Its very exciting when one of our brothers gets to do something like record an album. And an album launch is a great opportunity to rejoice in God’s gifts with one another.

There’s going to be a special opportunity to do that on Saturday June 5th at the Grainery Christian Centre! It will be a great night with special guests “Planet of the Stereos” and our own Hugh Jonas will be speaking. Definitely the type of thing to come along and invite friends to.

Doors Open 6:30pm
Entry $10 for singles and $25 for families
for more info check out www.myspace.com/jonokirkmusic

In our vision to help thousands of people hear about Jesus, we’re convinced that if its God’s will, we’ll need to get a church building sometime soon.

However, we don’t want to commit ourselves down a certain path if God is not providing the necessary resources at this point. Therefore we’re asking people to prayerfully consider how much they’re thinking of donating towards a HBC Building and let us know, via the red boxes or via post.

Download the letter to members with attached form here.

Hi ladies there is less than a week left to register for Women of Truth 2010. What a huge privilege to meet with other women of all different ages from across the Hunter area to sit under the Word of God and sing His praises together. Registrations close Monday 24th May.

There are two easy ways to register…

Go to www.womenoftruth.info/ and either register online with a credit card or download the brochure and send with a checque or money order to Women Of Truth PO Box 212 Charlestown NSW 2290.

Why not register today? It would be great to see you there…

vimeo page:  

Unichurch Ministry Expo

Sunday May 23

Starting after the service

But what is ministry?

Ministry is serving one another, following the pattern and command of Jesus. Jesus came “not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). After showing his disciples the full extent of his love (John 13:1) by washing their feet, he asked them “Do you understand what I have done for you?… If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:12-15).

This loving service can be expressed in many different ways according to the gifts and opportunities God has given us (see Romans 12:3-13, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Corinthians 12:27-31, Galatians 6:9-10). Teaching, encouraging, administration, contributing to others needs, showing hospitality, speaking the truth in love… all of these things should be done, and should be done in love! (1 Corinthians 13)

The Unichurch Ministry Expo will give you an opportunity to find out how you could serve God through serving others. See you there!

I definitely don’t want to create rules for how to pray, but I’m very convicted about this… “prayer” is asking God to do something, so when you pray, are you actually asking God to do something, or do you just speak abut what you want?

See, the word “pray” means “ask”. So when we say to God, “I pray for…”, we’re just saying, “I ask for…”. And apart from being a bit indirect and beating around the bush, it means we get all tangled up and confused when we talk to God. I was once in a church where the guy leading in public prayer said “Lord, we pray for war.” Just think about what that prayer means!

I think we’re missing out on simply talking to God and asking him to do things!!

So have a go… I think you’ll find its a hard habit to break! Try praying “Lord, please…” and ask God to do something. Or, in other words, give God a verb!! Like: “change me”, “convert my friend”, “heal”, “destroy”, “renew”, “convict”, “take”, “open”, “speak”, etc…

Mark 10:15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Can I encourage you to get out of the habit of saying “I pray” to your heavenly father, and instead simply say “Daddy, in Christ’s name, please…”

WAVE kids club is coming up! yes its more than 6 months away but it will be here before we know it. Last Saturday all section leaders went around to Sam Hiltons to get the ball rolling with preparations, to meet each other and to hear about the teaching material which has been produced by Jen Shadwick.

Over the next few months your going to be hearing about how you can get involved in this week of fun.
Early this year during WAVE 353 unique kids came to hear about Jesus which was the biggest WAVE ever. For next year we are praying that God would bring along 500 kids along to hear about Jesus. The WAVE week is a great way to connect with our community and to reach kids, youth and parents of Newcastle and beyond who have not yet heard the news.

Check out the waverecruitment booklet to see how you could be apart of this great event.

I’ve just been uploading some newsletters from our brothers and sisters who we support as a church. It’s a great opportunity we have to partner with them in their ministry. Click here to see who we support as a church and you can click on the links to their news. Hear about some of the Taylor’s embarrassing language blunders, where the Webb’s are up to with the Irumu translation, some of the challenges the Boxes are facing, as well as how the Alley’s have asked their supporters to pray for you!

Ok, so I just found this resource on someone else’s blog, and I thought it was so good that I had to put it up here too… This is a recipe book made by a couple at Petersham Baptist Church (where a few of our staff used to go) that has meals you can make for the masses!

Need to cook for 60 to 100 people in a hurry, and don’t know where to start? Check out the PBC Recipe Book! It’s got 26 recipes, with answers to your PBC specific questions such as: How can I get all this rice cooked in this oven? Download the recipe book in PDF format (204 kb). Lovingly prepared by Ros Thomson and Sarah Whitington in 2004.

photo credit: tom.hensel

Enjoy!

In “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” on his first journey to Hogwarts, Harry opens a packet of Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans. Ron responds with a warning:

“You want to be careful with those …  when they say every flavour they mean every flavour – you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe.  George reckons he had a bogey flavoured one once.”

I was reminded of this recently when I listened to Phillip Adams (Radio National) and Simon Longstaff (St James Ethics Centre) discuss on a Late Night Live program with much enthusiasm the trial of ethics classes to be run in NSW schools as an alternative to Scripture classes. At first glance this seems appealing, just like a box of every flavour beans. What could possibly be wrong with teaching our kids ethics? That’s surely a good thing isn’t it? But just as Bertie Bott’s beans can have some unpleasant surprises so too do these ethics classes.

In the discussion, it was revealed that one of the ethical situations to be presented to children is what to do in the situation where you’ve been invited to a birthday party, and accepted, and then another invitation to another party at the same time arrives. How ought you respond?

If you know the faithful and loving creator God who values fidelity, loyalty, and friendship, then the ethical resolution is straightforward and firmly founded on the rock of love and of God’s character. But for participants of these ethics classes there is no right answer other than a vague hint that if you ‘examine’ yourself and ‘think’ it through then you’ll come up with a resolution that is ‘right’, … well at least right for you.

From the discussion it is clear that the basis of ethical decision making in these classes rests on self examination – that as long as you’ve considered, and thought and reasoned enough, then the decision you make is by definition ‘ethical’.  While this process may indeed result in loving behaviour, it can just as easily result in pre-meditated, self justifying, selfish behaviour.

The ethical decision making process being taught in these classes is fundamentally self-centred, if not in outcome, then certainly in process. Far from being appealing, that’s surely a bogey flavoured ethics.

I’m nowhere near a “raising boys” guru… there’s good chance that I might look back on this post and freak out, but I thought I’d share my thoughts about how I send my boys off to school.

Every morning, when my two boys (yr1 and yr2) hop out of the car to go to school, I tell them the same 4 things, again and again, everyday.

1. Be good
   (not “learn lots”, or even “do what your teachers say”, but “be good”)
2. Be nice to the mean kids
3. Protect the weak kids
4. I love you!

I hope that by the time they’re in yr4 & yr5 and have become the “older kids” in primary school, they’ll have those words always ringing in the back of their minds as they interact with other kids. And I pray it’ll have an effect on their classmates and the whole school too, for God’s glory.

Today, Mitchell asked me why we should “be nice to the mean and protect the weak”. I couldn’t think of any better reason than to say that’s how Jesus has treated us; We’re weak, and we’ve been mean to him! But Jesus has been kind to us by protecting us. We should want to be like Jesus.

photo credit: freeparking