What has ESP got to do with Christianity?

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I was recently watching a program that was taking a light hearted look at the claims of ESP (extra-sensory perception).

The show didn’t hold my interest for long, but what was interesting was the way the host explained his scepticism.

He said “ I’m an atheist… I don’t believe in that kind of thing at all.”

Notice his reason for not believing: he said he was an atheist, as if that proved the point.

What lies behind this statement is the claim that atheists only believe in that which is provable by reason and science. 

To believe in God, so they say, is to believe in something without evidence and so is unprovable, and ultimately unknowable.

So you have to take a leap of faith, given that believing in God is on the same level as believing in ESP.

How do we respond to such a characterisation?

Christian apologist John Lennox gives us an example of why this thinking is both mistaken and inconsistent.

In a debate with the atheist Richard Dawkins, the following exchange occurred:

Dawkins: We only need to use the word ‘faith’ when there isn’t any evidence.
Lennox: No, not at all. I presume you’ve got faith in your wife — is there any evidence for that?
Dawkins: Yes. Yes, plenty of evidence.
Lennox: Hmmm.

Dawkins expresses the same view: belief in God is in the realm of blind faith.

But Lennox challenges that.

Faith is a word that expresses a relational trust based on evidence.

The next question then is this: are there reasons to place our faith in God in the same way we trust a faithful wife? And the answer is a resounding ‘yes!’

To be a Christian is not to take leave of one’s senses, but to respond in faith to God who has revealed himself.

God reveals himself in His word – where we find carefully written and researched accounts of Jesus.

He invites us to listen, reason, investigate and respond.

Simon Chaplin

Coming up this weekend 11th – 12th March 2017

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This weekend we continue our five-week series looking at the five Solas of the Reformation called ‘Five Foundations’. This week, Simon Chaplin will be speaking on the topic ‘Grace alone’.

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 First Order AAPB service.

During our service, we’ll have our weekly question and answer time, and Jodie will be answering these questions:

  1. What did the Roman Catholic Church teach that was incorrect?
  2. Can a priest ever reveal what is said in a confession in the Roman Catholic Church?
  3. Given that Jesus said ‘love those who persecute you,’ was it a sin for a Catholic leader to kill the Reformation leader Huldrych Zwingli?
  4. If God is in control, why is the world in such conflict?
  5. Since God is always with us, why does that Bible say that he is present in a special way when two or more believers come together?
  6. Why should people pray for things to happen when God is in control of everything? And if more people pray the same thing will that persuade God more?
  7. How is it possible that ‘nothing is against us’ when there is still sin, persecution and Satan messing things up?
  8. Why did Jesus change Simon’s name to Peter?
  9. Is it right to call justification a ‘nerd word’ when it’s clearly expressed in the Bible?

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, or come along on Sunday at 8am for a Prayer Book service.

Church news for the week beginning 4th March 2017

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This weekend’s Bible Talk

This weekend Jodie continues our series looking at the Five Solas of the Reformation, with the next talk titled ‘Faith alone’.

Mission of the month: Church Missionary Society (CMS)

CMS 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 19th March, 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.

Men’s Dinner

You’re invited to join the men of Oak Flats and beyond this Tuesday 7th March to hear Ben Pfahlert at the Central Hotel, Shellharbour. RSVP via the comment card or 0439 561 373.

Floral Display

We will be hosting a floral display at the church on 18th March, from 9am to 3.30pm. $8 includes viewing of display and refreshments. For information call Helen 4236 0158.

Jamberoo Interchurch Service

Join with fellow church-goers around our village and valley in our quarterly inter- church service. Sunday 26th March 7pm at St Matthew’s Catholic Church.

Four weeks to the Weekendaway

Don’t miss out on our awesome church retreat on the weekend of the 31st March – 2nd April.  Our guest speaker is Peter Jensen, former Archbishop of Sydney. It’s time to register!

New roster coming soon

If you’re unavailable to serve on a roster from 27th March through 25th June please let us know via comment card, email office@jamberooanglican.com or even better go to www.jamberooanglican.net

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 $6272.00, leaving a gap of $28.00.

Olimometer 2.52

Up to the end of the last calendar month we needed to have received $98,802. Compared to that total we received $109,200, leaving a gap of $-10,398.

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 .

Do you have trouble with trust?

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Straight Road (CREDIT: hirotomo t via Flickr)

When I was a young boy, I remember receiving a Bible from my grandma as a gift.

In the front of the book she wrote in beautiful handwriting this verse from the book of Proverbs:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

It is only now, as a much-older adult, that these words seem to really make sense.

As a child, I was working hard to grow up into a man, and that meant that I needed to be able to develop skills and knowledge that I could depend upon.

But now that I’m older, I understand that no matter what I’m able to do as an adult, I need more than ever to trust in the Lord with all my heart.

It can be very hard to trust in others when you’ve been hurt or when you’ve become reliant on your own abilities.

But God makes it clear to all of us, young and old, that no matter how good our understanding of life, we still need to rest fully on God, to trust him in every single way.

