As you’ll see elsewhere in this week’s newsletter and hear again on Sunday, we are announcing our second Extraordinary Members’ Meeting in a month! This one, scheduled for Sunday June 29 will follow on immediately from our Mid-Year Meeting (which begins at 11:30), and is for the purpose of calling a Community Engagement Associate Pastor. After an interview with the nominating committee, a couple of follow up discussions with myself and others on the senior staff, and speaking to the references, we have provisionally offered the role to one of the candidates. The provision is that the membership of Gymea Baptist Church appoint them at the Extraordinary Members’ Meeting! This is an important decision for us as a community of faith and I’d like to encourage you to be there – especially if you are an official member of GBC! I’m excited about how God has led us in this process and am looking forward to introducing the candidate to you along with the report from the nominating committee and church council on this recommendation.

A big thanks to all of you who have been praying for the nominating committee and the process of finding the right person for this role of Community Engagement Pastor.

And while we’re discussing big “secrets”, this Sunday we’ll also be announcing the final total for our May Mission Month appeal – I’m excited about that too!

We will also be standing with several families on Sunday who wish to dedicate their children to the Lord and themselves to raising those children in the ways of the Lord – it’s been a while since we’ve had a service like this and I’m looking forward to that too! I hope to see you on Sunday!

See you Sunday, online or on site!

THIS SUNDAY

Preacher: Roxane Lawler Encounter Series: Cost (Mark 10: 35-40)

9:30am Service: Baby & Child Dedications.

6pm Service: Dinner afterward the service - $7.50 all welcome 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

29th June: 11:30am Mid Year Meeting and immediately following Extraordinary Members Meeting for the appointment of an Associate Pastor for Community Engagement

29th June: Final Encounter Series Sermon

6th July: Welcoming Special Guest from Lebanon, Wissam Nasralla of Thimar as we celebrate 10 years of partnership with Baptist World Aid in Lebanon through Merath (Syria Assist).

MID YEAR MEETING for members and guests starts at 11:30am on Sunday 29th June. This will be both onsite and via Zoom.

Immediately following this meeting, an EXTRAORDINARY MEMBERS MEETING will occur, for the purposes of appointing an Associate Pastor for Community Engagement.

We strongly encourage all members to attend these meetings.

A BBQ sausage sizzle will be held after the 9:30am service, before the meeting starts at 11:30am.

A huge thank you to everyone who so generously gave to May Mission Month this year.

Also a huge thank you to our MMM Team, this year spearheaded by Derek Mullins. 

Make sure you're part of church either onsite or online this Sunday to hear the results of this year's campaign. We are so thrilled to partner with God in all He is doing throughout Australia and the World to renew and restore all things in Christ.

CROUCHER family: Ally and Chris, thankful for Ziggy, Bowie and Sunday

DAVIDSON family: Naomi and Justin, thankful for Adelaide

SAWLEY familiy: Ashleigh and Nathan, thankful for Mercy and York 

WESTFALLEN family: Vanessa and John, thankful for Zayn and Elyse 

WRIGHT family: Natalie and Stephen, thankful for Oliver, Eli and Eve

We'd love you to come along to our 9:30am service, onsite or online to support and pray for these families as they thank the Lord for his blessings and dedicate their children to Him. 

The word ‘hope’ appears 3 times in Romans 5:1-5 alongside the word ‘rejoice’. I never really noticed it much before. It was usually ‘faith’ and ‘grace’ that stood out as the apostle Paul reinforces the basics of what being a Christian is as he writes to the early church. But it’s because we have faith in Jesus and are saved by His grace that we can now have hope going forward. Just as we have experienced salvation and God has poured out His Holy Spirit on us, we can ‘rejoice in the hope of the glory of God’ v2 and even though we have troubles in life we know that through them God produces perseverance, character and hope v4. Hope that doesn’t disappoint us! v5.
Can I encourage us all to live with hope - alert expectancy, not wishful thinking, for whatever God will do next, because we know He can be trusted with our lives.

Thanks be to God always for all He has done and will do.
Sonia

You 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.

* Many in our community are undergoing medical tests or procedures in hospital. While their names may not be in the Family News, they appreciate your prayers and the Lord knows who they are. Please hold up all who are unwell before our good God. 

* Continue to pray for the Drury family and for Karen Watkins as both recover from major neurosurgery. 

* Pray for those who are going through difficult times, or times of testing or stretching - that they will experience the comfort and love of God.

* Pray for the Encounter series, particularly as new people join LifeGroups, that they'd feel 'part of the family' very soon. Particularly pray for those who are interested in faith, Jesus or 'church adjacent' that they would find out more about Jesus.