What is your worth?

/in /by

CREDIT: Untitled, Nicki Mannix via Flickr.

How would you calculate what you’re worth?

It’s not something that we normally need to work out, except if we’re organising insurance or preparing a will, or maybe answering questions from Centrelink.

But assuming you calculated a dollar figure for all your assets, then would this provide the real answer to the question, “what is your worth?”

Our materialistic world naturally looks to the things we own as a measure of our worth.

Yet these possessions have no, ultimate, eternal value.

But even in this life, our possessions don’t really contribute to our value, nor our pleasure.

In the Bible, in the book of Ecclesiastes, we read this wisdom about life and wealth:

“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income… And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?” (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11)

If we find our value in our possessions, then we’re never going to be truly happy.

The words of a modern hymn summarise this perfectly:

My worth is not in what I own
Not in the strength of flesh and bone
But in the costly wounds of love at the cross
My worth is not in skill or name
In win or lose in pride or shame
But in the blood of Christ that flowed at the cross

Our true value in life can only be measured by how God views us.

This is all that ultimately matters.

And so, if you trust in Jesus, not in your possessions, you can join us as we sing the chorus of his song:

I rejoice in my Redeemer
Greatest treasure
Wellspring of my soul
I will trust in Him no other
My soul is satisfied in Him alone
(‘My worth is not in what I own’, Kendrick & Getty)

Jodie McNeill

Coming up this weekend 28th – 29th April 2018

/in /by

This weekend we welcome our very own Trevor Lucas, who will be speaking on the topic “God’s last word” from Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 to 14.

Our 8am Sunday service will be the Lord’s Supper Sunday Service.

If you’re wanting to check out our church we’d really love you to visit us on Saturday at 5pm for a contemporary service with kids’ program and dinner afterwards. Our youth group ‘Alive’ is taking a break for the holidays, and will return next week. Or come along on Sunday at 8am for a Prayer Book service.

If you can’t make it in person, you’re welcome to jump online to watch the service (with the same sermon and many other items) at www.oakflats.tv.

See you at 5pm this Saturday or 8am this Sunday, God willing!

Church news for the week beginning 21st April 2018

/in /by

This weekend’s Bible talk

This weekend we welcome Graham Errington, who will be speaking on the topic “Shrewd As” from Luke chapter 16 verses 1 to 15.

Mission of the month

Bush Church Aid (BCA) is our mission of the month. Support this ministry through the ‘Mission Table’ in the Hall.

Anzac Day March

Join the community of Jamberoo for an Anzac Day Service on Saturday 21st April at 10.15am for a 10.30am start. Fall in outside RSL Hall, Allowrie St.

Children’s and youth programs in holidays

During school holidays our normal midweek children’s and youth programs take a break until 5th May. However we plan to continue a mini-program during the 5pm Saturday service as required.

McNeill’s away

Jodie and his family are now on leave until the 24th April.

Office arrangements for holidays

Valerie will be absent from the office from Tuesday 17th April to Wednesday 25th April. In the meantime, our other staff will be monitoring our church phone and emails.

Jo is coming!

Jo, our Middle East missionary from CMS is joining us for two, special events in May. Saturday 5th May we’re going to have a special ‘Middle East Feast’ for our evening dinner, after Jo shares in church about her mission work. On the following Wednesday 9th May it’s an extended Prayer and Support Night where we’ll hear more details about Jo’s ministry, and join for extended prayer. Be there!

Men’s Dinner

The next Men’s Dinner will be held on Tuesday 1st May at 6.30pm at the Central Hotel Shellharbour, with guest speaker, Marshall Ballantine-Jones on the topic “Purity in a Porn-Filled Planet”. $31 per person (or $23 concession). Register online at www.oakflatsanglican.com/mensdinner.

Market Day – 19th May

Can you pot some plants? Can you start thinking about a cake or slice or lollies, etc? Can you get your vegetables to be ready for 19 May? What about jewellery or craft items? Please note that we are not having a second hand “white elephant” stall this year. Keep the day free!

Gong Men’s Day – save the date

Join us on Saturday 16th June, 8.30am to 2pm, or 5pm to 9.30pm at Dapto Anglican for a great day of teaching and encouragement for the men of our region. For more information check out www.gongmensday.org.

 

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 $5882.00, leaving a gap of $418.00.

Olimometer 2.52

Up to the end of the last calendar month we needed to have received $245,700. Compared to that total we received $221,466, leaving a gap of $24,234.

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 .

Much more than groceries

/in /by

The Mobile Community Pantry (MCP) began at Oak Flats Anglican in February this year. It is a collaboration with Anglicare to provide low-cost groceries to those who need it most. And judging by the response it is a service that is being well received by the community.

