On three Monday nights in November, 37 members of HBC (mostly UC but also PM) met to think through their next move in life. Each of them are in the process of pulling stumps at university and planning to start something new.

For some, the change has come through the completion of a degree. For others it’s being united with a spouse who’s moving to another town. For others still, a decision that uni just isn’t the right thing at the moment.

The coming transition can be a time that brings a range of feelings: excitement, worry, conviction, uncertainty, confusion, hope. It’s certainly a time for reflection. University years are a privilege - years that often shape the rest of our lives. Years of new friendships, available time, independence and learning - usually cultivating some big thoughts about life, the universe and God. For this, we must firstly be thankful.

The Grad Nights were time to consider together some of the changes that the future might hold - guided by the Scriptures. Greg opened the Bible to help work through three big topics: money, work and ministry. It was clear that the life of a Christian will stand out in the world.

Real-life alumnus, jack-of-various-trades and AM-church-attender, Mark Jefferys, came along as a guest to share personal insights on life from the other side of uni. Each night, Mark humbly opened up his life, marriage, family, work, relationships and bank-account to help get everyone thinking; never claiming perfection, but demonstrating Christ’s work in him.

Some time was spent discussing scenarios in groups and praying for each other.

Now that you know there are (at least) 37 people in our church who are moving on from uni in 2012, it’d be great for you to pray for them as well. Pray that their character would be growing to match Jesus - that this would lead to wise and godly decisions that would help them stand firm in Christ and continue to present their lives to him.

There was a nervous atmosphere in the church office on the afternoon of September 23. Throughout the working world, Friday afternoon is generally a time of the week when office frivolity is at its highest and mood its warmest, leading into the week’s end. HBC’s office is usually no exception with its renowned Friday Dance Party - but this Friday was different.

A group of 13 members of Hunter Bible Church, a couple of ring-ins and a rugged tour guide were all gathering to depart on an adventure that we expected, without knowing exactly how, would change our lives. Rightly unaware, on the dawn of this ‘AIM Mission Awareness Tour’.

The stats were impressive: 17 people, 1 minibus, 7500km to be driven through 4 states of Australia, 90 hours of travel, 11 locations to stop and pitch 6 tents over 15 nights.

Heading through the Mayf on our way out of town...

The goals were also impressive: to see the work of Australian Indigenous Ministries in six separate places across the country, to experience what life is like for the workers there, to encourage the people we met and to be encouraged, and to grow in God’s word - all of these as a team unified by Christ.

How would we cope with the lengthy confinement on the bus? Would relationships prosper or wither? How would we respond to regular nights of 6 or less hours of sleep? What shock would we face experiencing new cultures within Australia? Would the bus hold together? How could we encourage the missionaries without creating too much disturbance in their setting? How far would our phone reception extend? Would we be able to climb the rock?

Different from my memories of bus journeys for school camps past, the cool kids weren’t on the back seat (I was toward the front) and there wasn’t the missing kid who had slept through his alarm. The departing travellers were quite happy to openly plant farewell kisses and hugs on those who were seeing them off, even waving from the bus.

We were off.

Summer Sessions is on again for Unichurch!

Summer Sessions is like a giant all-in Growth Group kicking on through the summer.

Come at 6:30pm for dinner ($4), meet new people, jump in to study the Bible, pray together, and hang-out into the evening. It’s fun, it’s open to visitors looking to join church, it’s for your non-Christian friends.

Greg is leading the opening night on Tuesday Nov 22nd, diving into the huge topic of prayer.

See you there

Ever find yourself wanting to pray for our missionaries, but not really sure what to pray? Check out their profiles under the ‘who we support’ section here and you can see what they’ve asked us to pray for, and pray!

Members of unichurch meet each week at 6pm on a Sunday for RENEW Prayer. I often describe RENEW as happening before church, but I’m reminded that RENEW is church. It’s so central to what the church, God’s people, do. We pray because we are fellow-workers with God in the world! We pray that God will use us, his people, to change the hearts of Novocastrians (and all peoples of the world) by his word.

