Contemplative prayer

Hi Church,

There is nothing like being in the presence of the Lord. Sunday morning was again another incredible time of being with God together as His family. When you intentionally move towards the Lord he cant help himself but move towards us with love and grace. The Word that came through John Mark Comer and finishing our prayer series brought us into an encounter that in twined us into God’s presence. It’s in that space that you cant help but have your strength renewed as you wait upon him.

Some of the key truths for contemplative prayer is looking, yielding and resting in God as you presence yourself with him. It will require discipline and time but its worth it. IF your mind is distracted 1000 times in your contemplative moment then don’t condemn yourself, just turn it into a 1000 opportunities to reconnect and look again at Jesus.  Once you have fixed your eyes on him then just yield, surrender to His presence, His love, His grace, His peace, His healing, His restoration, His will for your life in love.

Another thought in this space which I hope ignites your first love is that contemplative prayer is slowing down long enough for your soul to be kissed by God. I think we all agree that our lives are out of control regarding distraction and hurry. We seem to not have any margin left. We need to discover ways of slowing down. I know for me this is getting easier as my Kids get older. A life with children is overflowing with expectation and living beyond the margin in constant demand. So, this just means we need to be even more diligent and intentional with our time. That’s why our rhythm of life needs to include a sabbath rest for everyone. That will be our next challenge. I am looking forward to discovering more in how to abide in Jesus and become fruitful in this way.

This week I will be away at conference, but Ps Debbie, Kerry and Jane are always people that gladly lend a Pastoral hand. Don’t forget your life group is always very important to help in times of need. Remember its never to late to connect. See our website for details. A new life group for Innes Lake area begins on Thursday 24th of August. Call Trevor Ford for details. 

This week is Family Sunday with a BBQ celebration after. Lets continue in the flow of the Spirit and giving testimony to Gods healing and Power and presence. It’s the only way the next generation will arise in faith as we live and declare truth.

Finally, men please sign up for Men’s and Kids camp it will be a great time filled with fun moments and great camaraderie and a few laughs. If you need help to get there or need more detail, then please call this week.

God bless you Church, have a great week being with God.

Ps Greg and Amanda

15th August 2023

Flow of the Spirit

Hi Church,

I love the flow of the Spirit. He is likened to many things.  A bubbling stream, a mighty river, waves of the ocean. Its all about the flow. Last Sunday we tried to capture that flow like we saw at Conference. Sometimes it will feel clunky and then it just …….flows. The important thing is to stay together in it spiritually.

We had a lot of words spoken, the prophetic focussed in on unity, unity of us all as one church in the city and unity of us as one body locally. Without unity there can be no blessing, Ps 133 tells us this. Eph 4:1-4 requires it. The Prayer of Jesus in John 17 calls and invites us into it, “Father make them one”. 

The depth of our flow and the distance of our flow in the Spirit will depend on our heart for unity, joined in love to one another. One Body, One Hope, One Truth, One Family, One Worship, One Passion, Lets pursue this together.

Last Sunday we celebrated the goodness of God over our conference period. Many healings, many freedom moments, increase in joy, salvations. Heaven truly opened for us. We also pressed in for more. I know already that pain left people’s body and the testimony of others encouraged blessing for them.

Some consolidated truth included. God was making Grace Church a gateway church into the city to be a training and sending church. Bruce declared that we are not a retirement village but a leadership factory. That we needed to raise up our youth and celebrate them and cheer them on in their purpose in God. Paul revealed that our prophecy times needed to be Sane, Biblical and Submitted. We needed to be a people who stood on the walls like Habakkuk and wait and see what the Lord will speak and write it down and make it known and wait for the word to come to pass. Pat showed us that evangelism should be a joy and delight because its good news to those that are lost and dying. Monika the teacher told us to Be Ready for Service, Be ready for the Lords return and Be ready as Troops fully armed and dressed for battle. And the Pastor drew us in to the heart of Jesus to be ready to love and serve the least of the these, with willing hands and burning hearts.  

Let’s continue to flow Church, stay unified in love and truth and action with an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to us. Let’s live in the more of the abundance of life in Jesus our saviour.

With you Church all the way.

