This is the latest blurb that is published on the front of our weekly bulletin

2026 Budget

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Last Tuesday night, our Parish Council passed a budget for 2026. The discussion around the budget was marked by thoughtfulness, as we brought a variety of questions and concerns to the table, seeking to be both faithful and responsible.

Finances are a delicate issue for us to discuss, yet they are a significant part of our discipleship of Jesus. I chose to share a Bible reading from last Monday mornings prayer meeting as the devotion at the start of our meeting. It was from Matthew 6:19-34. I found it helpfully challenging. Here’;s a few of the things it reminded me:

1. Earthly treasures fade away, heavenly treasures last forever

2. We can’t serve God an money

3. We remember the extent of God’s care. He who provides for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field will provide much more for his people.

4. When we seek first his kingdom and righteousness, God will provide our needs

5. Don’t worry!

As he does, God used his word to calm me and refresh me as we approached the conversation about finances and budget. He is our good God, who will provide for our needs as we seek His kingdom and righteousness. 

I want to bring you into the discussion we had and share with you the outcome of the decision about the budget. I think its helpful to do this through small groups, so over the next few weeks I plan to visit each of our small groups to talk about the budget, the thinking behind it and the vision we seek to fulfil through it. 

What if I’m not part of a small group?

If you’re not part of a small group, I’d still love to meet with you. Please reach out to me, and I will arrange some meetings to cater for those not in groups. Alternatively, if you’d like to have a personal conversation about the budget, I’m happy to find a time to discuss it with you.

I look forward to seeing how God grows his church through our ministry next year, as supported by the budget Parish Council has set.

In Grace and Truth,

Ron

Question & Response

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In our services today we kick off Q&R. I thought I’d tak a moment to give you some information about the why, the how and the what of Q&R.

Why

There are two main reasons that I like doing Q&R (when I say like, I mean that I think it’s valuable, not necessarily that I enjoy it)

1. Learning Styles – we each have varying learning styles. Q&R gives opportunity for learning in a manner different to a straight sermon. Not only that, but it targets learning to our particular questions. We learn best when teaching engages with our needs.

2. Learning in Community – The Bible was written for communities. The New Testament letters were likely read aloud to the church, followed by a time of questioning the letter’s deliverer, and then further discussion ensued. Proverbs 27:17 tells us, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Q&R provides an opportunity for that sharpening. We can take that even further – continuing to discuss questions raised (and responses) over the meal to enhance learning and sharpen each other up.

How

Q&R is facilitated through Slido. To access the place to ask questions, you can either go to slido.com and enter the code JAC9 or JAC 4, or you can use one of these QR codes.

9 am

4 pm

The preacher will be asked questions by a separate person, who may also provide responses as it’s fitting.

What

By what, I wanted to lay out some helpful ground rules for engaging in this space so that it is healthy and helpful for people.

1. We engage to ask genuine questions, not to try and “stump the preacher”. While stumping the preacher may be fun, if it’s not genuine, it takes away from the space we are creating. There will be enough genuine questions that are challenging for the preacher, and a valid response from the preacher may be to say – “I need to consider that further before I respond”

2. We use this platform for the good of our community, not for pursuing our own agendas

3. We use it for Q&R, not for giving the preacher direct feedback on the sermon itself. Such feedback is always welcome but is best done in a private conversation.

I’m really looking forward to learning with you each week as we come to God’s Word to learn from Him and from one another. May God make us more and more like Jesus as a result!

In Grace and Truth,

Ron

From The Pastor’s Desk

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Thank you for your warm and generous welcome of Julie and I into Jamberoo. We feel so very blessed to be among you and want you to know that we are here to serve you in the next phase of ministry at Jamberoo Anglican. We look forward to getting to know you and seeing how God works among us, and among the people of this village in Valley for years to come. May he be honoured and glorified in all.

As we have been living in Jamberoo for the last couple of weeks, I have begun to observe some things about Jamberoo. The first of these is how many sporting facilities are available for a village of 2000 people. I mean, where do I start and stop? Of course, you have a rugby league club and a cricket club, those things I expected. The tennis club makes sense, as does the bowling club. Then I started to see things that surprised me. A golf club and course. Amazing. A croquet club. Netball courts. A Skate park. Touch footy. And I think I may have spotted a pickleball court. I’m aware there’s walking groups – one for men and another for women. If that’s not enough, you have you’re very own action park – something that has put Jamberoo on the map for years, even before moving into the headlines recently.

