SEX, MARRIAGE AND GENDER ROLES (GENESIS 2:18-25)
Posted on August 16th, 2010
God made us male and female.
He invented sex and marriage.
He made men and women equal,
but different.
And he has greater purposes for our relationships than our own satisfaction or happiness.
Will you listen to your Creator about gender roles, sex and marriage and trust that his purposes are good?
Genesis 2:18-25
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”…Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. the man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (Genesis 2:18-25)
Listen to the Sermon here:
SUPPORTER’S UPDATE – AUGUST 2010 – VIDEO
Posted on August 13th, 2010
Hey people,
Here’s a snapshot of where CoastEC has come from and where we’re up to.
Thanks for your ongoing friendship, prayer, generosity and support.
Check out the vid here:
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BEER
Posted on August 9th, 2010
I reckon Aussie beer commercials are pretty funny.
They capture something of the Aussie larrikan spirit, and they remind us to not take ourselves too seriously. We have ads with blokes doing bombies into spa baths; cooking our national symbol on the bbq; enjoying late night lamb sandwiches (kebabs), catapulting deer into the clouds to make it rain beer (???), getting lifts home from the pub in pizza delivery cars, and speaking ‘woman’ to a mates missus to explain to her why he should be allowed to go away with the boys. And of course to be successful you’ve got have a really big canoe (which goes without saying really).
One of my fave’s is this one
Carlton Draught
“Through the power of dance Kevin did become a brewery worker”.
Awesome. And what a great slogan: ‘made from beer’
But I also like Aussie beer commercials because they touch on deeper issues.
They wet our appetite for something real and satisfying; they promise us a more fulfilling lifestyle; they present a solution to some of the drudgery in our lives; or they promise to quench a deeper thirst in us (provided of course that we drink that particular brand of beer).
Beer is good, but it’s not God…
The bible says alcohol is a good gift from God to be enjoyed to his glory. Not to get drunk. Or become enslaved to. Or to use to cause others harm.
1 Corinthians 10:31
whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Romans 14:21
It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
Beer ads point us to our deeper thirst
Here are a few Aussie beer commercials I found on youtube that pick up some themes raised in the bible.
Pure Blonde
The reason this beer is so good is because it’s been brewed in some heavenly, angelic paradise. It’s “from a place much more pure than yours.”
And that’s what we want isn’t it – something pure and good, something from out of this world that might satisfy us.
Bible
The bible says there’s a place much more pure than ours – heaven.
And Jesus came from there. He was God’s Son, born as a man, lived a pure life.
He came to show us what God is like, and to give us a taste of real life and grace and truth.
John 1:1-3,14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. …The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
He also came to quench our deepest thirst.
John 4:13-14; 7:37-38
Jesus said: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life…If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me…streams of living water will flow from within him.”
Pure Blonde
Like the dove we have ‘homeward bound’ longings – we’re looking for a return to Eden. But we keep crashing into cheap imitations. We know there’s a better world beyond the one we’re in, but we can’t find the way there.
Beer might help us to enjoy where we are; but it can’t get us to where we really want to be.
Bible
Jesus came to lead us home.
John 14:1-6
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am….I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Toohey’s New – “official currency of the beer economy”
Aussies are supposed to help out their mates.
And their mates are supposed to repay them with beer.
Apparently we’d do anything ‘for the love of beer’.
And the scabbier the job, the more beers it’s worth.
Bible
Jesus came to help out his ‘mates’. And he did the scabbiest job of all.
He died a brutal death, in their place, to take the punishment for their sin so they could be forgiven.
How many cases was that worth?
All the beer in the universe couldn’t pay him back.
But he didn’t do it ‘for the love of beer’.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 15:13
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Jesus is the true friend, who serves us, and doesn’t expect payment in return. That’s why it’s called grace. We don’t deserve it, we can’t earn it, and we can never pay it back.
And that’s the new currency of God’s economy – grace.
James Boag
This beer is brewed with magical transforming water: “These pure waters are special, something goes in there, comes out different. But in a good way”.
I love the way these guys hit back!
Guinness
What would you like to dip into that pure water to make it come out better?
We should probably all throw ourselves in there. We all have a need to be transformed, changed, made different – but in a good way. Somehow cleansed from our impurities and made better.
But we can’t change ourselves. We need God to do that for us
Bible
Jesus shed his blood for our sin – to wash us clean and change us from the inside out, to make us better.
Hebrews 10:22
“let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water”.
Jesus also transforms us more and more into his likeness by his word (the bible) and the Holy Spirit, until we’re perfected in heaven.
Romans 12:2
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
2 Corinthians 3:18
“ we…are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
And our great hope is that one day,
1 Corinthians 15:52
“the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed”.
Philippians 3:21
“by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body”.
Hahn Super Dry – Steve’s sister
“Every call you make affects your man-brand. Stay premium gentlemen”
How’s your man-brand?
Have you always stayed premium? Of course you haven’t.
None of us have. We’ve all made calls we shouldn’t have.
It’s hard to say no to temptation and to always do the right thing.
And drinking the right brand of beer isn’t going to help us make the right choices.
Bible
God knows all this. That’s why he didn’t send a bottle of beer – he sent Jesus – a real Saviour, with real power to transform our lives to help us stay premium.
Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Fosters – I Believe
What do you believe?
It’s one thing to believe that Australia is the best country in the world (and it is hard to argue against that)…but what do you believe about the bigger issues of life? Who is God? How can you know Him? How can you be acceptable to Him?
I believe
I believe beer can go from being a good thing to a god-thing.
