Ahoy Church,
I hope you can take a moment today to prepare yourself for Easter! We will gather on Sunday in the park to celebrate Jesus on Sunday, especially through communion! On Sunday we had a wonderful lot of sharing and reflection on Jesus, especially as we led up to Easter. I’d encourage you to keep listening to what God is speaking to you this week, especially in the gospel of Matthew.
Finally, on Sunday we shared were more changes within our church family. Bill and Bek sharing their news about relocating to Adelaide! It’s an exciting new step for them as a couple. Paul Lanham shared that due to family commitments their travel is going to continue indefinitely and won’t be able to continue his key role as an Elder. We’re grateful to Paul and Sheryl for their participation, support and guidance over the last 18mths!
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Two Sundays ago at our monthly worship night we prayed as a church about how God would call us to be generous to those around us. As I prayed with you all and listened to others share, God gave me a gentle “rebuke”.
Much of what was said centred around our generosity to be more than just money, but our hearts.
I agree with this, but to avoid stockpiling wealth for Open Road's benefit, I’ve been focused on our church's monetary generosity to those in need. At our last worship gathering we were able to share the many thousands of dollars we've been able to give to those in need within our church and local community.
However, as we prayed and shared on Sunday I felt nudged by God to ensure we are primarily focused on our own hearts to learn to look for opportunities to meet the needs of those around us.
While the very first Christians ensured they would each “remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10), the money itself wasn’t the point, but an outcome or fruit of them all being, “of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32). At the heart of it all is your and my heart.
This generosity of heart within Jesus followers is a fulfilment of Proverbs 22:9,
“Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.”
The idea is that rather than having an eye that seeks to accumulate for ourselves, we have an eye that seeks to give to others. Unless our hearts are generous and our eyes are looking to give, then we aren’t being generous in the Christian sense - no matter our bank balance.
While as a church we have practical financial needs to be met (wages, resources, websites, SMS’s, giving etc), our primary goal is that we encourage each other to grow hearts and eyes that consistently look to give to others.
This sense that God was leading us to prioritise a "hearts first" strategy has been confirmed in the last week. I’ve spoken to multiple people this week within whom God is developing a “bountiful [generous] eye”.
- One felt God call them to give their car away.
- One noticed someone in the community desperately needed a car. Need met!
- One noticed a local Christian leader needed some support. Need met!
- One noticed a young couple outside our church needing help with the costs of their simple wedding. Needs to be met!
This is the heart of generosity, the desire to, "remember the poor", that I now hope to focus myself, and our church family on in the years to come. While money is commonly involved, it’s only ever an overflow of our generous hearts and the result of God's Spirit developing “generous eyes" within us.
When you think about it, this is simply us all choosing to become like Jesus by following his example, his teaching and the nudges from His Spirit - God's Holy Spirit.
Cheers, God Bless and see you on Easter Sunday at 4pm!
Dan
P.S. For those who can’t come Sunday arvo, there is a combined service at Shelly Beach from 6am (see below).
Families Following Jesus - Sally Contessi's New Podcast
Check out Sally's new podcast for Families Following Jesus! For those who don't know, Sally has a key role in our Queensland Baptist group of churches.
Easter Sunday Dawn Service - 6am @ Shelly Beach
For those who are keen, there is a combined church's dawn service at Shelly Beach again. Head towards the main picnic area on Victoria Terrace, Shelly Beach.
What we get wrong about Heaven
Heaven is something we often think about, but rarely teach or talk about in church! This doesn't make sense. Here is a short, big-ticket reflection on the best part of our future - life with Jesus in Heaven.
Most of us, including me (!), have faulty/fabricated ideas about heaven.
Coming Up
April
Sun 20 - 4pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
Sun 27 - 4pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
May
Fri 02 - 6am Men's Prayer @ Dicky Beach
Sun 04 - 4pm Monthly Celebration @ City Life led by Jared
Fri 09 - 6am Men's Prayer @ Dicky Beach
Sun 11 - 4pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
Fri 16 - 6am Men's Prayer @ Dicky Beach
Sat 17 - 430pm Bonfire, Blokes + Bible @ Maleny
Sun 18 - 4pm Beach Gathering at Moffats + Baptisms
Fri 22 - 6am Men's Prayer @ Dicky Beach
Sun 25 - 4pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
June - NEW Sunday time, from 3pm
Sun 01 - 3pm Monthly Celebration @ City Life led by John + Bec
Fri 06 - 6am Men's Prayer @ Dicky Beach
Sun 08 - 3pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
Fri 13 - 6am Men's Prayer @ Dicky Beach
Sun 15 - 3pm Beach Gathering at Moffats + Baptisms
Fri 20 - 6am Men's Prayer @ Dicky Beach
Sun 22 - 3pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
Wed 25 - 545pm Deacons
Fri 27 - 6am Men's Prayer @ Dicky Beach
Sun 29 - 3pm Beach Gathering at Moffats
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: $10,856
Last month's expenses: $18,203
Balance: $81,835
Giving Kitty Balance: $5,000
Giving Out (Oct '23-Mar '25): $12,886
"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.
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