“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
- Acts 20:35
NOTE: If you're joining us for worship this Sunday, listen to the songs we'll sing so you're ready to lead us in worship to our great God.
Ahoy Open Road!
We hope you were able to enjoy the Australia Day long weekend! No matter your opinion on our nation, the day or the date, you are very welcome to follow Jesus with us.
As I've mentioned in previous years, there is one book that I strongly recommend to any Aussie follower of Jesus with an interest in our nation, "One Blood: 200 Years of Aboriginal Encounter with Christianity". Not only is it important to understand our national and Christian history as accurately as we can, but we also want to ensure that our efforts to reach the future generations are informed by the failures and successes of the past.
"Every Australian Christian should read One Blood" - Tim Costello, Former CEO, World Vision Australia
This year, we are piloting our FAM (Fully Alive Model) to see if it's a helpful tool to lead each other to become Fully Alive in Jesus!
In Term 1, we are highlighting one rhythm, "inviting people into our life", and one skill, "giving", that we believe lead us into the Fully Alive promises given to us by Jesus. We've already spoken about the rhythm of inviting people into our lives at length! However, we've rarely spoken about giving, one of the three spiritual practices or skills that Jesus mentioned at the end of his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6.
As you all know, money is a touchy subject, even when it comes to how we use it for the benefit of others! You may notice that I've used the verb "giving", not the adjective "generous". This is a conscious effort to remind us that spiritual disciplines, or skills, are to be practised, not just considered.
As a church, we've aimed to lead by example. One of the key ways is to establish our Giving Kitty that enables any church member to nominate a specific individual or family who may need financial assistance. However, a large part of the motivation for our Giving Kitty is not just to meet needs, but to raise our own awareness for the needs of the people we live amongst.
This focus on personal generosity is an expression of following the teaching and example of Jesus, who said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." In seeing our entire church taking Jesus at his word, I am writing a series of posts on Jesus-inspired generosity.
As a church supported entirely by donations, I realise there is a risk in writing about this. However, we are in a good financial situation (see the end of each email), we do not need to twist anyone's financial arms, and our primary goal is not to be a church whose financial needs are met, but to be a church that meets the needs of those around us. Likewise, we believe that a Fully Alive follower of Jesus learns from Jesus how to personally meet the needs of those around them.
If you've lived a life of Jesus-inspired generosity, you'll know what a blessing it is to take him at his word. If you're new to Jesus or the generosity he calls us to, then I want to encourage you to be open to how he might invite you to be generous in the coming term.
To provide you with a framework to consider when giving to those around you, I'll be sharing how our church allocates funds...
- Giving Up
- Giving In
- Giving Out
...alongside some principles of Christian giving:
- Regular, not random.
- Voluntary, not coerced.
- Proportional, not identical.
- Sacrificial, not comfortable.
- Cheerful, not begrudging.
- Intentional, not flippant.
We'll also highlight some key mission projects you are encouraged to donate to directly in Morocco, SE QLD, the Middle East and beyond.
I'll also share as many personal stories as I'm able 😄
It's worth reminding you what I shared on Sunday: "Jesus' teachings aren't always popular"! However, they are always good. They always lead us to freedom. They always lead us to love God and the people around us.
Personally, I'm excited. I'm confident that on the other side of learning Christ's ways are always newfound tastes of life as it was meant to be.
Much love and see you Sunday,
Dan
Forget Me Not - Women's Encounter Night
Maleny Baptist is running an event for local women. Sally, Martine and I know the guest speaker well and encourage anyone who's keen to grab a friend or two and head up the mountain 😄
A women's night, let's come together to worship and seek Jesus. International Guest speaker Tracy Valentine. Food and refreshments provided. Join us for Forget Me Not, a night just for women! It's all about shedding the stress, sharing stories, and connecting with amazing ladies in a warm, welcoming space.
Expect a lavish spread of food, worship, prayer, community, a good laugh and an impactful message from Tracy.
Don't miss out on an incredible night to seek Jesus and worship together. Special guest speaker - Tracy Valentine.
Grab your friends, register for FREE and come and join us!
Coming Up
February - 9am [Home] + 4pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
Feb 01 Home Gathering + Monthly Worship
Feb 08 Home + Moffat Gatherings
Feb 15 Home + Moffat Gatherings + Baptisms
Feb 22 Home + Moffat Gatherings
March - 9am [Home] + 4pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
Mar 01 Home Gathering + Monthly Worship
Mar 08 Home + Moffat Gatherings
Mar 15 Home + Moffat Gatherings + Baptisms
Mar 22 Home + Moffat Gatherings
Mar 29 Home + Moffat Gatherings
April - 9am [Home] + 4pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
Apr 05 Home Gathering + Monthly Worship [Easter Long W/end]
Apr 12 Home + Moffat Gatherings
Apr 19 Home + Moffat Gatherings + Baptisms
Apr 25 Anzac Day
Apr 26 Home + Moffat Gatherings
May - 9am [Home] + 4pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
May ? Church Camp Sat-Sun
Our Mission
To help people find and follow Jesus.
Our Vision
Fully Alive through faith in Jesus. To see vision come to life, we developed FAM, our Fully Alive Model. Ideally, you can work through FAM with someone else.
Our Rhythms
Get to Know Jesus: how are you getting to know Jesus this week?
Invite people into your life: who can you intentionally open up your life to?
Gather and get involved: who can you connect, listen, share, or pray with this weekend?
Giving Up, In, and Out
Our church follows the same simple pattern of giving that we encourage each other individually: UP, IN, and OUT.
Giving UP
As a church, we give 2.5% to our denomination to support what's happening in churches like ours statewide and show appreciation for all the support they provide. We encourage each follower to consider giving "up" to support their local church - in this case ours :)
Giving IN
We give to personal/family needs within our church from our $5,000 Giving Kitty. Please alert us if you know someone with genuine needs that you're unable to meet out of your own resources.
Giving OUT
We encourage giving to several Christian projects beyond our church and local community: individual missionaries in Africa and Mongolia, an aid project in Cambodia, a local community non-profit called Sprout, and a church plant in Walkervale (Bundaberg). We'll give to them as a church, and we encourage you to give to them too.
Last month's giving: $20,505
Last month's expenses: $12,258
Balance: $85,776
Giving in: Oct 23-Dec 25: $5,000
Giving out: Oct 23-Dec 25: $16,293
"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." - Proverbs 19:17
If you would like to support what we are doing and our giving to those in need, you can get started giving to Open Road to meet the needs of our church or get in touch with any questions you may have.
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