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

Saving Our Region

One of the great things about the Anglican parish system is that every place on the planet is under the responsibility of a minister and a parish.

And so in our context, the parish of Jamberoo extends from Jerrara to Carrington Falls and from the top of Mount Terry down to the other side of Saddleback. That’s the bit of the planet for which our parish takes responsibility.

But it mustn’t mean we don’t have a heart for the lost who live outside our parish boundaries.

Interestingly, more than half of our members live outside our parish region, and some people travel up to half an hour to get to our church.

At the same time, there are people who live in the village and valley of Jamberoo who travel to churches in other parishes as well.

All this means that members of Jamberoo Anglican shouldn’t have any hesitation in inviting people to come to our church, even if those people live half an hour away.

And that’s because we know that our most natural relationships are with people who live in the streets near our home, or who work and learn in our schools and workplaces, many of which are a good distance from our church.

That’s why we pray that each person in the village, valley and region knows how to follow Jesus and why it matters… and that area extends from Lake Illawarra down to Seven Mile Beach, and from Carrington Falls across to the Blowhole.

We are praying that the hundred thousand people who live within 30 minutes’ drive of our church will know how to be saved by Jesus.

And as we pray, we delight in knowing that there are many good, Bible-believing churches within this area, and we pray for them as we partner with them in this mission.

So, what’s stopping you inviting your neighbours, friends and colleagues to church in Jamberoo?

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: Ky0n Cheng via Flickr)

Long Term in Fiji

In a few weeks’ time I’m heading to Fiji on a three-and-a-half-week, short-term mission trip… and I’d love you to partner with me.

As our group prepared for this trip, we wrestled with just why we’re going.

In the end, we came up with a concise and reasoned answer to this question, which has helped us as we plan for our journey:

‘Our purpose is to partner physically and spiritually with Fiji, as humble learners, to mutually support growth in a relationship with Jesus.”

Whilst it’s a short-term mission, we also know that it’s long-term in focus.

That’s because 2023 is the 13th year that Year 13 has been to Fiji, and every year our group intentionally returns to the same places and connects with the same people.

This means we can support the ministries already happening on the ground in Fiji, rather than fostering any kind of ‘saviour complex’ that can easily be associated with short-term missions.

Our aim is to support, disciple, encourage, train and equip.

We do that as we purposefully link with Christians who are already doing the hard yards on the ground throughout the year, and who make use of our mission team to help boost their work during the time we’re present.

But the purpose of our trip isn’t just about what we’ll do or what impact we’ll have in our 24 days in Fiji.

The trip will help us learn valuable lessons about God and His world, in deep and meaningful ways.

If you’re willing and able, would you consider visiting www.year13.net/student-fundraising to help me raise funds towards this trip? I’ve raised $1400, but still need another $2100.

Most importantly, please pray for us as we prepare to share our lives together in relationship with one another… putting people above programs.

JACK VIDILINI

Reaching Australia

Last week, Jacob and I were honoured to attend the Reach Australia National Conference on the Central Coast, along with 1100 others who are committed to seeing Australia filled with evangelistic churches that preach Christ.

It was a very practical conference, as it sought to help be deliberately focused on seeing more people converted from idols to serve Christ, and to practically integrate and involve us all as we work to plant more churches.

One simple and powerful analogy spoke of the trap in finding satisfaction in filling our barns, whilst the fields remain empty.

The barns refer to our nation’s church buildings, many of which are small in size and few in number; and the fields represent everywhere else that the lost people of our nation are to be found.

It would be easy for us at Jamberoo Anglican to focus on how many seats have been filled in our church, and to consider that to be a mark of success.

But we must continue to remember that within 20 minutes’ drive, there are 100,000 people who don’t know the Lord Jesus, even though there’s at least a dozen, healthy churches in the region.

So, what must we do to focus more of our attention on seeing those lost souls saved by believing in Jesus? 

What must we do to be as sharp as possible in our message and ministry so that God might rescue the thousands headed to hell without knowing Christ?

Jacob and I look forward to sharing our lessons from this conference with you all as we join with you in prayer for wisdom in strengthening our ministry, as we seek to better equip us all as together as we work to preach Christ faithfully to his world.

JODIE McNEILL

Do you have donkeys?

During our ministry trip to Tanzania, Mandy, Barbara and I had many opportunities to speak with locals about the differences between their life in East Africa and ours in Australia.

As I shared with a local Christian, he asked me whether we had donkeys.