Ps Greg

8th August 2023

PowerHouse conference

WOW, Wow, Wow, I’ll say it backwards, WOW! God is so Good. The power, the presence, the healings, the hope, the salvations, the prophetic, the deliverance, the encouragement, the testimonies, the impartation, the releasing of our Youth, the declaration over Grace Church and this City of Port Macquarie. It was all mind blowing!! Thank you Jesus, for a wonderful Powerhouse conference. I am truly overwhelmed and humbled by the encounter we experienced since last Thursday. The Father exceeded our expectations and more. Please spend extended times in prayers of gratitude.

A big thankyou to all who gave of their time sacrificially to be present, serving, catching, praying, encouraging, welcoming, worshipping, sound and data, photo taking, cleaning, set up and resets. We saw you and it made a big difference. I especially thank Kalista and Amanda for working so hard behind the scenes to take the ordinary and make it exceptional.

Let’s not pass on from these times waiting for the next. Rather let’s believe, this is our new season, this is our new constant overflow of a well of life bubbling up rather than a splash from heaven.

These days are dark and will get darker unless there are a people of God who take seriously the power and the presence and the person of the Holy Spirit at work within them. With Holy Spirit in Us we can light up our world. The Conference theme was ready hands and burning hearts. We can bring this to Port Macquarie by giving out hope cards, sharing the gospel, praying for the sick and helping those in need it, brings the kingdom near to the people around us. What can you do today?

Speaking of those who need our help and prayer is Rose Grey. Rose has suffered a back injury and is trying to move house, anyone who can help Rose and Peter at this time it would be greatly appreciated.

In a couple of weeks’ time, 25th to 27th August our men’s and kids camp at Scott’s Head will be on so please register now your space and commitment. If finance is an issue, please text, or email me. It will be a fun and memorable time with our children so let’s not miss the opportunity.  See advert for details.

Exciting days ahead Church lets fan our flames into a mighty fire.

God bless you all

Ps Greg and Amanda

1st August 2023

Great Expectations

Hi Church,

Well its Conference week and I’m so excited. When the winter chills take us to being inside and slow its great to know the Holy Spirit is about to pour out his loving fire on us. Our hearts will be heated and passionate for His kingdom purpose. I’m expectant for so much more. I pray you are as well. Some the key words that came to us over last weekend was that there was nothing too difficult for God. And That we are to speak to impossible situations in the natural and believe that in the power of the Spirit they will come alive and live, just like Elijah speaking over the valley of Dry bones. The impossible will be made possible through God.

Another picture was given that God had laid out a bar counter top with every good thing on it for our enjoyment and our pleasure and our healing and our wholeness like a table top of good food and that all we needed to be is like little children and just come and take whatever we desired because God wants us to have it. What a great picture what great prophetic encouragement for us.

During my Preaching I shared a number of truths from the Life of Elisha from 2 Kings 2 through to 2 Kings 13. There you will find some great examples of faith expectancy. 1. Be like Elisha who expected more. He wanted a double anointing of what ever Elijah had. 2. He said don’t go and gather a few vessels but as many as you can. That told us to keep bringing people so that the anointing can keep flowing. 3. Elisha challenged us with the How much do we want our deliverance our victory? Were we willing to strike the ground beyond the minimum. Were we willing to strike the ground 5 or 6 times? Are we desperate are we willing to wipe the schedule to make conference our priority. To bring our family, to call a friend, to attend every session, hungry to get your miracle. Jesus teaches us that faith is what we believe, faith is eager anticipation that what we prayed for will be received.  Matt 11: 22-24.  And so we need to believe for more miracles. More comes to those who believe for it. Will you join me in that?  Grab this opportunity with both hands and agree together “I’m ready for More!”

So let us pray and let us be enthusiastic and let us bless our speakers, Paul, Monika, Bruce, and Pat and let us  invite everyone we know.

Eager with you Church 

Ps Greg and Amanda

25th July 2023

Listening to God

Hi Church,

Another amazing Sunday has just happened. Our community life in worship and word has been so enriching lately. The presence of the Lord for healing restoration and intimacy has been so deep. Lets increase our expectancy, especially in the leadup to Powerhouse Conference. Our prayers for the success of this conference needs to be focussed and often. Remember as we ASK, SEEK, AND KNOCK continuously, the Lord will answer. So let your Kingdom Come Lord!

