Hi church family

Many of us spend hours of our day fretting and worrying about the future. The irony is that this ‘mindset’ robs us of joy and energy for the present. We sometimes loose out on the blessing of ‘today’ because we are too busy stressing about future problems and challenges. Jesus saw this very thing in the lives of people when He said;

“Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matt 6:34

How then should we live? The verse just before Jesus encourages us; “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” He also encourages us by saying “your heavenly Father knows what you need.” May we all be in the moment. Let’s give ourselves fully to today and reap the blessings contained in the now.” This reminds me of the Latin word ‘Carpe Diem.’
‘Seize the Day!’

Last week I wrote about the importance of making meaningful connections with each other as a church family. One such area where folks are hungry for more connections is our Young Adults. Recently Cecile and I counselled such a young adult. We asked this young person “do you have friends at church?” The reply was“no.” It broke my heart to think that we have many awesome young folk in church – but they aren’t connecting with one another. And I’m sure we’ll all agree that having Christian friends from your own church is a blessing and necessity in life.

Further on in the Newsletter you see that Alex Thompson has arranged for a ‘get together’ for our Young Adults at Dome this Monday. If you as a Young Adult read this, please make the effort to go along. If you as a parent of young adults are reading this -please strongly encourage them to attend. Let’s make a big effort to help our young folk connect with each other. Carpe Diem.

In closing – remember the Rally for Life this Saturday. We’d love to see you there.

God bless you all.
Pastor Joe

Hi church family.

Can I ask for your prayer support? Not just for me, but for us as a collective people – the whole congregation of Grace Church. Over the past two weeks I’ve had many coffee meetings, friendly conversations and even some counselling sessions with folk. One thing that is becoming clearer to me is that people are seeking meaningful connections (friendship/fellowship/koinonia/Acts 2:42) and we all need to be a part of the solution to this need. Being a “bigger” church has many benefits to it, but a growing challenge is how more people can share in these – God intended – connections.

On a personal level it takes for us as individuals to “walk across the room” on a given Sunday to meet and greet people we don’t know. If I have young children or even young adult children, it means inviting similar families over for coffee / dinner so our children can also make connections with young folk their age. Forming new small groups and inviting people to join them is a huge need in our church. I cannot overstate enough the importance to have christian brothers and sisters who journey with us through life. I was reminded of this recently when we visited Francois Kruger in hospital. (as you probably know Francois is terminally ill with cancer). Despite the challenge of dealing with a deadly decease, both Francois and his wife Lizelle have thankful hearts to the Lord for his goodness. Time and again they would tell me how loving and caring their small group and the church is towards them. Even while we were there visiting a member of their small group popped in to check in on them. We’ve heard so many stories of meals being made and practical support giving in and around their house. So many people from the wider church is showing love and support in very practical ways. And that is what church is all about. Be we can only show love in such a practical way if we are connected with one another. Let’s all be praying about this, and seeing how we can all be a part of the solution. To everyone who is already leading small groups and already making the effort to help connect with people at church, thank you. And may more of us follow your example.

On Sunday 20th May – we will start a 4 part series on the book of Judges. Kids church will be doing a parallel series with us in the main church. We hope that parents and children can have many meaningful conversations about the Bible as you reflect on the Sunday teachings. We will also celebrate Lord’s Supper this Sunday. Let’s take courage and strength from the Lord as we are reminded again we are a part of His Body, so illustrated

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday when we remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all peoples as described in Acts 2. If you can please join me at the special Pentecost service being held for all our Reformed Churches at 4pm this Sunday. Details in the newsletter. through the bread and wine we’ll partake in.

May each one of you experience the grace and favour of God in your lives.

Pastor Joe

Today marks a very special date on the Christian calendar. It’s Ascension day. We read about this remarkable event in Acts 1 where Christ was taken up into heaven – and the disciples watched in awe as it all happened in front of their eyes. As if that wasn’t enough, two angels then appeared and told them to look forward to Christ’ 2nd coming – when He will appear just as He had left – riding on the clouds. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11

This Sunday is Mother’s Day – and we have a special day planned at Grace Church to help us all celebrate our mums/wives. Thanks to Grace Insurance who’ve sponsored a Photo Booth for us. Let’s all use the opportunity to take some fun photos together as couples & families. The church service will also focus on the theme of LIFE as we look at Psalm 139 which speaks of the miracle of life. If YOU are reading this – it means YOU’VE been born – and YOU are a miracle that has been woven together in YOUR mother’s womb. Come find out more about the miracle of life [Y.O.U.] this Sunday.

On Sunday 20th May – we will start a 4 part series on the book of Judges. It’s one of those very intriguing books of the Bible which records the history of Israel at a time when people drifted further and further from God. We can see a similar pattern happening in the Western world today – and can learn lessons from Judges for our own day and times. The 20th May will also be the Sunday when we celebrate Lord’s Supper again.

May each one of you experience the grace and favour of God in your lives.

Pastor Joe

Hi church family. The seasons have changed and we’re all probably sleeping under warmer blankets at night due to the cooler weather. The rainy season is starting and we’ll soon see a greener Perth. May the constant change of seasons remind us that our lives also go through seasons. And no matter how challenging the season is we might find ourselves in now, it’ll change in time as times of refreshing will follow.

This Sunday we kick off a special two part series leading up to Mother’s Day. We’ll look at the joy and frustrations felt by a couple mentioned in 1 Samuel 1. It covers themes such as parenting, marriage, jealousy, childlessness, dashed hopes, providence and faith.This is the kind of stuff we all deal with – whether we are single or married – we can all relate to ‘loving & hating’ – two very real human emotions. Be reminded that on Mother’s day (13th May) we’ve arranged for a photo-booth so families can take some fun pics with their moms/wives. (Thanks to Grace Insurance who has sponsored the photo-booth for us that day).

Tonight we will have Church Council meeting again. Every time we meet together as a council we feel the weight of responsibility God has placed on us as elders to oversee the church and contend for it’s spiritual health. For this reason we decided to undertake again the Natural Church Health Survey (NCD). It randomly selects 30 members from our church database and emails the survey for them to do. The survey measure 8 key areas of health for the local church, showing its strengths and areas of weakness – so one can look at strategies to address them. As a council we are looking forward to seeing and assessing the results, and will be sharing them with the whole church in the near future. “I urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.” Jude v3

God bless you all

Pastor Joe