Every Person Matters to God

Do you ever feel overlooked, invisible?
I am just one person in a world of eight billion people. There’s nothing special about me to make me stand out. In a large group (or maybe even a small one) you probably wouldn’t even see me.

What role can one single person play in God’s great plan?
Does God truly have a purpose for each one of us?
Can one, small, insignificant person make much of a difference in the kingdom of God?

The Bible says yes, one person can make a difference!

We all know the stories of Moses, Noah, David and Jonah. We know the impact their lives had.
We need to read the story of creation, Noah’s Ark, and Paul’s conversion experience. They contain powerful lessons for strengthening our faith.

But what about the lesser-known people? People like Ehud, Jethro, Rhoda or Dorcas? Or the woman who saved the entire kingdom of Judah when she stole a child and hid him for six years?
There are many people in the Bible who are mentioned only once, some are not even named!
Often overlooked they have valuable lessons to teach us about faith, courage, and God’s power in the lives of ordinary people.
These lesser-known characters are all vitally important. In fact, some of them played a pivotal role in God’s plan.
All of God’s Word is important. If He took the time to write about the seemingly minor characters, there is a reason – they are all a part of the big story of God.
They teach us invaluable lessons like the importance of forgiveness, never giving up, and how one brave person can make a difference in a whole kingdom.
But more than that, these obscure Bible characters show us God sees every little thing we do, and He cares.
In the eyes of the Lord, every one of us has an important job to do.
When you feel overlooked, invisible or unimportant, remember God has a plan for your life and you never know how He might use you!

Sandee Batelic

Coming Up This Weekend 13th October 2024

This weekend Moussa Ghazal will be speaking to us from Hebrews 1:1-4.

This weekend is the third of three weekends in our ‘Schools Out, Kids In’ program, where Rach helps us work to make our church gatherings even more intergenerational.

This week we won’t be having a question time but feel free to reply to send your questions via email or text.

Every day (except Sundays) we meet at 7am online for an online half-hour morning prayer time at zoom.jamberooanglican.com and you’re very welcome to join us!

After church we’ll have brunch in the morning and dinner in the evening, so there’s plenty of time to chat and chew, together!

See you on Sunday, God willing!

Church News for the Weekend of 6th October 2024

Sunday’s Sermon

This Sunday, Andy McPhail continues his three-week series called ‘The Race’ from Philippians 3, with his third talk called ‘Finishing the Race: Receiving the Prize’’

Book of the Month

Our book of the month for October is ‘Hope: The Best is yet to Come‘ by Bryson Smith. Physical copies are available at our bookstall or buy online at: wanderingbookseller.com.au

Friday Kids and Youth

We’re having a holiday break from our normal Friday groups of SPARK (Years 3 to 6) at 4:30-6pm, and Youth Group (Years 7 to 12) from 7-9pm at the church hall.

Schools Out, Kids In

This weekend is the second of three weekends in our ‘Schools Out, Kids In’ program, as Rach leads us in extra-intergenerational services for all ages and stages, all together!

ONE Music Festival

ONE Music Festival is a wholistic family event aiming to bring different generations and denominations together to celebrate and experience Jesus in community. Children, youth groups and adults are all welcome. It will be running on the 16th of November at the Kiama Pavilion and showgrounds from 2pm – 9pm. Expect to see different bands, food trucks among other fun surprises. You can come for the whole event or part of it, your choice. Tickets are available now at onemusicfestival.com.
They also need Volunteers to help run the event!- More info on their website.

Anglicare Toys ‘n’ Tucker

This Christmas, we’re collecting food and gifts for those who are doing it tough. Our partnership with Anglicare’s “Toys ‘n’ Tucker” aims to share the joy of Christmas with families who would otherwise go without.  Last year Toys ‘n’ Tucker delivered 4,000 toy hampers and 5,000 gift hampers directly into the hands of our local community.
Even the smallest donation can make the biggest impact! Drop off your donations at the church hall through October.

