How do you feel when I mention walk-up evangelism or leafleting. I don’t know about you but I start to feel sick -my heart starts to beat faster, my palms become sweaty, i become nervous.  Why is that? is it because I think I have nothing useful to say or invite them to? Am I afraid of becoming like Ned Flanders. Well to help get me into the right frame of mind I go back to what the bible has to say about evanglism.

1. Pray because God is the one who saves. Ephesians 1

2. Be loving, gentle and respectful.1 Peter 3:15

3. God has predestined people from the beginning of time. Ephesians 1

4. The gospel is good news. Romans 10:15

5. The gospel should compel us to preach 1 Corinthians 9:16

For the times that I have gone out and done door knocking or leafleting, I have been nervous and anxious before but have always come back feeling encouraged and I would recommend it to anyone to give it a go.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

These are the words that are repeated in Psalm 42 and 43. It’s saying something that’s so different to how our world thinks that we might just miss it. It’s saying that when I feel like my life’s falling apart and nothing going right, the best thing I can do is praise God. The writer looks forward to going to the Jewish Temple and there being able to praise God, that’s what he hopes for; it’s what he looks forward to. More than that… it’s what he knows will help settle his “downcast soul”.

That’s a very different thing than we’d expect isn’t it… for most people in the midst of their life falling apart, we’d think they need to be reminded that God will “work things out for their good”. But the Psalmist doesn’t say that. He says that best thing for your soul is to reflect on your great, saving, awesome God… and praise him.

I hope you take the opportunity to do that today in prayer, and at church on Sunday.

photo credit: suburbanbloke

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.

You may have heard on the TV recently that Clean Up Australia Day was on today.  So a few of us from HBC met this morning down at Merewether Beach.  We put on the sun cream, were given our rubbish bags and gloves for the morning and went on our way.  The registered site at Merewether was run by the ‘Trees in Newcastle’ group who did a great job to set up the site for anyone from the public to just come along and help clean up.

It was a great morning had by all, we collected some rubbish and tidied up the beach, whilst enjoying each other company. It is practical activities like these which will help to connect HBC with the community, if you can think of other ways in which HBC can get involved in the community then please raise it with one of the pastors or trainee’s.

Mike and Katie Taylor have sent through their latest news from Tanzania.

It’s interesting to hear some of the challenges of finding a new church - when you’re dealing with a new country, culture and language!

Click here to go to the page where you can download their March newsletter.

As the Maturity Pastor I thought I’d take a moment to answer these questions.

Yes, there is a Men’s Ministry at HBC.  The staff, elders and growth group leaders are committed to seeing men at HBC grow in their knowledge of God, love for others and active Christian service.

How do we hope this will happen?  Well, primarily through relevant biblical preaching and Bible study at Growth Groups during the week.  This is why I see that a large part of my (and our) ministry to men is to encourage them to come to church and to join a Growth Group.  I hope to train enough leaders so that every man at church can get to a group of some kind.  Within groups (whether men’s groups or otherwise) I hope the men will pray together, hang out together, and grow together.

But what about events?  It’s true that special events for men can help with Christian growth and fellowship.  There have been a few less events lately.  This is partly because the calendar has been quickly filled with other really important stuff and frankly, myself and many of the senior guys have been flat out!  This year, the events in the calendar are Katoomba Mens Convention (March 5-6), Hunter Mens Convention (Sept 4) and a Wednesday evening event on August 4th about ‘How to read the Bible with your wife’.  I’m hoping to produce some blogs on this soon.

Would you like to do more with Men’s Ministry?  Why not agree with the men in your group to read a book like ‘the Disciplines of a Godly Man’ by Kent Hughes.  Or ask a staff member or older man to come and speak with the men in your group about an aspect of Christian manhood.  Or go camping together!

The city of Newcastle needs thousands of godly men to share the gospel and live the gospel- I’d love for HBC to play a role in this.

photo credit: One lucky guy

Rostering individual people to help out with things like setup and packup can end up being quite unloving. Why is that?

1. it means that a few people have to bear a very large load.
2. It means there’s usually only ever just enough people on for a certain task - and so those few feel pressured.
3. And it can mean that some people find themselves rostered on to do things at church when they’re struggling spiritually, or not even sure if HBC is their church.

On the other hand, rostering our Growth Groups to share a task at church once every month or so provides a Christian context to help encourage people to serve Jesus when they’re rostered on. How do Groups do that?

1. It makes the amount and frequency of service more bearable because there are more people sharing the load. (Many hands make light chairs.)
2. There’s enough people in most Growth Groups for a few members to be able to opt-out one week if they need to. Groups can even suggest that one of their members needs to opt-out because they know where that person’s life is at.
3. As groups get to know and care for each other, they can take the opportunity to enjoy serving together - as a team. They can encourage each other to “do it” for Jesus, and see the big picture.

photo credit: Mat_B,  photo credit: zen,

We agreed that at the AGM we’d propose that we change the name of the official church association from “Newcastle Unichurch” to “Hunter Bible Church”. We’re also going to propose some minor constitutional changes to keep things in line with the size of our church. More details will come about this soon!

We also decided that the AGM night would be a good opportunity to talk about a building and give members the opportunity to ask questions about the building process and where we’re up to. So, we’re going to get the AGM business started at 7pm and finished as quickly as possible. Then at about 7:45pm we’ll have a kinda’ “open forum” about all things to do with buildings and HBC.