One of the marvelous joys of meeting for RENEW is hearing the stories of how God answers these prayers. Each week we hear of friends, family, housemates and strangers who are engaging with the gospel through our relationships with them. If you need to be reminded of the benefits of prayer, come to RENEW and praise God for his work.

One such place we can see this work being done is the family of Dene and Rachel Hughes.

A couple of weeks ago at RENEW we caught up with our friends and their boys, Eliott and Simeon, via Skype. What a story! Up ’til last year these guys were working among us in Newcastle at the uni with the FOCUS International Christian Student group. The family were quite enjoying their time here: aware of the work they could see God doing, and really appreciating life in Newcastle. A time of noticeable growth and blessing is reason to thank God, but never to necessarily settle. God had different plans for the Hughes. Now 2011 for them is a year of training and preparing to move to Japan! They’ll be involved with Christian student work over there from 2012.

Many personal friends of the family came to RENEW that night, it was a pleasure to experience shared joy in catching up. In typical Hughes fashion, their 6 months of training in Melbourne has included lessons learned from the Bible, growth in the family, enjoyment from their surroundings (bike rides, coffee, markets) and some interesting variations on the English language from Simeon’s developing tongue.

Dene and Rachel shared some points that we can raise with God:

• Rachel’s computer died and they’ve been planning on doing lots of digital stuff over the next six months. Pray they can replace it and/or get by ok.
• Pray for somewhere to live in Brisbane or somewhere to house-stay
• They’d love to get some quality time with their family in Brisbane before they leave
• Deputation - that the boys would be settled while they’re moving around

• The country is in shock and there’s been intense suffering and despair
  • Dene has heard of lots of opportunities for conversations in Japan
  • Pray that the Christians there might have lots of opportunities to tell people about the hope they have in Jesus

Another wonderful story to share is with the Harrisons - also leaving our gathering here in Newcastle! One of them will be joining us at unichurch’s RENEW Prayer session this week, their last weekend with us before leaving for Melbourne. Be there, GP Theatre at 6pm.

Unichurch is moving!!

For the next four Sundays (starting on June 12), Unichurch will not be in the CT theatre. Instead, Unichurch will be meeting in the main GP lecture theatre (GP 1.1) at Newcastle Uni.

GP 1.1 is very close to the CT theatre, and people from Unichurch will be at the Maths Bus Stop and outside the CT theatre to point you in the right direction. You won’t get lost

Only the location of church is changing. Unichurch cafe will still be starting at 6:30, the main meeting at 7, and supper kicking on afterwards till 10.

This is a great week to come back to church!

If you haven’t been able to make it to church much this semester, this is a great week to come along.

We have been going through the book of Romans and seen that basically, before God we are all stuffed. As Paul says, “There is no one righteous, not even one.”

But now comes the amazing good news of God’s mercy. We are going to see God’s rescue plan for people who are stuffed! This is a great week to come back to church and bring a friend!!

See you Sunday

What would be your response if you heard of someone offering a miracle cure for something which countless of your countrymen had died from? Check out Mike and Katie Taylor’s latest newsletter here to hear of their response to this current situation in Tanzania…

photo credit: NatUlrich

What are your plans for the Sept/Oct school holidays this year? Sitting at home watching reruns of Gilmore Girls?? Doing some renovations?? Or working?? Well why not do something fun? Come on the Bus Trip with a difference… From Sept 23 to Oct 8, we’ll be taking a bus load of HBCers out to visit AIM missionaries working in indigenous communities in central Australia. But places are limited!

If you’re keen, you can email Kelly for more info at kelly@hunterbiblechurch.org. Or you can download both the ‘expectations’ file and the ‘application form’. Please hand application forms to Kelly Landrigan, or email them to her at the above address, or post them attention Kelly to the church office: 50 Hudson St Hamilton.

Have you checked out our “who we support” page lately? It’s been updated… Why don’t you take a look here and check out who we support as a church…

I just received the email below from Kate Wick’s as it’s O-day on Curtin Uni campus. Why don’t you stop and pray for the ministry of Curtin Christian Union now?