Failing the Test

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This week I went for my truck licence so I can drive a fire truck for the Jamberoo Rural Fire Brigade.

Everything was going really well until I turned left at a set of traffic lights and cut the corner a tiny bit… but just enough for the rear tyre to briefly mount the curb.

‘Bump’… FAIL!

Even though I’d done a good job of the rest of the test, that one, small, ‘bump’ meant I failed the test.

No matter how I went in the other scores, I just needed one little mistake in the ‘fail’ list, and it’s a long, sad trip home.

In many ways, this is what it’s like with God’s judgement.

All we need is one ‘fail item’ in our life-long test, and then God, the instructor, will put a big cross in the box next to the sentence ‘SORRY! YOU DID NOT QUALIFY’.

And the problem is that any one time that we live like Jesus is not our king, then this single ‘sin’ is enough to rightly disqualify us from eternal life.

As we read in Romans chapter 3 verse 23: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

It all sounds pretty hopeless!

But here’s the wonderful news that the Bible says straight after in verse 24: “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”

“Grace… freely… freed…”

Even though all of us have failed the test of life, God now makes us right in his sight… passing the test for us, and giving us certainty for eternity if we turn and serve Jesus as our loving ruler.

But even though Jesus has given me a ‘pass’ to heaven, I’ve still got to do that driving test again in three weeks!

JODIE McNEILL

Coming up this weekend 27-28 February

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This weekend Jodie McNeill will be continuing our series on 1 Kings ‘Power and Hope’ as we look through chapters five and six.

If you have any questions, simply fill out a response slip during the service, email us at office@jamberooanglican.com or send an SMS to 0439 890 086.

Here are the questions that Jodie plans to answer this weekend. If your question isn’t here, then don’t worry… we’ll try and fit it in over the coming weeks!

1 Why did Bathsheba say, “may my Lord King David live forever!”, when he was about to die?
2 Why didn’t King Solomon show mercy to his brother-in-law?
3 Did God’s promises justify the murders by King Solomon when he first became king?
4 What do you think about capital punishment?
5 When someone says, “surely as the Lord lives” (1 Kings 2:24), do they think that God can die?
6 Why did Jesus tell people he healed not to share the news of their healing with others?
7 Was God happy for Solomon to have so many wives?
8 Is it right for a Christian to marry a non-Christian?
9 Is it wrong for Christians to read and believe in star signs?
10 Does a person need to have a true faith in God to possess godly wisdom?

Join us this Saturday at 5pm where after church at 7pm we’re having a pizza party birthday bash for Jodie & Mandy!

Or join us Sunday at 9am where we’ll gather for church, and then after will have fellowship over morning tea and tasty espresso!

We have kids programs at both of our services! Join us for ‘Joeys’ (toddlers through to preschool), ‘Junior Roos’ (for school years K to 2), and ‘Senior Roos’ (for school years 3 to 6). Our service is live streamed to the TV in the hall so if you need to stay with your child, you won’t miss out on God’s word.

If you can’t make it in person, head to watch.jamberooanglican.com to watch our livestream. To catch up on previous sermons, head to our Youtube channel youtube.jamberooanglican.com.

Church News for the week beginning 21st February

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OUR BIBLE TALK

This weekend Graham Errington continues our series ‘Power and Hope’ as we look through chapters three and four of 1 Kings.

MOTHER’S UNION CONFERENCE

Join Gemma in watching this online conference together at church on Friday 26th February, from 10am to 1:30pm.

JODIE AND MANDY 50TH

Jodie and Mandy are turning 50 and would love you to join them for a pizza party next Saturday night 27th February at 7pm after church, followed by birthday party games! All welcome… even if you normally come to Sunday morning church.

CONFIRMATION SERVICE

Save the date: Wednesday 18th August 2021. Bishop Peter Hayward will be joining us to hold a confirmation service just for Jamberoo Anglican. If you are Year 9 or older and interested in being confirmed, then please let Jodie know via email or response slip.

KEEN TO JOIN A BIBLE STUDY?

In the coming weeks we’re keen to start some new, midweek Bible Study groups. Stay tuned for more details… and let us know your preferred days/times.

MISSION OF THE MONTH

Our mission of the month is Anglicare. To find out more visit www.anglicare.org.au

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 9th March at 7pm in the hall. An important night for our church to reflect on 2020 and plan for 2021.

