Are you scared of death?

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Last resting place.

It is quite unnerving to see a grown-man sobbing uncontrollably.

This is what I saw as I went to visit a gentleman in hospital who had been told that he had only days to live. He was in constant tears because he was scared about what would happen to him when he died.

Facing death without any assurance in salvation is dangerous and terrifying.

And yet so many people are in this very situation, numb to the reality of their coming judgement by Jesus as they will meet him at their death.

When I met with this man in hospital, I asked him if he believed that Jesus was the Lord of the universe, and if he had asked Jesus to forgive him. The man nodded his head and said, “yes.”

But he was crying because he didn’t think that believing this was enough to gain salvation from Jesus.

I then turned to one of my favourite parts of the Bible, where the two criminals being crucified with Jesus were in conversation with him, in Luke 23.

One of the criminals rejected Jesus, but the other simply asked Jesus to “remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus’ response was “truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

There was nothing that the criminal who followed Jesus could do except tell Jesus that he trusted in him as his Lord, and to simply surrender himself to Jesus’ rule.

And it brought an immediate and significant result: forgiveness, forever.

And with this, I told my friend on his deathbed that if he also had said these things to Jesus, then the assurance Jesus gave to that criminal was already his to enjoy.

And then the man stopped crying, and he never sobbed again. He enjoyed certainty for eternity.

What about you? Are you scared of dying? Why don’t you come to Jesus right now and enjoy true peace and comfort?

Coming up this weekend 4th – 5th December 2016

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This weekend Jodie continues our series on the Old Testament book of Job, with the title, ‘Mythbusting Evil’ from chapter 40 verse 6 to chapter 42 verse 6.

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.

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 26th November 2016

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This weekend’s Bible Talk

This weekend Jodie continues our series on the Old Testament book of Job, with the title, ‘Mythbusting God’ from chapter 38 to chapter 40 verse 5.

150th Anniversary Date

We’ve now locked in the date of our 150th Anniversary celebrations next year. We’re going to celebrate on the afternoon/evening of Saturday 18th and the morning of Sunday 19th February 2017. Keep the date free, and start inviting friends. Our speaker will be Bishop Peter Hayward.

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.

Parish Council

Our Parish Council meets this Monday, 28th November at 2.30 pm 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 Chinese meal together.

Men’s Dinner

You’re invited to join the men of Oak Flats and beyond for the final 2016 Men’s Dinner on Tuesday night 6th December. Our speaker is Graham Thomas, from Robertson Anglican. 6.30pm at the Central Hotel Function Room. Bookings essential. Phone 0439 561 373 or email mensdinner@oakflatsanglican.com

Got some history?

We’re looking for archival material from the past 25 years such as photos, stories, facts and memorabilia. If you can help, please see Lyn Walker or Pauline Swan.

New roster coming soon

If you’re unavailable to serve on a roster from 17 December 2016 through 26 March 2017 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 .

Should you be worried about things?

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One of the outcomes of industrialisation and globalisation is that we tend to be sheltered from the impact of success and failure on the land.

Whether it’s a time of peak or trough, we don’t feel the full impact of the success and failure of our primary industries, because we buy most things through supermarkets with global supply chains.

Yet when we lived off the produce of the land on which we lived, we sharply felt the impact of times of abundance and of scarcity.

And this intimate connection with the land meant that we were forced to connect with nature, and behind nature, to God himself.

We were reminded of this in Elihu’s final speech to Job when he pointed to the powerful impact of the weather upon those who work the land.

For, through displays of extreme weather, God “stops all people from their labour”, “so that everyone he has made may know his work.” (Job 37:7)

Yet, even through drought and flooding rain, we know that God sustains the land. For as we read in Psalm 145:

The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. (Psalm 145:14-15)

The Lord provides! He is reliable and he delivers as he’s promised.

So, whether we get our produce from the land or from the supermarket, we can be sure that God will provide our needs. For as Jesus said:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:25-27)

Coming up this weekend 26th – 27th November 2016

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This weekend Jodie continues our series on the Old Testament book of Job, with the title, ‘Mythbusting God’ from chapter 38 to chapter 40 verse 5.

At both our services, we will have a special update on SRE (Specialised Religious Education) and the need in 2017.

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

  1. Isn’t Elihu being self-righteous when he says that Job’s cry of pain is ‘wickedness and evil’?
  2. Given that God is pleased by our righteousness and angered by our sin, doesn’t this mean he is affected by our actions, even though they don’t control him?
  3. When Elihu tells Job to “beware of turning to evil, which you seem to prefer to affliction”, does this mean that Elihu thinks Job is being punished by God for his sin?
  4. When and where does Job live in relation to Jerusalem?
  5. Is the thunder actually God’s voice?
  6. Since the Romans 7 reading suggests that a person is only convicted of their sin when they know the law, then what happens to those who don’t hear the law?

