Sunday services – 20th May 2012
The traditional gathering think a little about the ascension, and the disciples’ reactions. Not this time sorrow, but worship, joy, giving thanks, blessing God.
The evening gathering concludes its look at the end times with an overview of the book of Revelation. We will be thinking about themes of transcendence, standing up to the dominant powers and, above all, hope. (It would be helpful if you read it before church!)
Church Picnic – Saturday 19th May
You remember Sunday School picnics? Well this is a bit like that, only everyone is welcome. We’ll be sharing a picnic lunch at Stuart Park from noon on Saturday 19th. We may even play some games! (Oh yes, you do have to bring some food to eat and/or share)
Simply Sharing Meal
Was held last Friday night – Good conversation and food, and the chance to raise some money for flood affected people in Fiji. (we raised $140 dollars, but more donations are always welcome)
Sunday services – 6th May 2012
The traditional gathering continues to look at the life of the very early church. This week we think about the missionary impulse of God being love, and we’ll read the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8. We’ll be celebrating communion at this gathering.
The evening gathering looks at (wait for it!) Intertestamental Pseudopigraphal Apocalpyses. And I may even have spelled the words correctly! We’ll be thinking about movies and books that portray a view of the future that motivates us to act to prevent that Dystopian vision. We’ll be using a clip from GATTACA.
Evening Gatherings – April / May 2012
Apocalypse Now!
Over the next few weeks we’ll be thinking about Apocalyptic and the Bible, The End Times and other such related areas… We’ll be using contemporary depictions in movies, pictures and songs.
Sunday 22nd April – The Day of the Lord
This is a common theme in late OT prophecy and in the NT. We’ll start by looking at contemporary depictions of the end of the world in movies, and will start off with (obviously enough!) 2012!
Sunday 29th April – Heaven (Community Meal)
There are few descriptions of what happens after… but in Isaiah 25:6-9 there is a depiction of a great feast. So we’ll be worshipping at the St Columba Centre with a community meal. Please bring along some food to share, and we’ll celebrate communion.
Sunday 6th May – Apocalyptic Literature
There are other ‘apocalyptic’ works in existence, a few little pieces in the bible, but most of them are between the Testaments. The books of Enoch and various Apocalypses attributed to OT figures were all written 2000 years ago. We’ll have a look at the strangeness, because if we are to any hope with Revelation we need to know what went before
Sunday 13th May – Symbolism
There are some people who claim to treat the Bible as literal, including the Book of Revelation. This seems incredible and is not backed up by their interpretations. They do not believe in a literal beast with ten heads, rather they believe that it refers symbolically to something else. So we’ll look at the use of symbols.
Sunday 20th May – Revelation
We finish this series by having a quick look at the Book of Revelation itself – what does it say and why is it helpful to day.
Sunday Services
We have two services each Sunday. We have a traditional gathering at 9.15am, which has a sermon and a variety of music. There is a usually a children’s talk. The service is followed by morning tea. The evening gathering starts at 6.30pm, and is focussed on young families. It is quite a noisy service! There is usually a children’s activity for those between aged 4 up to year 6.
Redevelopment News
Church Council held an extraordinary meeting on Monday night to discuss the Fisher Street Development. This was a very positive meeting with a determination to move forward. Whilst the outcomes may not be to everyone’s liking, we believe we are moving forward by the leading of the Spirit in a responsible way.
So what were the outcomes from the meeting? read more » »
