“Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’”
- Jesus in John 14:23
Ahoy Church,
Join us Sunday from 3pm at City Life for our monthly worship gathering.
- If you are keen to help setup the tent or some festoon lights, email (hit REPLY) or message me (0402 301 568). We'll setup from 100/130pm on the College Green.
- We'll add the songs to this Spotify playlist for you to listen to before we gather.
- Checkout the song Ruby wrote, 'Forever Yours'! She will sing it this Sunday.
Coming out of last weeks message on Loving UP and Loving OUT, I've been greatly reminded that this sums up what we should be aiming for as Christians and as a church - simply a gathering of Christians called to love God and love others.
As a pastor, it can be very easy to measure your value by growing the church you lead. If you can stop assessing yourself by numbers, you can also easily shift to valuing yourself by how well you manage the church you lead. While a growing, well managed church is wonderful, it isn't necessarily an indication of spiritual, kingdom "success".
While it's confronting to admit, you can lead a growing, well-managed church and still not be prioritising what Jesus promises. Jesus promises joy, eternal life, and much more. However, one of the last things he said he would provide to all who put their faith in him was his presence.
The presence of God us is one thing that the best institutions, the most authentic communities, and the most committed leaders can never provide themselves.
However, as a community of disciples, we have an opportunity to constantly point people to Jesus. He is our creator, the author of our salvation, the source of our transformation and presence of God in our lives.
This year we are focusing on three key "spiritual skills" that Jesus taught in Matthew chapter 6: giving, prayer and fasting.
This term we are focusing on prayer, and aiming to hear stories each Sunday about how each of us prays.
I've been reminded by reading a long-dead, old-school prayer warrior named Andrew Murray of how important it is to savour the presence of God whenever we pray.
"As long as prayer is only a means of personal improvement and happiness, we cannot know its full power". - Andrew Murray
As John shared on Sunday, God answered his prayer with a wonderful reunion of friends this last week. Among many others stories each week in our church fam', John's story illustrats that whether we are aware or not, God is present with us as we pray. He's not just "up there somewhere" listening as he feels like it. He is beside us when we're on our knees, in our bed, in traffice, praying to him.
As Christ - "God with us" - promised, he is with us wherever we go. He has made our home in us by faith. Even when we don't know how to pray, his Holy Spirit prays on our behalf.
This is why Andrew Murray encourages all Christians on starting their day in prayer, "First of all, see that you secure the presence of God. Do not be content with anything less than seeing the face of God, having the assurance". Rather than stumbling through a day hoping that God is with us, why not take time to consciously appreciate his presence (love him, as Christ commands) so that you can step out confident he is with you each moment of the day.
The assurance of God's presence in our lives is not just for those "learning" to pray. It's not just for all of us to "get better at". It's especially for those who lead their friends, family and our church.
Savouring the presence of God may be one of the ways we ensure that we don't drift into measuring success in unhelpful ways. In fact, rather than measuring, it may be better to assess our own hearts and church family by the word treasuring.
Are we treasuring God's presence over the size of our crowd, the weather in the park, our new tent, or how much we give away?
We could be growing, enjoying perfect weather, worshipping in our new fancy tent and giving away thousands of dollars, but neglecting to treasure the one thing only Jesus can give us access to - God himself.
What a joy to know that God has made his home within the lives of all those who love him.
Much love, see you Sunday!
Dan
P.S. When we share on Sundays with each other on the beach, let's make a point to stand up (whenever possible!) and speak loudly. We want to make sure all God's goodness is shared with the whole crew!
One-Offs
The Send - Friday, May 1st
As Jacob shared last week, The Send is a regional gathering on May 1st for youth and young adults. Each regional gathering is building momentum leading up to the main gathering of prayer, worship and commissioning in October 2027.
Dan's Ordination + BYO Dinner, Sunday, May 10th
I'm now officially a "Reverend" :) This is simply a recognition of trust within the Qld Baptist community. I've stayed the course, remained faithful and continue to serve you guys and the community as best I am able. On May 10th, a representative from QB will join us, share a bit and lead us in a prayer of blessing for our ongoing ministry.
One Prayer - Tuesday, June 2nd
Qld Baptists are encouraging their churches to take Monday June 1st to Sunday June 7th as "Prayer Week". The goal is to focus our attention on deepening our commitment to prayer, especially for revival in our state and nation. Part of this is a combined prayer meeting at Bridgeman Downs Baptist on 7pm, Tuesday June 2nd. I'll be going, along with some of our Young Adults, and you're welcome to join us! It will likely be a very large gathering of worship, prayer and ministry.
Church Camp - June 19-21
Don't forget to register for camp if you haven't already. If you need financial assistance, hit REPLY and let me know.
Coming Up
This Week
- You're bringing some stories and a willingness to hear from God!
- Dan is hosting and leading communion.
- Ruby will play a worship song she wrote during communion.
- Aimee and the team are leading us in worship.
- A few of you will be reading the Scriptures.
April - 9am [Home] + 4pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
May - 9am [Home] + 4pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
May 01 The Send: Youth + Young Adults at Goodlife // www.thesend.org.au
May 03 Home Gathering + Monthly Worship
May 10 Home + Moffat Gatherings // BYO Dinner // Dan's Ordination
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 01-07 Qld Baptist Prayer Week
Jun 02 ONE PRAYER: Bridgeman Baptist Prayer Night
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: $72,588
Giving in: Oct 23-Mar 26: $5,000
Giving out: Oct 23-Mar 26: $19,793
"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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