Archive for December, 2007

And they did! People came from all over the Illawarra to be involved in Carnivale Christmas!

One family was out looking at Christmas lights and drove past the Church and thought “What is that? It look’s like something from the movies”. They drove in and attended both the Carnival and Service! WOW!

Please pray that we will follow up families, so they can be a part of God’s kingdom forever!

Di Whittaker

I always have a hard time buying Christmas gifts. I want my gifts to be appreciated by the recipients—and affordable to me! Gift-giving takes a lot of thought. Gift-giving is no easy task!

The gifts the Magi brought to Jesus were equally thoughtful. They brought gifts that “fit” the child’s identity. First, gold. Storehouses filled with gold were found in royal palaces. Gold was a gift fit for a king.

Second, incense, probably the resin of the terebinth tree. This incense was often burned with other spices during temple offerings. It was a gift fit for a priest.

Third, the gift of myrrh. Like incense, myrrh was from an aromatic resin. But it was hardly a gift you gave a child. Myrrh was symbolic of death. At his crucifixion, Jesus would be offered a drink of wine mixed with myrrh (Mark 15:23). At his death, Jesus’ body would be wrapped in 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes (John 19:39).

The myrrh that the Magi laid before Jesus, then, was symbolic of an unexpected role. This child would become the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. This child would become the sacrificial lamb led to the slaughter for our redemption.

Have you chosen the gift you’ll bring to Jesus this Christmas season? Based on His gift to us, the best gift to bring Him is our hearts, offered in humility and love.

Despite some unfavourable weather, this week saw “XL” (our young adults group) take to the streets of Dapto to sing Christmas carols for some of our local residents. These included those we chose to give awards to for their great Christmas light displays!

A highlight was seeing people we did not know run up and down their street to gather their neighbours for the event. As the rain set in, they then insisted we take to the shelter of their home whilst they stood in the rain to listen to the carols.

Just think with Canavalè Christmas coming up, maybe we too can take on the role of gathering our neighbours and bringing them to this next great Christmas event.

Shane Dirks

As the prelude to the Stage 1 Building, the new driveway entrance commenced this week. It will be operational in time for Christmas.

Share God’s Blessings

If God has blessed you financially or in some other way in 2007, you may wish to share some of that blessing with your church family.

The special recycled envelopes have some suggestions:

• We need $3,500 to properly repair the rectory.
• The 2007 Trainees still have a significant shortfall in their funding.
• St Aidan’s bus parking area will cost $2,000.
• St. Luke’s organ restoration only needs another $3,000 and we can then complete the 2nd stage of its restoration.
• The Robin’s Creek Road residence needs the family area cooled for summer (approx. $2,000)

Please prayerfully consider these items which are additional to our budget as it would be terrific to get these done before the 2008 building program kicks in.

Stephen Semenchuk