Set the Prisoners Free

Last Sunday morning we continued our Advent series at both Pacific Pines and at Robina.  At Robina Melissa challenged us to consider that we are all captives in one way or another but that through the person and work of Jesus, we can each be free.   The manuscript and audio of Melissa’s message is available here: http://www.stucameron.typepad.com/

Beatriz Skippen from Uniting Church Prison Ministry shared with us about the support that is provided to inmates across Queensland and invited us to participate in reaching out to prisoners this Christmas through the provision of basic toiletries.  The office has been overwhelmed with your donations ever since and this morning we sent 3 very large boxes of toiletries on their way to bless these men and women at Christmas time!

The Bikers Came!

Happy Chaos reigned when the Gold Coast Cruisers Club arrived at the end of the 10.15am service bringing gifts for the Newlife Care Christmas Hamper Project.  Grateful thanks to all the riders for their generosity and also for the rides that were had by many after the service!  A great time was had by all!

Christmas Generosity

At Christmas we have the amazing opportunity to break with conspicuous consumption and instead mark our lives with radical generosity.  There are plenty of vehicles for you to do this.  You can give to our Acts 1:8 mission projects through our Christmas Tree project available in the office through the week and in the courtyard on Sundays.  You can contribute to Newlife Care’s Christmas Hamper program.  Or you could give through one of a number of Christian aid organizations that have Christmas programs to support the poorest of the poor.  I personally recommend you explore UnitingWorld’s Everything in Common gift shop: https://www.everythingincommon.com.au/index.php,

This Sunday @ Newlife

This Sunday morning at Robina (8.30am and 10.15am), Dorothy Mathieson will be our special guest speaker.  Dorothy, along with her husband George, has had a longstanding prayer ministry reaching across our globe and will continue our Jubilee series as she explores the Sight for the Blind that Jesus proclaims. 

At Pac Pines (9.30am), Orrell will continue to reflect on the role and message of the angels in the Christmas story

At 12two (6pm), Ralph will continue the Advent series called ‘The Naiveté Scene’, comparing and contrasting  the message of Christmas with the culture of our consumer society.

Volunteers Needed

Every year we have the amazing privilege of serving our community AND raising much needed funds for Newlife Care Christmas Hampers through gift wrapping at Robina Town Centre.  This year we are critically short of gift wrappers.  If you can help us out by being one of our wrappers, please contact the Newlife Care office on 5593 3262.

The Newlife Care Streetcare team will be hosting Christmas lunch at the Mudgeeraba Caravan Park again this year on Sat 18th Dec.  Jill Ransom 55622113 would love to hear from you if you would like to participate by either serving at the park, or by being a part of the loading team here at the church beforehand.  Donations of edible Christmas goodies are also welcome for both this event and also for the Christmas Hampers.

In preparation for our Time to Build expansion, we will be painting the hall on Saturday January 14.  The irrepressible Lew Born is coordinating this project.  If you would like to help, please call Lew on 5580 9338.

Prayer Points

Every week we want to provide you with some prayer points to help guide you as we partner together in bringing our thanks, praise, adoration and requests:

• We thank God for this special season of Advent and for the opportunities it brings us to reach out into our community.  Thanks too for the openness of people’s hearts at this time.We pray for the Newlife Care gift wrapping and Christmas hamper projects – that they will be a blessing to hundreds of families and individuals in need in our community.  We also pray for an adequate number of volunteers to ensure the projects run smoothly.  We pray for Elizabeth Danes as she coordinates these ministries.
• We pray for preparations for our 7 Christmas services – that they would with boldness and relevance proclaim the radical message of Good News that is at the heart of the Christmas story.
• We pray for those families in our midst who are struggling with significant issues at this time.  We are mindful that the coming of Christmas inevitably means the coming of additional stress for some – with relationships, financially, and also with painful memories and hurts – and we lift all of these to God.