Join us for Christmas – even if it’s raining!

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This Christmas we’d love you to join us at our special events open to everyone in Jamberoo and beyond.

At 5pm on Christmas Eve grab a FREE Sausage Sizzle and drink and then sit on your rug or chairs and join us for a special one-hour carols service at 6pm on the lawn, which is then followed at 7pm for a summer supper and all-age games.

If it’s raining then come along anyway! Sausages will be served under cover in the hall, and then we’ll meet in the church for a cosy and dry Churchill Carols with a twist!

At 9am on Christmas Day join us for a memorable all-age service in our classic church building as we sing well-known carols and hear a fresh insight into the remarkable birth of Jesus.

If it’s a long time since you’ve visited a church, then this is the perfect time to make new friends and discover real hope at Christmas.

Coming up this Christmas Weekend 2023

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This week we’re not meeting at 9am Sunday, but are combining our two services at the special time of 5pm for a free sausage sizzle, then 6pm for a one-hour carols service on the lawn, followed by a free supper and all-age games from 7pm.

Then on Christmas Day, Monday 25th December, we’ll all be joining together at 9am for carols and lessons for all ages.

We’re not live-streaming on Christmas Eve, but we will be live-streaming Christmas Day at watch.jamberooanglican.com or follow us on Facebook.

We’ll be taking a break from our weekly Question Time until mid-January, but feel free to keep asking your questions so Jodie can answer them when we start again.

See you on Sunday and Monday, God willing!

PS – Don’t come to church this Sunday at 9am… but we’ll see you from 5pm for sausages!

The Message of the King – 4: Prepare for the King – Malachi 3:16-4:6 – Jodie McNeill – 17th December 2023

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Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

Doomsday _______

We all need to be preppers for _____

Don’t ______ the king

Many gave up on ________ God

Some of them _______ the Lord

When you follow God, life doesn’t get ______

Their _____ were in a special book

They will be treated like an ________ child

Judgement Day is ______

Judgement Day is like a hot _______

Burning brings up ____________

Judgement Day brings _______ to God fearers

The sun brings burning or _______

God’s people have a ____ on Judgement Day

God’s people must ____ God’s word

Judgement Day won’t happen before ______ returns

Malachi’s Elijah was ____ the Baptist

Rejecting John’s preaching brought a _____

Through Jesus, God’s children know their ______

Jesus invites us to receive his ____

Prepare for the king by ______ to Christ

Church News for the Week Beginning 17th December 2024

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OUR SERMON

This Sunday we’re going to hear the final talk from the series called ‘The Message of the King’ as Jodie McNeill preaches to us from Malachi 3:16-4:6 on the topic, ‘Prepare for the King.’ We’ll also be celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

CHURCHILL CAROLS

Join us on Christmas Eve for our Churchill Carols on the church lawn. 5pm free sausage sizzle, 6pm all-age carols service, and 7pm summer supper. Keep the evening free for a great night for all!

CAN WE USE YOUR PHOTO?

We’re hoping to ramp up our social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms, so if you’d prefer not to have a photo of you displayed online as we promote our church, please let us know.

YOUTH AND CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS IN HOLIDAYS

Our normal midweek weekly groups for children and youth are taking a break over Christmas and will resume late January. But remember, every Sunday’s perfect for people of all ages and stages!

TOYS AND TUCKER

Together, we can share the joy with thousands of families this Christmas through Anglicare’s Toys n’ Tucker appeal. Simply visit toysntucker.org.au to provide food and gifts for those who would otherwise go without this Christmas.

SUMMER CAMPING AT BURRILL PINES

Join your church friends for a relaxed camping trip at Burrill Pines (near Ulladulla) on the third weekend of 20-21st January and the days before and after as you’re able. Speak to Adrian Nette 0414 193 945 for more details.

MORNING PRAYER

Join us at 7am every day (except Sunday) at zoom.jamberooanglican.com as we gather to read the Bible, pray, and encourage each other as the new day dawns.

DECEMBER BOOK OF THE MONTH

Our book of the month is ‘’The Dawn of Redeeming Grace’ by Sinclair Ferguson. Physical copies are available at our bookstall.