When I told him that we only really have donkeys as pets, he asked me what we used to transport things around the farm and into town.

I told him about our tractors, utes, and trucks… and it was soon obvious that we lived in very different worlds.

Then I talked about the clean running water in my home, and our reliable supply of electricity… not to mention our multiple flushing toilets!

Though we are all equal and precious in God’s sight, not all Christians have the same wealth and ‘standard’ of living.

Yet, the size of a person’s house or bank account does not determine their level of satisfaction and contentment.

For as we experienced the singing and laughter of the Tanzanians, we saw deep joy and happiness amongst those who had far less money than us.

It was a fresh challenge for us to share our wealth with those who are in need… especially those who crave the basics of food, shelter, and education.

As we travelled in Tanzania, we witnessed first hand a number of special projects run by our friends at Anglican Aid… including schools that help protect vulnerable young girls as they face physical harm.

We were challenged afresh to share some of our wealth with those who are in great need of financial support… even though they have a satisfaction and joy that is coveted in the West.

Is this a good time for you to reflect upon your generosity with Christian brothers and sisters in need?

Why not visit Anglican Aid (www.anglicanaid.org.au) and see how you can let grace flow?

JODIE McNEILL

(photo credit: Jeff Attaway via Flickr)

The Value of Significant Relationships

Often, the people who have the deepest impact on us are those we know on a personal level. 

We are encouraged and challenged by those who have taken the time to get to really know us. 

We appreciate these people for their investment of time and energy. 

They show that they care, and so we tend to take notice of what they say and do. 

Such healthy personal relationships are a blessing- they make life better. 

As Christians, there is great value in taking hold of opportunities for Bible-based relationships of trust and growth. 

We benefit, and so do the people we are committed to- our spouse, our children, and the people in our mission. 

Receiving love, we are better equipped to give love.

Paul wrote to people he cared about, in whom he had invested himself. 

In Philippians chapter 4, he wrote “my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work”

What type of relationships can you commit to strive for?

STEVE BLIGH

The Power of God

Sometimes it’s easy to reduce our idea of God so that it fits comfortably in our brains.

It’s somewhat understandable, because our brains cannot fully comprehend all of God’s characteristics. It’s why we need to consistently read the Bible to remind ourselves that God is bigger and better than we could ever imagine.

One aspect of God’s character that is easy to underestimate is his power.

There’s so much that could be said about his power, but I think the story of the Exodus is a great glimpse into the unstoppable, irresistible power of God.

God’s people were enslaved by Egypt, the great superpower at the time. They cried out to God for deliverance from their oppression, and the Lord heard them.

Pharaoh, the dictator of Egypt, stubbornly refused God’s decree to let his people go.

God gave Pharoah chance after chance to submit to him, and displayed his power through 10 plagues.

Eventually, Pharoah, the powerful man in the world at the time, had no choice but to acknowledge God’s overwhelming power.

Proverbs 21:1 says The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.

It’s easy to look at today’s world and worry for the future of our country, our churches and our families.

But God is still on the throne.

Which is why Paul confidently writes in Romans 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus is powerful. Powerful enough that he defeated death for us.

Powerful enough for us to boldly proclaim his word.

Next time you talk to God, why not praise him for his power over evil, tyranny, death, and everything else in creation?

Because he deserves everlasting praise.

BRAD VIDILINI

Renewal in Rwanda

Next week’s Gafcon Conference in Kigali, Rwanda is shaping up to be a momentous occasion in the history of global Anglicanism, as we come together to prayerfully chart a renewed course for the church.

The five-day conference will include around 1300 people from over 50 nations, as we come together to prayerfully depend on the Holy Spirit as we gather to hear God’s word.

Each day will have a special time of repentance, as we gather to express our grief and remorse at how many within our church have wandered from God’s way and have departed from the truth of his word.

Some Anglicans leaders have chosen to bless ways of living that God has told us to reject, and this means that many parishioners and pastors have been forced to submit to bishops who have failed to accept the word of God in all its fulness.

That’s why we need to gather to ask forgiveness for our church, and to seek God’s wisdom about the future for Anglicanism, both globally and locally.

Mandy and I are humbled to be representing our church in Jamberoo, as we participate with the Australian contingent, and we pray that the Lord will give us opportunities to serve and encourage many others during the week.

Please pray for great wisdom for all the delegates as we seek to come to a common mind about the best form of the future leadership of the global Anglican church.

