“This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8)
Ahoy Church,
This Christmas I want to encourage you to draw close to God in a new, meaningful way.
While we “close down” for a couple of weeks (see below), there may be great opportunities to honour Jesus during this time of celebration.
Given our Westernised culture still has some memory of Jesus at Christmas, it’s very easy to assume we are celebrating Jesus this holiday season, but in retrospect realise it was simply a busy week of buying, giving, receiving, eating, drinking and catching up with family and friends.
All these traditions are good in and off themselves, but in some ways they can distract our hearts from enjoying the presence of Jesus in a special way.
For myself, Christmas has always been a time of travelling and meeting with relatives - most of whom do not share faith in Jesus in the same way. This means that I, and now Martine, have to be very intentional with how we include Jesus in the season that we say is all about him! :)
In Matthew 15 Jesus takes on some of the traditions of his day. Many of the religious people would parade their participation in tradition as a spiritual badge of honour. However, despite these practices, their hearts were “far from” God.
Jesus doesn’t come down hard on tradition, but rather the attitudes that our traditions make us spiritual. This Christmas I want to encourage you that our Christmas traditions don’t make us “spiritual”. Rather, this Christmas we want to review if our hearts are near or far from God. There’s no command to celebrate Christmas, give expensive gifts or eat your heart out this Christmas.
There is, however, a constant invitation from Jesus to draw close to him.
No matter how big or small your tree, your meals or your gift list is - may you find time to celebrate Jesus and his presence with and in you this holiday season.
Cheers, God Bless and see you Sunday!
P.S. My sister, Esther, is currently home from Iraq for Christmas. On Sunday she will be sharing about how she is serving refugees in the Middle East.
Partnering with Esther
Below is a link to the kind of work Esther is helping coordinate in the Middle East, Partners International. Especially relevant is their work in Syria.
Esther will make time after our gathering to answer questions, tell stories and share how you can partner with the work being done in her part of the world.
Join us reading Luke!
This month we are reading the book of Luke! It’s a wonderful gospel to read leading up till Christmas. I’ll bring some more of the bookmarks on Sunday for those who couldn’t pick them up last weekend. To read online or on your phone, visit www.bible.com
For a good overview of the gospel of Luke, watch the Bible Projects Gospel of Luke Part 1 and Part 2 or their 8-video series on Luke-Acts!
Coming Up
December
Sun 15 Dec 4pm Moffat Gathering - Guest speaker: Esther from Iraq Sun 22 Dec 4pm Moffat Gathering Sun 29 Dec NO GATHERING
January
Sun 05 Jan NO GATHERING Sun 12 Jan 4pm Moffat Gathering Sun 19 Jan 4pm Moffat Gathering Sun 26 Jan 4pm Moffat Gathering
February
Sun 02 Feb Worship Gathering at Maleny
Our Mission
To help people find and follow Jesus.
Our Rhythms
Get to Know Jesus: how are you getting to know Jesus this week?
Invite people into your life: who can you intentionally open up your life to?
Gather and get involved: who can you connect, listen, share or pray with this weekend?
Our Giving
We are slowly being led to needs for our giving kitty! Please take time to ask God if there is someone in need around you whom God wants you/us to help!
Last month's giving: $11,057 Last month's expenses: $11,751 (includes Youth T-shirt purchase of $1,814 which is to be reimbursed)
Balance: $77,329
Giving Kitty Oct 23- Nov 24: $5,000
Giving out Oct 23-Nov 24: $6,286
"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." - Proverbs 19:17
If you would like to support what we are doing and our giving to those in need, you can get started giving to Open Road to meet the needs of our church or get in touch with any questions you may have.
All Prayer Needs!
We are still encouraging each other to start sharing your prayer needs with the church. It’s a practice all Christians have sought to cultivate and one that every single individual and family really needs!
So, please share any needs in your life on the link below so we can pray for and followup with you as time goes by: https://forms.gle/PbQAVjjMLuD4ASmWA
Find more prayer resources and the above prayer link at https://www.openroad.church/prayer/
Good or God
Got a "good story" or a "God story"? Bring it with you on Sunday and share it with others, even with the whole group, if it's brief and encouraging!
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