"Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men".
- Jesus
It was great to gather in the rain under the shelter shed and marquees on Sunday! I honestly didn't feel like "church in the rain", but in the end I enjoyed it! I left thinking, "We are a bit of a strange church aren't we?" 😄
A couple of weeks ago we were at a party with some wonderful old friends. Aside from asking how we were going, and, "What does your church do if it rains?", several people asked, "Is your church growing?"
This took me by surprise. Feeling pressure to "grow" Open Road out of our human effort has fallen off our to-do list over the years. For Martine and I, one of the keys to re-imagining "church growth" came out of Sunday's message about Jesus' command to, "Come, follow me".
Jesus' teaching to, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men", contains not just a command, but also a promise. In our enthusiasm to see others come to know Jesus we tend to fast-forward past the command ("follow me") and straight to Jesus' promise ("I'll make you fishers of men").
However, Jesus says that our critical step is to follow him first and that if we do, he promises to teach us how to fish.
As a church, just like we did on Sunday, our "growth strategy" is to focus on encouraging each other to follow Jesus out of a deep love for him. Our strong expectation is that as we do this Jesus will fulfil his promise to teach us how to foster faith in those around us.
This simple but challenging task is otherwise known as the job of making disciples, and comes from Jesus' last words to those who would, just like us, take on his mission to the world.
"Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you."
Matthew 28:18-19
When people find Jesus, we help them to follow. Jesus fulfils his promise to make them into "fishers of men" and then help new believers to follow Jesus themselves...[repeat].
Since it all starts with following Jesus, I want to finish as we did on Sunday by asking you, "How is Jesus inviting you to follow him this Easter?"
I encourage you to take your hands off your screen or keyboard and ask this question as a prayer. wait for, and cherish, whatever response you receive from God.
Cheers and God Bless,
Dan
P.S. See below for details on the combined church's Easter Sunday Sunrise Service!
Easter Sunday Sunrise Service: 6am @ Shelly Beach
Each Easter the local churches host a combined churches Sunrise Service. With so many of our locals away (including Martine and I at an Easter Convention at Mt Tambourine), this Easter the Sunrise Service is our only gathering.
The Easter Sunday service is always a wonderful time to gather with other Christians from all the smaller churches around Caloundra to celebrate Jesus. Representatives from each church take part of the service and you have amazing ocean-views for your start to Easter Sunday!
Easter Evangelism with Brendan's new ministry, Waylighters
As Brendan shared on Sunday, he has felt called to faithfully share the good news of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ throughout the Sunshine Coast area and beyond.
His Waylighters ministry is inviting you to join their evangelism team for a special event focused on sharing the good news of Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension with our community. We desire to proclaim the triumph of Jesus over sin and death and what that means for all people, everywhere today. Easter is a wonderful opportunity for us to reach out to our community and share the blessed hope and love we have in Christ.
Good Friday: Happy Valley, 12pm to 2pm
Easter Sunday: Arthur Parkyn Park (Mooloolaba), 1pm to 3pm
Each Walk-Up Evanglism event will run for around two hours and we will provide all the resources and support needed. Our aim is to prayerfully plan, guide, and mentor each other in the Word of God equipping us to be able to speak the truth in love so that unbelievers can experience the life-transforming power of Christ.
Contact: Brendan Boniface
0415 133 840, mail@waylighters.org
Placing "Everything At Your Feet" this Easter
Thanks to Jesse for recommending this song, especially at Easter!
Coming Up
Fri 29 Mar NO Good Friday Service
Sun 31 Mar Easter Sun - 6am Shelly Beach Dawn Service
April
Sun 07 Apr 4pm Moffat Gathering
Sun 14 Apr 4pm Worship Gathering: 209 Burgum Rd, North Maleny
Sun 21 Apr 4pm Moffat Gathering
Sun 28 Apr 4pm Moffat Gathering - Baptisms anyone?
May
Sun 05 May 4pm Moffat Gathering (no worship event due to long weekend)
Sun 12 May 4pm Moffat Gathering
Sun 19 May 4pm Moffat Gathering - get baptised!
Sun 26 May 4pm Moffat Gathering
June
Sun 02 June 4pm Worship Gathering TBC
Sun 09 June 4pm Moffat Gathering
Sun 16 June 4pm Moffat Gathering - Jersey's baptism! Keen to join?
Sun 23 June 4pm Moffat Gathering
Sun 30 June 4pm Moffat Gathering
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: $10,238
Last month's expenses: $6,787
Balance: $37,099
Giving Kitty Oct-Feb: $5,000
Giving out Oct-Feb: $1,190
"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 with giving to Open Road to meet needs as a church or get in touch with any questions you may have.
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