GIVING UPDATE

Each week we need to receive $6300.00 in order to meet our commitments. For last month, our average weekly giving was $6272.00, leaving a gap of $28.00. Up to the end of last month, we needed to have received $98,802. Compared to that total we received $109,200, leaving a gap of $-10,398.

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.

Happy Happy Day?

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One of our favourite songs at Christmas time is the modern carol, ‘Happy Happy Day’ by Colin Buchanan, which rejoices at the coming of Jesus.

It’s right to sing for joy at Christmas because to us a Son is given, who leaves his throne in heaven—God with us, Emmanuel.

Yet Christmas often brings sadness, or even grief, as we’re reminded of the reality of our broken world, where we lament damaged relationships with loved ones, or the painful reality of distance and death.

What’s more, there will be many who live in places of war and natural disaster, and as we see their lives crumble, we’ll get sad, and we wonder why there’s so much pain, and why we let the same mistakes happen over and over again.

That’s why at the Jamberoo Community Carols on Tuesday night I sang another song by Colin that offers a fresh reminder that even when we’re worrying about the world, we can put our trust in God alone, for he’s still sitting on his mighty throne.

King Jesus came to us at the first Christmas, was placed on his throne at the first Easter, and he continues to rule from Heaven as he prepares to return.

That’s why we sing that, the Lord is king, he’s gonna look after everything, ‘cos this is his world, he rules the world.”

This is why Christmas is still a time to rejoice, even though it’s a time we might experience sadness.

For as the first song reminds us, Christ is the Lord, the light of men, and that he was born to die and rise again, and because of that, he broke the curse of death and saved us from our sin.

That’s why we can sing ‘Happy, Happy Day’ at Christmas, especially when our own experiences might not always be filled with joy right now.

JODIE McNEILL

Coming up this Sunday 17th December 2023

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This Sunday we are going to be hearing from God’s word as Jodie McNeill concludes our series on Malachi called ‘The Message of the King,’ as he looks at Malachi 3:16-4:6 with the title, ‘Prepare for the King.’

We’ll also be sharing in the Lord’s Supper at our Sunday services this week.

After our 9 am service we’ll be enjoying brunch together, and after our 4 pm service we’ll be having dinner.

We’d love you to join us in-person if you’re able, or watch our livestream at watch.jamberooanglican.com.

Here are the questions you’ve asked that Jodie plans to answer during church this Sunday:

1 Where does God say in the Bible that taking any life is wrong?
2 Will aborted babies be in heaven?
3 Why doesn’t our church teach much about the Holy Spirit?
4 How can we discern the Holy Spirit’s guidance?
5 Why do we have Bible readings that aren’t related to the sermon?
6 Can we do Lord’s Supper earlier so the kids don’t need to come back in?
7 What does it mean to pull a sandal from someone’s foot (see Deuteronomy 25:9)?
8 What should we say if friends ask questions about the Lord that we can’t understand?

That’s almost a full board of questions, but if you’ve got one you wanted to ask about last week, then email us and we’ll seek to answer it soon.

See you on Sunday, God willing!

The Message of the King 1: Honour the King – Malachi 1:1-14 – Jodie McNeill – 26th November 2023

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Classless Aussies?

God’s people developed very bad ______

They lived at a very different ____ to us

Malachi helps us know how to ______ Jesus

They don’t believe that God _____ them

God shows his love by _________ another

God showed them ___________

God showed his love by _________ his enemies

God’s love for his chosen people is __________

God will _______ his enemies

The priests weren’t showing God ______

They’ve been offering ___ sacrifices

They’re not feeling God’s _____

Soon others would offer _____ sacrifices

They ________ God’s word

They _______ the good sacrifice for a bad one

People ____ God, but don’t honour him

The sacrifice of _____ brought honour to the Lord

We honour God by giving _________ as a sacrifice

The Message of the King – 3: Return to the King – Malachi 2:17-3:15 – Jodie McNeill – 10 December 2023

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Change of mind

The _____ leads us to change our minds

The Lord says ‘______ to me’