Midweek Small Groups 

By being a member of a Small Group, you are helping us all to care for each other as we grow in our knowledge and love of God. Join a group by filling in the Connect Card or contacting a staff member.

Safe Ministry Matters  

For those who prefer face to face training, there are both Essentials and Refresher courses coming up soon. Speak to our Safe Ministry Representative is Gemma Bartlett.

For more details contact Gemma on 0414 425 639 or email gemma.bartlett@jamberooanglican.com

Catch up on Sermons and Questions

Listen to sermons and our Question Time on Apple Podcasts or Spotify by searching ‘Jamberoo Anglican’. You can also watch previous services at watch.jamberooanglican.com

Church Giving

Each week we need to receive $6300.00 in order to meet our commitments. For last month, our average weekly giving was $5882.00, leaving a gap of $418.00. 

Olimometer 2.52

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

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.

Olimometer 2.52

To give by direct transfer then these are the details: Account name: Jamberoo Anglican Church. Account number: 356831. BSB: 032605.

What’s On Your Mind?

Most of us have a thousand things on our minds on any one day.

Some of us have more than one thing at a time, and it seems our life is crowded with demands, disappointments and decisions.
Others may seem to have nothing in particular and cruise through life with never a care in the world. 
But we all have an ‘internal drive’, that hard wired default place where we dream, hope and desire for what we think is good.

Hugh Mackay, the Australian psychologist, tried to capture what is on our collective minds in his 2015 book, The Good Life. In it he asks Aussies “what makes life worth living?” 
We could be cynical and compare ourselves to the citizens of ancient Philippi, who Paul described in chapter 3 verse 19 in his letter: “their god is their appetite, they think about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth”.
Not us, surely!
Mackay has a surprising conclusion to his research. He writes ‘The good life is not the sum of our security, wealth, status, postcode, career success and levels of happiness.
The good life is one defined by our capacity for selflessness, the quality of our relationships and our willingness to connect with others in a useful way.’

Mackay is on the right track.
But the Gospel is both much worse news, and much better news. Without God’s rescue mission through Jesus, we are all like the citizens of Philippi – driven by selfish desires, giving ultimate worth to possessions and experiences, and not a thought for eternity.
We are heading for destruction.
The great news is that if we love God and follow his Son Jesus, he has taken hold of us for his very own.
We can now live for Him, love others as He has asked us to do, have our minds made new, and live with the certain hope of seeing him face to face forever.

Now that’s a good life!

Andy McPhail

Coming Up This Weekend 6th October 2024

This weekend Andy McPhail will complete his three-week series called ‘The Race’ from Philippians 3, with his third talk called ‘Finishing the Race: Receiving the Prize’’

This weekend is the second of three weekends in our ‘Schools Out, Kids In’ program, where Rach helps us work to make our church gatherings even more intergenerational.

This week we won’t be having a question time but feel free to reply to send your questions via email or text.

Every day (except Sundays) we meet at 7am online for an online half-hour morning prayer time at zoom.jamberooanglican.com and you’re very welcome to join us!

After church we’ll have brunch in the morning and dinner in the evening, so there’s plenty of time to chat and chew, together!

See you on Sunday, God willing!

Church News for the Weekend of 29th September 2024

Sunday’s Sermon

This Sunday, Matt Bartlett will be teaching us from Psalm 78 with a one-off sermon called ‘We Will Tell the Next Generation’

Book of the Month

Our book of the month for September is ‘About Love by David Mansfield. Physical copies are available at our bookstall.

Friday Kids and Youth

We’re having a holiday break from our normal Friday groups of SPARK (Years 3 to 6) at 4:30-6pm, and Youth Group (Years 7 to 12) from 7-9pm at the church hall.

Schools Out, Kids In

Our ‘Schools out, kids in’ church services begins this Sunday and the next two weeks, as Rach leads us in extra-intergenerational services for all ages and stages, all together!

