Are you good enough?

Suppose that you were to die today and stand before God and he were to say to you, “Why should I let you into my heaven?” what would you say? This famous question by the organisation Evangelism Explosion leads us to think carefully about how it is that we gain acceptance by God. If your answer to … Read more

What we’re not saying about same-sex marriage

Right now, our church is joining with Christians everywhere in trying to stop changes to the definition of marriage. We believe that redefining marriage will cause harm to our society because we believe that God’s framework of relationships is the best for everyone. But even though we don’t welcome the proposed changes to marriage, we’re not saying that we don’t welcome … Read more

We are sorry

It has been 18 years since the first National Sorry Day, which has served to help remember and commemorate the mistreatment of Australia’s Aboriginal people. Yet, even though the Prime Minister publicly apologised in 2008, the hurt amongst Australia’s indigenous people continues to this day. This Reconciliation Week, we are sorry for the ways in which we have contributed … Read more

Is our church too complicated?

In tomorrow’s combined leadership group meeting, we are reviewing the book Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. In writing this book, the authors examined thousands of different churches and concluded that the most vibrant ones were the churches that were the most simple. Yet, when they spoke of simplicity, they weren’t talking about the content or style of Bible talks … Read more

Thirty minutes that changes our life

When people talk about establishing new, healthy patterns in life, they often try to break it down into smaller, achievable chunks. So, to get people more active, they encourage people to walk half an hour a day for three days a week. Every week on Saturday morning at 7.30am, our church gets together for only … Read more

Scripture in Schools under attack

This week the NSW Government ordered school principals to prevent Scripture teachers from using three specific Christian books in the classroom. This unprecedented action comes from strong pressure by a lobby group that seeks to silence any view from schools that does not match the secular, atheistic worldview. We need to teach our classes in a manner that is … Read more

The only way to #keephopealive

In the day before the execution of Bali Nine members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, there was a giant flower arrangement on Sydney Harbour with the three words ‘KEEP HOPE ALIVE.’ Yet within hours, news arrived that these men were not granted the mercy that was longed for. The executed men knew they were guilty of … Read more

Finding real hope

What are you looking forward to? Maybe it’s retirement? Maybe it’s life after exams? Maybe it’s the birth of your child or your grandchild? Maybe it’s your upcoming holidays? You might sometimes feel that there is little for you to look forward to. When this is the case, life can be really tough. As the Russian novelist Dostoyevsky … Read more

Lost and Found

  Last Tuesday, just before noon, Luke Shambrook was spotted by a police helicopter. He had wandered from his campsite on Good Friday and had spend four nights in the bush. While as a parent you would never want to give up hope, with each night passing hope might have dwindled. The relief that Luke’s … Read more