Every fortnight, on a Thursday, a van from the MCP arrives at the church loaded with top quality groceries, that for some reason the major supermarket chains want off their shelves. This food can be sold to those who come to the church. Each individual is able to choose how to fill up a bag or two from the van. The cost is $10 a bag but the value is well in excess of $60. This represents a massive saving for those who come, but also offers them the opportunity to pay for the goods – and people really seem to like the way this works.

An encouraging side to this is that local businesses have started to donate items that can be taken for free too. Also one of the church members is also cooking home-made meals to take away!

As a church which has experienced the love of Jesus for us, we are really interested in showing love to our community who need an extra hand to purchase food essentials. However we want to do much more than that. The strength of this program is not just the low cost groceries but the community that people are invited into on a Thursday morning. People are warmly invited in by a whole team of volunteers who offer tea, coffee, home made food, and best of all, a warm and friendly conversation.

The MCP is an easy way for our church to show the love of Jesus, in the same way Jesus did to those who were in need when he walked on Earth. And yet Jesus never left his actions of love alone.

They were always accompanied with an explanation of the thing that people needed most: it is the spiritual needs of Oak Flats we really want to help people with, and we pray that as we get to know those who come along, we will be able to hold out the Eternal food that God offers us in Jesus.

Simon Chaplin

Coming up this weekend 21st – 22nd April 2018

/in /by

This weekend we welcome Graham Errington, who will be speaking on the topic “Shrewd As” from Luke chapter 16 verses 1 to 15.

At our 5pm Saturday service we will have an opportunity to meet one of our church members, which is always a great encouragement to us all.

Our 8am Sunday service will be a Holy Communion Second Order AAPB service.

If you’re wanting to check out our church we’d really love you to visit us on Saturday at 5pm for a contemporary service with kids’ program and dinner afterwards. Our youth group ‘Alive’ is taking a break for the holidays. Or come along on Sunday at 8am for a Prayer Book service.

If you can’t make it in person, you’re welcome to jump online to watch the service (with the same sermon and many other items) at www.oakflats.tv.

See you at 5pm this Saturday or 8am this Sunday, God willing!

Church news for the week beginning 14th April 2018

/in /by

This weekend’s Bible talk

This weekend we conclude our series ‘Jesus is___’ as Jodie speaks on the topic  ”Jesus is… returning” from Acts chapter 1 verses 1 to 11.

Mission of the month

Bush Church Aid (BCA) is our mission of the month. Support this ministry through the ‘Mission Table’ in the Hall.

Annual General Meeting

We give thanks to God for our new office holders in 2018. Our Wardens are Robert Curll, Trevor Lucas and James Rosten. Our Parish Counsellors are Paul Massey, Tim Orange and Julie Rosten, with one more person to be selected by Jodie.

Anzac Day March

Join the community of Jamberoo for an Anzac Day Service on Saturday 21st April at 10.15am for a 10.30am start. Fall in outside RSL Hall, Allowrie St. Graham and Rayne will be involved in the service.

Children’s and youth programs in holidays

During school holidays our normal midweek children’s and youth programs take a break until 5th May. However we plan to continue a mini-program during the 5pm Saturday service as required.

Men’s Dinner 1st May

Next term’s men’s dinner is not to be missed. Special guest Marshall Ballantine-Jones will address the critical issue of ‘Purity in a Porn-filled Planet.’ Central Hotel Shellharbour.

McNeills away

Jodie and his family will be on leave from 16th April until the 24th April.

Office arrangements for holidays

Valerie will be absent from the office from Tuesday 17th April to Wednesday 25th April. In the meantime, our other staff will be monitoring our church phone and emails.

Jo is coming!

Jo, our Middle East missionary from CMS is joining us for two, special events in May. Saturday 5th May we’re going to have a special ‘Middle East Feast’ for our evening dinner, after Jo shares in church about her mission work. On the following Wednesday 9th May it’s an extended Prayer and Support Night where we’ll hear more details about Jo’s ministry, and join for extended prayer. Be there!

Gong Men’s Day – save the date

Join us on Saturday 16th June, 8.30am to 2pm, or 5pm to 9.30pm at Dapto Anglican for a great day of teaching and encouragement for the men of our region. For more information check out www.gongmensday.org.

 

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 $5882.00, leaving a gap of $418.00.

Olimometer 2.52

Up to the end of the last calendar month we needed to have received $245,700. Compared to that total we received $221,466, leaving a gap of $24,234.

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 an awesome church!

/in /by

CREDIT: James Cridland, via Flickr.

Imagine what it must have been like to have been a part of the first gathering of Christians, just after Jesus sent his Spirit?