We can look to it as the high point of our day (’I can’t wait to get home to have a beer’…or five?); we can rely on it to help us socially (’I'll be right once I get a few drinks into me’); we can turn to it for comfort or to escape from realities we’d rather forget (like being lonely, or hating ourselves for who we are, what we’ve done, or what we’ve become). But beer is not God, and it’s not the solution we need.
What did Jesus believe?
He made some huge calls that he was dead serious about.
“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life”.
“I am the resurrection and the life – whoever believes in me will live even though he dies.”
Should we believe him?
Jesus wasn’t all talk – he backed up his claims with amazing miracles. (He made blind people see, crippled people walk, and dead people live again!) He even predicted his own death and resurrection – and it happened just like he said it would. Jesus is believable because He’s alive and he’s still changing people.
He can even change you if you’ll let him.
Do you believe that?
This last ad is a cracker.
VB – “it doesn’t matter which banner you march under, it doesn’t matter who you are”
VB is the drinking beer for ‘every-man’ – cashed up bogans, manscaper’s, blokes punching above their weight, me and you.
Bible
It doesn’t matter who you are, what you’re like, what you’ve done, or what banner you’ve been marching under – Jesus invites every-man to drink.
He invites YOU to drink. And it’s his shout.
John 4:13-14; 7:37-38
Jesus said: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life…If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me…streams of living water will flow from within him.”
Are you thirsty for real life?
Jesus won’t let you down.
He will quench your thirst, and lead you life – life to the full.
To find out more about Jesus, check out these talks:
Jesus – God with us, and God for us
To enter God’s kingdom you must…?
CREATION, EVOLUTION, GOD AND YOU (GENESIS 1:1-2:3)
Posted on August 9th, 2010
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1)
What about evolution?
And what significance (if any) does mankind have in a universe as big as this?
Does it really matter where we came from?
Listen to the Sermon here:
Genesis 1:1-2:3
August 2010 Prayer Update
Posted on August 1st, 2010
Hey people!
Guess what!? God has given us a baby daughter – Hannah Grace! What a blessing! Praise God.
Thanks for your friendship, encouragement, and prayerful support of CoastEC. We are excited about what God is doing amongst us, and we’d love to see His kingdom grow like crazy in this region. So please keep praying…and ask BIG.
Thanks,
Chris Ekins
Prayer Points…
- Genesis Series – Ask God to reveal more of Himself and His purposes for us as we study the first twelve Chapters of Genesis, starting on the 8th August. Ask for wisdom and insight into this part of scripture and for our hearts to be soft and responsive to the Spirit.
- Babies – Thank God for the safe arrival of babies Hannah and Aquila. Ask for their parents to be great carers and good examples of Christ-followers. Pray for Heather’s pregnancy to go smoothly and for their little child to be born healthy.
- Scripture – Chris is still trying to negotiate with the high school principals about starting an SRE program for yr 7 in the near future. Ask for God to intervene and speed up the process and to open the door so kids can hear the gospel. Please also pray for energy for Ali, Alicia, Evan and Bruce as they teach Primary School scripture at both Forster and Tuncurry Primary Schools. Ask that kids would respond to the gospel and come to either Coasties kids church or Grommets youth group.
- Newcomers – Praise God for the new people who’ve started calling CoastEC their home church. Ask for them to find their feet quickly, and that God would equip them to partner with us in our mission.
- New Home Groups – Pray for Bruce Hocking as he heads up a new men’s bible study at Halliday’s Point and Sharon Hocking as she leads a women’s group. Ask that God would draw many people from Blackhead, Redhead, Diamond Beach and surrounding suburbs into fellowship through this ministry.
- Staffing – Pray for wisdom as we work out what to do next year when Alicia finishes her ministry apprenticeship. Ask God to provide the resources to train more apprentices and employ other staff to head up different areas of ministry.
- Treasurer – Please ask for God to raise up another treasurer for us (unfortunately Grant is moving to Sydney with work).
- Guest preachers – Thank God for the ministry of Sam Hilton and Graeme Fuller as they cover the preaching when Chris and Sharon’s baby arrived.
- Holiday Hang Out – Praise God for the great success of Holiday Hang Out 2010! The West Pennant Hills Mission Team was a great blessing – with hard working, servant hearts that faithfully shared the gospel. Praise God for the 35 kids that attended, and pray that they’ll get linked into Coasties Kids church, and/or Grommets youth group. Check out a HHO video here.
- Youth Ministries – Praise God that the groups (Grommets, Wired and Chicks), have established a solid core of kids, and that a solid ‘Christian culture’ is slowly developing. The majority of the kids have very soft hearts to Jesus, and praise God for the two Grommets boys gave their life to Christ at youth last week!!! Please pray for Evan and Alicia to be sustained as they run these ministries, that other like-minded leaders will be raised up, and that these groups will bring glory to Jesus.
SPIRITUAL MATURITY (EPHESIANS 4)
Posted on August 1st, 2010
God wants His people to grow mature in their faith – more and more like Jesus.
Grahame Fuller (guest speaker, pastor at Central Coast EV Church) helps us explore what the deal is.
Listen to the Sermon here:
IN THE BEGINNING (GENESIS 1-12) FROM 8TH AUGUST
Posted on July 25th, 2010
Hey people,
The next big teaching series we’re tackling is Genesis chapters 1-12. We’ll be sussing out what God did in the beginning when he made the world and we’ll be seeing how His purposes for creation have been unfolding ever since. If you want to know why the world is the way it is, and how to live for God’s glory in the midst of it – you can’t miss this series.
We’ll be kicking off on 8th August – so plan to be there, or subscribe to the podcast.
You can also pick up some daily bible reading notes (a great resource from Central Coast EV Church) at the info table.
See ya
Chris
