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

Welcome to Rachel!

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I’m stoked to announce that at the beginning of next year I will be joining Jamberoo Anglican as your children’s minister!

For as long as I can remember I’ve loved being a part of anything that has been about kids and Jesus, and when the two go hand in hand, that’s even better! 

My first opportunity came when working in OOSH (Out Of School Hours Childcare), where I loved working with kids and families and found real joy and God-given skills when working through their celebrations and challenges. 

After ten years I was keen to understand ministry with kids a little more and ended up working for Scripture Union NSW as their regional school worker for SUPA and ISCF lunchtime groups. 

This saw me on the road most days heading out to different schools and meeting the beautiful volunteers who wanted to share about Jesus in the kids’ lunchtime space.

This helped me understand the behind-the-scenes work of what is entailed in a ministry role. In parts, this made me nervous, but there was a greater part of me that was so excited to have a job teaching kids and encouraging households about Jesus every day! 

This brought me to my last stepping stone, as I undertook a three-year Associate Degree in Ministry at Youthworks College so that I could become a qualified kids minister!

I’m really excited for this new adventure to be a part of a church where kids and families come out knowing Jesus bigger and better than before!

I’m eager to get to know each and every one of you.

Please pray for me as I finish up my year, church, and community groups so that I can end well, and please pray for all the logistics of moving in the new year

Praise God for what he will be doing next year amongst us!

RACHEL BEMMER

Starting at Square One

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What do guitars, kids, water slides, the Bible, and transformers all have in common? Square One!

Square One is a weekend camp for children in Years 3 to 6 and their church leaders. 

Last weekend, seven of us went to Youthworks Port Hacking Conference Centre to spend a weekend together and discipline each other with God’s word.

There were around 300 kids and leaders that met together, and we all had a blast.

We laughed, danced and sang together in the main sessions. We prayed together. We played games during meals and with other churches. We spent time alone with God in his word. We listened to engaging Bible talks and electric guitar solos. We ate lots of pancakes. And we studied the Bible together. 

But the best thing about Square One was that we got to spend quality time with our church crew.

There were so many great discipleship moments and so many other hilarious moments!

Over the weekend, we spent some time thinking about how God’s Spirit transforms us so we can say NO! to sin.

And we tried to wrap our heads around the exciting thought that we will dwell with God in the new heaven and earth. 

Being with God is the best.

Please pray that God will continue to use Square One to grow people’s love and knowledge of him.

And thank God for food, kids, fun and Square One!

JACOB MIERENDORFF

Dying to Pray

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It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to live in a country where simply going to church is a life-threatening activity.

Yet for millions of Christians, it is dangerous and often even illegal to gather to read the Bible, to sing, and to pray with others.

Earlier this year, Mandy, Barbara and I caught a glimpse of this at the GAFCON Conference in Rwanda, as we heard first-hand the stories of people who have faced death from militant Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa.

We will never forget the story of one woman who experienced death in her own family, and who now goes through life seeing Christians in her region of Northern Nigeria killed for following Christ.

Her joy in knowing Jesus was overwhelming, and though she experienced such trauma, she had a powerful hope in the life that is to come, and a rich passion to know Christ and make him known in such challenging circumstances.

As we gather for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, let us pause to remember the plight of our brothers and sisters around the world who risk their lives to gather and minister in the name of Christ.

Pray that the Lord would strengthen them to persevere, and that he would provide their needs as they face genuine hardship and pain because of their commitment to following the true and risen Lord Jesus Christ.

May their example move us to grow in our passion to serve Jesus as we work together to see each person in our village, valley and region know how to follow Jesus and why it matters.

May the Lord raise up in us a renewed zeal to pray for and to give to our brothers and sisters, and may the Lord restrain the evil of those who seek to harm them.

JODIE McNEILL

If You Can’t Go Then Send

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At today’s commissioning service for Adrian, Anita, Matias and Maia Lovell, it was a fresh reminder of our deep partnership with them and with the Church Missionary Society, CMS.

We gathered along with representatives of six other churches to show our support for the Lovells, and to pray for them as they prepare to return to Bolivia in a month.

Mandy and I were able to lead the gathering in prayer, and along with the gathered congregation, we commissioned them for another term of service.

Scott Millar from CMS reminded us about how hard it is for one church alone to send out a missionary, but when we’re in partnership with several others, it becomes possible for us.

Our church contributes financially to CMS for our support both of the Lovells, as well as our other friend… and our partnership includes lots of prayer!

But there’s another important challenge for our church and each of us as we consider missionary work around the world.

A big challenge is to ‘go,’ as someone willing to be considered for mission work in a cross-cultural situation… but, the opposite to going, is not staying… it’s sending.