Sunday saw part three completed on Listening to God. I highlighted the 6 main ways God speaks to us with some variations within each point. They were through Jesus directly, through the Word as written, but also through inspired highlights and also through direct chapter and verse references. Through Circumstances in the way God opens and closes doors, this was recommended to be done in review with wise counsel. Following your desire as the Lord places them in your heart. Prophecy, Dreams, and Visions which are supposed to be natural outcomes of a Spirit filled life. Then Still small voice listening through journaling. Habakkuk 2:1-3 gives great understanding around that as we listen and see and write what we feel God is saying to us. A good book to read to help in understanding this process is a classic called Dialogue with God By Mark Virkler. He also has a book which I haven’t read but may be useful regarding dreams, it’s called “Hear God Through Your Dreams Workbook”.

Now there are other ways that God speaks to us, God has used a Donkey as in Numbers 22. He uses creation as said in Rom 1:20 and various Psalms. In fact one of the best places to hear the voice of God is to go for a slow walk into the mountains or forest. Jesus was in the habit of doing this around Nazareth and Galilee. God also uses Prophetic Art and Music.

Its so important that we spend time to listen to God speak to us. Jesus told us its more important than the pursuit of what earns our daily bread. Matt 4:4. God is speaking, the question is are we listening?

To help you well in the listening exercise start your prayer time with this prayer.

Listening prayer

Heavenly Father, I wait upon you.

I pause, still my mind and still my heart.

I wait upon you. I stop, and listen beyond the everyday.

I wait upon you.

I rest, and allow my soul to have space.

I wait upon you.Quiet, at rest, held.

I wait upon you. And call Abba, Abba Father.

I know you have searched me, and you know me.

I know you are the beginning and the end.

I know you are the Redeemer.

I wait upon you,

Allowing your grace to penetrate my whole being.

And in this place, close, protected and eternal,

I find that this grace renews my strength,

Wipes away my tears,

And promises new hope. I wait upon you.

There is also a prayer practice to follow called Praying the Examen.

This is away of examining your day by bringing your highs and lows to God and asking him what he says about those times. It was developed by St Ignatius of Loyola, follow the link to get a good understanding of this with Strahan Coleman of Practicing the Way.

https://youtu.be/niCol-b5Cdw

Another announcement to watch out for is the Dad’s (Including grandads) and Kids camp at the end of August. See the advert within e-news and Grace Church Connections for details. We would love to see an opportunity for fun and spiritual refreshment in the outdoors.

Amanda and I are away this Sunday and the week following for a retreat and holiday time to prepare for Powerhouse.

Love and Blessings

Ps Greg

11th July 2023

Prophetic letters

Hi Church,

Sometimes we can forget that listening to God can be fun. Especially when your doing it on behalf of another. So prophetic listening is tuning your ear/spirit to hear from God so you can speak on behalf of Him to someone else for their encouragement, comfort and edification. We did that on Sunday morning in a very basic writing form. In our exercise of Listening to God, we wrote what a loving Heavenly Father would say to their child.

Soon many people wrote down many sentences of beautiful support and love and comforting words. It was amazing as some of those letters were shared how specific the words were and how they ministered to the heart of those who received them. Maybe this was confronting for some, I trust not. But I do hope it nudged us all a little to eagerly desire the Spiritual gifts and to step outside our comfort zone. Why? It makes a difference to listen well, and it takes practice. I’m looking forward to sharing another 4 ways of listening to God this coming Sunday and maybe jump into another exercise of listening.

Let me also say again a big thank you to the amazing response of the Church to the training centre in Nepal. We are close to supplying $22,000 in funds for the completion.  Well done Grace family this will make an eternal difference in the life of the Nepali Church. Its not too late to release your gift, reference it Nepal Building.

Now with Powerhouse Conference 23 just around the corner its time to step up our prayer and preparations of our heart to be equipped for greater empowerment by the Spirit. Start asking God to prepare you to receive and implement truth. To receive a prophetic word and to be ready for all that Jesus would want to give us and release through us. Also pray about who you can personally invite.

God Bless

Ps Greg and Amanda

4th July 2023

The Bride of Christ

Hi Church,

A beautiful weekend of family was celebrated by all. Thank you to all generations that played a part in presenting a highly engaging and Holy Spirit led gathering time together at Grace Church. Amanda and I had a lovely time away, celebrating family and friends in a wedding.

