On Sunday 19th December we will be having our annual ‘Thanksgiving Sunday’. For those who are new, this is a very different style of service where we have an opportunity to share how the Lord has been at work in our lives over the past year.

It is a chance for us to look back on all the evidences of God’s grace in our lives during 2021! 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 it works:

Instead of a sermon there is an open mic time for 40-45 minutes.

Please come up ready to share some ways in which God has been working in you, your life, and your family.

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 share about big things or small things. Grand things or seemingly mundane things. You can share life events (babies, marriage, work) or how you’ve grown in your heart (learning new things, putting sin to death) etc. You can share about mission or mercy, or how this church or particular people have been a means of grace to you.

The key is to testify to God’s grace and goodness and to give glory to Him!

Aim for about 2-4 minutes, it can be helpful to write it out so that you don’t forget key people or moments…and so you don’t drag on forever!

Note: it doesn’t need to be an eloquent speech or amazing or inspirational, it can be very ordinary!

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

On Sunday we had our final message from Matthew’s gospel until March next year. We studied Matthew 20:29-34 and had a chance to see Jesus have incredible mercy upon two humble blind men who cried out in dependence for help. Their cry, “Lord, have mercy upon us” is the fundamental cry of all needy believers, make it your cry in your time of need too!

You can listen to the sermon here.

We are excited to be gathering together to worship Christ our Saviour as the King of Christmas! Come and bring as many people as possible for our Family Carol Service at 5pm!

Invite friends via the FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/430919108528169/

On Sunday we looked at Matthew 20.17-28 and saw how Jesus reorders our worldly ambitions into a worthy ambition for true greatness!

You can listen to the sermon here.

You can read ‘Rescuing Ambition’ here.

On Sunday 19th December we will be having our annual ‘Thanksgiving Sunday’. For those who are new, this is a very different style of service where we have an opportunity to share how the Lord has been at work in our lives over the past year.

It is a chance for us to look back on all the evidences of God’s grace in our lives during 2021! 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 it works:

Instead of a sermon there is an open mic time for 40-45 minutes.

Please come up ready to share some ways in which God has been working in you, your life, and your family.

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 share about big things or small things. Grand things or seemingly mundane things. You can share life events (babies, marriage, work) or how you’ve grown in your heart (learning new things, putting sin to death) etc. You can share about mission or mercy, or how this church or particular people have been a means of grace to you.

The key is to testify to God’s grace and goodness and to give glory to Him!

Aim for about 2-4 minutes, it can be helpful to write it out so that you don’t forget key people or moments…and so you don’t drag on forever!

Note: it doesn’t need to be an eloquent speech or amazing or inspirational, it can be very ordinary!

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Your LG leaders will let you know all the details!

We are back with Life Groups this week! Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for your Zoom meeting!

From Josh Pannell, Dean of the SG Pastors College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia…

As many of you know, Ethiopia has been experiencing a civil war for over a year. In the past four weeks the rebels have made significant progress towards Addis Ababa, the city we now call home. Their intentions are clear and violent, and we’re hearing that some forces have reached Debre Sina, about 120 miles away from Addis. In response, the US Embassy began regularly urging us to evacuate. Our Pastors College was already scheduled to have a break from November 6-22, and I was planning on taking that time to travel to Orlando for the Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference to present a report on our church and pastors college. After praying and talking with our pastors, I decided to still go to the conference and to purchase airline tickets for Sabrina and the kids while there were still international flights available.

We had return tickets purchased for November 20th; however, as the civil war continued to get worse, we canceled the return flight for Sabrina and the kids and planned for me to go back to Ethiopia alone until the situation cleared. Unfortunately, I heard from the Ethiopian Immigration office last Thursday that they are temporarily suspending entrance to the country for standard entry visas, and I am unable to return to Ethiopia as planned. These changes in visa requirements appear to be due to the rising conflict. We have living accommodations set up near family in South Carolina where we plan to spend the holidays. Our prayer is that we can get back into Ethiopia on January 8th.

Michael Granger, our pastor at Trinity Fellowship, is still in Addis Ababa, and he plans to stay. The church is continuing to meet every Sunday, and God is working through Michael’s faithful preaching and pastoral care. We’re also happy to say that the Trinity Fellowship Pastors College will continue online. I will be using this time to teach classes over Zoom and help future professors put their classes online. The students are already adjusting to the new online learning environment, and they are eager to continue their studies. We’re praying that the Lord would allow in-person classes to resume in January.

We are deeply saddened by these developments, but we have confidence in the Lord who reigns sovereignly over every detail of our lives. We’ve especially found Psalm 46 to be a comfort:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea ... Come, behold the works of the Lord, He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

God is doing so much in Ethiopia through Trinity Fellowship and the Trinity Fellowship Pastors College. Pray that he preserves what he started, and please join us in trusting that he will. We love the city, our church, and our friends, and we deeply anticipate the day we can go home again.

I am very excited to announce to you that in 2022, after a lot of planning and hardwork, we are launching a 'Pastors & Planters Academy' to teach men how to build their lives, families and churches upon the gospel of Jesus Christ here in Australia so that we can reach more people and plant more enduring churches.

To learn more, please head to: https://anz.sovereigngrace.com/academy

Incredibly, even before getting the word out too much about this, we not only have Richard Song (Parramatta) and Andrew Leung (Wahroonga) signed up for 2022, but two other men from SG Wahroonga have also expressed an interest and applied.

If you or anyone else you know might be interested, then please check out the link above. We are very excited about the road ahead in this regard, and are looking forward to launching the Academy!!

We are excited to be gathering together to worship Christ our Saviour as the King of Christmas! Come and bring as many people as possible for our Family Carol Service at 5pm!