But above all, pray that this conference will lead us to glorify God by proclaiming Christ faithfully, so that everyone will hear God’s call to repent and believe in Jesus as Lord.

To find out more about the conference, and to find a link to the livestream, visit www.gafcon23.org 

JODIE McNEILL

Open Day

The most controversial thing about Easter is not that Jesus died… but that he came back to life.

That’s why our Easter campaign this year is called ‘Open Day,’ as we highlight Jesus’ open grave… for he is risen, hallelujah!

Many people are not open to the resurrection of Jesus because it seems so unusual—after all, how many times have you gone to a funeral to have the dead body rise from the grave?

Yet, the resurrection is the very thing that makes Easter valuable.

For, if Jesus only died and stayed dead, then the life of Jesus would offer us little more than an impossibly-difficult character to try and imitate.

Plus, when we are unable to keep Jesus’ impossible standard of perfection, we’d be crushed by our failure.

But worst of all, without the open grave, all of the promises of Jesus would fail.

For he made it clear that he would be betrayed, be killed, “but three days later he will rise from the dead.” (Mark 9:31).

What’s more, as the Apostle Paul observed:

“…if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19)

We must be open to the truth about the open grave, for it is only by Jesus rising from the dead that we can have any real hope in eternity.

If the grave is not open, then neither is heaven.

That’s why this Easter we’re encouraging people to be open to the idea that Jesus’ grave was open… and that people would be open to the idea of following the risen and living Jesus.

Jesus’ grave is open… are you?

JODIE McNEILL

Moore is coming!

We are thrilled to welcome a team of fourteen students and two chaplains from Moore Theological College from this Sunday 26th March to Sunday 2nd April.

The ‘mission week’ is an integral part of the training of all the students as they prepare to be ministers in churches and other contexts locally and across the globe.

The theological training at Moore is world-class, and what makes it even better is the deep commitment to pastoral care that is evidenced in the strong connections with the local churches… especially those in the Diocese of Sydney.

To get a deeper experience of the training at Moore, you’re invited to attend a special ‘Ministry Minded’ evening this Tuesday night the 28th March at 7pm in our church hall.

Lionel Windsor will be delivering a theological and pastoral lecture to help stretch us as we focus on gospel ministry… especially as we consider how all of us are Christ’s ambassadors in the many areas he’s placed us to serve.

Susan An, the Dean of Women, will be helping us understand more about how Moore invests in the growth of the students, and will particularly help us understand the many opportunities for women’s ministry, especially as we embrace ‘complementarianism’ in our teaching and ministry.

We’re also going to hear from a number of the students on our team about their own journey that has brought them to study at Moore, and they’ll have an opportunity to share about how they’re praying the Lord will use them in the future.

This is one of our key events as the team is embedded in our church for just over a week… and we’re excited to learn from them and with them as we seek to have each person in our village, valley and region know how to follow Jesus, and why it matters.

That’s why we always love Moore!

JODIE McNEILL

The Big Six

At our AGM this week I shared six, draft strategies to help our church pray to our sovereign Lord, equip people for ministry, and proclaim Christ faithfully, so that each person in our village, valley and region might know how to follow Jesus and why it matters.

Firstly, we want to increase our prayerfulness by multiplying prayer meetings (like our Zoom daily prayer) and by raising the engagement with PrayerMate as an online tool for sharing the mission prayers of our church.

Secondly, we want to help every member to grow in their ministry skills by completing a Personal Ministry Profile, which identifies ways each of you has served in the past, the skills and training you’ve received, and your passions and convictions about service and training in the future.

Thirdly, we want to create tailored training courses that will be delivered online and in-person, so that we can help you grow in your knowledge of God and your ministry skills, so that you can be better-equipped and mobilised for service. 

Fourthly, as we look to ministry in our village, valley, region, and beyond, we want to identify more opportunities to minister so that we can engage everyone in our mission and encourage everyone to feel utilised in our church mission.

Fifthly, we want to inspire and equip every member of our church to be a relational evangelist who is active in being Christ’s ambassador with the ‘flock’ the Lord has given you in your home, workplace, school, sporting team, community group, or wherever the Lord has placed you. 

Sixthly, and finally, we want to see every member of church part of an active Growth Group, even if attending it is difficult, so that all of us can feel connected with others, encouraged in our prayers, and strengthened in our relational evangelism.

Let’s pray that God strengthens and resources us so that we might actively pursue these strategies to his praise and glory.

JODIE McNEILL

(photo credit: Acabashi via Flickr. com)