Would you like to hear some good news for a change? Do you know someone else who would like to hear good news for a change?
This Sunday is the start of Advent; the time of preparing for the birth of Christ into our lives and into our world. It is good news for a change! And it is good news for a change – news that brings transformation to us and through us!
Over the next four weeks, in our worship, we are focusing on that transformation – how this good news brings hope and peace and joy and love into our lives, into others’ lives and into our world. We are drawing on some of the resources provided by Crossover, the organisation helping Australian Baptists share Jesus, and there may be someone – a relative, a friend, a neighbour, a colleague – who you would like to invite to come to church with you (there’ll always be room in the overflow so don’t worry about overcrowding!) or to join you at home for a coffee and to listen to all or part of the service on zoom.
Crossover have prepared this helpful video on how to invite people – https://vimeo.com/628185196. In essence Andrew Turner, Crossover Director, encourages us to invite people with warmth, to invite people with clarity and to invite people with gentleness. Jesus wasn’t about manipulation and nagging, he says! And he encourages us to welcome those who are new at church. It may be the most significant worship that we engage in all week, he says, welcoming someone in Jesus’ name.
This Sunday, 28th November, we start with Hope for a Change.
Next Sunday, 5th December, Jeanette will be preaching on Peace for a Change.
The following Sunday, 12th December, the choir and Rebecca Hilton will lead us in reflecting on Joy for a Change.
On the 19th December, our theme is Love for a Change, and we will be gathering in Telopea Park that evening for Carols.
After another challenging year, this is a wonderful time to gather with family and friends and share good news for a change!
Stay after church this Sunday, too, for morning tea and our AGM and Quarterly Church Meeting. This will be a significant meeting as we appoint new deacons, make important decisions for our church and celebrate what has happened during this year. (It still looks like cardigan/jacket weather, but if the forecast is correct you might not need your umbrellas!)
Grace and peace – and a warm invitation from me to join us for worship over the Advent season!
Belinda