Growth Groups are back on for the guys! Speak to your LG leader for details as to where you’ll be meeting!
This text in Matthew 5:17-20 is arguably one of the hardest in the whole bible! Because it brings together the very complex problem of how do we relate the OT to the NT, the old covenant and the new covenant, the Law and the Gospel! You can listen to my meagre attempt at preaching it here!
I was going to finish by reading Romans 10:1-10, as it is a great summary of the whole message. Read it here:
Rom. 10:1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Rom. 10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
We had a great time at the Dream Day discussing potential ideas and thoughts for what SG Parra could/should be in the next 5 years! It was a joy to see the enthusiasm and heart that everyone brought! Let’s be praying for our church and be ready to play our part! A big thankyou to the Songs for hosting and Richard for running our strategy time.
There was a LOT more than just this one picture but I thought I’d give you a taster!
If you have any ideas as you pray and think, please feel free to share them!
Brendan brought a challenging and inspiring message that we are the salt of the earth (a distinctive and preserving presence) and we are the light of the world (shining the goodness of Jesus), listen to it here!
Let’s not be “shy Trump supporters” but wise ambassadors for King Jesus!
“The glory of the gospel is that when the Church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first.”
D. Martyn Lloyd–Jones
We are back with Life Groups this week! Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need!
Every year we have the glorious opportunity of being reminded of the advent of Jesus Christ, his incarnation as a human, and it makes us long for the second Advent, when he will appear again!
In order to help you i have ordered four different Advent Devotionals so that the craziness of the Christmas season doesn’t skip you by! $10 each. You can buy them at church this week.
Next week I will be away with Pastor Dave Taylor for a joint planning and vision retreat. We both wanted to get some time to pray, think, and plan for the future of our two churches and our region, and so we thought…”why not do it together?!” We will be heading to the Central Coast for two nights. Please pray for our time together (and apart) that God would meet us, lead us, and inspire us!
We have the joy of welcoming Pastor Brendan from our sending church www.sovgrace.org.au to preach for us this week. Originally, I booked Brendan in because I am preaching at Wahroonga and they had 3 services but due to changes in COVID restrictions they now are able to fit everyone into two services. I will still be at church BUT I thought, why not have Brendan come in anyway to bless us! Get excited!
We have now started the most famous sermon ever preached, Jesus’ sermon on the mount! Jump into our first message on Matthew 5:1-12 here! It is such a counter-cultural message and it is going to challenge us each week but I am feeling a fresh faith to be challenged by Jesus and a desire to grow to be more like him!
We also welcome three new members into our little flock: Marcus and Baree Tripodi (Spring LG) and Betty Daniel (Burnett LG) Please make them feel warmly welcomed!
Your LG leaders will let you know all the details!