The Centenary Celebration Big Event!
This Sunday is the big day. Church at 10 am as usual, but with a lot of visitors and guests, followed by a BIG lunch.
updates
2020vision Statement
Last Sunday we launched our 2020vision statement. This is our plan for the next five years. There is a summary of the statement provided below. A full statement is available in the foyer of the church if you want to pick one up on Sunday.
Mission
RPC exists to help all people draw closer to Jesus.
Vision
1 – We want to be an Acts 2:43-47 type of church.
2 – We need to develop leadership and leadership training to become an Acts 2 church.
3 – We need to grow deeply – not simply working on what we do – but rather who we are.
We want to focus on youth through Friday Night Teens and Sunday Evening Church.
We want to focus on small groups.
4 – We want to grow out – reaching to community in Ryde and beyond.
We want to develop a social/community hub through a parent friendly café.
We want to develop a Rydalmere Church plant.
5 – We want to work together to create sustainable ministries that will be able to impact our church and the community for the benefit of the Kingdom into the future.
Alice Avenue live at RPC!
Our Teens are hosting a concert on the 28th of August. All welcome!
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Centenary Celebrations start this Sunday!
This Sunday we will begin our month of birthday celebrations. We are so excited at the idea of marking 100 years of our church in the local area.
Church will be at 10 am as usual, but we are fortunate to have Eric and Olga Ossebaar join us. They are a ministry team who travel Oz in their caravan visiting churches. They will be encouraging us with music and message.
After church we will have our usual fine coffee and morning tea leading into a bbq lunch. There will be a jumping castle for the kids. Everyone is welcome!
Easter times 2015
Our Easter service times this year are:
Easter Sunday (April 5th 2015) – 10:00am
We invite you to join us for these times of rememberance, thanksgiving and celebration. All are welcome!
Fight the good fight
Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11b-12a, “Strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Run your best in the race of faith… “
Paul sets a high standard for Timothy. He wants Timothy to “strive” to achieve some very difficult things. He wants him to run his best race. Paul wants Timothy to walk that life that is lived in grace, but not to take grace lightly. Rather, to take grace on board seriously, realising the depths of God’s forgiveness, and to live accordingly.
Indeed, earlier in the chapter Paul has reminded Timothy of the importance of the words of Jesus and before the end of the letter urges him to keep safe what has been entrusted to his care. The Gospel of Jesus Christ — his death that has purchased our freedom — his resurrection that guarantees our eternal hope.
May we not move from the foundation of Jesus—his death and resurrection. May we run the race before us as best we can. May we give our lives as living sacrifices to the one who creator, saviour, Lord and King.
To Him be the glory as we live lives with hearts that have been changed by Him.
– Dave
Give me the power!
In Genesis 3 we are told that one of the reasons that Eve ate the fruit was because it was useful in attaining knowledge. Indeed, it was going to make her more like God, according to the serpent.
Why is power so appealing? Why do we yearn to be more than we are? Why do we have a desire to set ourselves above others, to be our own little god, ruling our own little world?
We were created to have meaning and purpose. The problem is that our hearts get confused about what meaning and purpose look like. To have power over another is not real meaning or purpose. Indeed, animals, dictators and kindergarten teachers can all put themselves into positions of absolute authority over others, but Jesus showed another way, that reflects meaning and purpose that lasts forever.
Jesus said, “…learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit.” (Matthew 11:29). Real meaning and fulfilment does not come from having the power to tell someone else what to do.
Jesus showed that real meaning came from choosing to take whatever it is that is yours (your life), and using it for the good of others and the glory of God.
– Dave
Family
At the end of Genesis 2 we are told that man and woman were designed to join together to be one, and that although they were naked, they had no shame. There was ultimate intimacy. There was nothing to fear or hold back from one another.
Of course, by the end of Genesis 3 everything has come undone. Husbands would rule over their wives, relationships would be confused through guilt and shame, and we would learn to blame each other, rather than face responsibility for what is ours.
Many years after Genesis, Jesus came. He highlighted the brokenness of family relationships (Matt 10:34-36), and that through him we could have real family (Matt 12:46-50).
1 Timothy 5:1-16 reminds us that through the foundation of Jesus we have family, as it was originally designed to be. We have the opportunity to relate to each other, without the confusion of guilt and shame. Our family does not need to look like an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond!
May we all learn to relate to each other in the shadow of the Cross. May we learn to treat each other as true brothers and sisters, looking to the example of the one who died so that relationships could be restored and renewed.
– Dave
Adulthood
I have always struggled to feel like a grown up. All my life, whether I was 14, 24, 34 or 44, I have felt like a kid, albeit a large one!
I guess it is good to feel young at heart, but it has always troubled me as to what it was that caused me to feel like a kid. I have felt like an adult in certain situations, but I have always had an underlying feeling of not being an adult.
As I reflect now I realise that for much of my life I have not been acting like an adult. Not in the true sense of what it is to be a healthy, functioning, biblical adult.
I have decided in more recent times to start walking that fine line between taking ownership of my life (being an adult), and giving my life over to God (being His adult). I recognise that my life belongs to God, and yet I also recognise that he wants me to live it and take responsibility for what is mine.
In 1 Timothy 4:12 Paul tells Timothy to not let anyone look down on him because he is young. Instead he is to be an example for believers in his speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. In everything, really!
May we all take responsibility of our lives, as followers of the one who has bought our lives at a great price!
– Dave