I love sport and exercise. I can’t do all the things I once could, but there are a few things in the above list I plan to enjoy (watch out skatepark – 😂😂🤣) Physical activity is good for us… if you don’t believe me, ask your doctor… and if you don’t believe them check out what Paul the apostle writes in 1 Timothy 4:8; “For Physical training is of some value”. Case closed. But what Paul says next is what I have been reminded of as I’ve been observing Jamberoo culture. Here’s the whole verse:

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Let’s enjoy the opportunities for physical training and exercise, but let’s not lose ourselves in them, or forget the more important training in godliness. Training in godliness happens as we listen to Jesus and embody his instructions, growing as his lifelong disciples. It benefits us and our community now and holds value for all eternity.

In Grace and Truth,

Ron

Protecting God’s Church at Jamberoo!

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God desires oneness & harmony with each other like the unity between Father, Son & Spirit – the Trinity experiences.

Unity is the soul of fellowship. Destroy it, & you rip the heart out of Christ’s Body. Nothing in the world is more valuable to God than His Church. He paid the highest price for it, & He wants it protected against division, conflict & disharmony.

Paul says in Ephesians 4: 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 

So, it is your job to protect the unity of the church!  Here are some ideas How we can keep that unity.

1. Focus on what we have in common, & not on our differences.

Stay focused on what matters most. Loving each other as Christ loves us.

2. Be Realistic in your expectations.

Even though we will disappoint each other & let each other down, that is still no excuse to stop fellowshipping with each other. Remember the church is made up of people who still sin. Yes, including yourself.

3. Choose to encourage rather than criticise.

The Devils job is to blame, complain & criticise church family members. 

4. Refuse to listen to Gossip.

People who gossip to you, will also gossip about you. They cannot be trusted. 

Despite who they are in the church, if they gossip, they are troublemakers.

5. Don’t Triangulate. 

Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

Sharing prayer points can even be a way to gossip & slander our brothers & sister! Go straight to the person you have a problem with try to be reconciled.

6. Support your Pastor. (Ron & Julie)

There is no perfect leader, but God has given them responsibility & authority to maintain the unity of the church. As Ron comes to be your leader, he is not coming to make you happy. Jesus couldn’t even do thatwith his followers!  He is coming to help you grow in love for God & each other. So support him, pray for him, don’t compare him to others.

Honour & love him as one who is only trying to keep the unity of peace.

7. Continue to allow the Word of God to speak to you.

Remember the Bible is not just a text book. It is the Word of God to You. He will challenge you, He will call out your shortfalls & He will encourage you to remain faithful. God blesses churches that are unified.

What are you doing personally to make Jamberoo Anglican to be warm & loving?

Are there any Judgmental attitudes towards others that you are harbouring?

Final Words!   Let me say, I have enjoyed leading you in the interim. I want to thank you for your support & encouragements. My prayer is that you will support Ron & Julie so you will grow in unity & godliness & that you might impact your community even more, with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Tony Galea

Luke 15 – The Older Son

The same father who ran to meet the rebellious younger son came out of the house of feasting to plead with the older son.

How gracious and compassionate is our Heavenly Father. He is patient with our weaknesses weather we are lost outside God’s house or lost inside God’s house.

Marvel at God’s awesome love for you in Christ Jesus! 

Tony Galea

You were created for eternity!

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This life is not all there is. 

This life is the practice workout before the main game. This life is preparation for the next.

Solomon says in Ecclesiates 3:11 He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart;

We all have an inborn instinct that longs for eternity. It’s because we are created in the image of God, therefore, we are designed to live forever. Even though our hearts will stop beating one day, it will be the end of our body & our time on earth, but it will not be the end of us & our spirit!

Death is not our termination but our transition into eternity. There are eternal consequences to everything we do here on earth.

So, eternity offers 2 choices: Heaven or Hell. Your relationship with Jesus here on earth, will determine your relationship to him in eternity. If we accept Jesus’ love & forgiveness heaven awaits us for eternity. 

But if we ignore or reject Jesus’ love & forgiveness hell awaits us for eternity.

Heaven is the place where we live in perfect relationships & joy forever. Hell is the place where we live in hopeless isolation & pain forever.

Only a fool would go through life unprepared for what we all know will eventually happen. Just like a life in the womb for 9 months is preparation for the life we all know. This life is the preparation for our eternity.