YOUTUBE CHANNEL

To watch videos of our Bible talks and other memories of our church, visit youtube.jamberooanglican.com and be sure to subscribe to our channel!

FAMILY NEWS

BIRTHDAYS
27th Annette Gibson
27th Mandy McNeill
27th Tim Orange

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: Jamberoo Anglican Church. Account number: 10081274. BSB: 062562.

To give to our tax-deductible MTS Scholars Fund to support our apprentice youth minister, head to mts.com.au/give/jamberoo-anglican-church/

What are you giving up?

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When people mention the season of Lent, they usually think of giving up things like chocolate, alcohol, or even social media.

But at the heart of this forty-day journey to Good Friday is giving up sin… thinking about specific areas of our life where we know that we give in easily to temptation.

This will vary from person to person, although the heart of the problem is the same: we all, by nature, disobey God, and do not naturally pursue holiness.

So, as we count down the days to Easter, it’s a good time to ask God to speak through his Spirit as we read his word so that he might identify to us any areas of sin we should give special attention to flee.

I’m reminded of the words by the writer to the Hebrews who spoke so sharply when he addressed the real struggle of the Christian life:

Heb. 12:1    Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

As we take this Lenten journey, let’s take encouragement from the cheering on of the faithful Christians who went before us, and let us focus on Jesus, who endured the cross for us.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: countrygirl0 via Flickr)

Coming up this weekend 20-21 February

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This weekend Graham Errington continues our series ‘Power and Hope’ as we look through chapters three and four of 1 Kings.

If you have any questions, simply fill out a response slip during the service, email us at office@jamberooanglican.com or send an SMS to 0439 890 086.

Join us on Saturday at 5pm where after church we’ll have dinner together, followed by ‘Nightlife’ until 9pm for all ages.

Or join us Sunday at 9am where we’ll gather for church, and then after will have fellowship over morning tea and tasty espresso!

We have kids programs at both of our services! Join us for ‘Joeys’ (toddlers through to preschool), ‘Junior Roos’ (for school years K to 2), and ‘Senior Roos’ (for school years 3 to 6). Our service is live streamed to the TV in the hall so if you need to stay with your child, you won’t miss out on God’s word.

If you can’t make it in person, head to watch.jamberooanglican.com to watch our livestream. To catch up on previous sermons, head to our Youtube channel youtube.jamberooanglican.com.

1 Kings – Power and Hope 2: Executing Justice 1 Kings 2 Jodie McNeill – 13-14 February 2021

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What makes a good leader?

We need to see the world _____ way

Solomon needs to take _______

God’s king must ______ God’s ways

The law of the Lord is _________

Success for Solomon is seen in __________

God demands obedience but still remains ________

God’s king will carry out God’s _______

God will not leave sin __________

Adonijah wasn’t happy that Solomon was ____

Adonijah wanted to _________ Solomon

Solomon ________ Adonijah

Abiathar loses his role as ______

Joab receives _______ for his senseless murders

Shimei broke the __________ he swore to keep

Solomon has clear air to ____ God’s people

The justice of God is at the heart of God

Download a PDF of the outline (with pictures for colouring in) hereDownload

Church News for the week beginning 14th February

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OUR BIBLE TALK

This weekend Jodie continues our new series on 1 Kings called ‘Power and Hope’, as we look at chapter two with the title, ‘Executing Justice‘.

PROPERTY & FINANCE UPDATE

During our services this weekend our Treasurer James Rosten will share with us an important update about the plans for OHSC (Before and After-school Care), as well as a word about how the finances work at our church.

MOTHER’S UNION CONFERENCE

Join Gemma in watching this online conference together at church on Friday 26th February, from 10am to 1:30pm.

SRE KICKS OFF

Pray for our Scripture (SRE) teachers as they commence teaching at Jamberoo Public School, and share the great news of Jesus with the kids of our village.

NEW TIME FOR MORNING PRAYER

Now you can sleep in! We’re moving our daily morning prayer to the new time of 7:30am each day. Join us at zoom.jamberooanglican.com as we spend half an hour reading the Bible and praying together.

KEEN TO JOIN A BIBLE STUDY?

In the coming weeks we’re keen to start some new, midweek Bible Study groups. Stay tuned for more details… and let us know your preferred days/times.

