Dapto Anglican Church

How do you think your next door neighbour would complete this sentence; “I like your church being in our community because”.

As we live out Jesus; command to love our neighbour, those around us will notice our good works. When this happens we build good will throughout the community. Already our children and youth ministries are attracting high levels of community praise.

Such “good will” provides a wonderful basis to communicate the gospel. The good news of JESUS is the logical answer to the question, why? Let;s keep loving our neighbour as ourself and be ready to answer the inevitable questions.

Stephen Semenchuk

Bulletin 25/02/07 (pdf, 3.6 MB)

Dear church family,

Just a note to say please be patient. Today at 12 noon our phones have been cut by contractors working along the footpath. Telstra promises to have them back up and working by Tuesday afternoon at the latest.

I am emailing all those I have emails for and hope that you can pass on the word.

All phone calls are being diverted through Lyndall’s mobile. So maybe a better way to contact us will be by email.

Thanking you,
Hilary

A few years ago I looked after John, a new Christian. We were on Beach Mission at Nelson Bay and he committed his life to Christ very early in the program. Each night he met with us and reported how he was going. When things went bad (i.e. Рhe chose to engage in ungodly practices) he lamented that “The Devil made me do it”.

The heart of this problem is ascribing too much power to the Devil.

As modern Christians we can oscillate between two positions. Many make the mistake of thinking the Devil does not exist and hence we undervalue his influence. But just as dangerously many overestimate the Devil’s power. The Devil is real and is engaged in a spiritual warfare to keep us away from God. He tempts us, and can attack our circumstances. However he does not make our choices for us. Jesus identifies himself in Luke 11 as the strong man who overcomes the Devil in the lives of His followers. We can always resist temptation by calling on Jesus and following Him.

Stephen Semenchuk

Bulletin 18/02/07 (pdf, 3.6 MB)

Over the last 5 years our church family has grown by around 80%. The biggest area of growth has been in the families with school-age children.

More and more people in our community are turning to Dapto Anglican Church for help and spiritual direction. They are our neighbours!

We have much to be thankful to God for. We have much to praise God for. But as He blesses us, our responsibility and joy is to press ahead with our care and gospel proclamation in the community in which He has placed us.

Stephen Semenchuk

Bulletin 11/02/07 (pdf, 2.1 MB)

We find ourselves in a society that is increasingly defining our identity and our relationships by the things we buy.

The philosopher Baudrillard explains, “consumption is a system of meaning”. We assign value to ourselves and others based on the goods we purchase. Our identity is defined by the clothes we wear, the cars we drive and the music we play. Shopping is becoming the number one leisure activity of Australians and the reason why they have built the enormous factory outlet malls on the Gold Coast.

The danger is that we approach Jesus as consumers. Instead of seeing our faith as a comprehensive way of life and Jesus as Lord, Christianity becomes just another ‘product’ we consume. We come along to get our fill of Christian experience and merchandise but fail to live different, purposefully Godly lives.

Jesus calls upon us to deny ourselves and follow Him. The call upon us is to take up His cross not the credit card. The Bible challenges us to contentment and self control not the pursuit of personal desire. Can you really pray “thy kingdom come and thy will be done”?

Stephen Semenchuk

Bulletin 04/02/07 (pdf, 823 KB)