Dapto Anglican Church

Our lives are becoming weighed down with worries and strangled by busyness. Take a look around the supermarket, particularly the “Express” queue. Everyone looks so serious. Their faces are so long that they could eat corn out of the bottom of a coke bottle.

What is of particular concern is that Christians have caught the disease. Many walk around with a look on their faces like they have been baptized in lemon juice.

A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.
Proverbs 15:13

Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit. It’s a matter of the heart. The Bible says we should rejoice when we come together, we should celebrate when a person becomes a Christian and we should give cheerfully to God’s work. There will be times of great struggle and sorrow but even so at all times remember that we should always glorify God with joyful lives.

For the latest news and events, remember to check the church calendar.

Bulletin 01/10/06 (pdf, 1.80 MB)

The DAC Prayer Focus for October ‘06.

Prayer 10/06 (pdf, 212 KB)

Good News

The Archbishop has appointed Shane Dirks (with Rachel & Levi) to full
time staff members in 2007 at Dapto.

Shane will be establishing our Young Adults ministry which is likely to
go by the name XL.

XL stands for “Christ for life”. Its aim will be to continue and
develop a Christian world view and practice in order to set young adults
up to live for Christ for the rest of their days. This is a vital stage
of Christian development because school is over, and the many voices
(career, money, consumerism, relationships, substance abuse, freedom and
mobility) of the world call for attention and even worship.

Once a month we will have a Saturday social called XLT = “Christ for
life topics” nights, which will include discussion topics that are
relevant to the stage of life young adults are at. Also continued and
expanded involvement in bible study and prayer groups will be
encouraged. Shane & Rachel see their home becoming a place young adults
can gather. We also plan to have a launch night in February and a
weekend away around Easter holiday time, we hope these whet your
appetite!

A key aim will be to build a community identity for young adults in our
church, that they may know that they have one another to spur each other
on. Also as identity as a group is established our young adults may feel
that they are an object of love for the rest of the Church.

Stephen Semenchuk

A little late, but here at last.

Bulletin 24/09/06 (pdf, 760 KB)

A few years ago I attended a time share holiday unit presentation. The operators provided prizes, a sumptuous afternoon tea and a personal guided tour of the resort. At the end they made me an offer they didn’t think I could refuse. When I refused they made me a better offer. They kept improving the package until their “final offer” came with the line, “You must accept this and sign today”. I asked that if I walked away but came back tomorrow morning with the full payment in cash whether the deal would be off? Their reply was that the offer was for today only!

I walked and never went back. I still wonder if they would have turned me away the next day. God’s people of the Old Testament had the opportunity to enter the promised land. It was a one day only offer. They procrastinated and a whole generation wandered the desert for 40 years and missed out on receiving the fulfillment of God’s promises.

Sometimes God gives us great opportunities to minister into people’s lives. Let’s be a people who “SEIZE THE DAY”. Steve Irwin probably expected to be around for many more years but life is fragile. We never know when an opportunity will be someone’s last opportunity to accept Christ before their end.

Stephen Semenchuk

Find out what events are on in the coming week

Bulletin 17/09/06 (pdf, 735 KB)

The consumer mentality of our society has the potential to undermine our values and revalue our relationships. If we assign value to ourselves and others based on the things we buy, then we risk consumerism becoming the framework we interpret everything else with.

We all know people whose identity is constructed by the clothes they wear, the vehicle they drive, the music they listen to on their ipod. There is real danger that we will approach Christianity as a brand not a worldview. We demote Jesus from “LORD” to “label”. Its practice in our life is just one more thing we consume.

Rather than be committed to strong relationships with a church family and seek to be involved personally and financially in its mission, the danger is that Christians will become church shoppers. We will base our membership on what we like rather than what we believe, on what we get rather than what we give. Church is not something we go to, its something we are.

Stephen Semenchuk

The latest news and events

Bulletin 10/09/06 (pdf, 788KB)

Every now and then I encounter some very special people. They are typically undergoing major life struggles and are often in hospital. I visit them with the aim of providing a bit of “Soul Support” and hope they will receive some encouragement. I leave feeling enlivened, empowered and liberated. I then realize that I have again been in the presence of a grateful person.

Grateful people understand that God is the giver of all good things and that we are the recipients. The thankful life is lived in view of the hard things of our existence not in spite of them. It is celebrating God’s love and faithfulness despite circumstances.

Thankfulness in life may start with the basic exercise of saying thank you to God at meals. But we need to move on and thank God for the people who are special to us and the beauty of the world around us. Often our thankfulness then runs dry. We need to learn how to thank God for opportunities to grow, serve, help and even suffer. God is building our character and hope and struggles are just as important as victories.

Psalm 22:3 says‚Ķ “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.”

Today many of us take time to thank God for the influence of our earthly fathers, let us never forget our Heavenly Father.

Stephen Semenchuk