The book of Acts tells us that

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)

They were passionate about hearing the Biblespoken and taught.

They were energetic in giving money and possessions.

They were focused on sharing together in meals.

They were passionate in prayer.

These four things were at the heart of their church, and these four things are also at the heart of our church.

We thank God that we are a church that also deeply loves God’s word, that is generous in partnership with each other, that loves to eat and drink with each other, and that is passionate about prayer.

And yet as we continue to grow, we will encounter challenges.

So, let’s keep being thankfulto God for all that he’s done for our church and for our people.

Let’s continue to offer ourselves for leadership, as we serve in the ever-growing ministries of our church.

Let’s keep on being financially generous, as we grow our giving to provide for ministry locally and globally.

It’s great to be part of this church, and in God’s strength, and for his glory, our best years are ahead.

And we pray that in our church it would be as it was in those first days of the early church, where:

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47)

 Jodie McNeill

Coming up this weekend 14th – 15th April 2018

/in /by

This weekend we conclude the ‘Jesus is___’ series as Jodie preaches on the topic ”Jesus is… returning” from Acts chapter 1 verses 1 to 11.

During our 5pm Saturday service, we’ll have our weekly question and answer time, and Jodie will be answering this question:

  1. Should Christians be friends with non-Christians?

We will have a special video presentation, to see how we can help send others to GAFCON 2018 in Jerusalem.

Our 8am Sunday service will be a Morning Prayer Sunday service.

If you’re wanting to check out our church we’d really love you to visit us on Saturday at 5pm for a contemporary service with kids’ program and dinner afterwards. Our youth group ‘Alive’ runs straight after dinner on Saturday night. Or come along on Sunday at 8am for a Prayer Book service.

If you can’t make it in person, you’re welcome to jump online to watch the service (with the same sermon and many other items) at www.oakflats.tv.

See you at 5pm this Saturday or 8am this Sunday, God willing!

Church news for the week beginning 7th April 2018

/in /by

This weekend’s Bible talk

This weekend we continue our series ‘Jesus is___’ as Jodie speaks on the topic ”Jesus is… alive” from John chapter 21 verses 1 to 25.

Mission of the month

Bush Church Aid (BCA) is our mission of the month. Support this ministry through the ‘Mission Table’ in the Hall.

AGM and Pot Luck Lunch

Our AGM will be held on Sunday 8th April, with a BYO Pot-luck lunch starting at 1pm. This is a great opportunity to meet people from across our two congregations, with the formal meeting from 2pm to 3.30pm. An important time to review the past and plan the future, as we also elect representatives to serve our church. Please pick up a nomination form at the front desk.

‘Jesus Is___’ talks online

Head to oakflatsanglican.com/jesus-is-shellharbour-2018/ to listen to all three talks by Ben Pfahlert as presented at the ‘Jesus Is___’ public sessions in March.

McNeills away

Jodie and his family will be on leave from 16th April until the 24th April.

Jamberoo Markets – save the date!

We will be once again hosting mini-markets on Saturday 19th May, 9am to 12pm. Keep the date free and plan to be there!

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 $5882.00, leaving a gap of $418.00.

Olimometer 2.52

Up to the end of the last calendar month we needed to have received $245,700. Compared to that total we received $221,466, leaving a gap of $24,234.

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’s missing from the Opening Ceremony?

/in /by

The opening ceremony of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games was a spectacular piece of stadium art, filled with all the light, colour, sound and dance that you would expect.

Opening ceremonies have definitely carved out for themselves their own genre – it is a chance to tell the narrative of a nation and the distinctives of their city.

The opening scene was the dawn of time, where our world was united as one land. A traditional dance showed that from the birth of our continent, our land has been looked after by the indigenous people.

The shift was then made to the distinctives of the Gold Coast – the stadium was turned into a spectacular scene of our fun-filled beach culture.

It certainly captured aspects of out past and current culture. However, was it a true narrative of Australia?

Imagine if we put God in the picture, how would that change things? It’s hard to imagine that in secular Australia.

Romans 1:18-19 says “what can be known about God is plain to us” but “we suppress the truth.”

When we deny the truth of our maker for long enough we can then no longer even remember him at all.

Imagine an opening ceremony where God was on display – where it was his hand that formed our world, our continent, our beaches – where we remembered that God created us all in his own image, so that all people should be treated with care and dignity.

Indeed, it was these very Christian beliefs that helped form the social and justice systems of Australia that have allowed us the freedom to enjoy our beautiful country.

At the end of the opening ceremony, without God in the picture there’s not much response to make. But with God in the picture, as the creator of all those wonderful things the response is one of thankfulness to Him.

Why don’t you take a moment this week, to notice what God has given us and give thanks to him.

Simon Chaplin.