 Weddings are so special and this one was outstanding in its expression of love of family and appreciation of each other. Christian weddings are a great testimony because they are a metaphor for our love and unity in us the Bride being united with Jesus our eternal Husband and head. St. Paul in writing to the Ephesian church in Chapter 5 says that …. “Christ loves the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless”.

 When we saw the Bride last Saturday she was indeed radiant. Her smile, her dress, her presentation spoke of perfection and transformation into something holy before her husband. It’s incredible to think we all will be transformed into this same image as one body presented to Jesus.

I know some days we barely feel like getting out of bed and we live in a perpetual bad hair day! BUT by His Grace, he changes, he washes, he transforms us, to be better than we ever thought possible. To be radiant!

In Revelation 21 The Angel shows John the disciple the fullness of the bride to be.

““Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal”.

Let’s not live down to how we feel, but lets live up to who He is transforming us to be. For that is a greater truth. We long for that perfect union. Just as it says in the book of Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and The Bride say to Jesus, Come!

Until the Lord comes to take us to himself in that moment in Glory we are on the road of transformation. Our Highs and Lows, sad times and good times are all working together to form us, shape us and change us into the Bride of His making. So lets embrace the journey.

God bless you for your contribution.

Ps Greg and Amanda

20th June 2023

Talking with God

Hi Church,

A long weekend has passed and a beautiful weekend it was! Lots of sunshine and festivity in Port Mac with Artwalk. It was good to see Christian Artists held in high esteem and being present. Well done Renee Trounce. The extra time allowed for family catch up and rest. I’m thankful I was able to spend time with my Son, Jared who was visiting from Melbourne.

This week we examined part two of prayer. Talking with God. The process of learning to pray starts with Talk to God and looked at pre-made prayers like that of the Lords Prayer because it gives us our relational vocabulary and the themes and language of what matters to God.

Then we take that vocabulary, and we turn it into conversation with God. We do this by starting with gratitude and thanks. It was said in the video we watched by John Mark Comer, that our ability to give thanks easily and willingly is a mark of our maturity in Christ. The closer we draw to him the easier it is to see His hand at work and His presence in every part of our life.  T

Talking with God also takes us to places of Petition and Intercession. This is the ASK SEEK KNOCK of Luke 11. Again, John Mark taught us that asking is the language of the kingdom because it is in the asking, we partner with God in shaping the future. And then finally we spoke of Lament. Lament is our protest language of why the wicked seem to prosper, why is there injustice, why is there pain and suffering, and in that place, we ask God to take our lament from us and we give him our trust in the those hard times. If you’re not sure about Lament then turn to the Psalms, 60% of them are based on crying out to God for justice and intervention in hard times. If you would like to learn how to pray a Lament for your time of suffering, then please follow this link https://youtu.be/ah2bsYA5Fyg

For a copy of the teaching on talking with God by John Mark Comer, in Practicing the Way please follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCl1rHfGLLM

I was also very encouraged by the time I spent with my son Jared on the platform, as he shared his experiences of going deeper with God by establishing sacred rhythms in his life. He has been “practicing the way” for the last two years, he testified, it’s changed his spiritual life significantly. He now encourages other 20’s something to find their rule of life in following Christ. He believes that such practices will stop the deconstruction of faith for his generation.

So prayer is important Church, we cant live without it. So, lets dive in and delight in His presence.

What’s ahead….Family Service is next week, but Amanda and I will miss you as we attend our dear friend daughter’s wedding celebration in the Hunter Valley. But you will be well looked after by our great team. Please also remember to turn up for CityServe the following week at Tacking Point Public School Saturday 24th June from 7:50am ready to go!

Finally, family, I do want us all to pause and pray and give thanks for the life of Trish Sharpham. Trish went to be with the Lord Tuesday morning and is now fully healed and eternally alive in His presence. We now ask the Lord to surround Bob and their family with His deep love and empowering presence as they enter a new season without their beloved Trish. Please see thanksgiving service details below.  

God bless

Ps Greg and Amanda

13th June 2023

Abiding in the vine

Hi Church

Well, we had another big God weekend at Grace. Thank you to all those who came to the working bee last Saturday. I finished the day exhausted but feeling rewarded, for we were able to paint eaves, facias, walls, freshen up gardens ,fix a fan and reset lighting all with the faithful crew who showed up. Thank you to Ian and Deb and Amanda who put on a feed of delights for morning tea. Everyone who came contributed greatly and we thank you on behalf of the congregation who couldn’t make it.

