'Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.'
- Jesus in Matthew 26:41
Ahoy Church,
It was fantastic to meet on Sunday to celebrate Jesus!
Martine and I spent the weekend at Mt Tamborine Easter Convention. One of the highlights was hearing recent stories of people all over the place, coming to know Jesus. Like we often hear in other countries, Jesus is revealing himself to people directly, even in dreams! However, the tough part is that there were many reminders of people who do not yet know Jesus personally.
It's a great reminder that we can't save anyone ourselves. It's God alone who can work miracles.
This Sunday, we're due for Christ's reminder that he knows what it's like to be human. Even for those of us who love God, our flesh/bodies/minds easily gravitate back towards "weakness".
This Sunday, and then in a variety of ways next term, we are going to seek to (re-)orient our hearts towards God in prayer. This is not to be "better" Christians, but to live the fullness of life that God offers us and to see others join us in this 'fully alive' destiny.
The great news about learning to pray, or learning to pray in new ways, is that it only costs us something that all of us have - attention. Even for those of us who are constantly "busy", I believe we can find new ways to give God our attention.
The even better news about prayer is that God's always got time and attention to be with us. Despite his responsibility for all of existence, he promises himself to all those who seek him.
Today, this week, next term and throughout 2026, would you join me as we seek to turn our hearts to God?
Much love, see you Sunday!
Dan
What was church like in 150AD?
Given that our gatherings are unlike many others, you may enjoy hearing that the earliest Christian churches were also unlike most modern churches. While this is just a description of what was happening, not God's explicit design for all churches, what stands out to you?
Coming Up
April - 9am [Home] + 4pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
Apr 12 Moffat Gatherings [Home gathering not on this week]
Apr 19 Home + Moffat Gatherings + Baptisms
Apr 25 Anzac Day
Apr 26 Home + Moffat Gatherings
Apr 27 EHD: "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality" Launches (till June 22nd)
May - 9am [Home] + 4pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
May 03 Home Gathering + Monthly Worship
May 10 Home + Moffat Gatherings
May 17 Home + Moffat Gatherings + Baptisms
May 24 Home + Moffat Gatherings
May 31 Home + Moffat Gatherings
June - 9am [Home] + 4pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
Jun 19-21 Church Camp @ Cobb & Co
Jun 22 EHD: "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality" Ends
Church Camp!
We are planning a church camp at Cobb & Co around mid-year. Stay tuned.
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: $12,146
Last month's expenses: $14,207
Balance: $74,818
Giving in : Oct 23-Mar 26: $5,000
Giving out : Oct 23-Mar 26: $18,793
"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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