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, 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 19th November 2016

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This weekend’s Bible Talk

This weekend Jodie continues our series on the Old Testament book of Job, with the title, ‘Mythbusting Goodness’ from chapters 35 to 37.

150th Anniversary Date

We’ve now locked in the date of our 150th Anniversary celebrations next year. We’re going to celebrate on the afternoon/evening of Saturday 18th and the morning of Sunday 19th February 2017. Keep the date free, and start inviting friends. Our speaker will be Bishop Peter Hayward.

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.

Ladies Guild Lunch

The Ladies Guild are meeting together on Wednesday 23rd November for lunch at Emma’s (‘Crust and Crumb’ at 22 Allowrie St), 12pm for a start at 12.30pm. Contact Helen Curll for further details.

Got some history?

We’re looking for archival material from the past 25 years such as photos, stories, facts and memorabilia. If you can help, please see Lyn Walker or Pauline Swan.

New roster coming soon

If you’re unavailable to serve on a roster from 17 December 2016 through 26 March 2017 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 .

What do you get out of church?

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jogging

Have you ever stopped to think about what you get out of church?

After all, we encourage people to carefully evaluate whether their investment of time or money or emotions is returning a good dividend.

So, if you had a membership with an organisation that didn’t give you sufficient benefits, then you might decide to leave and join elsewhere.

But church is very, very different.

That’s because the Christian church is the ultimate service organisation.

At its heart is Jesus, who is the ultimate example of the greatest servant of all, giving his life for those of us in his church.

And our response must be to serve, too.

Sometimes, when you’ve been coming along to a church for a while, it’s easy to start to feel less connected with what’s happening around the place.

My experience with joining a new church many years ago as a parishioner (not as the minister) was that it was only when I got myself ‘on the roster’ that I really felt that this new church was now my church.

If you’re new and you’re not yet ‘on the roster’ then we’d love you to be part of the action.

And if you’re a regular who has fallen off the roster for some reason, then you’re invited to jump back on, if you’re willing and able.

After all, as we read in 1 Corinthians 12, we are all members of the one body, and that one body has many different parts.

And as we look to the inspiration of Jesus as we seek to serve each other, we may well find that as we give to others we then get a whole lot more out of church than we did before!

For, we all have a part to play, and as we play that part, we all feel more a part of the place!

Coming up this weekend 19th – 20th November 2016

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This weekend Jodie continues our series on the Old Testament book of Job, with the title, ‘Mythbusting Goodness’ from chapters 35 to 37.

At both our services we will hear a mission update about CMS- our mission of the month.

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, 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 12th November 2016

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This weekend’s Bible Talk

This weekend Jodie continues our series on the Old Testament book of Job, with the title, ‘Mythbusting Revelation’ from chapters 32 to 34.

150th Anniversary Date

We’ve now locked in the date of our 150th Anniversary celebrations next year. We’re going to celebrate on the afternoon/evening of Saturday 18th and the morning of Sunday 19th February 2017. Be sure to keep this date free, and start inviting friends of our church. Our speaker will be Bishop Peter Hayward.

Mission of the month: Anglicare

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

Ladies Dinner

You’re invited to join the ladies of Oak Flats and our region this Tuesday 15th November to hear Kerry Stewart. Dinner is $7 payable on the night at 35 Fisher Street Oak Flats, and there is no need to RSVP.

Ladies Guild Lunch

The Ladies Guild are meeting together on Wednesday 23rd November for lunch at Emma’s, 12pm for a start at 12.30pm. Contact Helen Curll for further details.

Staff Vision Fund

If you missed the special announcement the other week, please make sure you get a copy of the letter Jodie read to the congregation.

Facebook Group

We now have a Facebook group for just the members of our church. We can use this page to encourage one another, share reminders about church events, and generally keep up to date with each other and what is happening within our church community. Just search for Jamberoo Anglican, and request to join.

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 .

What does your future hold?

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If I knew with certainty what would happen to you in the next week, then this would put me in a position of great power and authority over your life.

The ability to tell the future is something that many people claim to possess, but clearly are unable to reliably demonstrate.

If they could, then they’d be banned from owning shares, placing bets, or from any other activity that relied on speculation.

And yet, God knows the future, and he is prepared to let us know some details about what will happen.

These words of prophecy can be found in the Bible, and they tell us the promises that God has for his people and for his creation.

He promises that he will be sending Jesus back soon to judge everyone for whether they’ve followed him as their loving ruler or not.

He promises that if we ask for forgiveness and if we trust in God, then because of the death of Jesus, he will not treat us like our sins deserve.

He promises that if we are his friends that this coming day of judgement is not something we should fear.

And he promises that in the meantime, he will continue to hear our every prayer, and to be with us through our times of personal trials and sufferings.

If you rely on Jesus as your loving ruler then you can know that he holds your future safely in his hands.

Which means that no matter what fears you might have for your own life or for the world, you can be sure that he is trustworthy and full of compassion.

And that’s the best fortune telling you’ll ever experience.