When I wrote last week about how our church is missional, I forgot to talk about how our church services connect with people who are not yet followers of Jesus.

In our church we rarely run any special ‘outreach’ or ‘evangelistic’ events, but instead, we try to make every public gathering an opportunity for someone who is not yet a believer to watch us and hear our message.

We’re a little bit like the church that’s described in 1 Corinthians 14:22-25.

In these verses, the Apostle Paul encouraged them to make church easy to understand for people who don’t yet know Jesus, whilst still making it a special gathering in the presence of God.

And as they did this, the visitors would be aware of their sin and judgement before God, and would “fall to their knees and worship God”, for they would recognise that in the gathering, “God is truly here among you”.

For us, this means that when people who don’t know Jesus come to our church, they get to see what it looks like to follow Jesus at the same time as they hear the Good News that saves them.

Not only do unbelievers learn how to have certainty for eternity, they also experience with us a ‘slice of heaven’.

What’s more, this helps Christians of all ages and stages understand their faith, because the preacher is always trying to make things clear to newcomers, including answers to important questions about what we believe. 

So with this in mind, I’ve added this sentence to last week’s explanation of what it means for us to be ‘missional’:

“We aim for our church services to be easy to understand for unbelievers so that as they hear the Good News that saves, they also experience the joy of gathering around Christ.”

So who will you bring along with you to church this week?

JODIE McNEILL

The second of our six church values states that, “we are Anglican in our form, as we reflect the Reformation in the shape and substance of our common prayer.”

We are more than just Anglican by name, for we also follow the way of doing church that was put in place by the English Reformers in the sixteenth century.

So even though we don’t use 500-year-old words, we still follow the vibe of the ‘Book of Common Prayer’ in our church services.

This means we regularly say things out loud as we pray prayers, declare our beliefs, and sing songs and Psalms.

We talk about our sin, pray for forgiveness, and then comfort each other by hearing God’s grace and mercy.

We focus on praying for the world, the community, the work of the church, and the needs of individuals, as well as the words and the message of the Lord’s Prayer. 

We experience the power of the cross in the Lord’s Supper, and we prayerfully portray the joy of spiritual rebirth in the baptism of people of all ages.

We trust the Bible as God’s word, so we read each week from the Old and New Testaments and also a Gospel, and we listen carefully to the preaching of the sermon.

We follow the ordination service to help us choose and appoint pastors, and to explain how bishops and other ministers should live and act. 

We also teach and believe what is written in ‘The Articles of Religion’ which summarises what we believe about our Triune God, his people, and the world.

We love being a part of a worldwide family of Anglicans, celebrating our common faith, even though our style is less formal than some.

Above all, our services are special occasions where we come together to experience God with the congregation in our church as we serve all the people living in our parish.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: Charles Clegg via Flickr)

If someone asked you to sum yourself up in six words, then what would you say?

This was the challenge our church gave itself last weekend at our ‘Vision Day’, when after much discussion, we came up with a draft list of six values.

These describe what is special about our church, and help us plan for the future in a way that is consistent with what we cherish and value.

Here is a draft list of values for our consideration:

Firstly, we are orthodox in our doctrine, as we believe and teach God’s unchanging word in an ever-changing world.

Secondly, we are Anglican in our form, as we reflect the Reformation in the shape and substance of our common prayer.

Thirdly, we are missional in our outlook, as we recruit, train and send people and resources to proclaim the gospel locally and globally.

Fourthly, we are heritage in our style, as we gather in our historical building in a contemporary context.

Fifthly, we are intergenerational in our fellowship, as all ages and stages are nurtured together in faith and love.

Finally, we are village in our relationships, as we serve our local neighbourhood, and enjoy grace and peace in our church.

These six values, and the accompanying explanation, are still in draft form, and I’m sure we’ll keep developing and refining them as we prayerfully reflect on who we are and who we want to be, under God. 

I’d love to hear your feedback, as well as your ideas about how to grow our church in a way that is consistent with these values.

Yet above all, let us commit ourselves, in prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit, to glorify God and love our neighbour by proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ, calling people to repent and living lives worthy of him, as we seek to see Christ honoured as Lord and Saviour in every community.

JODIE McNEILL

Would you consider joining us for prayer one morning per week for just half an hour?

We are praying that the Lord will pour out his Holy Spirit upon our village, valley, and the whole of the Illawarra and beyond… and it is good to bow our knees, together, to do this.

Thanks to Zoom, we can do this easily by connecting at zoom.jamberooanglican.com any morning (except Sunday) at 7am.

We read some chapters from the Bible and we pray… and it’s over in under half an hour.

You don’t need to turn on your Zoom camera, so you can join us in your pyjamas or even when you’re commuting!

For some of us it is early, but it is something that is so important that it’s worth getting out of bed for.

You don’t need to read anything, nor do you need to say anything: you can just simply listen and pray along with those who are speaking.

Yes, we meet and pray in our church services, in our small groups, and on our own… but this is something that is a bold statement of our devotion to God as a church, pleading with him to bring great revival to our land.

Imagine if Jamberoo had a reputation for being a Christian village!

Imagine if our church was packed to the rafters with people eager to hear God’s word and love and serve his world!

Let’s do more than imagine… let’s pray!

The Apostle Paul said in Colossians 4, “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.”

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo Flickr: t-bet)

One of the surprise outcomes of the COVID-19 restrictions has been the great number of people who have tuned in to join us via Facebook Live.

Not only has this technology helped our regular members gather for church, but it’s also been a wonderful way to include friends and neighbours from our village, valley and way beyond into our services.

For this reason, our Archbishop has encouraged our churches to continue live-streaming into the future so that we can keep this terrific form of community engagement going for good.

So, we will continue to stream our services to Facebook Live, especially during the time of COVID-19 restrictions, so that we can carry out our Covid-Safe plan which provides unwell and higher-risk people with the option of staying home without missing out.

Our prayer is that everyone who is able to safely attend will come and be with us in person, but this technology means we can have a safe and inclusive environment for everyone to connect with our services via video broadcasts.

Our video cameras are located at our all-new tech area at the back of the church, but from this weekend we will not be having any ultra-wide angle shots of the whole inside of the building, so that people can attend without any concern about being filmed.

If you need or would like to avoid being filmed for livestream, then please sit on the left (carpark) side of the church and avoid the front four rows. If you sit in the seats on the right side then you might find the back of your head filmed from time to time when you stand up, but it won’t get in the way of the shot.

We’re praying that the new technology will help us continue to connect our church with the world through Facebook Live, whilst also maintaining a place where we can gather in person, without worrying about about video cameras, if that is a concern to you.

JODIE McNEILL