About 35 men from HBC went away to weekend 3 of Katoomba Mens Convention (March 5-6).  The topic was ‘Men of Service- Love Relationships and Family.  Basically it was fantastic!

John Dickson spoke from Philippians and showed how an understanding of the first readers’ original context makes it clear the gospel demanded a lot from them. 

Gary Millar from Ireland preached on Song of Songs.  He’s a brave man and didn’t shirk away from anything!  We learnt heaps about how to read the book so it made sense.  There was also lots of great challenges to think about sex rightly and relate in a godly way to our wives (for those who have them).

I would certainly recommend for men to buy the talks (especially Gary’s) from the kcc website.  To wives - it would make a great gift!

The fellowship on the bus, at McDonalds and at the Youth Hostel was also a highlight.  I’m looking forward to next year - hope you are too.

Whether you’ve just joined us at Unichurch or been around for a while, there are lots of things happening this time of the year. I want to tell you about four events at Unichurch. They are all a little bit like train tickets…

The welcome dessert is a single train ticket. Come along if you’ve never been to one of these before. You’ll get to meet Greg, some regulars, find out about our church and share some delicious dessert. But just come once. It’s a single ticket. They are happening at my house on Monday nights during semester, starting 1st March. Call me (Geoff) for more info - 0435 126 121.

Growth groups are a yearly train ticket. At a growth group a bunch of people meet together one night a week to read the bible, pray, share food and look after each other. They are so good that you’ll want to come along for the year! They’re starting on 2nd March. To find out about these groups call Josh - 0431 747 370.

Life to the Full is a monthly train ticket. If you’re checking Jesus out, or have been on the church scene for a while but you’ve got questions about Jesus - then Life to the Full is for you. Every Tuesday night in March join us at a bowling club for a $5 gourmet dinner by a professional chef and check out what Jesus claims about life for your self. You can register here or for more info call James - 0421 159 581.

The last event if FORGE. FORGE is an unlimited family pass. When you buy this ticket your whole family gets unlimited travel on ferries, buses and trains. It’s amazing value! Likewise, the whole Unichurch family is going to FORGE. All the growth groups. Everyone will be there! At $75 it’s incredible value too. FORGE is jam-packed with food, music, talks, relaxing, making friends and so much more. Check out the web page for the flyer, video adds, more information or to register online.

Work out which tickets are for you and come along!

photo credit: swgn,  photo credit: atzu

To the Men,

We’re going to Katoomba Mens Convention this year on Friday/Saturday March 5 and 6.  The theme is ‘Men of Service: Love, relationships and family’

The accommodation, bus and rego are all organised.  We leave 3:15 on Friday at at Energy Australia Stadium and will be back Saturday night.  Cost is $123 or $117 concession.

There are some seats left, so contact me today and bring a mate or two along!

But the best way to kick off your time at uni is to come along to Unichurch this Sunday at 6pm. Why?

Because there are loads of fantastic things about uni. But the best is the chance to rethink what you believe. And no question is more important than: What do you think about Jesus?

So this Sunday come along to Unichurch, make some new friends, enjoy some great music and grab Jesus by the scruff of the neck.

All of this, plus plate-fulls of free Ice cream!

We’ll see you there!

The first ever Unichurch weekend away is rapidly approaching! It’s called Forge and it’s on from the 12th to 14th of March.

We’ll be looking at God’s word - the bible, eating good food, having heaps of fun, relaxing, making new friends and hanging out with old ones, singing great music together and plenty more.

Forge is going to be great at strengthening you. Strength takes solid foundations and solid commitment. Forge will give you both of these - solid foundations from the bible so you can follow Jesus, and a solid commitment to help you continue to follow Jesus whilst you’re at Unichurch.

You can register online or in person at Unichurch.

All the growth groups and all of Unichurch will be there. Make sure you register early!

For more info check out the webpage.

Arnie is massive. Really really massive. He has won the Mr Olympia World Body Building title 7 times and the Mr Universe title 4 times. But to get there, Arnie was always in the gym.

Check this: Arnie is our model Growth Group leader because he was always in the gym.

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 8-9)

Unichurch Growth Group leaders it’s time to shed that holiday flab, get in the gym and start pumping iron. It’s training time.

But not at Arnie’s gym, we’re going to get in the godliness gym. We need to do the heavy lifting in godliness, which has value for all things.

So come to:

The Gym

What: Unichurch Growth Group Leaders training night

When: Wednesday 17^th Feb

Where: Hamilton Baptist Church

Time: 7:15 for a 7:30 start

For those of you who don’t know, Life to the full will be running every Tuesday in March. It’s only a few weeks away now!

One of the great things about life to the full is clear explanation. You’ll find out who Jesus is and what he claims about life. Combine this with meeting lots of people, a chance to ask questions and a delicious dinner & desert for $5- let me tell you, its no bangers and mash! I’m looking forward to the lamb shanks and tiramisu.

In my previous jobs I found one of the frustrating thing about being a Christian at work was when colleagues asked me about Christianity. (You’re probably thinking “What is he talking about!” …hold judgment). Colleagues would ask me “Why are you a Christian? What about all the other religions? What do Christians believe?” Praise God that they were interested in finding out more!

But what was frustrating for me was the lack of time to answer and hear their response. I knew as I was explaining that the stop-watch was counting down. Someone would interrupt or the phone would ring. Remember those times when someone’s in the kitchen making coffee and they ask about your weekend? You start talking about Church and what you learnt. For me the stop watch was always counting down. No time for questions, just a short hazy summary.

Well that’s the great thing about Life to the Full - 2 hours spent listening, talking, asking questions. No phones, no interruptions, no time pressures!

Would you or your friends be up for it?

For more info email me or phone 0421 159 581. Check out the registration page too.

Katoomba Men’s Convention is an annual event designed to challenge men to stand up and grow in their Christian lives.  Thousands of men from across the state gather to learn, sing, pray and hang out together.  HBC guys have been going for several years and those who go once nearly always go again (often at the insistence of their wives!).

The theme of this year’s Katoomba Men’s Convention is ‘Men of Service: Love, Relationships & family’.  Check out the video.

YouTube page:  

HBC men are going along on the weekend of March 5/6 and 40 places for accommodation and registration have been booked in anticipation of a big turnout from church.

The cost is $123 for everything for the weekend ($117 concession) and will be well worth it.   James has begun arrangements for everything including accommodation, transport and food.   Contact myself (richard@hunterbiblechurch.org) or James Dean (see AM phone list) if you’d like to come along or find out more.

website link:  http://www.mkc.kcc.org.au/

(includes a brochure you can download)

Check out the preaching plan for 2010… here.

Check out a little video we made of all the Wave Summer Sites stuff…