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From the Senior PastorOur preaching series this term is The Fruit of the Spirit which we’ve subtitled, “A Life Changed by Jesus. It’s an opportunity for us to examine in more detail what we mean by a fruitful life. This has been a question we’ve been asking ourselves as a staff team on Monday mornings when we gather to pray. Our attempts at defining fruitfulness have revealed a number of assumptions, ambiguities, and a general lack of clarity. It turns out that how we “measure” spiritual fruit isn’t all that straightforward! And yet, it is critically important. Our vision as a community of faith is to see lives changed by Jesus and the changes we are looking for are often long-term. They are also not necessarily linear. Our spiritual growth is irregular rather than smooth; one step forwards, two steps back (with a step to the side thrown in every so often). Lessons learned must sometimes be relearned or at least applied to a new situation and the garden of faith needs near-constant attention to keep the weeds at bay! As we explore one way the New Testament describes a life changed by Jesus, let me invite you to consider carefully and prayerfully what it is that the Lord may be inviting you to do in order to demonstrate the fruit of a changed life. Marc Rader | Senior Pastor |
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Elder EditorialLast Sunday morning, we sang together ‘The Desert Song’ In this song, we pray for several things: 1. God will continue to sustain us when we feel parched and lonely… “This is my prayer in the desert” 2. Our faith will remain firm when tested by trials and tribulation…. “This is my prayer in the fire” 3. We will emerge victorious through God as a co-heir…. “This is my prayer in the battle” The chorus shouts out “And I will bring praise, I WILL bring praise. No weapon formed against me shall remain. I will rejoice, I will declare, God is my victory and He is here." Does your Christian faith have that sense of certainty? Romans 8:35, 37-39 NIVUK says “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” “No, in all these things we are “more than conquerors” through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor h, demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor deptnor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Father God, thank you for your word; thank you that it restores our soul; that it rejoices our heart; that it gives light to our eyes; and that it makes us wise. As in Romans 8:37, may we acknowledge that we are more than conquerors [exceedingly victorious] through Jesus who loves us. All of my life, In every season, You are still God, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship Greg Williams, Elder |
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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!.....Our Festival of Christmas is just around the corner and we need your help. GBC wants to throw the doors open and invite our community to come and experience the true meaning of Christmas in a non-threatening way. We are only able to provide this opportunity with the help of the GBC family. Prepare For Christmas Working Bee - Saturday 29 November 8am On Saturday, 29th November, we’re hosting a working bee to transform our space for the Festival of Christmas! We’ll be setting up inside and out, decorating, and preparing crafts. Sign Up NOW! Festival of Christmas - 19, 20, 21 December Once prepared and the place is set, the Festival of Christmas comes alive through the participation of our community of faith. Your investment into a small but important role for a small moment in time will bring joy and energy to the event. Each night needs 50 volunteers to bring this festival to life - so let's all jump in where we can to support each other as we bless our local community together. Sign Up NOW! |
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Vote for Hopefield to win a $10 000 Grant!Hopefield is a finalist in the Southgate Shopping Centre Community Kickstart Grant! Winners are decided by community votes, so your support matters! With this grant, Hopefield will launch HopeHaven — a new initiative designed to provide a coordinated and compassionate response to homelessness in the Sutherland Shire. Voting closes Sunday 9 November |
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Thank You Volunteers!The Fair Trade Market was held last Saturday and what a success it was! A huge thank you to all our amazing volunteers who helped make the day possible. From setting up and packing down, to running the BBQ, making coffees, baking cakes, and everything in between. We’re so grateful for your time, energy, and generosity. Thank you for helping make the Fair Trade Market such a wonderful event! |
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HopeDrive This SundayHope Drive is this Sunday! |
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Festival of Christmas 2025Christmas Trees Wanted! Can you belive Christmas is coming up again?! We are hoping to 'grow' a forest of Christmas trees for our Festival of Christmas this year, 21st-23rd December. If you have a tree you could donate for the weekend of the festival, or if your thinking of purchasing a new tree this year and are needing to offload your old Christmas tree please contact Jackie Martin [HERE]
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Thursday Evening Church PrayerYou are invited to join us for a short but effective time of “zoom” prayer Thursday at 7:30pm. A 30 minute guided prayer led by one of our wonderful GBC Elders. You can join in using this link JOIN PRAYER ZOOM or using the Meeting ID: 919 1693 5880 Passcode: f603j2. We look forward to spending this time together in prayer. |
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Family News* Please keep our Year 12 students in your prayers as they sit their HSC exams. Pray for peace, clarity, and good rest during this time. * Please continue to pray for the Drury family and for Karen Watkins as they each recover from major neurosurgery.
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