Dear Church!

Hope you had a worshipful Christmas! Just wanted to let you know in advance that on January 3rd we will be having a “Thanksgiving Service”. 

For those who are new, this is a very different style of service!

It is a chance for us to look back on all the evidences of God’s grace in our lives during 2020! Yes, we can and ought to give thanks for 2020! As Paul says,

 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thess. 5:16-18)

The way the service will work is that instead of a sermon there will be an open microphone. You can come down the front and share for 2-5 minutes (not 15 minutes like Richard Song last year! haha!) how God met you with his grace in 2020.

For example, you can share challenges, triumphs, growth in yourself, growth in others, appreciation for people in your life, lessons you’ve learned etc. 

You can watch SG Sydney’s video from last year to get an idea, skip about 45 minutes in and watch some people share: https://www.facebook.com/261743673845700/videos/300756474187152

Please come ready to share! It will be great to hear many different voices and stories, and if you don’t share, you’ll likely be kicking yourself after the service!

It gives us a tangible time to fulfill a major requirement of Christian living, that of Thanksgiving.

 Psalm 75:1   We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.”

I am very much looking forward to this time! See you then!

Well isn’t it great that we planned an ONLINE Christmas Eve Service!?

This year Sovereign Grace Churches Australia is holding an online Christmas extravaganza and we’d love for you to join us!

There’ll be live performances from our Churches in Wahroonga and Parramatta, a message for the kids, some surprise home visits from our Christmas elves and of course… Christmas Carols!!

Feel free to invite on over your friends and family and join us online as we celebrate together!!

Thursday 24th of December, 5pm-6pm.

To join, simply click the following zoom link… See you there!!

Hey Church,

What a big year it has been with so many changes and changes to the changes! We are going to have our normal Sunday service on Christmas Eve. That means on Sunday 27th, you are free to visit our sending church, SG Sydney, note: it will be their thanksgiving service (www.sovgrace.org.au) or perhaps you can visit another church in Parramatta! Have a great Christmas and see you on the 3rd of January for our Thanksgiving Service!

Hey Church!

In case you missed it here is the link to the mission video we made!

https://vimeo.com/490477741

Wow! What an incredible service we had on Sunday! I was so encouraged by the opportunity to worship our King and invite a full house of friends and family to join with us. I loved seeing how everyone stepped in to serve.

A big thank you to the events team for all they did with the planning, creative, hospitality, set up and pack down! If you are wondering, “How do I joint the events team?”, wonder no more! Contact Richard Song and he will help you join in. We are in need of some extra members because three of our most key members are all having babies in 2021, so please do join!

Thank you to the band led by Henry for the truly phenomenal job you guys did. You really did such a great job of complementing the powerful lyrics with great arrangements that both communicated holy reverence and joy! Well done!

Thank you Abi and the SG Kids leaders who helped make the awesome kids dance/song go so well!

Thank you Shinoo for organising some promotions and outreach. We are hoping to do more and more of this next year!

Let’s enjoy our Saviour this Christmas!

Dear Church,

As a church we are not on our own, we are a part of our much bigger story! Please watch this video from Pastor Dave Taylor wearing his hat as the Director of Emerging Nations. In this 10 minute long video you will hear about all the work God got done across many nations even through COVID!

Watch it here: https://vimeo.com/493200357

From Shinoo:

Hey gang. Just another reminder that this Saturday we’ll be doing walk up in parra and inviting people to this weeks Christmas service.

Date : 19th Saturday

Time : 11am

Location : Doyle Park

Let me know if you’ll be there :) also open to any ideas in handing out invitations with a small gift (like a cookie or candy cane?)

whatsapp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/InpTBe7aDu8Gy4sw3SKLLZ

I am so looking forward to our Christmas service this year!

This Sunday 20th December @ Tara, 10am!

For all our members, please come ready to welcome, serve and worship. Richard Song will be leading the events team and may call upon you to help if need be.

As always, it is a great opportunity to invite your friends and family! There will be carols, kids song, a covid-safe picnic, and…JUMPING CASTLE!

You can invite friends via FB here: https://www.facebook.com/events/237478331052962

Hey Church,

Sovereign Grace Churches have put out a mission video featuring…well…you! It was a joy to put the video together and to tell our story.

read the full blog post here:

https://anz.sovereigngrace.com/blog/parramatta-mission-video

and watch the awesome video here:

You can share this video with friends, family, and anyone looking for a new church home, or anyone looking to plant a church with us!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/490477741?fbclid=IwAR0gxqXumgatbVlqZqc7OHgG_mzPpIGgJY4_7KPbBSQHFqjOat2_KUA39q4

Hey Church!

This week we are changing from being outside to being inside (sorry kids) AND we are still allowed to sing! As always we have been following the regulations from our State and Federal Governments. And so let me outline the new guidelines on singing below:

“NSW Health strongly recommends that audience members and congregants older than 12 years old wear face masks if singing or chanting.”

* read more here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/what-you-can-and-cant-do-under-rules/changes#singing-and-music-performances-and-outdoor-activities

This means that mask wearing is strongly recommended to prevent the spread of COVID but is not mandatory. Therefore, we will not be requiring you to wear a mask in order to sing but will instead leave it up to you to decide.

You are free to wear or not wear a mask based on your personal health needs, conscience, and preference. If you are uncomfortable singing inside the hall, we will open up the side/back doors to allow you to participate from the outside.

We will have a small number of masks available for visitors who are caught unawares, but if you are a member, we ask that if you’d like to wear a mask that you’d BYO.

I hope this helps and makes sense. If you have any concerns or issues, please let me know!

Some updated notes for this week:

1. Our service will be 10am, so please come from 9:30am.

2. Our service will be at Tara Junior School Hall NOT JBrewers Cafe.

3. Park ONLY in the bottom car park, the other church needs the other car park that is accessed from the turning circle.

4. Please check in with the QR Code that will be out the front (it should work this week!)

5. Please enter the hall on the LEFT hand doors and exit on the RIGHT hand doors, this will help to ensure we avoid congestion.

6. Please physical distance at all times, that means: in the line for the coffee, whilst talking etc.

7. Come ready to sing! we have been passive participants since our last service on March 15, so prepare your heart, warm up your vocal chords and fall in line with the Psalmist:

   Psa. 95:1    Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;

   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

   2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

   let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

8. Kids will be outside again. They will be down in the bottom courtyard if the weather is good, if not they will up outside the main hall.

9. Invite someone! this is true every week but a change is always a good opportunity to invite again!

Can’t wait to see you all!