You might not be able to go yourself, but together as a church, we can be involved in sending someone from our own church, or to be a part of helping another person from another church to go.

If we can’t go, then we can still send… even as you and I might stay.

Please pray for the Lovells as they prepare to leave in five weeks’ time, especially as they return to the all-new city, Santa Cruz.

They know where they’re going to church, and where the kids are going to school, but are still unsure where they will live—so will you pray for them?

JODIE McNEILL

Kids’ Ministry is Great!

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In our increasingly-professionalised world, we now employ people to do many of the things that we once did, ourselves—from mowing lawns to walking our dogs.

There are good reasons why we engage the services of others, but as we have become wealthier, we now value our time so highly that we spend money to deliver us with more leisure.

In the church context, we now employ some specialists to do ministry where we once relied on volunteers to serve in different practical ways.

One way that this has changed is in the area of youth and children’s ministry: where we once had a young adult parishioner volunteer to coordinate the youth, or a mum or dad to be the Sunday School Superintendent, we now encourage people to invest in specialised ministry training so that they can deliver specialised ministry to children and youth in our churches and schools.

This comes at a cost, but it also brings a benefit, for in the same way that we rightly require our school teachers to train in the skills of child and adolescent education, we now are training some specialised ministers to be knowledgable in the Bible as well as skilled in teaching young people in their specific ages and stages of life.

We have been thankful to God for our partnership with Youthworks College, and we delight in how Brad has benefited from his theological and ministry education that he now uses to invest deeply in our teenagers.

God willing, we hope to also welcome a specialist children’s minister to help us disciple and evangelise children in our village, valley and region.

May the Lord grant us wisdom as we consider this option for our staff team, and may he provide the right person to join our church and to help us teach and pastor our youngest people, for his glory.

JODIE McNEILL

A Prayer for Israel and Palestine

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Dear Father God,

In light of Hamas’ recent attacks on Israel we are reminded yet again of the sad reality that the present Jerusalem is in slavery with her children.We pray for those who belong to the heavenly Jerusalem – our brothers and sisters living in both Israel and Palestine – that you’d enable them to boldly proclaim and live in accordance with the gospel of peace during this time of dreadful conflict. May their love of the Prince of Shalom/Salam so motivate them to comfort and serve those who have experienced devastating loss, and may they themselves know the genuine comfort that comes from the Great High Priest who empathises with our weaknesses.

For our brothers and sisters in Palestine, may you embolden and equip them to stand against the political leadership of Hamas, and agitate for non-violent solutions to the current conflict. May their desire to love their enemies be used to show up the futility of Palestinian jihadists perpetuating the cycle of violence.

For our brothers and sisters in Israel, may you embolden and equip them to stand for and promote only the just and reasonable use of defensive force, and to condemn terroristic forms of retaliation. May Israel’s military action be swift and measured, and restore safety and security to their nation.

We pray for Gentile Christians in Israel – that their love for Jews, along with their firm confidence in your Fatherly goodness, might be used to provoke elect Israelites to envy, and that through this, you’d bring many of your chosen people back into your kingdom through the blood of their own Messiah. We praise you that on the last day we’ll see a nation of elect Israelites, along with multitudes from all tribes, nations and languages, surrounding your throne – a testament of your absolute faithfulness to your promises.

For those on both sides of this multi-generational conflict who have deep animosity and hatred for the other – may they come to appreciate the extraordinary love that you showed in the giving of your one and only Son for your enemies, that they might know true reconciliation.

For world leaders, and for your church all over the world, may we be slow to make definitive calls about the absolute rightness or wrongness of political decisions in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We recognise that you alone are omniscient and omnibenevolent, and that you look favourably on the one who is humble and contrite in spirit.
Whilst we lament the conflict itself, we pray that it might give rise to gospel opportunities with our Jewish neighbours. May our love for the Jewish Messiah and our desire to see His own people blessed by embracing Him, shine forth in our conversation and prayer. May we be unashamed of the gospel, remembering that it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe – first for the Jew, and also the Gentile.

We pray boldly that the heavenly Jerusalem would soon come down, whereupon we’ll rejoice that all conflict will end, all perpetrators will be brought to perfect justice, and all your people will enter into the joy of your eternal kingdom. Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

BEN PAKULA

The Joy of Youth Camp

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From the 13th-15th of October, Jamberoo Youth will be heading down to Burrill Pines (5 mins south of Ulladulla) for the weekend. It will be a time of fun and games and friendship – a weekend to make memories together.

The main reason we’re going away together, though, is to spend time growing our relationship with Jesus.

Over the course of the weekend, we are going to read through the book of Colossians. Through talks, discussion groups, songs, questions and quiet times, we will be encountering the risen, living Jesus.