And when we’re told to trust God, it means that we need to submit to him, following his loving rule over us.

We long to be the “self-made” person who can play “I did it my way” at our funeral, but God tells us that we need to throw ourselves on Jesus, to put our full faith in him.

And the great news is that when we do that, he will make our paths straight: he will smooth out the bends in life, even when it sometimes feels a bit bumpy on the road.

Because when we trust in Jesus as Lord, he will lead us in the road to Heaven, taking us safely home.

Jodie.

Coming up this weekend 4th – 5th March 2017

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This weekend we continue our five-week series looking at the five Solas of the Reformation called ‘Five Foundations’. This week, Jodie will be speaking on the topic ‘Faith alone’.

We will also share the Lord’s Supper at 5pm Saturday, so be sure to join us for this important reminder of the death of Jesus.

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

During our service, we’ll have our weekly question and answer time, and Jodie will be answering these questions:

  1. Given that God hates divorce, should someone who is abused remain in their marriage?
  2. What books would you recommend as an introduction to The Reformation?
  3. What happened to Martin Luther?
  4. Why did some writings get included in the Bible and not others?
  5. Does the Bible tell us whether or not we should stand up when we sing?
  6. Why would God command humans to fill and subdue the earth, when subduing the earth means ruling it, which is God’s job, not ours?
  7. If adding extra words to The Bible will get us into trouble, then how does that work with the Trinity?
  8. Hebrews 6:4-6 says it’s impossible for those who have fallen away to receive repentance again, but doesn’t God forgive all sins, if we truly repent?
  9. Is there a difference between tithes and offering, and what are the principles today for giving?
  10. Can we print these questions in the bulletin each week?

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, 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.

Church news for the week beginning 25th February 2017

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This weekend’s Bible Talk

This weekend Jodie begins our new five-week series looking at the Five Solas of the Reformation, with the first talk titled ‘Scripture alone’.

Mission of the month: Church Missionary Society (CMS)

CMS is our mission of the month. Support this ministry through the ‘Mission Table’ in the Hall.

‘What has God Joined Together?’ booklet now available

The booklet “What has God Joined Together?” is now available. This booklet has been released by the Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney to help inform Christians in our Diocese, and equip us to engage with friends and neighbours on the critical issue and debate on the redefinition of marriage.

Parish Council

Our Parish Council meets this Monday, 27th February at 2.30pm at the church. Please remember them in your prayers.

Dinner at the Bowlo

Join us this Thursday at 6pm at the Jamberoo Bowling Club for a relaxed meal together at the ‘Wok and Grill’ restaurant, for great steaks, tasty Chinese, and lots of laughs.

Day of Prayer

Join us on Friday 3rd March at 2pm for the Day of Prayer, held at Jamberoo Anglican Church.

Men’s Dinner

You’re invited to join the men of Oak Flats and beyond on Tuesday 7th March to hear Ben Pfahlert at the Central Hotel, Shellharbour. RSVP via the comment card or 0439 561 373.

AGM and Pot Luck Lunch

Our AGM will be held on Sunday 19th March, 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.

Five weeks to the Weekendaway

Don’t miss out on our awesome church retreat on the weekend of the 31st March – 2nd April.  Our guest speaker is Peter Jensen, former Archbishop of Sydney. It’s time to register!

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 $6272.00, leaving a gap of $28.00.

Olimometer 2.52

Up to the end of the last calendar month we needed to have received $98,802. Compared to that total we received $109,200, leaving a gap of $-10,398.

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 .

The Five Solas

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As you might have heard, this year marks the 500th anniversary of The Reformation.

This really is an important event in the Christian calendar, but its importance lies not in the nice round number of 500, nor in the fond feelings it might arouse.

The significance of this anniversary is not so much about looking back, but it’s about a call to continue what was begun.

It is in the nature of man to take the loftiest of things and turn them around for the worst.

This is perhaps most true of religion.

There is no higher or loftier subject than that of God, and yet given enough time all religions seem to displace God from the centre and replace Him with man.

We shape God in our own image… we speak of what man can discover about God… we create the works that man must do to reach the God we have invented.

When the Incarnate Son became man He exposed the corrupt nature of man-centred religion.

This was God become flesh, revealing God to us.

Man, a finite sinful creature, has no hope to reach up to God and take hold of Him.

But in Jesus, God reaches down to us: in his Word he reveals himself to us. 

What’s more, we have no ability to work our way up, as if somehow we could erase the debt of our sin.

And yet it is grace, all of grace, that Jesus pays our debt for us. We simply accept this gift by faith.

The Reformation exposed what the church had become: man-centred religion… and it sought to take us back to God. 

The five “Solas”, (which just mean ‘alone’ in Latin), are the the catch-cry of the Reformation.

And these five statement capture this so well: ‘Scripture Alone,’ ‘Faith Alone,’ ‘Grace Alone’, ‘In Christ Alone’, ‘To the Glory of God Alone.’

