Newness of Life

25th April

"The next day, Jesus...finding Philip, said to him, "Follow me." Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip." (John 1:43-46)

One of the greatest joys a Christian can experience is sharing their faith and seeing someone else find Jesus for the first time. It stirs up the joy that is already in our hearts and brings us back to the newness of life we experienced when we first found Jesus. Its almost as if God has designed Christians in such a way that if we don't share our faith, our joy can lie a little dormant...But when we step out and share with someone it flows out of our belly like a river of living water!

The above story has some great keys to -

1. "Phillip found Nathanael." We need to internationalise our outreach and target friends/relatives or neighbours we want to see saved
2. "Can anything good come from Nazareth"? Understand that people will always make excuses or arguments when you reach out to them
3. "Come and see." Never stop when people make excuses, keep reaching out and believing for their salvation, Phillip did and it paid off!

As a Church lets continue to believe for salvations and target the 5 people on our connect 5 cards. Next weekend with Johnny Lee Clary in our 9.30am service is a perfect opportunity to reach out...Heaven is waiting to celebrate the birth of new should into God's Kingdom. Let's go there, reach out and be a part of God's plan for our city and the people in it!

Have a great long weekend!

Andrew & Shara

Easter

4th April


"While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? "He is not here, but He has risen!" (Luke 24:4-6)

Easter is a great time for us to remember who Jesus is and what He did. He's the only person in history who has died, come back to life and never died again! He totally conquered death and the grave, the great enemy of mankind that eventually claims the life of every person who has ever lived on this Earth.

We have reason to live in hope now, both in this life and also in death. Our risen Lord promises us relationship and a supernatural life with Him now and then throughout eternity. This is the foundation of our faith in Jesus, without this hope Christianity is a complete waste of time.

As Paul said "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep (died) in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead." (1 Corinthians 15:20)

Jesus is risen and all have great hope because of this, let’s celebrate Easter this weekend and remember how amazing Jesus and being a Christian is!

God bless,

Andrew & Shara

When We Draw Near..

28th March

“I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart who will do my will.” (Acts 13:22)

David was chosen by God to play an incredible part in His plan because he was a man with a heart after God. This meant God could trust him, as He knew David would do what was in His heart.

God loves people and it is always His desire to do us good. God is on the lookout for people He can place His vision and ideas into and when He finds people like this His goodness will be spread about on the earth!

C3 church Indooroopilly aims to be a church just like this. A group of people who have a heart after God’s and therefore will bring about God’s goodness and justice to those around us. Sometimes we can experience problems and difficulties in their our lives, but know that God has come to do you, your family and friends good!

Let us draw near to God because as He promised “as we draw near to Him He will draw near to us.” (James 4:8) As we do this we will understand His heartbeat. God’s love is greater than we know and we can experience this today.

Have a fantastic weekend!

God Bless

Andrew & Shara McLennan

21st March

The Kingdom of God Increasing

"While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands...(and) became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth." (Daniell 2:31-35)

Daniel saw a vision of the Kingdom of God increasing, increasing and increasing! We need to always remember that when God starts something, it grows.

He made Adam and Eve, and now there are more than 6.8 billion people on the Earth! God said "let there be light" and we know from science that the universe is constantly expanding. The whole Earth functions on a system of growth, a seed is planted and from it comes a plant or tree whose size far exceeds the original seed.

So it is with the Kingdom of God, as we allow Jesus to have first place in our lives He expands and increases His Kingdom within us. This often brings challenges, trials and sometimes even pain but the end result is a life with the capacity to carry the things of God into our families, friendships, workplaces and personal lives.

The life of Peter is a prime example of this, as he followed Jesus he experienced good times but was also challenged, rebuked (Jesus said "get behind me satan") embarrassed (when he denied Jesus) but after three years we see a man standing up in Acts 2 filled with God's Holy Spirit. He had allowed God to increase his capacity to carry His Spirit and Word... and thousands of people were eventually affected by it.

Let’s continue to allow the Holy Spirit to work upon our hearts so we also will carry, express and demonstrate the ever increasing Kingdom of God in our lives. As all of us do this we believe that together we can affect thousands of lives in the years ahead. Go ahead, be a shining light for Jesus!

Andrew & Shara.