Our theme for the weekend, and indeed the theme of Colossians, is the Supremacy of Christ. We will discover how Jesus is the answer to the emptiness the world offers us, and how that brings us true freedom.

In our church service, we will often say together what we believe about Jesus from Colossians 1:15-20. This passage sets the tone and the themes which the rest of the book explores. What better way to spend a weekend than diving into this message!

Praise God we have stacks of youth coming – between youth and leaders, we will have about 30 of us down at Burrill Pines.

Please be praying for safety as we drive down and back, and do some fun activities as part of the weekend. Pray that it would be a great time of fellowship.

But most importantly, please pray that we would come back loving Jesus more as Colossians shows us his love for us.

Praise God that Jesus has made peace between us and God by his blood shed on the cross. 

BRAD VIDILINI

Two Kinds of Wisdom

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Wisdom is wonderful! 

Wisdom is the art of understanding the world and how to live in it for your joy and success. 

Wisdom is the secret ingredient to better decisions, flourishing relationships, and fruitful work.

Who doesn’t want a big tasty slice of that every day!?

But there are two kinds of wisdom. Both will help you succeed in life, but they look very different. 

We see both of them in James, here is the first kind.

“But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” James 3:14-15 NIV

Selfishness and envy may help you succeed in life, but they are evil. Have a look at how envy works.

Love says, “I’m happy when you’re happy, and I’m sad when you’re sad.” Envy says, “I’m happy when you’re sad, and I’m sad when you’re happy.” Could anything be more terrible?

Now take a look at God’s wisdom to see how it compares.

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favouritism and is always sincere.” James 3:17 NLT

This kind of wisdom couldn’t be more different from evil wisdom that’s full of envy and selfishness.

God’s wisdom is good because he is good! Delight in God’s way of living and ask him for help. We all need it.

“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” James 1:5 NLT

JACOB MIERENDORFF

Set our Minds on The Spirit

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One year ago I received the bad news that my cancer was back, and since then I’ve lost a few kilograms, gained a few kilograms, had a longish break from chemotherapy after a bad reaction to a dosage, and recently I’ve just resumed chemo with a different drug. 

A number of my medical consultants have suggested counselling, since obviously one pathway I might have to shortly tread is death, but because I have God’s word, a minister and a church family, I feel I have all I need.

As I reflect on how I’m doing, I’m surprised at how relaxed I am… but I know that the main game is the spiritual one.

Even though I’m now sleeping better, I’ve found wakeful periods to be a good time to read my Bible.  I’m concentrating on the longish books, like Isaiah and Psalms in the Old Testament, and Romans, Hebrews, Revelation, in the New Testament. 

I’m reminding myself that the Bible is all about God’s promises which are revealed to us in the Old Testament with their partial fulfilment, and then they are fully fulfilled in the New Testament. 

Reading the Bible enables us to, “set our minds on the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:6.) 

In fact, Romans 8 is a sustained discussion on suffering for the Christian: as always, Paul’s thinking is based on the death of Jesus for our sins (verses 1 to 4), then comes the resurrection of the believer (verse 11) based on Christ (verses 1 to 4.)

All of creation is shot through with suffering (verses 22 and following), but the Christian’s response ought to be prayer (verse 26) and trusting in the goodness of God, no matter how dire the circumstances. 

As Paul so memorably concludes: “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:31)

GRAHAM ERRINGTON

Cattle on a Thousand Hills

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When I ask someone to give thanks for the food, I don’t normally expect them to mention cattle… but this is exactly what I often heard in prayers when I was a student at theological college.

As we were about to eat our meal, the principal would sometimes quote from Psalm 50, saying, “Lord, you own the cattle on a thousand hills…” and then he’d give thanks for the food.

It’s certainly a bit of a change to the good old, “for what we are about to receive,” but what makes it so good is the startling reminder that the Lord to whom we pray is actually the one who owns every hill, and every animal, on planet Earth.

Like a megaphone, it shouts out the true place of the true and living God: the one who not only created the world but also sustains it with his mighty word.

As I reflected on God’s kindness, I also thought about the other things we thank him for, as well as the many things we ask him for.

We say ‘thanks’ and ‘ask’ prayers because we know that God ultimately owns everything.

As we think about our church finances for the remainder of this year, and as we plan for the year to come, it’s a great relief to know that God owns the cattle on the many hills of Jamberoo, as well as every other asset in our pockets and on the planet.

And so we thank him for all he’s given us, we pray that he’d provide for our needs, and we trust him with great confidence.

God owns the lot, and so that’s why we can confidently thank him and ask him for all our needs.

JODIE McNEILL