Finding rest I shared a devotion with a group of girls a while back that has really stuck with me. We began by talking about all the different life circumstances that can cause us anxiety or worry. Some examples were going to the dentist, performing in a concert or taking a test. The girls were asked to think about each one and rank on a scale of 1 to 10 how much anxiety it caused them. Of course, each scenario received quite a spread of responses. Perhaps not too surprising, was the number of girls who indicated they would rather go to the dentist than talk in front of a group of people. Maybe you can relate. As adults, we too have life circumstances that cause us to worry

What Should I Think About During the Lord’s Supper? Every month (on the second Sunday of the month) we participate in the Lord’s Supper. In fact, we will be doing it this Sunday. I remember observing the Lord’s Supper as a child. I would watch my parents move to the front of the church to eat the bread and drink the cup. It always struck me as a somewhat sombre affair, which, of course, at one level, it is. But as I’ve since discovered, there’s more to it. I wonder what you think of the Lord’s Supper? More to the point, I wonder what you think about during Lord’s Supper? Does your mind wander? Do you focus only on your sinfulness? Or mainly on your gratitude to God for

Who can apply to join an Internship?  Anyone who is seeking to grow closer to Jesus and who is keen to explore serving their church family in different ministry areas! [Provided you’re over 18 and have (or can successfully apply for) a current Blue Card.]  Maybe you are a school leaver looking to take a gap year or wanting to explore serving more at church? Maybe you are someone who works part-time? Maybe you work full-time, but still want to invest more time into growing in your faith and serving your church family? Maybe you are retired and want to invest your time in church ministry?  Our entry-level internship focuses primarily on serving on Sundays, with the training component able to also be held on Sundays. This means that

A Reflection on Psalm 8   The words of Psalm 8 roll through my head playing over and over. I’m on holidays in the Whitsundays. I had spent the past few days relaxing in God’s creation. A much-needed break and time to rest and unwind.  Psalm 8   1 Lord, our Lord,     how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory     in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants     you have established a stronghold against your enemies,     to silence the foe and the avenger.  It’s the version I learnt as a child that plays on repeat and the beauty of the creation here that continuously triggers the memory of those words.  The aqua blue water with darker patches of reef, the islands rising out of

Reverse Conquest Revelation 15:2 And I saw… standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name… I googled the meaning of the word ‘conquer’ and the answer it spat out was, “the subjugation and assumption of control of a place or people by military force”. It’s not a very positive picture, is it? Russia’s invasion of Ukraine comes to mind. And yet, ‘conquest’ is one of the major themes of the Book of Revelation. One of the dominant meanings of the Greek word nikao is ‘to conquer, to overcome, to triumph’.[1] Below is a little chart that shows how often it comes up in the Books of the New Testament. At a glance you can see

Working Through Trials  Jesus said that our lives will be punctuated by trials and trouble (John 16:33). Every one of us will suffer many and varied trials; some in lesser or greater degree; and they can occur at any time. No one is exempt. Even those of us in the family of God are not exempt. In fact, it is likely that we will feel stronger blows simply because we are in the family of God. Jesus, God's own dearly loved Son, did not have a comfortable life. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is. 53:3). It was necessary that Christ “learned obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb. 5:8), and we, too, follow the path of suffering in