Christmas is a wonderful time for us to reflect on the coming of Jesus… and it’s also a great time for people to come to Jesus!

Every Sunday service is already ideal for newcomers to attend our church, so if you’re thinking of popping in and visiting, or if you’re waiting for an excuse to invite someone along to see what we do, then there’s no need to wait for Christmas or Easter.

But at the same time, our outdoors services on Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday provide a special event that might be perfect for a first-timer to enjoy our hospitality and to experience a taste of what we love to do every week.

This year we’re having our regular Christmas Eve carols at 6pm on the lawn, but we’re also starting the afternoon with some all-age games from 5pm, along with our classic sausage sizzle… including the famous ‘Zooper Dooper Wheelbarrow!’.

After the outdoor service we’ll be sharing gingerbread cookies and hot chocolates from 7pm, along with more, all-age games, together.

Then on Sunday morning it’s also Christmas Day, so it’s 9am at church with a normal feel, but with an extra-special opportunity to reflect together about the miracle of God becoming human to save us… the thrill of hope!

If you’re a regular member of our church, then there are lots of big and little ways to be involved with the event, so please let Jacob Mierendorff know if you’re willing and able to help.

We’re praying that this will be a really special Christmas at Jamberoo Anglican, and that through the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day events that even more people in our village, valley and region will know how to follow Jesus and why it matters… especially at Christmas!

Baptism is a special washing of water that is a sign of God’s washing away of our sin that comes from believing in the death of Jesus and his resurrection.

Baptism doesn’t save someone from their sin but it does signify that a person is part of the household of God, a member of the church.

When a person becomes a Christian when they are older than a child, they can declare their own faith when they are baptised before the church.

But, when an infant is born into a family with a believing parent, we baptise those babies to show they are a member of the church because they are in a household of Christian parents.

When those infants grow older, we pray that they will own their own faith, and declare it publicly at a ‘Confirmation’ service.

The New Testament shows a close connection between the circumcision of baby boys in the Old Covenant with the baptism of babies in the New Covenant (see Colossians 2:11-12).

There is also a statement in 1 Corinthians 7:14 that says that children of an unbelieving father are considered to be “sanctified.”

Mandy and I baptised our four children when they were babies so that we could receive this wonderful sign from Jesus that declares to the church that our children are Christians because they’re born to Christian parents.

We’ve always spoken of our children as Christians, even before they could walk or talk, and we’ve prayed that our children would one day receive all the benefits of what their baptism points to when they are able to own that faith when they are older.

So, we haven’t prayed that our kids would grow up to become Christians, but instead have prayed that they’d grow up to own their faith, which they publicly declared at their Confirmation service.

If you or a member of your family would like to be baptised, then I’d love to chat with you to make a time for this special event in the life of our church.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: Colin Bowern via Flickr.com)

This weekend we’re moving our Saturday night service to the all-new time of 4pm Sunday.

As we’ve been saying for months, the only thing we’re changing is the day and the time… but everything else stays the same.

We’ll start church at 4pm, then around half an hour into the service, the children will head out to their special kids’ programs in the hall.

Then after 5:30pm it’s dinner time in the hall and on our lawn, which will be followed by lots of informal games and hanging out with people of all ages and stages, together.

Saturday night is often when celebrations, events and social occasions occur, so our members have often needed to choose between church or meeting with family, friends and community contacts.

As we seek to connect with the people in our village, valley and region, it makes sense to free up Saturday nights to enjoy hospitality with others not yet in our church, as Christ’s ambassadors.

I’m really looking forward to spending extra time with friends, family and people in my neighbourhood as we all now have an extra spot in our diaries to enjoy meals with special guests in our home… and I’m sure you’ll be able to take up the same opportunity, too.

There are many other good reasons for moving from Saturday night to Sunday, such as helping those who attend two services on a weekend, creating a day’s gap between youth group and church, and enabling people to attend church when they’re away for a weekend.

We’re praying that this change will be a great step forward as we pray that each person in our village, valley and region will know how to follow Jesus and why it matters.

See you at 9am or 4pm this Sunday… or why not both!

JODIE McNEILL

Sullivan, our English Settler, is our most effective pre-evangelistic tool, for as we walk him, he brings people to us.

They talk to us about him, ask about the breed, notice our accent, tell us they have a relative in Perth and ask if we’ve met them, then ask, “What are you doing here?”

In Sydney that would be an open door, wouldn’t it?

We’d say, “I’m planting a new church,” or, “I’m starting a new congregation,” or even, “I’m a minister of a church.”

It would be an open door everywhere else we’ve lived, from Southern England and the midlands, to Northern Ireland… but not in Dublin.

Those words mean different things in Ireland.

Grace doesn’t mean, “God’s undeserved favour to us, primarily in Jesus Christ,” and church doesn’t mean, “A gathering of believers in Jesus Christ.”

Tomas, a Dubliner born and bred, and one of our dog-walking contacts, said,“Cam, you’ve got to understand, the Irish have suffered under two oppressors: the English and the Catholic Church.”

To Tomas and to our other neighbours, the words I use to speak about the wonderful message of reconciliation of God to us by the death of Jesus on the cross represent oppression and abuse.

If we say, “we’re planting a new church,” many hear, “we’re starting a new agency of tyranny.”

I also walk Sully in the Silicon Docks, where companies have pet-friendly offices.

Two older men told me much the same as Tomas: “The English tried to crush our culture, and the church tried to crush our spirit.”

We’re working out how to speak about God’s love when the words, ‘Jesus’ and ‘Church’ are associated with abuse, coverup and abduction.

That’s why we’re so thankful for our partnership with Jamberoo Anglican, and we praise God that you are with us as we work to plant a new church in Dublin… and as we try and help people understand why that’s actually a really good thing!.

CAMERON JONES

Some of the most spectacular moments in sport have come from a reflex reaction by a player, when they have kicked, passed, caught or hit a ball without pausing to think.

This week we witnessed a different kind of sporting reflex reaction when the Essendon AFL Club appointed a new CEO, only to pressure him to resign within a day of the announcement.

It was discovered that their brand-new CEO was also the leader of the board of a ‘controversial’ church that held ‘divisive’ views on abortion and homosexuality.

Yet, ‘City on a Hill’ church is Anglican, and the views it teaches are the same that have been held by mainstream Christian churches for thousands of years.

Most concerning was that Essendon’s reflex reaction was not because of anything the former-CEO said publicly: it was solely due to his affiliation with a church.

It should come as no surprise that we Christians will be persecuted for our faith, for Jesus said:

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” (John 15:18-19)

Nonetheless, we should pray that the sporting, political and intellectual leaders of our land might have the courage to listen to ‘dangerous’ views that are no-longer aligned to the ever-changing views of our progressive society.

At the same time, let’s pray that these kinds of ‘free kicks’ and ‘own goals’ of those who attack the teachings of Jesus might lead to increased opportunities to share the message of the love of Jesus with people whose main exposure to the Bible is via the talking heads of the media.

JODIE McNEILL

(photo credit: Mark Ehr via Flickr.com)