Before the working bee we enjoyed a scrumptious Men’s Breakfast with John Ives sharing his journey with the Lord from Port Mac to Alice to Elcho Island and beyond. Hearing Johns story I was reminded of the scripture from Jerimiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a hope and a future”.  A truly inspiring story.

The gathering on Sunday morning was beautiful hearts really worshipping the Lord and it was hard to break in with the Word as many just soaked up his magnificent presence. The prophetic call for us was to pursue His presence for there we would find our Joy and in His Joy we would gain strength for our victories.

My word on Sunday was to encourage us in our abiding in the vine by establishing a rule of life or a sacred rhythm that would help us as branches to grow and bear fruit. The first we are looking at is Prayer. The Lord’s prayer we found is the teaching by Jesus to His disciples on how to pray. He said in Luke 11:2 when you pray, say “Father who is in Heaven”. From this prayer we could see that the greatest truth Jesus started with was our relational position in the God head. We start from a place of family, as His children close to Him. You can be assured He hears you!

Now the Lord’s prayer is a liturgy where you pray each day. Someone shared with me after that it was a great help to go through the prayer for them again because they could see this would help them going forward, as the way they prayed previously was now a struggle due to a physical disability. And so, a time going back to basics would be a great assistance. If I have helped one person on our day of gathering, I give thanks, it’s a Good Sunday.

You may have a good rule of life for prayer, if so keep at it but if your struggling turn your frustration to delight by changing it up. Here are my suggestions; remove all electronic distractions, find a good regular spot to sit, start with a coffee or a tea, find the sweet spot of time where you are most awake. Then breath the Lords presence in with a prayer like, “In You I live”,…. breathe…. “In you I delight”….breathe ….. this done and said repeatedly, will slow your mind and your body to be aware of God’s presence.  Then start by Praising God for the day, for your relationship with Him as His child, then read a scripture and reflect on it by asking God what do you want me to see and know, and then yield to His voice and instruction by asking Him to fill you with His Spirit to empower you for the day ahead. I pray this helps you to abide in Him.

A reminder on the 25th of June we will be taking up an offering to help complete the mission training centre in Nepal for International Mission Ministries with Ross Nancarrow. Please set aside funds for this great purpose.

God bless you Church, you are wonderful people serving a wonderful Jesus.

Ps Greg and Amanda

6th June 2023

Greig Whittaker and One Accord

Hi Church

What an amazing weekend we had with visiting Pastor Greig Whittaker from the Salvation Army/Baptist Church of Ryde, representing the unity organisation City to City. Greig spoke at the Combined Worship service on Saturday and in our Sunday morning service. The messages were outstanding and brought people into a revelation of God’s love and what it means to be loved and to go out and to love like God does to us. Please listen to his message again or for the first time if you missed it, you will be blessed. https://www.youtube.com/@GraceChurchPortMacquarie/streams

One the main points that spoke to me was that God is a lover of enemies and He calls us to love like he does. This means there is no one outside His love or who is beyond the reach of His love regardless of how I feel about it or whether I think that’s justified or not or they deserve it or not. Because the truth is, until we were reconciled through Christ, we were all His enemy through our sin filled rebellion against him. We all deserved His punishment. But God’s love prevails, and God’s love is a love for enemies. Think about who ever you feel is against you and begin to release God’s love through you to them and choose to live in that freedom. 

We have a busy month coming up, but it will be rewarding. It started last Saturday, so thank you to all those who responded to the call for unity and came to the City wide Worship night where over $3000 was raised for SRE Mission in Schools. We have a working Bee at Church this Saturday, beginning at 8:30am for gardeners and outside painters. Bring your appropriate gear and some step ladders.

Next will be a leader’s night on the 7th to give some vision feedback. After that we have CityServe at Tacking Point Public School. Then at the end of July we have our wonderful Powerhouse conference with some great guest speakers who will teach, equip and challenge us to reach higher and go further into our maturity in Christ. I cant wait!

I know many people are continuing to be attacked by the enemy of our souls, regarding health. So, let’s rally around our brothers and sisters and care and encourage where we can. Bring a meal, make a visit, send a card are just a few ways we can encourage those who are suffering right now and of course pray without ceasing, bringing their needs to our Father.

