All About Life...

Welcome to the York Street Church of Christ. We trust you have a great time with us as we worship our Awesome God.

2010-08-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today we continue with the WARRIOR series as we look at our final piece of the Spiritual Armour THE SHIELD OF FAITH. The soldiers shield was large and protected you from the enemies’ spears and arrows. The Shield of Faith is our defence from the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
This weekend we also say farewell to Sarah Barlow in the role of Worship Director. Sarah has served in this role here at York Street for over four years and has done an awesome job. Sarah has built a great team around her and has often done much more than the role required. Today we acknowledge her work with us and congratulate her in her new role as secondary music teacher at Ballarat Clarendon College. Sarah will continue to be involved here at York Street, in particular with the Eureka Carols. Please be praying for Sarah, Andy, Luke and Emma.

Thanks once again for worshipping with us today.

Blessings —Tim

Welcome to the York St. Church of Christ. We trust you have a great time with us as we worship our Awesome God.

2010-08-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

Today we continue with the WARRIOR series as we look at the next piece of the Spiritual Armour. Today at all three services we put on The HELMET OF SALVATION. May we all continue to put on the Armour of God and being alert, standing firm in our faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints

For those who were with us last weekend, you would have been blessed to hear Tim Hawkins. Tim spoke three different messages throughout our services, and a message at the Leadership Life. To listen to these messages just log on to www.yorkst.com.au and click sermons.

Thanks once again for worshipping with us. Blessings — Tim

Tim Hawkins

2010-08-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today we are blessed to have Tim Hawkins speak to us throughout all of our three services. Tim is one of Australia’s longest serving Youth Pastors and is the Youth Pastor Emeritus of St Paul’s Anglican Church, Castle Hill, NSW. Tim is also an author of numerous leadership and discipleship books that have impacted leaders all over the world.

Leadership Life – Today at 12:30pm - BYO Lunch
Also today Tim will speak at our Leadership Life. Leadership Life is an opportunity for leaders within the church to gather together and receive training, encouragement and skills to help equip them in their leadership roles. Even if you are not in any leadership roles you are welcome to join us for lunch and to stay for Tim’s input.

Thanks once again for worshipping with us,

Blessings —Tim

Yorkie Kids and State Youth Games

2010-06-21T17:24:00.001-07:00

What an exciting day to be worshipping at York St Church of Christ. Whether you are a regular or a visitor we trust that you have a great time as you worship with us.

This morning Yorkie Kids will bring the message at the 8:45am service and lead the entire 10:30am service. All throughout this term they have been working through the story of Jonah and today they will be sharing the things they have learnt with us. I thank God for all our children involved in Yorkie Kids and for Trace Valentine and her leadership team. It is refreshing to learn from our children, and may we continue to pray for them as they grow in wisdom and knowledge of God.

Tonight we are also blessed to hear from our SYG (State Youth Games) Team. We will hear stories and how SYG has impacted our young people’s lives. We congratulate our team for coming 19 out of 72 and for doing their best. Go York St….

One last reminder regarding tomorrows nights 2010 Make it Count live Webcast. I encourage you to be here at 7pm to listen to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition leader Tony Abbott talk to us the Christians of Australia.

Blessings,

Tim

GRACE...

2010-06-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

Hello There!

We have finally finished our “Walk Across the Room” series and have heard great stories of how God is moving through our congregation – into our work places, communities and neighbourhoods. People are craving to hear about Jesus and often it is our own fear that stands in the way of sharing Him with others. Please continue to pray for the relationships that have been started through this challenge!

This past Sunday, Tim shared about our core value: GRACE. He read from Ephesians 2:1-10 in Eugene Petereson’s “The Message” version to bring life and freshness to the scripture. It is beautifully worded and instead of paraphrasing it, I’ll post it here so you can read it too…

Ephesians 2
He Tore Down the Wall

1-6It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

7-10Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

How amazing His grace is… There is NOTHING you can do to receive His grace - it is a free gift. May you find peace and rest in this truth!

Blessings

CRAVE & The Power of Story

2010-05-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

The weeks are simply flying by and once again there have been a lot of exciting things happening in the life of York St. One of the highlights for me has been the Crave young adult events that have taken place in the past week.

