am: an all-age service to reflect on the death of Jesus for us.
EASTER SATURDAY 5pm: an all-age service with kids’ program, followed by dinner together.
EASTER SUNDAY 9am: a classic Anglican service followed by espresso morning tea.

On Friday, I’ll be preaching on how the death of Jesus is actually a great moment of injustice… but Jesus did it for us. It’s all about the two criminals on the crosses who died alongside Jesus from Luke chapter 23.

Then on Saturday and Sunday I’ll be preaching from John chapter 17 verses 20 to 26 where we find out what Jesus prayed for us on the night before he died, and why this changes everything.

On Saturday and Sunday we’ll include our weekly question and answer segment, and I’ll be answering these questions from last weekend:

1 What warnings does the Bible give about dreams?
2 How does God look down on everybody at the same time?
3 Is it God’s job to love us?
4 How did Jesus act under authority when he is the Father?
5 Do we believe that holy water will protect us from sickness?
6 If your relative goes to Hell, then will you feel sad?
7 Why didn’t Jesus tell Judas not to betray him?
8 Should we forgive Judas for his treachery?
9 Would you agree with Mikhail Gorbachev’s who said, “Even God didn’t create a perfect world; even God couldn’t cope with this society; I don’t think that was his plan”?

This is a very special weekend to join us for church, so we’d love to welcome you with us this Easter.

Grace and peace, Jodie McNeill.