God Bless you Church.

Ps Greg and Amanda

30th May 2023

Claim our inheritance

Hi Church,

Another great family service was had over the weekend. It was truly multi generational in its expression and its reception as all ages came forward to stand their ground against the enemy of their inheritance in Christ. Special thanks to all those who participated, the BBQ helpers, the young people making the espresso coffees and being in the worship team, and the children who contributed to the service.

There has been so many people battling this year with incredible sickness, mental challenges, physical challenges, financial challenges, and I felt as the shepherd of this congregation we had to come together and fight for our blessings. The message “who moved my boundary stones” speaks of how through complacency, doubt, prayerlessness, or unbelief the Devil can rob us, or make our inheritance seem small and insignificant compared to everything else in our life.

It’s in these times we need to recognise what we have in Christ and what weapons we have at our disposal to overcome our spiritual enemy. The obvious weapons are prayer, scripture knowledge, and obedience which will do a lot. But with this is anointing oil, fasting from food, sexual abstinence with prayer, prayer with friends, prophecy, worship, communion, testimony, love those who hurt, forgiveness and sabbath rest.

This morning in my reading I learned of a new weapon against the enemy, ATTITUDE of CHRIST. 1 Peter 4:1 says “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.”

Jesus wasn’t concerned with pleasing or protecting his flesh but more so pleasing and obeying His Father. HE was willing to Suffer to gain the victory that would ultimately overcome all suffering. This is the difference between my will and Gods will.

You see if the Devil can convince you that your will be done first rather God’s then he wins every time. BUT the attitude of Christ who was willing to suffer first to gain victory is armoury we need to deploy, as it pushes back against the enemy’s deception. The weapons we fight with are not carnal, not flesh and blood, they are spiritual, but they involve us physically active in them not just theorising about them.

So it’s time to start pulling the trigger Church and watch the enemy run in fear and defeat.

Finally, Church I would really encourage you to attend our Combined Churches Worship event this Saturday night 6:30pm at C3 auditorium. It’s our opportunity to be ONE church in Port Macquarie, to fulfil the prayer of Jesus that we would be ONE as the Father and Jesus are ONE. John 17:11 It’s an opportunity to pray together that God would come and heal our land. Please come prepared to be generous to support SRE in our public Schools. See you there!

With you in the battle and the victory Church,

Ps Greg

23rd May 2023

Mother's Day

Hi Church,

Thank you to everyone who helped to make Mother’s Day such an amazing service at Grace Church. It was a special moment to see our Mum’s walk the honour guard of thank you and having bubbles falling around them, as the children applauded their exit from the auditorium. It was such an honouring time recognising that women play a very important part in establishing faith in the lives of children and continuous encouragement for us all to live it. 

Ps Amanda spoke so well a God given message on the value of passing on sincere and authentic faith to the next generation. She reminded us that such faith can’t be given by religious practice it must be owned first in our heart and life to fully pass on to someone else. She also spoke of the need to starting our children young in the practice of apology and forgiveness as this will help them take responsibility for relationships especially as they get older. Parenting is not an easy task and it’s not about perfection it’s about being loving, faithful, consistent, and authentic. We thank God he made mothers to demonstrate His heart to us.   

This coming week is our usual monthly practice of family Sunday with a BBQ, with Youth and Kids participating in the service. Having our children involved makes it clear that we are not striving for perfection, but participation and that Church gathered is for all. I look forward to sharing more in our fruitfulness theme for families as well.

Speaking of gatherings, the One Accord unity event is happening on Saturday the 27th of May, see the details in e-news, this is a great opportunity to gather with our brothers and sisters from all over Port Macquarie and lift the name of Jesus in worship, pray with each other for the City and raise funds to support SRE in public Schools. That day is also a national day for prayer and fasting see https://www.australiaprays.com.au/national-day-of-prayer-and-fasting to help give you focus and bring a heart for unity to our gathering time.

I spoke previously about completing the Missions training centre in Nepal with IMM and Ross Nancarrow. We hope to raise $20,000 or as close as possible. The offering date is 25 June. If you would like to make instalments towards it now, then please deposit your funds to the church account with a reference “Building Nepal” and this will ensure all your funds are included in that gift.

