Whether you're a long-time member, or just checking us out, this is where you'll get a good picture of what's going on at our church and what's going on in our Pastor's heads.
Feel free to comment on anything we've written. You can also check out certain categories, like "Events" and "Resources" if you're interested in a certain topic.
Enjoy!
At church on Sunday they gave an almighty plug for Life to the Full through an interview with Alex and Johann. One of the things Alex mentioned was that she was nervous on the first night of Life to the Full. Questions run around your head like:
What will my friends think? Will they think I’m a looney tune for believing this? Is this going to be any good? Will Sam totally mess up further opportunities to share the gospel by being a complete git? What will I say? Will I know what to say about Jesus? How will I argue for God and at the same time hear their concerns and respect their opinions?
These are all great questions. Some of the variables are completely out of your control but you can prepare yourself for Life to the Full and I think one of the best books I have read to that end is Naked God: The truth about God exposedby Martin Ayers.
Martin’s book is good one to read for 3 reasons.
It is very accessible. Lots of apologetic style books are very complicated, long winded and difficult to get your head around. Martin is comprehensive, clear and concise. A rare find. As John Dickson says: ”I was amazed, actually, how such a short book could feel so comprehensive.”
It is comprehensive. Martin covers a lot of material. Whilst more reading could be done on all of the sections he writes about on the book in the Naked God we find a concise and clear distillation of many of those ideas.
In his book he covers much of the same material that we look at in Life to the Full.
If you think you might possibly one day invite someone to Life to the Full buy this book and prep yourself for evangelism.
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!
Turn on your TV this September and you’ll be sure to come across an advertisement with a difference! Coming soon to a TV and a billboard near you is the church’s biggest and sharpest media campaign since Billy Graham – ‘Jesus All About Life’ (www.jesusallaboutlife.com.au). Backed by all the major Christian denominations and the Bible Society, similar campaigns have already proven effective in Canberra, Adelaide and Tasmania.
How will it work? Over the course of about 40 days, professional and high quality advertisements aimed at different sectors of the community will promote the person of Jesus, the one who promised ‘life to the full!’ (John 10:10) and invite people to consider his claims found in Luke’s Gospel.
Enquirers who respond to a Freecall number will receive a booklet containing information on knowing Jesus and Luke’s Gospel. They will also be given details of their nearest registered ‘Jesus All About Life’ church where they can get further assistance. Churches will also be able to purchase booklets to give away to their non-Christian contacts and are encouraged to equip their congregations to make the most of conversational opportunities during the campaign, as well as being prepared to follow up enquirers.
Combining media saturation with personal invitation and local church evangelism, this is an evangelistic strategy we can be excited about! But we need to prepare to make the most of it. Here are some ways we can do that:
1. Personal connections
The noise created by the media campaign will open up opportunities to talk to people about Jesus. The ads are aimed at encouraging people to find out more, and that is where you come in. As individuals we will need to think about how we can initiate conversation using the advertising as a launching pad to move them closer to knowing him. Here are a few tips to get you started…
Pray regularly for your friends
Talk to them about the ads
Read the Essential Jesus AND give copies to your friends AND follow this up
Work at being able to explain the gospel of Jesus simply and clearly
2. Invite
As members of Hunter Bible Church its great to keep up to date with all that is going on in the Life of the Church. You can do this by either reading the Church family notices or the calendar on the website. A couple of things to invite people to:
Church - during September I will preaching on the book of Luke at Lambton and Unichurch and will be consciously encouraging people to trust in Jesus over those 4 weeks. As a congregation we will need to be prepared to welcome new people who have been prompted to consider Jesus.
Life to the Full - will be running throughout September again. This is a great place to bring people who want to investigate the claims of Jesus.
Hunter Mens Convention - whilst Hunter Mens Convention is particularly designed to encourage Christian men in their walk with Jesus this is a great place to bring unbelievers also as they will see the Christian message in action among men!
3. While church will be organising many opportunities to promote the gospel over the next couple of months, we are keen for you to tailor make your own activities. You will have ideas about how to connect with your friends, family, workmates, school friends, fellow students and so on. Inviting people to church is an easy way to build on their interest, but there is probably more you could do yourself.
We would love you to come up with the ideas and we will help you plan an event or activity, and even connect you with someone who could speak and answer questions. Each of the pastors will be able to guide you in this.
4. Pray
Above all, we need to pray that God will by His Spirit open the eyes of many to see Jesus for who He is and welcome them into life to the full! You can join with us and pray with the Renew Newcastle teams on Sundays. Check here for details…
I look forward to this exciting opportunity with you and welcome any comments or suggestions you may have.
In our broken world it is hard to imagine that Life to the Full is anything but a pipe dream. But Jesus, and his followers, claim that Life to the Full is possible. Come along and join us for a series of casual dinners where we’ll get to have a first hand look at the fundamental message Jesus Christ taught. Here more from someone who came along last year…
Week 1 (April 27): The Man You Can’t Ignore!
Jesus: Lord, Liar, Lunatic or Legend?
Week 2 (May 4): The Bible - Is It A Reliable Record?
Many suggest Chinese whispers shaped the Bible.Others suggest it’s full of fairy stories and inaccuracies. Is there evidence for its historical truth and can we therefore rely on it?
Week 3 (May 11): What Happens When God & Man Meet?
A God of love and a God of justice. Which is he? Is he both?
Which are we? Good, bad, or both?
What happens therefore when we die?
Week 4 (May 18): Jesus Is Executed - Why?
Of what significance is it to me?
Is he dead or alive?
How would you know?
Week 5 (May 25): How Would Jesus Have Us Respond?
What is a Christian?How do you become one? How is life any different?
Martin’s book is good one to read for 3 reasons.