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Come to ‘BECOME Youth Camp 2020’
Come to ‘BECOME Youth Camp 2020’ BECOME Youth Camp is less than a month away! Youth Camp is always a highlight of the year. We are excited that camp can go ahead this year, and we are looking forward to a weekend away at the Sunshine Coast with all our youth. BECOME is on the first weekend of school holidays, the 18-20th September. We are heading up to the Sunshine Coast Recreation Centre, a spot we have been to before and which has clean and comfy cabins, great food, and plenty of space. It is also located right next to the beach at Currimindi. Over the weekend there will be a series of ‘Tribe War’ challenges, games, chill time, and a series of sessions where we will worship God
Learning the Language of Lament
Learning the Language of Lament When life stings, what do you do? Where do you turn? Do you turn away from God in despair, spurned by the hurts of unmet expectations or unanswered questions? Do you turn to God, but hide your real feelings beneath a veneer of false positivity or denial that everything is OK? What if I told you it doesn’t have to be this way, and that God doesn’t want it to be this way. This year has stung many of us. Globally, we’ve endured the COVID-19 pandemic and all of its fallout. Personally, I’ve endured the unexpected loss of a dear uncle, and I know many of you have walked through your own hurts and sorrows. Even within our wider community, the recent death of
Building Strong Marriages
Building Strong Marriages The negative effects of the pandemic on mental health and families is already well acknowledged. Pandemics and in fact, all the crises of life highlight our great need to have strong relationships around us. Whether it’s with your spouse if you’re married, or with a close friend, or with your Growth Group. We all need strong, healthy, mutual relationships because we’re better together (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)! In this blog I want to highlight a brilliant resource that Michanne and I have been benefitting from. It’s called The Marriage Course and it’s created by Holy Trinity Brompton (the same church behind the Alpha Course!). We have already done 5 of the 7 sessions and they have been brilliant. They’re really practical and the videos are super professional and
What’s Happening at Youth
What’s Happening at Youth? BPCC Youth is back in full swing for Term 3, and we’ve had a great (COVID-Safe) start to the term! While we appreciate the resources that enabled us to meet online, it is so great to be back in-person, having lots of fun and many powerful discussions with our young people as we seek to equip them up to be life-long disciples of Jesus. We are meeting back in person on Friday nights, from 7-9pm. Our Friday night program is open to anyone in high school (Yr. 7-12), and while each night is different, each Friday there is plenty of fun, space to hangout, opportunities to ask questions, and a biblical message which anyone can engage with. If you are in high school, or you
Everybody Worships
Everybody Worships I love the quote Adam shared last Sunday about worship from late author David Foster Wallace: “There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.” It’s common for us to think that ‘worship’ is what we do only on Sunday when we sing. But singing is only one of the many ways that we worship (though it’s one of my favourite ways, for sure!). We also corporately worship God through giving, praying, reading God’s word, and so on. An accurate definition of worship is ‘extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem’. The car enthusiast who spends all their money on car parts and time watching car races; worships cars. The businessman who
Story Behind the Song – ‘I Surrender All’
Story Behind the Song – ‘I Surrender All’ I recently read the story behind the well-known song ‘I Surrender All’ in a book titled 'Near to the Heart of God' by Robert J Morgan. It’s moving/inspiring/helpful and I’d like to share it with you and also the story of an individual whose life was changed by the deep truths in this song. The lyrics of this song were written by Judson Van DeVenter around 1890 (later put to music by Winfield S. Weeden, published in 1896). Van DenVenter was an accomplished musician and worked as an art teacher and supervisor of art in local public schools where he lived. Records reveal that he was an active member in his church and involved in evangelistic meetings. We can suppose it
Our Inability to Rescue: A Reflection on Moses
Our Inability to Rescue: A Reflection on Moses I’ve been spending some time in Exodus 2-3 lately and I noticed some things I hadn’t before. For example, I never noticed how strongly Moses was driven to rescue others out of difficulty. He had this sense of justice that seemed to move him to get involved in other people’s issues. In a matter of a few verses, he gets between two Hebrews fighting with each other (Exodus 2:13), he stands up for women who were being bullied (Exodus 2:17), and he even goes as far as killing a cruel Egyptian taskmaster (Exodus 2:12)! I can’t help but admire Moses’ gutsiness. He was a man full of faith (Hebrews 11:24-28). But… I was also struck by how horribly unsuccessful he was
When You Come Together
When You Come Together Do you know what happened on Sunday 15th of March, 2020? If you can’t immediately recall, I don’t blame you; it was a long time ago! Almost four months to be exact, or 17 weeks to be even more exact. And if we’re being really pedantic, 119 days. So, what was it? What took place on this day? Well, Sunday 15th of March, 2020 was the last time that we gathered together physically in our building as a church family. It was the last Sunday that we sang together in the same room; uniting our unique voices into one sonorous sound in praise of our glorious God. It was the last Sunday that we bowed our heads in prayer while sitting next to and near