MISSION OF THE MONTH

Our mission of the month is Anglicare. To find out more visit www.anglicare.org.au

NEW KIDS PROGRAMS

We’ve got all-new names for our kids programs this weekend. Introducing ‘Joeys’ (for toddlers through to pre-school), ‘Junior Roos’ (for kids in K to 2), and ‘Senior Roos’ (for our year 3 to 6 crew).

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 9th March at 7pm in the hall. An important night for our church to reflect on 2020 and plan for 2021.

YOUTUBE CHANNEL

To watch videos of our Bible talks and other memories of our church, visit youtube.jamberooanglican.com and be sure to subscribe to our channel!

FAMILY NEWS

BIRTHDAYS
17th Karen Mion

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: Jamberoo Anglican Church. Account number: 10081274. BSB: 062562.

To give to our tax-deductible MTS Scholars Fund to support our apprentice youth minister, head to mts.com.au/give/jamberoo-anglican-church/

Doing Lent Right

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The church calendar didn’t feature much in my upbringing, but more recently, I’ve started to see that it’s good to synchronise my calendar with Christian brothers and sisters from all tribes, tongues and nations.

Because everyone needs to choose a calendar to follow each year.

It might be a school, college or university calendar… or you might shape your year by holidays, or sport, or even the financial year.

But as we live as foreigners and exiles, it seems a good thing for Christians to celebrate together the rhythm of our church calendar.

One of the most important seasons is Lent, when we focus on the temptation and suffering and death of our Lord.

When we think of those forty days and forty nights… the man of sorrows on the old rugged cross on the green hill, far away.

In some Christian traditions, people give up something for Lent, like chocolate, or alcohol, or even social media!

Whilst there is something powerful about doing a thing that reminds us of this important season, it’s unfortunately been hijacked as a way to display good works that some people think will win favour from God.

But the better way to think of Lent is to use this time in the annual Church calendar to count down the days to the high point of our year, the day we remember the crucifixion of Christ, then his resurrection from the dead.

And so starting with Ash Wednesday next week, we begin the countdown to the cross, as we follow an annual rhythm that brings us to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

For this is the greatest event in our Christian calendar, and a weekend that deserves our attention more than any as a moment of great and glorious thanksgiving to God.

How will you count down to Easter?

JODIE McNEILL

Coming up this weekend 13-14 February

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This weekend we have Jodie McNeill speaking to us from 1 Kings 2:1-46 as we continue our new series ‘Power and Hope’ and explore ‘Executing Justice‘.

If you have any questions, simply fill out a response slip during the service, email us at office@jamberooanglican.com or send an SMS to 0439 890 086. Here are your questions that Jodie plans to answer this weekend:

1 Are the ‘bad’ kings still anointed by God?
2 If God can change his mind, how can he know the future?
3 How can we know the Bible is true?
4 Were Adam and Eve the only people around when they left the Garden?
5 Who is the ‘we’ in Romans 1:5?
6 How do our church Bible readings relate to the sermon?

Join us on Saturday at 5pm where after church we’ll have dinner together, followed by ‘Nightlife’ until 9pm for all ages.

Or join us Sunday at 9am where we’ll gather for church, and then after will have fellowship over morning tea and tasty espresso!

We have kids programs at both of our services! Join us for ‘Joeys’ (toddlers through to preschool), ‘Junior Roos’ (for school years K to 2), and ‘Senior Roos’ (for school years 3 to 6). Our service is live streamed to the TV in the hall so if you need to stay with your baby, you can still hear the sermon.

If you can’t make it in person, head to watch.jamberooanglican.com to watch our livestream. To catch up on previous sermons, head to our Youtube channel youtube.jamberooanglican.com.

1 Kings – Power and Hope – An Unfading Hope – 1 Kings 1 – 6-7 February 2021

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We expect democracy to work

God’s people ended up with a ____

King David is now _____

A ‘whatever works’ strategy is ___

God acts by making ________

With God’s promises, it’s not ‘if’ it’s ‘____’

A loving father ___________ his child

Bathsheba _____ David about Adonijah

David swears that _______ will be king

God’s kingdom is _________ not physical

Messiah means Christ means ________ one

The kings of 1Kings teach us about King _____

The enemies of God’s king are ________

Those who reject God’s king face _________

Adonijah seeks _____ from the Messiah

The Messiah offers _____

Is it time to trust the ____ king?

An unfading hope

Download a copy of the PDF of the handout (with pictures to colour in) here:Download