Sunday September 29th - 8.30am

The festival of St Michael and All Angels falls on this Sunday and so gives us an opportunity to reflect on who the angels are, what God's intentions are for them, and how blessed we are by a God who not only defeats the devil through the blood of His one and only Son, but who continues to look out for us through His angels as the devil and his minions try to take us out in their death throes.

There is so much confusion about who and what angels are that this is a great opportunity to reflect on the biblical picture. There'll be no bare bottomed cherubs, or stately older ladies with deep voices, or fairy like creatures featuring in our service on Sunday! And by the way, humans DO NOT become angels when they die, and angels do not become human - they were created by God as His heavenly messengers and the protectors of His people.

Come along and hear more (and for those who've got the time, please read this excellent brochure on what the bible says about angels...... All about....Angels

Here are the readings:
Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3 Michael and the guardian angels
Revelation 12:7-12 Michael and his angels fight the dragon
Luke 10:17-20 Jesus foresees the fall of Satan

See you in worship!
Pastor Matt

Sunday 22nd September - 8.30am

Service begins at 8.30am this week and will include a farewell to Daniel, Tina and Jordan Benjamin who have been a great blessing to us over the past 18 months. The Benjamins are returning to Melbourne next week and will be greatly missed by us all - but as I was reminded by my godson this past week, we are never that far apart when we are communing together on the holy body and blood of our Lord Jesus.

I'm going to be tackling a difficult parable this week - Luke 16:1-13 but don't expect to hear the final word on the entire parable. I am going to focus on verse 8 where Jesus says, "“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light."

With the end in sight, the manager in our parable does everything he is able to do in order to ensure he will survive after the judgement of his master comes crashing down on him. The question is, do we live in the same way and with equal shrewdness knowing that Jesus as assured us that the end is coming?

Here are the rest of the readings for your preparation:
Amos 8:4-7 Against swindlers and exploiters
1 Timothy 2:1-7 The church is to pray for all people
Luke 16:1-13 The parable of the shrewd manager

God's peace,
Pastor Matt

15th September - 11am

After quite a few weeks of 8.30am services, we're back to 11am this week!

The parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin are in focus this week and if we can get past a superficial reading of them, we'll soon realise just how radical Jesus words were to the Pharisees who were caught up in self-righteousness.

Who on earth would leave behind 99 sheep in dangerous territory to seek out that one ratbag sheep who keeps wandering off? Who loves each lamb so much that He will risk all for the sake of even one?

The answer of course is that no earthly shepherd would do such a thing - but the Good Shepherd has and does just that for you and me! He seeks out and saves, He never gives up, and He has you and me in His sights! Not because we've got our act together or look respectable, but because of His great love.

Here are the readings:
Exodus 32:7-14 Moses pleads for the people and the Lord relents
1 Timothy 1:12-17 Gratitude for God's mercy
Luke 15:1-10 The lost sheep and the lost coin

See you in worship.
Pastor Matt

Service this week begins at 8.30am.

This week's gospel reading sounds harsh to our modern ears - Jesus calls us to hate our families, to pick up our cross and to leave behind all our possessions in order to follow Him. This text reminds me very quickly of how poorly I do in the discipleship stakes and how costly my discipleship was FOR JESUS - who forsaking his earthly family, left behind all earthly power and possessions, picked up His cross and died for you and me!

Don't just settle for a skim reading of this text - meditate on it long and hard that Jesus' words may convict you of how you fail to follow in the way He calls us all to follow. But then let His words free you with His faithfulness so that you can be certain of your discipleship because He has secured your forgiveness and salvation.

Here are the 3 readings for your preparation.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 A choice between life and death
Philemon 1-21 A personal appeal to Philemon
Luke 14:25-33 The cost of being a disciple

See you at 8.30am
Pastor Matt