What do all these people have in common?

Apart from all being at the church office and helping getting things ready to proclaim Jesus at carols and other events, they all have the brand new 2011 Hunter Bible Church Calendar!

Its got all the preaching details for the year, all the conferences and dates for Life and NextStep (that we’re aware of). It will tell you when Youth group is going away, and when there are special events on special weekends. Great if you’re working out things like 21st parties or wedding dates! And on top of all that, each month (Jan ‘11 - Jan ‘12) has got a beautiful picture from Wave Kids Club 2010.

To cover costs of printing, they cost $5 each. Any extra money received will go to WAVE summer sites.

On Sunday, we’ll be having a panel discussion to help us all think Christianly (is that a word?) about our political system and voting.

Here are some sites that we hope are helpful as you prayerfully go to the voting booth. We’re not suggesting that everything below is trustworthy or even correct. But they might help you think through some issues:

• Electorate details from the Australian Electoral Commission - maps, polling places, candidates …
  • Charlton
  • Newcastle
  • Paterson
  • Shortland
• Senate Group Voting Tickets for NSW
  • If you vote ‘above the line’ in the Senate, this document will show you how the party you vote for will distribute preferences on your behalf.
• AEC’s guide to How your votes are counted
  • All the gory details of how the preferential voting system works and the intricate details of how Senate votes are counted.
• ABC’s election analyst Antony Green’s guide to the Federal election
  • Lots of background information for each electorate, including a bit more info on the candidates
• Australian Christian Lobby: “Know what the parties think before you vote” paper
  http://australianchristianlobby.org.au/wp-content/uploads/AVBrochureDownloadable.pdf
• John Dickson (Australian Christian author) article in the SMH
  http://tinyurl.com/JohnDickson-ChristianVote
• “Australian Christian Values” produced a political views checklist
  http://www.christianvalues.org.au/check_list.html
• Tim Keller sermon on Politics and arguments
  http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sites/sermons2.redeemer.com/files/sermons/RPC-Arguing_about_Politics.mp3
• Medicine with Morality - a group that helpfully raises ethical issues about medical policies
  http://www.medicinewithmorality.org.au/

When the God of Israel reveals that he’s about to abandon his faithless people, what does it mean for us? From 22nd August Greg will be speaking from the book of Ezekiel and showing us how confronting it is to be without God, and how amazing it is that God steps into our emptiness today.

What type of love did Jesus show us? What type of love did Jesus talk about in the hours before his death?

Starting Sunday May 2nd, Greg Lee will be taking us through John’s account of Jesus’ last words with his disciples before he went to the cross. In these chapters we see Jesus being betrayed, Jesus lowering himself to wash his disciple’s feet, praying to the Father for his disciples, and teaching about what is to come.

Make sure you come along to any of our three Sunday meetings over May and June to hear about Jesus and love without boundaries.

At UniChurch over the past couple of weeks we’ve been looking at Philippians.

As we have God has challenged us about our priorities and motives. One of the examples I used that’s caused some stir is Uni marks. Getting good grades can be something we idolize.

Rob asked a really helpful question during Question Time last night and I don’t think I answered him well. So I’ve put my thoughts down here. I’d love you to comment and tell me what you think as well.

Rob asked “Is it wrong to get HD’s? Can’t you honour God by doing well at Uni?”

No it’s definately not outright wrong to get good marks. Yes you can honour God by working hard and doing well.

However for most of us honouring God is not why we work hard. For most of us good marks are about being successful or feeling good about ourselves. We use them to make ourselves feel superior and smug.

There’s nothing wrong with getting good marks at Uni or in being good at your job, but there are some questions that you really ought  to ask yourself:

Why am I doing this?  What’s my motivation?  What else could I do with this time? Who am I honouring?

And you have to consider them in light of scripture.

Php 1:27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Php 2:3-5 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

How do you prioritize your time? Why? What motivates you?

Big questions. Hard questions. But worth thinking about because they’re Questions God asks us through his word.

Please leave comments below, lets get the discussion rolling.

Starting on Sunday Feb 21st, Greg Lee will be helping you ‘get’ Jesus… who he is and what difference he makes to you. If you’ve never really understood what the big deal is about Jesus… then come along to HBC:Unichurch and we’ll help you to get Jesus by the scruff of the neck, check him out, and see who he really is.

These will be great nights to bring friends along, or come and check out UniChurch for the first time.

Christ the Centre of Everything

Here’s some questions to get you thinking for UniChurch on the 14th of Feb.

Phil 2:1-11

1. Who is Paul addressing?

2. What behavior is Paul urging?

Paul includes a hymn about Jesus to emphasize his point. (Phil 2:6-11)

3. How does Phil 2:6-8 emphasize the behavior Paul is urging?

4. How does Phil 2:9-11 emphasize it? Why does he include these verses?

Check out the preaching plan for 2010… here.

www.wordle.net

February sees the return of the Ministry Apprentices Philippians series to UniChurch. This is nice because it coincides with the return to the CT Theater!

On Feb 7 Steve will be speaking on Christ the Centre of Life from Philippians 1:18-30

Here’s a couple of questions to think about before then to get the mental juices flowing…

1. Paul seems convinced that death is beneficial (see Phil 1:21). How can death be gain?

2. What is the sign Phil 1:28 talks about?

3. What does it look like for someone to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ? (Phil 1:27)