So live life with eternity in mind.

Make the best decision of your life, & make Jesus the boss of your life. Come back to Him. Return to His Grace & love. Accept his gift of forgiveness & heaven.  If you have a relationship with Jesus you don’t need to fear death, because it is the door to eternal life with God.

That’s why the Apostle Paul says with great hope & confidence: But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 3:11)

Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, come to your senses, come home to the Lord Jesus!

Tony

What a wonderful opportunity & privilege!

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Our mission is a continuation of Jesus’ mission.
Jesus not only calls to come to him, but he also calls us to go for him.
Jesus’ Great Commission is not the Great Suggestion. If you are part of God’s family, then we have a mandatory family purpose & calling. 
 
The challenge of 2 Corinthians 5, is that Christ’s love compels us to be reconciled & to take up the ministry of reconciliation.20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
 
What a responsibility but what a wonderful privilege.
If your friend or family has Cancer or some other terminally ill sickness & you knew the cure, it would be criminal not to share the cure.
 
Friends at Jamberoo, we have the cure to forgiveness, purpose, peace & eternal life. 
We have the greatest news in all of the world, & sharing it is the greatest kindness we can show to anyone. To withhold it,is serious.
 
Next Sunday we have the opportunity to invite someone to our Invitational Service. 
It will be a service especially tailored for our Unbelieving friends, with our talk & interviews geared to encourage a commitment to Jesus.
 
Your invitation next Sunday may have an eternal consequence that will last forever.
As Paul implores the Corinthian Christians to be reconciled to God, He implores us to be reconciled & be his ambassadors &representatives.
 
Why not take the opportunity to invite someone next Sunday & that you would bring them. Then let the Holy Spirit do his work in convincing them to Come & See!
 
What an opportunity! What a privilege!
Colossians 4:4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
 
I pray that you will!
 
Tony Galea

Will You Or Won’t You?

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When you became a Christian, you also became God’s messenger. God wants to speak through you, to your friends & family. You may feel you don’t have anything to share, but that’s the Devil trying to keep you silent.

How can you be the Messenger? Let me mention just a few!

Through your witness or testimony. Telling your story of how Jesus has made a difference in your life, is being a messenger. In a courtroom, a witness isn’t expected to argue the case. 

You are not expected to be an attorney but a witness. They simply report what happened to them. Acts 1:8 …you will be my witness

Through your teaching & answers. You teach by example with your life & by your words, this can invite questions. It is worth knowing Paul’s words here: Col. 4:5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Through your Invitation. One of the easiest ways in being God’s messenger is through inviting your friends or family to a situation where the gospel will be taught. The Come & Seequotation is used a number of times in Scripture as an invitation. Jesus, Philip & the Samaritan woman all used Come & See as an invitation for people to join them & learn.

On Sunday the 19th October you have an opportunity to especially ask your friends & family to Come & See & hear a special presentation of the gospel as well as hearing testimonies of how Jesus has changed people’s lives.

Please use the opportunity to pray for your friends & family & for your invitation of them. 

Leave it to God whether he moves them to come or not!

Tony Galea

Transformed by Trouble  

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God has a purpose behind every problem & difficulty. Not only does He use the Bible & His Spirit to transform us, but he uses difficulties & pain.

Jesus warned us that we would have problems in this world, because no one is immune to pain & suffering. We live in a fallen imperfect world. Life is a series of problems. Every time you solve a problem another one awaits. 

Sorry about that!!

Jesus went through the greatest of troubles in Mark 14. When it came to the crunch, Peter denies Him, the realisation of cup of suffering on the cross awaits. His other disciples fall asleep instead of keeping watch & praying, then Jesus is arrested as a devious criminal. 

Yet all of this took place for our own good & salvation.

God could have kept Joseph out of jail, kept Daniel out of the lion’s den, kept Jeremiah from the pit, kept Paul from being Shipwrecked 3 times, kept Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegofrom the fiery furnace, kept Peter from his Denial of Jesus. But He didn’t. He let those difficulties take place because in the long term, it forces us to look to God & depend on Him.

Regardless of the cause, none of our troubles happen without God’s permission. Because of God’s Sovereignty & control, accidents are just incidents in God’s plan for you.

