How deep is your love?

September 13th was the beginning of marriage week in Australia,
a time to celebrate the God given gift of marriage.
We need to remember what marriage is, what it's not,
who set it in place, & how we are called to love & live together as wife & husband.
That word "LOVE" seems to mean so many different things to people doesn't it?
I mean, ask 10 different people & you'll probably get 10 different answers!
So we need to go back to God's Word to find a good, practical description of love.
What it is & just as importantly, what it isn't!
1 Corinthians chapter 13 gives us this description.
"Love is patient & kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable,
& it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.
It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, & endues every circumstance.
Love will last forever."
How committed are you to your marriage?
How faithful are you?
How forgiving are you?
How do you express love to your spouse?
Can I encourage you to spend some time reviewing your marriage
& recommitting yourselves to each other!
Listen along to "How deep is your love?"

Jesus is all about life!

Very soon we will see this logo right across NSW, on Churches, Christian schools, book shops, bus stops & billboards.
So what's it all about? Why "Jesus. All about life?"
Jesus said "I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full." (John's gospel, chapter 10 verse 10)
Now that's a big claim isn't it?
Well over the next few weeks we'll investigate this claim to see if it stacks up to scrutiny.
So make sure you stay tuned!

World Vision morning tea

Wednesday 26th saw our Church ladies doing an incredible job of running our annual m/tea to raise funds & awareness of World Visions work among the poor of the world.
Each year they help over 20 million people with short & long term needs, food, water, health & education. So it's great we are able to do something to help them reach out with hands of compassion.
Often when we think about the huge problem of poverty around the world, we come to the conclusion that "it's just too hard!"
But when we get together with a shared passion, a shared vision of what can be, we can & do make a difference!
Well done everybody, we raised over $700 & that will help 90 kids for a whole month!

Steve the bird man!!

Home again after a couple of weeks away travelling up the coast to Coolangatta in Queensland.
Leonie & I got to catch up with some good friends & both my sisters as well!
God blessed us with some great weather as we travelled around checking out some truly beautiful parts of His creation, Diamond Beach, Coffs Harbour, Lake Macquarie, Lamington National Park, Tugan, & Forster.
Got to feed parrots, & rosellas at Lamington, an interesting experience having them landing on your arms, shoulders & head!
Anyway, it was a great time away from home responsibilities for a while!

Hi everyone!
Sorry it's been so long since I updated, but things have been just so busy!
We live in a fast paced world don't we?
Each day seems to bring so many things that can consume our every waking moment & still demand even more of our time!
But, we all need to spend time relaxing, resting our over active minds!
We need to spend time quietly reflecting on our God & His Word, the Bible.
In Psalm 46 verse 10 it says "Be still, and know that I am God."
Thankfully I was able to do that while we were away on hols, but this must continue now we're back!
We must make a conscience decision to set time aside to be still, to relax, to reflect on God's goodness & grace. I pray you'll make whatever changes in your life that you need to to make this possible!

Love one another! part 2 MP3

Love one another as Christ loved you.
These words should resound through the very being of the Christian Church, here in Australia & all around the world!
With all the tragedy, brokenness, violence & relational breakdown that is rappidly increasing in society, there is a great need for people to see true Christian love being lived out in Christ's body, the Church.
Jesus said to his followers these words "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
John chapter 13 verse 35
Just what would happen if each of Christ's Churches started living that way, loving that way?
If each & every Christian loved their brothers & sisters authentically, compassionately, patiently, sacrificially. Don't tell me that the world would not notice. Don't tell me broken people wouldn't find that attractive.
Don't tell me that lives would not be changed, transformed, saved.
What an incredible impact the Church would have if we all followed Jesus' command to "Love one another."
What do you think?

Love one another! MP3

Gidday everyone!
In this weeks message we read about the Apostle John blasting out this message "Love one another!"
I wonder how many times we have heard those words? But hearing & doing are two different things aren't they?
Type "Church conflict' into your search engine & see how many pages come up! (I got 3,620,000!!!)
As Christians we have an obligation to show true genuine love towards our brothers & sister. Even more than that, we are commanded to love each other.
Love that is sacrificial, love that is kind, love that is forgiving, love that's generous. the list goes on.
John list 4 different heart attitudes we can have toward each other.
1. Murder
2. Hate
3. Indifference
4 True Christian love.
So, what's your attitude?