Church, can I encourage you all to please be faithful in prayer one for the other. There are some enormous challenges facing some of our church family members right now. They can’t carry it alone. We need each other. We need to be honest about what we are battling so we can stand with each other in the fight. Let’s not just be a church of individuals who only share a common meeting place, rather let’s be one body, standing together in our victory through the Cross of Christ. Together we can.

Love and blessings.

Ps Greg

16th May 2023

A King's Coronation

Hi Church,

It’s always good when we connect with the community. So thank you to all the mighty volunteers who gave of their time and effort in helping to run the latest Ironman event.  I know many of the runners appreciated the encouragement and clapping along the path. Your connection will allow us to release further funding into the community come Christmas Carol time.

I know many tuned in to the Kings Coronation over the weekend. It was truly a magnificent affair with trumpets and choirs and orchestras and marching bands and 63 Gun salute. But the most powerful moments were in the service. Quiet vows, special prayers, particular bible readings and most importantly anointing with Oil. These moments pointed to someone greater than the King. They were a reminder to an earthly King that he serves under the King of Kings. And that the greatest example was set by the King of Kings for all kings to follow that of love and service.  And that this task was so great the only way to do it would be not in ones own strength, but in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said I did not come to be served but to serve. He showed this through washing the disciples’ feet, by responding to those in need and ultimately laying down his life for us all. This is the faith that King Charles The Third has been called to defend. Seems somewhat different to the faith that we in the prosperous West have built up as a society over hundreds of years, with vast armies and castles and cathedrals and modern day auditoriums with the very latest in technology and production. No wonder people have left the Church in droves. Somewhere along the line we all started to defend something else other than what Jesus demonstrated to us. I think the challenge for us all is a return to Jesus’ example of love and service.

Another truth from this Kingly Coronation worth keeping is that our Head of State monarchy is the strongest link governmentally we have to God’s rule of a theocracy under him. Where Truth and Justice and values have meaning because of Him and His word. If we remove the Monarchy as our Head of State we plunge headlong into secularism and humanism with mother nature/earth worship and self-worship/science our only guides as very cheap substitutes. Let’s value our links to the past, celebrating true connection to faith, not destroy them for secular modernism sake. It’s the goal of the socialist left to remove all reference to God and His Church as the wisdom of the ages.

So Long Live and God save the King!

On another note, considering our commitment to missions. I encourage us all to be generous to Ross Nancarrow’s work through IMM in Nepal. We need to help complete the ministry training centre before September 2023. Please consider how generous you can be. We will take up a special offering on the 25th of June, hoping to raise at least $20,000. This equates to 40 families providing $500 each. I know times are tough, but God promises that if we step out in faith and sow generously we will reap generously. Lets do this!

God bless you Church

With you Ps Greg and Amanda

9th May 2023

What are God's desired results?

Hi Church,

This week I attended the funeral of a dear friend of Grace Church the Rev David Curtis. David’s life was marked by passion for our Lord, great faithfulness to His wife and family, love for all people and a desire to see healing available to as many as possible in and outside the Church. Thus the healing rooms came to being in a regular shop front. He was also a champion for unity in the City. These are great characteristic to be admired and emulated by us all. It was testament that hundreds of people packed into St Thomas to pay their respects. Thank you to Rev Dan Berris for organising a day of thanksgiving and celebration for David. David’s funeral was a testament that simple things, done well, done consistently have an enduring affect across a lifetime. So ordinary people have extraordinary impact. David saw himself as ordinary but his influence was anything but.   

Last Sunday Ross Nancarrow challenged us with the question, “What are God’s desired results in my life?”. He said when he answered that question in the middle of His life it changed the trajectory for the remainder half of His life and He was able to formulate a statement of purpose, “as a recipient of the extravagant Grace of Jesus I exist to ……” . 

I wonder how you would answer that question. I have answered it so far by being deployed as a pastor in full time ministry. But I was even challenged again to not assume that I have reached the end goal of that but to ask again, God as a recipient of your Grace I exist to …. I’m still listening for that confirmation or re-allocation.  As we have seen with many whom we have loved in recent times our days are short we need to make them count.

These are sobering thoughts, but also exciting given the possibilities in God. So let us be confident of our times, let us not waist a day but press on to take hold of all that Jesus has for us. Phil 3:12.    