Last Tuesday we had a Crave worship night and it was a great time of encouragement. Thanks to Tim Drough for sharing with us a little about his life and reminding us how important it is to abide with God and encourage one another through life’s ups and downs.

On Sunday afternoon Crave had a change of pace and we exchanged our bibles for balls as we took on teams from One2One, Wendouree Baptist and Ballarat City AOG in an afternoon of sport. There competition was fierce but we had a lot of fun. It was great to join together with the wider Ballarat Christian community. Thank you to Matt Johnson for pulling it all together.

During our Sunday services we continued with the Just Walk Across the Room series. This week we were challenged to think about the power of stories. In particular we were encouraged to consider two of the most important stories in our lives as Christians, God’s story and our own story of the way God has made a difference in our lives. If we were given an opportunity would we be able to clearly articulate God’s story? Our own stories are also an important tool for personal evangelism. Tim challenged us to start thinking about our own ‘before and after’ stories. People want to know why we have chosen to follow God and what difference he has made in our lives. Can you write your story in 100 words or less?

If you’d like to attempt writing your story and sharing it with the Church send or email it in. You might even like to post it here on the blog.

Just Walk Across the Room...

2010-05-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

It has been awhile since I’ve written. I’m sorry we have not kept it up - As you may or may not know, I have been out of the office for awhile grieving the loss of my two precious babies – Isaiah and Tori Jane. We know that they are with Jesus but our hearts are still hurting. However, in it, God has been so faithful. We have seen Him use this experience to draw others closer to Himself. We are grateful for all that He is doing through it all. Thank you to those who extended their well wishes. We are so blessed and encouraged by our church family and community.

This week we excitedly begin a new series called “Just Walk Across the Room” by Bill Hybel. We are selling books and study guides - $25 for both or $17/book and $13/guides. Contact the office if you wish to purchase them.

The focus is to get outside of our comfort zone to connect with others around us in the hopes that we might be able to share the love of Jesus with them. It begins by extending yourself by “just walking across the room” or neighbourhood, or front yard…it’s as easy as that. We don’t have to pretend to have all the answers. People are craving connection and you will find how easy it is to show the love of Jesus to others by just spending time with them.

Here’s a prime example. This Sunday we were celebrating the launch of this new series so we decided to order pizza for after our 6pm service. During Tim’s service, the pizza guy – SAM – arrived and dropped them off. As he stood in the foyer with Blake, his attention was caught by the words that Tim was saying through the foyer speaker, and he asked if we could pray for him. We stopped the sermon to spend time praying for him. It was a great example of how easy it is to connect with someone. It is our hope that he will be able to connect with Blake again, this week.

Another example: A group of youth girls from the church decided to walk down the street and offer to rake leaves for the neighbours of the church. They met a man named Charlie who felt so blessed by the girls. Though he lost his wife recently, he exclaimed with tears in his eyes, “This is the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a really long time.” The girls look forward to connecting with Charlie again. It is not hard to “walk across the room”. You just need the courage and commitment to do it.

Maybe there is someone in your sphere (work place, community, etc) that you could connect with this week? Tim asked us to consider doing 3 things this week:
1. Look for opportunities this week to “just walk across the room”
2. Connect with the person who brought you to Christ and write them a note about how it impacted you.
3. Pray for Sam – the pizza guy

I hope you are able to find great opportunities to connect and love people in your community. I look forward to hearing great stories of what God is doing in and through you!

Dependence on the Father

2010-02-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

Life continues to be busy at York St and we are thankful for all the new things God is doing. What a joy to partner with Him in His plans for our church family and our city!

I am constantly amazed by the stamina and devotion of the ministry staff as they work hard at serving our church family with such great passion. Please pray that God will continue to give them the energy they need to serve us well. As well, pray that God will continue to bring in quality volunteers to help ease the load. How fortunate we are to work as a body together.

This segue’s well into Tim’s message from last Sunday which was “Jesus Dependence Upon the Father”. Jesus never operated solely on His own. He only did the things that the Father asked of Him. Many times before and after Jesus was found doing ministry he withdrew to be with the Father. He was often found alone praying. When you spend time with someone you really get to know their heart.