To top it all off, we also decided that Hunter Bible Church should officially take on HMP (Hope Myanmar Partnership) as a mission partner! We’re convinced they are a great organisation and making this official this just confirms that.

Please remember to pray for our elders, and for our church as we think about things like constitutions and buildings.

As I have spoken to students, lined up for free snow cones, pancakes & sausages, had free condoms thrust into my hands by the queer society, dominated the horizontal bungee and invited people of all backgrounds to check out Jesus with us at Unichurch, I have been reminded that as a church we need to praying for our city!

As I was reminded of this I remembered a prayer I read yesterday on the Gospel Coalition blog.  I would like to invite you to model your prayer for our city on this one with me.  Note: this prayer was prayed at Fuller Seminary School of World Missions.  Hence, the reference to morning classes.

photo credit: pj_in_oz!

Almighty and everlasting God this morning we bow before You in prayer for the great cities of earth – London and Hong Kong and Tokyo and Berlin and Delhi and Rome and Kinshasa and Havana and Moscow and Lima and Sao Paulo and Chicago and Mexico City and hundreds of others. Good Lord, in such great measure, these are dark and evil places where crime and prostitution and injustice flourish, where demonic powers stalk the streets and Your sons and daughters become dehumanized. And yet, Lord, in such great measure these are also good places full of education and invention and manufacture and books and great hospitals and universities and seminaries and churches and tremendous interchange of ideas and inspiration. Empower Your churches, O God, to see the cities as the decisive battlefields of our day and to discern the real enemies and to fight manfully on, heeding neither weariness nor wounds, ’til You have built in these cities the New Jerusalem. And empower us, Your servants, to regard these morning classes not as academic exercises heading toward paper degrees, but as Your assemblies, Your assemblies, good Lord, in which we open ourselves to Your presence and tune our ears to Your commands and identify ourselves with our brothers and sisters perishing in the contemporary famine of Your word. This we ask in Jesus’ blessed name. Amen. (Collection 178, T52 – February 21, 1979)

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!

God says in Php 1:27 that ‘whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then… I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel’

Or Eph 4:1-3 God tells us ‘I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.’ God says he wants us to be united in harmony, united in belief, united in love, united in proclaiming Jesus.

What do you think this would look like in practice?

How do you think you can a life worthy of God’s gospel of grace?

How do you feel you could help bring this about?

Take some time pondering this, and then pray to our glorious and mighty God.

A good way to think about ministry is doing something significant in a particular ‘M’.  For example you might choose Membership and therefore join Welcoming team.  Or you might want to choose Magnification and devote every second week to helping set up sound.  If you’re able, it would be also great to do another ministry in a smaller way.  For example, even though you might lead singing you could volunteer to help with holiday Sprout at AM.

If you’d like to change ministries, or change ‘M’s that’s OK and often a good idea.  The best thing is to talk with your ministry team leader and make sure they’re not left in the lurch.  Then talk with leaders of other ministries you’d like to go to, or tick the serving box on the contact card.

photo credit: .Storm

That is, we want everyone to understand themselves and their networks of relationships through the lens of the gospel.  Our apostle nails it when he says in 2 Corinthians 5:16  So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. We want to have a biblical understanding of humanity, not a worldly one.

This is far from comprehensive but it will mean at least 2 things:

1. We will recognise ourselves to be undeserving recipients of God’s mercy!

Titus 3:5 - when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

2. We will understand that those outside of Christ are dead and objects of God’s wrath.

Ephesians 2:1-3 - As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

If this is true then we work with, eat with, play with, rub shoulders with, exercise with, speak with dead people everyday. In fact, more than that, we would be dead if it were not for the mercy of God lavished on us through Jesus (read the rest of Ephesians 2).

The reality is though that we rarely see people through this lens, and so we unconsciously rub shoulders with dead without offering them a chance at life.  Or perhaps we rarely even do that.  Perhaps, we choose not to venture into the land of the dead.  We mix in circles of friends, go to schools, play in sporting teams, start church soccer comps so that we never have to rub shoulders with the dead…. and so forget about them… so never offer them a chance at receiving the mercy of God in Christ!

Let’s make 2010 the year of:

• Playing sport with a bunch of workmates - not church mates
• Having BBQ’s with families who need Jesus
• Joining a club where you can meet people with similar interests - but different eternal paths
• Inviting an old uni friend to live with a bunch of you from church
• Setting aside nights to spend time among the dead

I want to encourage you each each morning at Lambton, each afternoon at City church and each night at Unichurch. Meet one person. Aim to meet, welcome and have a good conversation with one person you don’t know each and every Sunday.

We don’t want to stop there, but it’s a great place to start…

photo credit: MGShelton

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.

We just want to again pass on our thanks for the continued very generous
support of you all at HBC. We see your name on our finance statement and
well, we are thankful and we thank God for your part in the work we are
doing here!

During January we had a workshop for our translators, training some of them
to be translation consultants. It was hands-on learning with 3 different
groups of people in our building each day (one at our dining room table with
Ross!), pouring over the Scriptures, checking the accuracy and naturalness
of a particular translated passage. Much learned and over 2,000 verses of
Scripture checked (that represents a few different languages). An
encouraging start to the year. Thanks for helping to make that possible. The
New Testaments of the Merei, Nafe, Naha and Paama language are just that
much closer to completion now!!

With our thanks for your partnership,

Lyndal and Ross

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.

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