On another note. Thank you to all that have signed up to volunteer for Ironman. I’m sorry that the sign up process is a bit difficult and time consuming, it was a surprise to us. If you have trouble please go to the volunteer help tent at town green before Friday to make sure your logged in and allocated a volunteer spot. Please tell them you are with Grace Church so we get our charity payment. Thank you.   

And if you see Shirley Capon on the track on her bike remember to shout out Praise the Lord Shirley be strong! Who knows she just might set a new land speed record!

Ps Kerry will be ministering the word this Sunday at Grace and Ps Amanda will lead the service and Kingdom Kids will still be happening so the church will be gathered and serving for the day, so to God be the glory.  

God bless you Church.

Ps Greg

2nd May 2023

Road to Emmaus

Hi Church

The Road to Emmaus on Resurrection Sunday morning is always a good reminder of the temperature of our heart. When circumstances speak to disappointment and sadness often we don’t know where to turn and we can quickly be overcome by doubt. But there are some great truths to be learned on how to have a burning heart for Jesus. Three that were a standout to me from this passage in Luke 24 include 1.  Keep Walking – which means don’t give up and lay down and become dead with inactivity. But keep walking in the ordinary and have an expectation that God will meet you there. 2. Keep Talking – which means keep talking about Jesus and all his goodness and all that he has done for you. Find a friend to talk to it will be encouragement and find anyone who will listen to your Jesus story. It may just save them or bring to them their healing AND keep talking to Jesus through prayer and the reading the Psalms. 3. Keep Opening – which means open the scriptures particularly the Gospels and the prophets who are pointing to Jesus AND keep opening your eyes to the work of God around you and partner with him in the extension of His kingdom and open your ears to what the Spirit is saying. He is talking to you always but are you listening? When you capture the frequency of His heart then your heart will become burning within you. 

This week we have the courageous Ross Nancarrow with us who will be sharing of his recent adventures in Nepal and what is ahead for the ministries of IMM and EDM.  He will also be sharing how we can help complete the work being done for the training centre for Nepali Churches. So I encourage you to come and be a part of Gods mighty plan to the nations.

The following weekend will see our service at Grace as usual but a large contingent also helping with the Ironman Australia in Port Macquarie.  It will be a time of service to our community and to help those who often help us. All funds raised that weekend will help us provide our Carols 2023. Details of the event will arrive in your email from Ironman for those who have volunteered, please check your junk mail next week if nothing has turned up. Our roles will mainly be marshalling at street corners and intersections and keeping the crowds off the track. See details in e-news for how it will happen.

Please continue to pray and press in for more of Gods power and presence amongst us and to go out through us. 

His love with you

Ps Greg and Amanda

27th April 2023

Looking ahead

Hi Church,

Well its good to back from a little break over the Easter and School holiday season. I can’t believe a quarter of the year has come and gone already. I appreciate everyone’s effort during this Easter time in making it a significantly spiritual time of reflecting on the goodness of God and His great love for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus our saviour. 

Over the coming months we plan to explore further our call to fruitfulness and look at, what are the key truths and practices that make for healthy branch and fruit growing. We have looked at the soil that we are planted in and the actions and attitudes required to be good soil. But what about when that branch of fruitfulness starts to grow as John 15 tells us it will. What maintains that growth and prevents the branch from dragging in the dirt? I’m looking forward to discovering that with you Church.

Our next major church event will be our Powerhouse Conference. This was a special time last year and I’m believing the same for this year so please save the date 27th to 30th of July. Other initiatives to be aware of is a Combined Worship night with other churches in Port Macquarie and of course CityServe, doing a garden make over at Tacking Point Public School approximately 24th of June. These combined church events contribute to Church unity and Community impact.

Finally it was very sad to hear the news of Rev David Curtis of St Tomas Church family who was tragically struck down by a hit and run incident on Hastings Road last week.  David passed away from the injuries that were sustained in that accident. Please pray for David’s wife Barbara and their family who are all in shock from this sudden loss. We remember David and give thanks for his life that was dedicated to unity in the body of Christ through intercessory prayer and the establishment of the Healing rooms. David was a loving and gentle man who promoted the Gospel of Peace and Power through the Holy Spirit.  There were many in our Church who were very close to David and our hearts of love are extended to all those who are hurting at his loss. Funeral details will be known soon.

God bless you Church

Ps Greg

18th April 2023