ONE Music Festival

ONE Music Festival is a wholistic family event aiming to bring different generations and denominations together to celebrate and experience Jesus in community. Children, youth groups and adults are all welcome. It will be running on the 16th of November at the Kiama Pavilion and showgrounds from 2pm – 9pm. Expect to see different bands, food trucks among other fun surprises. You can come for the whole event or part of it, your choice. Tickets are available now at onemusicfestival.com.
They also need Volunteers to help run the event!- More info on their website.

Anglicare Toys ‘n’ Tucker

This Christmas, we’re collecting food and gifts for those who are doing it tough. Our partnership with Anglicare’s “Toys ‘n’ Tucker” aims to share the joy of Christmas with families who would otherwise go without.  Last year Toys ‘n’ Tucker delivered 4,000 toy hampers and 5,000 gift hampers directly into the hands of our local community.
Even the smallest donation can make the biggest impact! Drop off your donations at the church hall through October.

Midweek Small Groups 

By being a member of a Small Group, you are helping us all to care for each other as we grow in our knowledge and love of God. Join a group by filling in the Connect Card or contacting a staff member.

Safe Ministry Matters  

For those who prefer face to face training, there are both Essentials and Refresher courses coming up soon. Speak to our Safe Ministry Representative is Gemma Bartlett.

For more details contact Gemma on 0414 425 639 or email gemma.bartlett@jamberooanglican.com

Catch up on Sermons and Questions

Listen to sermons and our Question Time on Apple Podcasts or Spotify by searching ‘Jamberoo Anglican’. You can also watch previous services at watch.jamberooanglican.com

Church Giving

Each week we need to receive $6300.00 in order to meet our commitments. For last month, our average weekly giving was $5882.00, leaving a gap of $418.00. 

Olimometer 2.52

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

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.

Olimometer 2.52

To give by direct transfer then these are the details: Account name: Jamberoo Anglican Church. Account number: 356831. BSB: 032605.

Special Religious Education (SRE)

One great way to ensure that the next generation hears about the GLORIOUS deeds of the LORD, is through SRE (Special Religious Education or “teaching Scripture”).

Every Thursday afternoon during term time, a team of loving and dedicated servants from our church invest in the kids next door at Jamberoo Public School by teaching them about God through SRE. It’s a fantastic opportunity to walk alongside these young ones, pointing them to WHO God is, WHAT he’s done, and WHY that matters for us.

Given that the school is quite small, we teach the students in stage groups

  • Kindy is taught by Elise & Paula
  • Year 1-2 has been taught by Jodie, and is being taken over by Lesley
  • Year 3-4 is taught by Rach
  • Year 5-6 is taught by Deb

My role is to coordinate the team, liaise with the school, oversee the admin and to fill in when one of the other teachers can’t make it (which turns out to be pretty often!)

We’d really love for you to pray for us each week as we teach these energetic young ones about God from the Bible. The team has asked if you can please pray:

  • That we would have love and compassion for the students
  • We would have creativity to convey the love of Christ in language and actions that will touch their hearts and minds. 
  • God would help us pitch the lesson at a level the children can understand.
  • That the Holy Spirit would go ahead of us each week.
  • For the recruitment and training of more SRE teachers from our church to take over some of the classes in 2025

If you’d like to know more about SRE or would like to talk about how you can support us, please get in contact!

Matt Bartlett

Coming Up This Weekend 29th September 2024

This weekend Andy McPhail will complete his three-week series called ‘The Race’ from Philippians 3, with his third talk called ‘Finishing the Race: Receiving the Prize’’

We’re thrilled to let you know that this weekend we kick off the first of three weekends in our ‘Schools Out, Kids In’ program, where Rach helps us work to make our church gatherings even more intergenerational.

This week we won’t be having a question time but feel free to reply to send your questions via email or text.

Every day (except Sundays) we meet at 7am online for an online half-hour morning prayer time at zoom.jamberooanglican.com and you’re very welcome to join us!