I would suggest taking some time and looking at the passages of scriptures highlighted below that prove Jesus’ deep and intimate relationship with the Father.

Luke 5:15-16 “After Jesus heals the man with leprosy, he withdraws to a lonely place to pray”
Mark 1:31-35 “After Jesus heals many sick and demon possessed people, he rises early in the morning to go to a solitary place”
Luke 6:12 “Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath much to the astonishment of the Pharisees. Afterwards Jesus went up the mountainside to pray all night”
John 6:15 “After feeding the 5000+ people, he withdrew to mountain by himself”
Luke 9:28 Took Peter John and James to pray in the mountains and afterwards heals a boy with an evil spirit”
Matt 14:23 “Before Jesus walks on wather he went to the mountain side to pray and be alone”
Luke 22:39 “Withdrew to pray on Mt Olives before His crucifixion”

It is obviously so important to spend time with the Father especially when you are in ministry. Even when Jesus knew He was to die, he asked the Father to take the burden from Him, but said “not my will, but Yours be done.”

When we spend time with God our hearts align to what is on His heart.

When was the last time you withdrew yourself to spend time with the Father? I pray that you will find time today to create the same kind of dependency on Him, and are able to have an intimate relationship with Father as Jesus did.

With Blessings

JESUS AND MATTHEW (LEVI)

2010-02-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

It has been a flurry of activity around here this past week as we’ve prepared to launch our 3rd Service at 8:45am. This service tends to be a bit more traditional in nature, and we had a wonderful turnout where many were blessed by the service.

All 3 services continued on in the series “33 Years that Changed the World” and Tim spoke on Mark 2:13-17 which is the story of the calling of Matthew (Levi) and how he threw a party for Jesus and his friends.

Matthew was a tax collector. Tax collectors were not well liked people. They would often take extra profit from their collections for themselves, and could change the amount they collected based on the people that they came across. Because of this they were often despised and disliked by the community. However, the benefits of being wealthy and powerful might have outweighed the guilt or greed they may have known.

When Jesus crossed paths with Matthew at the collectors’ booth he simply said, “Follow me!” and Matthew got up and followed him without hesitation. It wasn’t for a day, a week, or an hour – but it was a sacrifice of his life. Everything that he presently knew and valued he left behind. He must have known that despite all the benefits he gained as a tax collector that Jesus had something more to offer him.

Matthew decided to throw a party and invited Jesus and his disciples as well as all of his own "tax collecting" friends. He might have been excited to share the news of how his life changed with all his friends. The Pharisees saw this was happening and were astonished that Jesus would rub shoulders with such “sinners”!

But Jesus replied, “It is not the healthy that need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

I loved that Jesus spent time getting to know people who didn’t know the “truth” despite the accusations from the Pharisees.
Tim challenged us, asking if we were willing and prepared to give up whatever we needed to follow Jesus wholeheartedly as Matthew did. Sometimes in our church culture, we forget we’re all sinners and often we can be quick to condemn as the Pharisees did rather than love and care for those who aren’t yet believers.

However, Tim advised us to be wise in our dealings - to be in the world but not of it. He cautioned us not to put ourselves in a position where we might be vulnerable in getting caught up in adapting the worlds’ culture. Jesus spent time with all kinds of people, but he was also there experiencing it with his disciples - his friends and comrades.

I hope today you are able to challenge yourself to submit to God’s plan for your life. I also hope you can be used to make a difference in someone else’s life by spending time developing a friendship with them. This is how we can change the world together!

Growing in Abundant Life

2010-02-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

Hello and Happy New Year!!!

I trust that you had a wonderful Christmas season. We are in the full swing of the New Year now, and have started up The Vine again.

One of the biggest excitements over the past year and on into this New Year is watching our church continue to grow and be active! So much so, that as of Sun 14 Feb we are launching a new service at 8:45am!!! This means we will have 3 services every Sunday.

8:45am will tend to be more traditional.
10:30am will be a family worship time with the Yorkie Kids program
6pm service will continue to be a service with a contemporary feel.

Please pray for us as we endeavour to make more space for our ever-growing family!

