Dapto Anglican Church

One of the great ANZAC heroes is Simpson. He discovered a donkey in a deserted hut in Anzac Cove and spent 3 weeks venturing out into a dangerous valley called Shrapnel valley and carrying wounded men back to safety. He was killed by machine gun fire but his legend has lived on.

The great hero of Christianity is Jesus. He ventured into this world from heaven and spent 3 intense years travelling around Palestine. His life was dedicated to all of humanity. He wanted us to return to safety, into God our Creator’s arms. The three days he was dead in the tomb were the days he spent bearing our shame and punishment.

Surpassing Simpson, Jesus came back to life, offering eternal safety and life. It is good to remember the sacrifice of our forebears in the armed services but even more so we should appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

Stephen Semenchuk
Senior Minister

Bulletin 26th April, 2009 (Pdf 900kb)

At lunchtime on Tuesday there was a sigh of satisfaction in the office of our architects, SilvesterFuller, as the final file uploaded.

The Development Application (DA) documentation for the DAC Auditorium was finally complete!

The next step for us is to go to the Diocesan Architectural Panel Meeting on Tuesday 21st April at 3pm. At this meeting a group of local architects, quantity surveyors, builders etc together with the Archdeacon should approve the project for submission to Wollongong City Council for approval.

What can we do?

Pray « That the architectural panel will approve the plans on Tuesday at 3pm.
« That the DA will be approved quickly by WCC.
« That building will start soon!

Read « Call the office and pick up a copy of the plans & the Statement of Environmental Effects to review.

Give « Pray & consider how you can financially support the project.

Lyndall Bailey
Member of PCG

Bulletin 19th April, 2009 (PDF 2.1mb)

Even the most hardened person would not fail to be moved by the images of the crucifixion. The movie “Passion of the Christ” took the visuals to a graphic and disturbing level. It would be so easy to see the Jesus figure as a victim of incredible cruelty. But victims can’t help others.

In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ last days, Jesus is never portrayed as a victim. Jesus is the author, director and producer of the Easter events. His was a purposeful death. Jesus could have escaped on many occasions. Jesus chose the time and He orchestrated the places. He was at pains for His disciples and all subsequent generations to understand the true meaning of His sacrifice.

It was a substitution. He took our place He bore the wrath of God and felt the desolation of a broken relationship with His father. He did it so that justice would be done and forgiveness would be available to all of us. He victoriously solved the problems of a fallen humanity.

Stephen Semenchuk

Bulletin 12th April 2009 (Pdf 1.2mb)

Good Friday Bulletin (PDF 1.6mb)

When the sky went black on the first “Good Friday” it was the blackest day of human history. It was the day people killed God. Jesus had lived a sinless life. Jesus had lived His life in contrast to the meaningless rituals and rules that worship of God had become. If He had stayed dead nothing would have changed. Death would be the final word.

But King Jesus still had one more move!
Jesus came out of the tomb on the first Easter day.
Death died on the first Easter Day.
Everything changed that first Easter Day.

When our life gets hard and we feel like all hope is lost, we need to remember, “the King still has one more move”. When we look at a world suffering and contemptuous of Christianity we can cry out “the king still has one more move”. When our burden of guilt overwhelms us and we suspect we don’t really matter, we cling to the fact that “the King has one more move”.

Jesus is risen.
Jesus is coming back!

He is the King
and He still has
one more move!

Stephen Semenchuk

Walking into Dapto Mall this week I saw an advertisement for a sale entitled “mates rates”. How Australian is that! Possibly another way of saying this is, “You scratch my back I’ll scratch yours”.

How closely does this reflect God’s design for us?
1 Timothy reminds us to give.
Paul encourages generosity and sharing.
He commands us to do good and be “rich” in good deeds.

However, when it comes to “taking”, Paul says; we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. In contrast the great gain for a Christian is godliness with contentment. The only treasure he wants to build is treasure in heaven. This treasure is the people whose lives have benefited from our good deeds. We give now and we take our “mates” to heaven with us.

Stephen Semenchuk

Bulletin 5th April 2009 (PDF 1.14mb)