Like Jesus, when we go through the wringer, when we face trouble, when we experience pain & difficulty, remember don’t become bitter rather think how we can become better as we trust our Lord. So:

1. Remember that God’s plan for you is good. Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

2. Rejoice & give thanks in all circumstances. 1Thessalonians 5:16. Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

3. Refuse to give up. Be patient & persistent. James 1:3,4 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Character building is a slow process, whenever we try to escape the troubles in life, we short circuit the process & delay our growth & transformation. If you are facing trouble right now, don’t ask, “Why me?” but “What do you want me to learn from this?”

Don’t give up – grow up!

Tony

The Greatest Denial​ Mark 14:27 – 72

Who loves to watch the weather and see if the BOM is actually right! Storms? Sunshine? Wind? Rain? We like to know what’s coming and so be prepared. This usually means decisions like what to wear and do. Sport cancelled? A weekend away in the sunshine? Or leave now before the river rises or the cyclone hits. 

Mark 14 is like a cyclone building – the swirling mass of clouds, rain and wind about to smash into the very centre of the action. And Jesus is at the centre. Swirling around him are sleeping disciples, betrayal, arrest, condemnation and judgement. But was this a mistake – a blindside, out of the blue end to what should be a glorious finale for Jesus?

No. for at the epicentre of the storm is Jesus talking to the Father. “Not my will, but yours”. The plan since before creation to pay the price of sin once for all. The will of the Father who gave his Son in Love to be the curse instead of us. Instead of us facing the agony of separation from God, Jesus took that agony upon himself.

Yes, the storm of Jesus’ death is gathering, but “for the joy set before him” he is prepared, obedient and prayerful. And it is for me, for you. The Maker of the Universe, praying to the father in a humble garden. We can respond with loving thankfulness. We ought to respond with repentance. We are called to respond with willing obedience to follow in His steps. What is your response?

Andy

But It Hurts!

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When a child comes to you and says: “Mummy (or daddy) my sore hurts”

As a loving parent you will not want your child to suffer unnecessarily, you will do the very best you can to bring healing to their hurt.

We have a heavenly father, who loves us greater than any earthly parent, who wants to heal our hurt.

Psalm 23: 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows

Because we live in an imperfect world, you’re going to be hurt. You’ll be hurt accidents, by illnesses. But the deepest hurts you’ll have in your life will come from people. Relationships,  are the greatest source of stress in our lives. They are also the greatest blessing and the greatest joy. Yet people do hurt us, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally, sometimes accidentally, sometimes on purpose.

But the pain can be managed! Like a middle eastern shepherd, who uncompromisingly cared for his sheep, we have our Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd who cares for all our hurts if we allow Him.

Will you trust your Good Shepherd to do that for you today?

Tony Galea

Sheep have many natural enemies — wolves, foxes, eagles, snakes, ticks… Sheep are very defenceless animals. Sheep cannot defend themselves from anything. They don’t have teeth that are sharp that they can bite with. They don’t have claws. They can’t kick. They can’t run fast. They are absolutely the most defenceless animal there is.

They don’t know how to do anything. They can’t be safe unless somebody protects them.
The job of a good shepherd is to go find a good table land, a mesa, a field of green grass, and drive out all the enemies but also to bring healing to their hurts.
Then he brings the sheep and gives them a safe place to eat.

What is your greatest hurt? What is your greatest enemy?
God is saying “Let me heal your hurts, let me deal with your enemy”

Tony Galea

When Fears and Difficulties Surround Me

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“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” Psalm 23:4

Everyone goes through dark days at some time or other. Some people go through difficult times more than others. So, what should we do when we think we are all alone & even fearful?
This is the central verse of Psalm 23. It’s a powerful expression of trust in God during life’s most frightening and uncertain times. It teaches that even in the face of death or overwhelming danger, believers can find peace because of God’s constant presence, guidance, and protection. It’s one of the most comforting verses in Scripture, often quoted in times of grief or trial. Knowing & practicing the presence of God in our lives is able to give us healing and boldness to stand firm in all circumstances.
Fix your eyes on the Good Shepherd!

Tony Galea

David is not speaking about the shepherd but speaking to the shepherd. In the dark valley, He is not before us but beside us, leading the way and calming our fears. The “valley of darkness” represents any difficult experience of life that makes us afraid, and that includes death.

Sheep lack good vision and are easily frightened in new circumstances, especially where it’s dark; and the presence of the shepherd calms them. The rod was a heavy cudgel with which the shepherd could stun or kill an attacking beast, and the staff was the shepherd’s crook, which he used to assist the individual sheep.

Tony Galea