We have much to be thankful for as a church - especially such a young one! Before we go further, here are two people I'm thankful God has placed with us!
On Sunday, we shared our book of the Bible for this month, 1 John (see below for an intro from the Bible Project). Behind the scenes, Bek Knust has been creating these for quite some time! I wanted to say a big thank you to Bek for sharing her skills and joy with our church.
Secondly, at last Sunday's worship gathering Ben Kilah led us on his Kahone box drum with such gusto that his hands were BLEEDING by the end of our last song! Please excuse the cheap pastoral humour, but that was an actual sacrifice of praise! Thanks again, to Ben, for sharing his passion and hands to lead alongside Jared and Ang.
AGM, Elders + Answered Prayer
One of the four key areas we've been praying for throughout 2023 includes Elders (some churches call it a board or executive. While God has always worked through individuals, the very first Christian churches were led by God to appoint elders to take spiritual responsibility for each local church.
While many of our modern churches have a pastor as their main spiritual and visionary leader, the earliest and most basic model includes a shared model of leadership.
Our LT (Leadership Team) has been happily leading together until we felt God lead us to a group of at least three people who could form our first eldership team. Aside from myself, two others have been prayerfully approached and agreed to become elders at Open Road.
Our LT is excited to recommend Paul Lanham and Dan Hill to come alongside me as elders. Many at Open Road have known Paul and Dan for some time. For those who have not known them, they are both committed to Open Road and well-qualified to spiritually lead our church into its next season. While not necessary to be an elder, both have experience leading churches in pastoral roles.
On Sunday, December 3rd we will have our very first AGM after our worship gathering. At this meeting, we will be inviting all our members (please consider becoming a member!) to provide a vote of affirmation to accept the recommendation of Dan, Paul and myself as elders.
An important part of this process is to have time to chat with Dan, Paul or myself (or anyone else on our LT) about this process and why we've recommended them. I hope that we not only receive a strong affirmation of the new team but that as a church we are willing to support and encourage them in their willingness to prayerfully lead us in the years to come.
Given most of us know each other, it's quite a simple decision. However, in the scheme of what we sense God calling us to, it's nonetheless a significant decision.
Providing this moves ahead, the next step of "growing up" as a church will be forming a small number of teams/committees early in 2024. The goal is that we patiently and purposefully empower each other to minister God's love to each other and those around us.
This is not just healthy and exciting, but necessary to "spread the load" around :)
Finally, thank you for praying with us all year that God would meet our needs. He is always faithful.
Any questions...REPLY and ask me :)
Dan
0402 301 568
November's Bible Book: 1 John
Coming Up
November
Sun 12 Nov 4pm Moffat Gathering
Sun 19 Nov 4pm Moffat Gathering + Baptisms Anyone?
Sun 26 Nov 4pm Moffat Gathering
December
Sun 03 Dec 4pm Worship @ City Life + our first AGM afterwards!
Sun 10 Dec 4pm Moffat Gathering
Sun 17 Dec 4pm Moffat + Baptisms Anyone?
Sun 24 Dec 4pm Moffat Gathering
Mon 25 Dec 9am Christmas in the Park - Simple Celebration at Moffs
Sun 31 Dec 4pm Moffat Gathering
Our Mission
To help people find and follow Jesus
Our Rhythms
Know Jesus: how are you getting to know Jesus this week?
Invite people into your life: who can you bless this week?
Gather and get involved: How can you connect, listen, share or pray with others this week?
Our Giving
If there is someone in need around you we'd encourage you to team up with another Christian friend and ask God to show you how to meet their need directly. You can also get started with giving to Open Road to meet needs as a church or get in touch with any questions you may have.
Last month's giving: $9,003
Last month's expenses: $8,338
Balance: $22,327
"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." - Proverbs 19:17
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