Other exciting news in our family is our new youth intern Mel Hill. She will be working alongside of Blake Moore to continue connecting with the youth and will help mentor, encourage, and lead them in their journeys with Christ.

On Sunday Tim spoke on the scripture John 3:1-21 – Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a man that was hungry for the truth. He was not content to just sit and let life pass him by, but he sought Jesus out to ask him some questions. He wanted to go deeper; especially with someone that he could see really lived His teachings.

Jesus taught Nicodemus that there is so much more to life than just tradition –that there is more than just “doing what you should as a follower of Christ”. He challenged Nicodemus to be born again – to start anew and bring the Holy Spirit into every part of his life - which meant no longer living for himself but living for God.

John 3:16 is perhaps the most well known scripture in the Bible, and in this context has such deep meaning. God sent His Son not to condemn us because we haven’t live the way He would want us too, but to give each and every one of us another chance at eternal life. How deep the Father’s love for us!

In Jesus wisdom, he spoke about the light and darkness – how we tend to love the darkness because it can hide our sin. But He says;

“20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

This should challenge us to look into our lives and see what is hindering us from living in truth. In what ways can we see the fruit of the Spirit displayed in our lives? This can be a true indication of where we stand. Are there things hindering us from living full and abundant lives that reflect His character?

May you experience His rich love today as you ponder these things in your heart.

BIRTHDAY GIFTS FOR JESUS - BAPTISM AND YOUTH SERVICE

2009-12-20T21:35:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday there was so much to rejoice! How fitting for this Christmas season!

First off, we were able to celebrate 6 baptisms by immersion in our services - Steve Dingley, Steve Westlake, Karen Hope, Pam Hillas, Emily McKee and Debbie Harper. What a blessing to watch them profess their faith in front of God and friends and family.

Our evening service was run by the youth, and they did such a fantastic job! The worship was peppered with special items done by the youth – all of which were heartfelt and unique. One piece was even written, played, and sung by one of our own (with flute!)

Tim’s message “What Do We Buy Jesus For His Birthday?” reminded us that we don’t attend a birthday party without bringing a gift. His question for us was, what kind of gift do you think would bring Jesus joy this Christmas – on His birthday? What a fantastic example the baptisms were for this message. 6 people in our church gave Jesus a fantastic gift…their lives. What kind of gift can you give Jesus this Christmas?

Mark 12:30-31 (NIV) 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

I hope that you find joy this Christmas and that you will be blessed and encouraged by His love for you.

YORK ST CHURCH OF CHRIST EUREKA CAROLS

2009-12-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

It was a truly amazing night…

On Sunday evening the York St Church of Christ Eureka Carols were held in the North Gardens Reserve Lake Wendouree. The day started with a few spits of rain, but by late afternoon the drizzle had subsided and the cast/tech/crew pushed full steam ahead to put the final pieces together. Around 6:30pm young choirs from local schools and communities such as the Canadian Lead Primary School, the Yorkie Kids, and the Sweet Monas, sang various carols to prepare the crowd for the Eureka Carols event. By 8:30 the crowd waited in expectancy. The night began with a strong performance of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” by Carolyn Veal and Luke Tonkin. A few minutes later, Carol of the Bells began, and a bright star appeared in the crowd followed by a procession of wise men, dancers, singers and other performers from the evening. Children and adults in bright colors, carrying instruments brought the parade to life, as they ambled through the crowd following the star to the stage. This was the theme of the night – “Follow the Star”.
The Bible talks about the wise men bringing 3 gifts to Jesus which were gold, frankincense and myrrh. Throughout the night the wise men lose their gifts, but 3 explorers come across the 3 gifts and bring them back to the wise men. The production was split into 4 parts…

1. FINDING GOLD – COLOR THEME GOLD
Gold represents the King and royalty

2. FINDING FRANKINCENSE – COLOR THEME PURPLE
Frankincense represents priesthood

3. FINDING MYRRH – COLOR THEME BLUE
Myrrh represents death

4. FINDING THE STAR – COLOR THEM SILVER
The star leads us to Jesus

In each segment, lighting and costumes were changed based on the color themes. The crowd was invited to join in singing various carols that represented each theme. There was dancing, and singing from various groups such as the Jayde Calisthenics Club, and solos such as Lauren Evans and the Sweet Monas and Rachael Walters with her music team. It was a truly spectacular night as the story unfolded.
One breath taking moment was when the travelling star was placed at the foot of the stage and it “triggered” a lighting of stars to a large star on top of the stage and Tim Clark shared a heartfelt message of bringing our gifts to Jesus – the reason for Christmas.

