Our partnership with Narrabeen

Last Tuesday, David Ritchie met with Kerry Nagel to discuss plans for the rest of the
year. We anticipate that Bishop Davies will appoint Kerry as Interim Rector in the
next few weeks. With our help, Kerry will work in earnest to find a suitable assistant
minister to start work with us early next year (January 2012 is the most likely
starting date). David will continue to lead Holy Trinity until then.  - David Ritchie

Reading Plan for "Solo" from The Message Remixed by Euegene Patterson

Week 1:

Group: Day 1, Desire for Reconciliation

Home: Day 4, Learning to Pay Attention

Week 2:

Group: Day 13, God of the Asylum City

Home: Day 31 , Honouring and Valuing Others

Week 3:

Group: Day 45, False Hopes?

Home: Day 66, Talking Transparently with God

Week 4:

Group: Day 75, Tell God Your Desire

Home: Day 94, My Soul is a Baby Content

Week 5:

Group: Day 101, Lured Into Ambush

Home: Day 107, Wait for God

Why hello, Easter...

Apologies, it has been a while since we have updated this blog!

On Monday evening, we did something a bit different and looked at Isaiah 1:18-20... and we spent some time in reflection about what God has done for us. Because we are coming up to Easter, it is always interesting to take the time out and stop to think what it is really all about...

Listening to C3's Prayerworks "One day", we spent some time by candle light with blankets (and pillows!) reading and reflecting on who God is, and enjoying the peace He has given us. (Phillipians 4:6, Psalm 23). We then looked at what was our "scarlet" in each of our lives and wrote it down. This could be things we struggle with, are ashamed of, mistakes, anxieties or worries (sin), and prayed for the realisation that God has made the "scarlet" as "white as snow" through Jesus.  We prayed and encouraged each other, then in a very controlled environment, ripped each piece of paper up and burnt them. It was a powerful reminder of how BIG Easter is- that all the stuff that goes on in our lives- whether it be worries, mistakes or the past, it has all been taken care of by Jesus, and that He is here to help us live our new life in Him.

1 Corinthians 8 -12 Worksheet for 31/1/11

We've been looking at 1 Corinthians Chapters 8-12

• What are some highlights so far?

• What makes this book interesting?

• What makes it not interesting?

• What's confusing about it?

• What do you think the nature of the church during Paul's time is like?

• Can we apply any of this to our church?

Thoughts & Conclusions

Food for thought:
• Chap 8:1-3
• Chap 9:19-23
• Chap 9: 24-27
• Chap 10:11-13
• Chap 10:23-24
• Chap 10:31
• Chap 11:11-12
• Chap 11:23-26
• Chap 12:4-6

Prayer Points

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Today we discussed several passages from this section of the Bible. A big topic was looking at Chapter 10:23-24 and what this means in living our everyday life as a Christian.  :)

2011 Planning- January 10th- Goal 1: Getting Closer to God

Here is the info we talked about our first goal: Getting Closer to God!

Step One: Reading the Bible!

Tips:

• Try to read the introduction of the book you are reading- context can really help put what you are reading into perspective. (If you don't have notes in your bible, try googling the book or having a look on www.biblegateway.com )

• Instead of reading 8 chapters or 3 books in one session and not remembering anything, try and focus on one chapter or a particular verse each time. (Some people like to skim read the book and then read each section in detail, but each person is different!)

• Be realistic! Are you really going to read the Old Testament in one week?

• Take your time! And do what works for you.. Some examples are:
• Praying before you read the bible- Ask God to speak through His word
• Read slowly- and read it again!  Do you actually understand what it says? Don't be afraid to get the dictionary/thesaurus out and look for the meaning. Also, look at different interpretations of the bible (look at bible gateway again- do you understand more from one translation?)
• Stop and think. Grab a pen and write down what you think the bible verse is saying or what you think it means. Process what is going on!
• Pray again! Ask God to reveal and to continue to reveal what is being said.
• Don't be afraid to highlight, write, annotate!
• Speak to someone about it- reaffirm the bibleverse with other bible verses.

This week:

• Read one chapter from 1 Corinthians each day using the above methods. What stands out?

2011 Planning- January 10th

What was good about 2010?

• What did you achieve?

• What didn't you like?

Plans for 2011…

• Study?

• Church?

• Relationship with God?

• Friends?

• Family?

• Significant Others? <3

• Other Areas?

Jeremiah 29:11

Prayer Points

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