After church we’ll have brunch in the morning and dinner in the evening, so there’s plenty of time to chat and chew, together!

See you on Sunday, God willing!

Church News for the Weekend of 22nd September 2024

Sunday’s Sermon

This Sunday, Jodie McNeill continues our sermon series ‘Isaiah: Complete Comfort’ with the first sermon from Isaiah 6:1-13 called, ‘Concealed Comfort’.

Book of the Month

Our book of the month for September is ‘About Love by David Mansfield. Physical copies are available at our bookstall.

Friday Kids and Youth

Each Friday we meet for our kids and youth groups of SPARK (Years 3 to 6) at 4:30-6pm, and Youth Group (Years 7 to 12) from 7-9pm at the church hall.

ONE Music Festival

ONE Music Festival is a wholistic family event aiming to bring different generations and denominations together to celebrate and experience Jesus in community. Children, youth groups and adults are all welcome. It will be running on the 16th of November at the Kiama Pavilion and showgrounds from 2pm – 9pm. Expect to see different bands, food trucks among other fun surprises. You can come for the whole event or part of it, your choice. Tickets are available now at onemusicfestival.com.
They also need Volunteers to help run the event!- More info on their website.

Anglicare Toys ‘n’ Tucker

This Christmas, we’re collecting food and gifts for those who are doing it tough. Our partnership with Anglicare’s “Toys ‘n’ Tucker” aims to share the joy of Christmas with families who would otherwise go without.  Last year Toys ‘n’ Tucker delivered 4,000 toy hampers and 5,000 gift hampers directly into the hands of our local community.
Even the smallest donation can make the biggest impact! Drop off your donations at the church hall through October.

Midweek Small Groups 

By being a member of a Small Group, you are helping us all to care for each other as we grow in our knowledge and love of God. Join a group by filling in the Connect Card or contacting a staff member.

Safe Ministry Matters  

For those who prefer face to face training, there are both Essentials and Refresher courses coming up soon. Speak to our Safe Ministry Representative is Gemma Bartlett.

For more details contact Gemma on 0414 425 639 or email gemma.bartlett@jamberooanglican.com

Catch up on Sermons and Questions

Listen to sermons and our Question Time on Apple Podcasts or Spotify by searching ‘Jamberoo Anglican’. You can also watch previous services at watch.jamberooanglican.com

Church Giving

Each week we need to receive $6300.00 in order to meet our commitments. For last month, our average weekly giving was $5882.00, leaving a gap of $418.00. 

Olimometer 2.52

Up to the end of last 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: Jamberoo Anglican Church. Account number: 356831. BSB: 032605.

God is For Us

This week I have been reflecting on Romans 8 verses 31-39, one of my favourite passages in the Bible.

If we look at the earlier verses in chapter 8, we read that God works for the good in the life of the believer, including salvation.

In verse 31, Paul now asks the question: what shall we say in response to this? ‘If God is for us, who can ever be against us?”

The question for us then is this, ‘is God for you or against you’? It’s a pretty important question!

These final verses of chapter 8 offer great assurance with two precious truths for believers in Christ. That God is for us and that nothing can separate us from God’s love.

So how do you know that God is for you?

Because God, who gave his own Son, will graciously give you all things along with him (v32).
Because God who justifies you will not allow any charge to be brought against those he has chosen (v33). If the God of all creation has already declared you innocent of all charges, then who can bring accusations against you? Satan is the ultimate accuser, but he has already been defeated.
Because he doesn’t condemn us. Instead of condemning us, Christ died and was raised, and not only does he not condemn us, he intercedes and speaks for us.

And because absolutely nothing can separate us from God’s love.

How do we know that God is for us?
He gave his own Son for us. He justifies us. He can condemn us but chooses not to.
And nothing can separate us from the God who loves us.

We can see that the only way God will be against us is if we reject the Son he did not spare for us.

How then, would you answer the question, Is God for you or against you?

SANDEE BATELIC