An easy favourite of the night, was when a young teenager, James Kernick sang a beautiful rendition of “Wonderful Merciful Saviour”, backed by all the soloists who had performed earlier in the evening. The climactic moment was beautifully subdued into a reverent contemplation as we remembered the reason for Christmas with a silhouette of the manger scene and an audience sing-along of Silent Night. Frank Clark did an excellent job of MC-ing the evening and bringing it all together.

This night could not have been done without all the sponsers, leaders, sound and tech crew, costume, stage, and prop coordinators, advertising and promotion people, performers, volunteers and hours of preparation. We thank all those people that put their heart and soul into making this evening a success!!!

We have much to be thankful for! PRAISE GOD FOR ALL OF IT!

*Thanks to Sarah Clark for the photos

Here is an excerpt from Emily Drough's Blog that captures the essence and the history of the Eureka Carols:

"Last night I attended the Eureka Carols. It...has become quite a significant community event. The carols started forty years ago in my grandmother's backyard. Just a few friends around the piano for a sing-along and a simple string of lights has grown into something quite extraordinary.

I think that one of the reasons that it has not only survived for so long, but has also grown is that a sense of community has been nurtured. The church has made a conscious effort to serve the community with the event. While they maintain creative control they work hard to partner with other churches, businesses and the broader community. They have had a long partnership with 3BA radio and the carols is used to raise funds for the 3BA Christmas appeal which is in conjunction with the Salvation Army, Anglicare, UnitingCare and St Vincent de Paul.

It was a great night and it highlighted the way in which individuals, businesses, churches and other organisations can band together to have a positive impact on the community.

One of the other reasons that I had such a good time at the carols is that I love singing and I love singing traditional Christmas songs. My all time favourite is 'O Holy Night'. For me it distils the essence of my faith.

'Truly He taught us to love one another,His law is love and His gospel is peace.Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother.And in His name all oppression shall cease. '

There is nothing better then a mass of people singing 'Fall on your Knees, O hear the angels sing' at the top of their lungs.

If you close your eyes you can hear the angels...

MARY - HIGHLY FAVOURED ONE

2009-12-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Tim spoke this Sunday on Mary – the highly favoured one. God had found favour in Mary, and had CHOSEN her to carry His son. What an absolute honour - but what an absolute nightmare to explain to your family and friends. And I’m sure she asked “why me?”.

Imagine what kind of reaction she would have had from her community being a virgin carrying a child. Imagine what it would be like to try and explain to your friends and family that you were carrying the Saviour of the world and that you knew this because an angel had come and told you so. I know it couldn’t have been an easy road to follow – but Mary pondered all this in her heart. With the honour of fulfilling God’s plan came the difficulty of carrying it out.

The truth is we can choose NOT to fulfil God’s plan for us. If we call ourselves a Christian, that means we are “chosen by God”. And this in turn means, we have a plan to fulfil. It might not make sense to others around us. It might be hard to explain. We might not even understand it. But we must follow through with it so that God’s kingdom can come here on earth as it is heaven. Be ready!!

AND DON'T MISS THIS EVENT : THE EUREKA CAROLS 13 DEC 2009

Come to Life - It's Christmas!

2009-11-29T18:24:00.000-08:00

What an action packed weekend! Many of our families were away at the Burnside Family Getaway (one even rode down on a bicycle) and part of the Eureka Carols team entertained the Ballarat City Council "Come to Life it's Christmas" party on Sturt st this past Friday night.

On Sunday morning, David J Westaway preached on an interesting angle from the Prodigal Son parable...did you know that the older brother was also prodigal? And most of all the father? Check it out in Tim Kellar's book "The Prodigal God".