And the call of the Reformation continues today, to turn from man-centred religion to Christ alone.

Simon Chaplin

Coming up this weekend 25th – 26th February 2017

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This weekend we’re kicking off a new five-week series looking at the five Solas of the Reformation called ‘Five Foundations’. Jodie will be speaking on the topic ‘Scripture alone’.

Two hundred years ago, people knew that reading the Bible before and after the day’s labours would change the feel of the day. It was widely accepted, unlike today, that the Bible contributed to the private and public good. This is why, as the Bible Society Australia marks its bicentenary (200 years) of sharing the Bible, that we will join in the celebrations this weekend during our services.

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

During our service, we’ll have our weekly question and answer time, and Jodie will be answering these questions:

  1. What does it mean to be ‘equal?’
  2. How should we understand the Old Testament practice of men having multiple wives?
  3. Since the immaculate conception of Jesus is a form of surrogate birth, does this condone surrogacy more generally?
  4. Doesn’t adoption cause the same issues as the other attempts to provide same-sex couples with children?
  5. If a couple in a traditional marriage struggles with infertility, are they right to pursue things like IVF, or should they just accept this as God’s will?
  6. Since same-sex couples argue that they are a child’s legitimate and loving parents, does that not fulfil the child’s rights to having parents under international law?
  7. Given that marriage is seen so positively in the Bible, how should single people respond?
  8. If we are to avoid making political statements, should we avoid praying about refugees?
  9. Given we’ve had this topical talk on marriage, can we also have talks on the Bible’s view of refugees and the environment?
  10. How should we respond if a gay person joins our church?

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, 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.

Church news for the week beginning 18th February 2017

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This weekend’s Bible Talk

This weekend we welcome Bishop Peter Hayward who will be speaking on the topic ‘A Building that lasts’ from 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 5 to 23.

New sermon series

Next weekend we’re kicking off a new five-week series looking at the five Solas of the Reformation. The series is called ‘Five Foundations’.

Mission of the month: Anglicare

Anglicare is our mission of the month. Support this ministry through the ‘Mission Table’ in the Hall.

A new Bible and Prayer gathering

Starting next Saturday, 25th February, 4.00 – 4.45pm (before 5pm church), meeting in the Church Hall. Hearing the Bible, learning in community – you ask your questions, make your comments, praying and caring, reading and prayer guide for personal use at home. Contact Mark on 0438 342 042, or markdonaldhoward@gmail.com.

Kyngdon Catch-up

Roger and Amanda Kyngdon are over here from Western Australia, and will be joining us for a coffee and dessert night to share about their ministry with BCA (The Bush Church Aid). Thursday 23rd February 7.30pm at Oak Flats Anglican.

First Ladies’ Dinner for the year

You are invited to join the ladies of Oak Flats and beyond this Tuesday 21st February to hear Cassie Sharp. 7pm in the church, cost $7. No need to RSVP, just turn up!

Ladies Guild AGM

The Ladies Guild are meeting this Wednesday 22nd February in the church hall at 2pm for their Annual General Meeting.

Combined Leadership Meeting

Saturday, 25th February is our next Combined Leadership meeting at Oak Flats Anglican Church, starting at 8.00am.

Six weeks to the Weekendaway

Don’t miss out on our awesome church retreat on the weekend of the 31st March – 2nd April.  Our guest speaker is Peter Jensen, former Archbishop of Sydney. It’s time to register!

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 $6272.00, leaving a gap of $28.00.

Olimometer 2.52

Up to the end of the last calendar month we needed to have received $98,802. Compared to that total we received $109,200, leaving a gap of $-10,398.

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 .

More than a rain shelter?

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Jamberoo Anglican Church

This weekend we give thanks to God for 150 years of ministry in our building at Jamberoo Anglican Church.

This milestone reminds us that this building has had a special place in our hearts for we who have regularly gathered here since 1867.

It is the place where we have baptised babies and new believers, married new couples, and said farewell to our loved ones.

This makes this building very significant to many generations of Jamberoo Anglicans.

Yet despite the fond memories of our church, the Bible makes it clear that this building does not perform a special religious function beyond helping us gather together in comfort and safety.

Before Jesus’ time, God’s Temple was the place at which God chose to be especially present, and his people gathered there to have priests make sacrifices with special rituals.

But when Jesus came, he transformed the way that we were to meet with God.

Instead of needing a physical building, we now meet with Christ, by his Spirit, as we hear his word in the Bible.

And because of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice on the first Good Friday, we no longer need to offer sacrifices at an altar in a temple.

What’s more, we no longer need to have a special priest to stand between us and God, because Jesus is that high priest who constantly brings our requests to our heavenly Father.

This means that the reason we meet together in a building like ours is to hear God’s word, pray to him, and to encourage one another through love and good deeds.

When we do this, it will create rich and warm memories that should prompt us to bring thanksgiving to God for all that he’s done in our special building.

And we should be energised to work together to extend the reach of our church to include more and more people in our village and valley.

Happy Birthday, Church of the Resurrection!