God’s people made the Lord _____

People worship imaginary ________ of God

People claim that God doesn’t ____

God will respond by sending a _________

The Lord will ____ to his temple

The Lord will come to ______ his people

The purification will come at a ____

John the Baptist was the Lord’s  _________

God won’t let them get away with ____

We have _______ because the Lord doesn’t change

The Lord calls them to ______ to him

They tried to _______ God by giving too little

If they trusted in God, he’d _______ their crops

We give to God in ________ to his grace

God’s people saw no _____ in serving God

Change your mind

Church News for the week beginning 10th December 2023

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OUR SERMON

This Sunday we’re going to hear the third talk from the series called ‘The Message of the King’ as Jodie McNeill preaches to us from Malachi 2:17-3:15 on the topic, ‘Return to the King.’

We’ll also be having a special farewell for Jacob and Jemimah Mierendorff during both of the services.

CHURCHILL CAROLS

Join us on Christmas Eve for our Churchill Carols on the church lawn. 5pm free sausage sizzle, 6pm all-age carols service, and 7pm summer supper. Keep the evening free for a great night for all!

JAMBEROO COMMUNITY CAROLS

You’re invited to join with the community of Jamberoo on Tuesday 12th December at 6:30-8:30pm at Reid Park. Bring a rug, picnic dinner, and an enthusiasm to share Jesus with Jamberoo and beyond! Sausage sizzle starts at 5:30pm, so come early for a feed!

CMS SUMMER SCHOOL 2024

Join thousands of other mission-minded Christians for a great week of Bible teaching and encouragement in Katoomba from 6-12 January 2024. Register at nswsummerschool.org.au

TOYS AND TUCKER

Together, we can share the joy with thousands of families this Christmas through Anglicare’s Toys n’ Tucker appeal. Simply visit toysntucker.org.au to provide food and gifts for those who would otherwise go without this Christmas.

SUMMER CAMPING AT BURRILL PINES

Join your church friends for a relaxed camping trip at Burrill Pines (near Ulladulla) on the third weekend of 20-21st January and the days before and after as you’re able. Speak to Adrian Nette 0414 193 945 for more details.

MORNING PRAYER

Join us at 7am every day (except Sunday) at zoom.jamberooanglican.com as we gather to read the Bible, pray, and encourage each other as the new day dawns.

DECEMBER BOOK OF THE MONTH

Our book of the month is ‘’The Dawn of Redeeming Grace’ by Sinclair Ferguson. Physical copies are available at our bookstall.

GIVING UPDATE

Each week we need to receive $6300.00 in order to meet our commitments. For last month, our average weekly giving was $6272.00, leaving a gap of $28.00. Up to the end of last month, we needed to have received $98,802. Compared to that total we received $109,200, leaving a gap of $-10,398.

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.

Dying To Depart

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Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) is now legal in New South Wales, and as Christians, this is something that challenges us on many fronts, as we seek to offer wise pastoral care to others, and also to obey and honour God and his word.

Some people encourage VAD because they say it avoids the pain of terminal illness, despite advancements in medicine that provide excellent pain relief and palliative care.

Others seek VAD because they don’t want others burdened as they go through a difficult illness, even though this can easily lead to other older people pursuing early death to help relieve others from the need to provide them with care.

Whilst those who have prepared the legislation say VAD is different to suicide, God says in the Bible that taking any life is wrong, even when a person is already close to death.

Yet, the greatest problem with voluntary assisted dying is that it leads a person to take their life into their own hands, rather than waiting for God to act.

This is sad for many others, especially family members and other professionals who feel the confusion and pain of being asked to help a person hasten their death, even though their conscience may be against this.

Despite having the responsibility to protect vulnerable people from feeling pressure to take their lives, this new law will impact our society in ways that will weaken trust, and lead to the deaths of the very people we’re called by God to protect.

Yet, in all of this, we know that there is hope in the Lord Jesus, and that no matter what the sufferings people might be experiencing, they are nothing compared with the glory God will reveal to us later (Romans 8:18.)

JODIE McNEILL