Vision 2012 (AGM) Sunday 26th Feb
Posted on February 20th, 2012
CoastEC is meeting to reflect on what God has been doing amongst us and to present a our vision for the future. We’ll be hearing from leaders of various ministries, presenting budgets and annual reports and thinking about the next big steps to growing God’s kingdom.
Come and be part of the discussion and get on board with the mission. All members are expected to attend this vital gathering.
Sunday 26th Feb, 3pm @ Forster Public School Hall.
Prayer Update (Feb-Mar 2012)
Posted on February 15th, 2012
Hi friends!
The year has kicked off with a bang. We have so much to thank and praise God for. And there are lots of exciting things happening by His grace alone. Once again, thanks for your friendship and support. But most of all, thanks for your prayers. Keep it up!
Chris (on behalf of CoastEC).
PRAYER POINTS…
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God keeps gathering and growing His people –
January was crazy. Lots and lots of people at church – both holiday makers and locals checking us out. We’ve had several new families and young adults lock in. Pray for them to keep growing and maturing in their faith, to make new friends, and to get involved in serving others. There are 79 adults and 49 kids who regularly attend the service, We are currently meeting at 5pm but we’re planning do both a 4pm and 6pm service sometime so we can better cater for the growing number of people and connect with even more. Pray for wisdom about the timing, and for God to raise up solid core groups for both services, so we can keep connecting with more people.
Kids Church –
Praise God for the growing number of kids coming along with their families (or by themselves) to the Sunday service. We have had to expand our kids church to four different age groups. Please pray for the kids to grow in their faith, and for more leaders. Pray for Jenyce, Steph, Tom and Ali as they lead their teams.
New bible study leaders –
We’ve got about 75 people in our home groups (bible study groups). Praise God for raising up more people to lead our home groups next year. Pray for Min, Pete, Lynne, Andries, Jess and Thelma. Ask that God would equip them to shepherd a small group, and for many to grow in their love for the Lord as we seek to expand our home group ministry.
Scripture –
Praise God for opening the door to the high schools again this year! We just heard that we can teach year 7 again, and also year 8! Pray for Ruth as she recruits teachers and liaises with the schools. Ask that many students would come to faith in Jesus.
Solid Rock –
A team of 65 young adults came to town in January to share the gospel with Forster youth (Solid Rock Café). They did an amazing job sharing Christ with the locals and several have become Christians and started coming to church and bible study groups. They are hungry for God’s Word, and it’s really encouraging seeing them live bold new lives and inviting heir mates to check out Jesus too. Pray for us to disciple them well.
Youth (junior high) –
Praise God that new kids are already linked into Wired (youth group) and Chicks (girls bible study). Pray for wisdom as Evan, Alicia and Beck start to train and mentor key youth. Pray for God to raise up another godly, male leader. Pray for Christ to be at the centre of the culture in the youth and in all we do.
Youth (senior high) –
Praise God for the opportunity to start a new senior high youth ministry on Friday nights with Andries, Jess and Ruth leading. Pray for the young people who’ve either just started following Jesus this year (Katie, Chris, Ben & Ellie) or who are seriously checking Him out (CJ and Anna). Ask that God would grant them faith leading to new life. Also pray for the small core group of believers (Jess, Kayla, Jas, Jo).
Mission Week (25th Mar – 1st April) –
Please pray that as we partner with a group of students from SMBC (Sydney Missionary and Bible College) we can connect well and present the gospel clearly to many people. Pray for safety for the students as they travel, and for good preparation for their talks and testimonies. Pray that we are bold at inviting our mates to various events, and that many are open to hearing about Jesus.
Growing staff team –
We are planning to employ a second pastor in 2013 to help us keep growing this work. Pray for God to provide the resources, and for the wisdom to identify the right man for job.
Finances –
Praise God for meeting our needs and paying all our bills – we made budget last year! We managed to raise 50% of our finances locally, and supporter churches and individuals generously gave the rest. So, a huge thankyou to those of you who helped with that! Our budget will be increasing significantly this year and next as we employ another pastor. So if you are currently supporting us financially, can you please keep it up? And if you’re not, could you please consider starting? Thanks. Please head here for info on how you can give.
“I thank my God every time I remember you…because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now”
The gospel according to Jesus (Luke 4:14-30)
Posted on February 13th, 2012
check out the sermon here
Luke 4:14-30
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[Isa 61:1-2]
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24 “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy[f] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed – only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
Membership Info Night (Mon 13th Feb)
Posted on February 8th, 2012
Membership Info Night
Monday 13th Feb, 7.30pm
@ Chris’ place (28 Belton Way, Forster).
Are you a member of CoastEC?
If you are a Christian, the bible says you are already a member of God’s family and Christ’s body. “…now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ….For through Jesus we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household” (Ephesians 2:13,18-19). “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others…” (Romans 12:4-5).
Here are 5 reasons why CoastEC has formal membership and wants everyone who calls CoastEC their church to sign up.
If Jesus is your Lord and CoastEC is your church, come the info night and hear what biblical membership involves and what we’re about as a church. Ask as many questions as you like and work out for yourself if you want to apply for formal membership. It’s really your way of saying to the leadership and the other members, “I want to FUNCTION as a member of THIS spiritual family and THIS spiritual body.”
To hear a sermon about biblical membership, head here.
For more info about CoastEC membership and application, here’s the official blurb
Jesus succeeded where we fail (Luke 3:21-4:13)
Posted on February 8th, 2012
check out the sermon here
Luke 3:21-4:13
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli.. 31 …the son of David…34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham…38 …the son of Adam, the son of God.
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 12 Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Jesus The Baptist (Luke 3:1-20)
Posted on January 29th, 2012
John the Baptist’s mission was to get people ready for Jesus the Baptist.
John said: “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. (Luke 3:16)
Are you ready to meet Jesus? There’s only one way to get ready – chuck a u-ee.
check out the sermon here
Luke 3:1-20
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar – when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene – 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’”[Isa 40:3-5]
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” 13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.”
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.
19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
Don’t waste your youth (Luke 2:39-52)
Posted on January 22nd, 2012
We live in a culture that expects very little from youth except that they act like good consumers and spend their (parents) money. Are we doing the same in church by expecting too little from our youth?
When Jesus was 12, he was clear about his identity, his priorities and his life’s mission. He was also able to engage in meaningful theological discussion with elders.
What would it look like if we followed his example and pursued spiritual growth with a passion?
check out the sermon here
Luke 2:39-52
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
41 Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. 43 After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.