Get your attitude right for Christmas!

What's your attitude going to be this Christmas?
An interesting question isn't it?
A fairly recent phenomenon is the 'self gift buying'
that seems to be growing each year in our culture.
What's that I hear you ask?
More & more people are buying Christmas presents, not to give others,
but to give themselves!
This selfish attitude is fed by all the adds, & brochures that we are bombarded with at this time of year.
All telling us that we need their stuff, we deserve their stuff,
we can't enjoy Christmas without their stuff!
All of this feeds into a selfish, greedy attitude, which is the exact opposite of the attitude we should have!
The Apostle Paul wrote these words in Philippians chapter 2 verses 4 & 5.
"Each of you should look not only to your own interests
but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:"
A Christ like attitude displays compassion, selflessness, humility & service.
After all, Christmas is all about Christ & His attitude should be displayed to the world
in abundance, especially at this time of year!
So, I ask you again, "What's your attitude going to be this Christmas?"

Tough times.

Are you, or anyone you know, going through a really tough time at the moment?

Do you feel that you are literally ‘wasting away’ under all the pressure?

If you do, take heart from these encouraging words written by the Apostle Paul.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

As Paul reminds us, our troubles are momentary, they will pass!

So fix your eyes on Jesus the Saviour, not on the troubles going on around you.

Trust in Christ to help you through this time in your life, & let Him renew you daily from the inside out!

Remember, He is Lord of all things!

Pastor Steve

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!