“Let the children come to me...
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
- Jesus in Mark 10:14-15

G'Day Open Road!

We recently sent out a group message for our Christmas Day family gathering and summarised it as, "Let's keep it simple."

It's not the first time we've tried to keep a big event simple :) We will update you in January if we're successful!

However, the idea of keeping Christmas "simple" might be good for followers of Jesus, not just family gatherings.

As followers of Jesus, we often encourage each other in more adult-like following - obedience, love, generosity, forgiveness, etc. However, we all start following Jesus the same way Jesus started life here on earth - as a newborn.

We should not be surprised that the one who came into the world as a child also calls us to enter his world (kingdom) by becoming just like he was.

Many have made fun of people like you and I who claim to have been "born again" through faith in Jesus. It may be in part because we "born-agains" often present to others as quite naive or even simple-minded.

However, this shouldn't be a point of criticism, but rather an expression of the deeper truth of Jesus' invitation to be born again into a child-like faith in God. Jesus said that new spiritual life would require us to be "born again."

Faith requires us to become childlike.
  • Like simple reliance on our spiritual parent (our Heavenly Father).
  • Being nourished on the simplicity of his truth.
  • Having no distractions to intimacy with our new, heavenly family.

While this kind of faith produces a simple perspective on life, it's far from a simplistic faith; it's a rich faith. It positions us to appreciate what's primary - faith and life with God's heavenly family - and ignore much of life's distractions.

And that's the life and faith we all need, especially at Christmas time in Australia.

This Christmas, I encourage you to avoid exaggerated expectations for yourself. Rather, as a born-again follower of Jesus, why not revisit the simple posture of a newborn?

  • Abiding in the manger.
  • Nourished.
  • Loved.
  • Non-anxious.
  • Trusting.
  • Enjoying.
  • Satisfied.

Much love and Merry Christmas,

Dan + Martine

Is Christmas a myth, or even a pagan festival?

With Christmas one of the Western world's most enduring cultural and religious events, it is surrounded by a variety of controversy and criticism, two of which crop up each year.

The first one is that the Christmas story in the Bible is embellished and contains multiple inconsistencies. The second is popular amongst both Christians and secularists alike and revolves around Christmas being a series of pagan rituals and festivals that Christians adopted for themselves.

While you're under no compulsion to agree, here are two videos that do a good job of revealing how (a) the Bible can be trusted and gives access to the true and full story of Jesus, and (b) the Christmas traditions have historical Christian roots.

Coming Up

December - 4pm START!

Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
Sundays - Home Church - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423

Thu 25 - No Christmas Service
Sun 28 - 4pm Beach Gathering at Moffats

January - 4pm START!

Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
Sundays - Home Church - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423

Sun 04 - 4pm Monthly Worship at CityLife - Child Dedications, Youth leads Worship!
Sun 11 - 4pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
Sun 18 - 4pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
Sun 25 - 4pm Beach Gathering at Moffats

Our Mission

To help people find and follow Jesus.

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?

Our Giving

We are slowly being led to needs for our giving kitty! Please take time to ask God if there is someone in need around you whom God wants you/us to help!

Last month's giving: $12,796
Last month's expenses: $11,756
Balance: $86,193
Giving in : Oct 23-Oct 25: $5000
Giving out : Oct 23-Oct 25: $15,663

 "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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