Sunday night started the series of items leading up to the Eureka Carols and Christmas, and Blake delivered a hard-hitting message on justice, one of our core values. As the Ballarat City Council is saying "Come to Life"; at Yorkie, we are "All About Life"!

-S. Barlow

IRON & CLAY

2009-11-23T19:18:00.001-08:00

Iron and Clay rocked our services this week. The morning service had a taste of what Iron and Clay did at Ballarat Christian School, Canadian Lead PS and Mt Clear during the week.

They then took over the night service. They showed that they were more than just hype, and shared testimonies and depth of faith. The over 40s packed the stage for “Celebration” and then a kids and tween mosh pit finished the night. What a wonderful ministry this group had. Thanks for coming along and stirring us up!

Overseas Missions Sunday.

2009-11-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Today was Overseas Missions Sunday and it was great to be able to hear of the recent travels of some of our people involved in overseas mission work. We heard from Renata Dempsey and Andy Francis about their recent work in India with Sampan and the impact that it is having on the people there. It was also fantastic to put a face to a name with Donna from EARS and hearing how her work is changing people’s lives. I was impressed that her impact doesn’t end there but she has also birthed a youth ministry in her community, reaching those young people who have never entered a church building before.The highlight of the day though was definitely the wonderful teaching by Simon Longdon of Pioneers. As an avid teacher of God’s Word myself, I was impressed with the way he simply took a passage of Scripture and made it come to life in his messages.At the 10am Service he spoke about being a great person and that in Christ we are greater than even John the Baptist and the prophets. At 6pm he unpacked teaching from Luke 9 and the different responses shown by three men to Jesus’ invitation to follow him. How often do we allow relationships, people and the pursuit of other ‘things’ to get in the way of our relationship with God? As Simon said, we must cut them out of our lives if they are getting in the way of God. I would encourage you to re-read Luke 9: 57-62 and notice the responses of these men, and how we too may not fully grasp the type of discipleship Jesus is calling us to.
Blessings,
Blake Moore.

AGM CELEBRATION!

2009-11-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

Check out our new sound desk - thanks to those that helped put it in!

What an exciting fun-filled packed day!!! After our morning service, we were able to celebrate in the afternoon with our Annual General Meeting- and over 130 members attended. And just as exciting was the announcement that all 3 candidates nominated for eldership were accepted. Rob Petty, David J Westaway, and Adrienne Howlett (our first female elder!!) Way to go guys!

Here's an excerpt from one of our evening congregants...

Sunday night was a terrific time of celebration, worship and fellowship. The morning service and AGM set the tone for the day, celebrating the many things happening in the life of the Church and exploring further the vision for the future.

This time of celebration continued into the evening service. It was announced that Mel Hill would be taking up a youth internship in 2010 with the church working with Blake and the whole ministry team. This is an exciting prospect for the Yorkie youth.

We continued in celebration and thanksgiving as we witnessed two special events, the baptism of Drew Mah and the dedication of Tyson Mah. Congratulations to Drew, Hayley and little Tyson.

Tim had us playing with Lego as we explored the way in which each individual has a part to play in the body of Christ. Like a piece of Lego, on our own we are nothing special but when we join with others, as we are designed to do, we complete the masterpiece.

1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

-E. Drough

PRAYER - SIMPLY TALKING TO GOD

2009-11-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

During our service Sunday, we continued looking at our Core Values focusing more specifically on Prayer. In the evening service, Lauren and team led us in an acoustic style worship which was really enjoyable – and I really had the sense that the congregation became more united through our praises.

Tim brought our attention to the value of prayer first by reading thru Matt 6:5-15 where Jesus teaches us to pray. He emphasized the importance of praying without ceasing – “Prayer,” he said, “is just simply talking to God.”

Tim also had us imagine the relationship we had with our family or friends right now. Based on the amount of time we spend “talking to God” each day, how deep of a relationship do we have with Him? Do we show up to our friends place demanding things right from the start? No! Our relationship is then based only on what you can get from the other person, not what you share together.

Similarly we can look at our own prayer life – and ask how we relate to God? When we pray do we simply demand things from Him? When He doesn’t answer the way we expect Him to, do we go away feeling as though He has let us down?

In John 15:7 Jesus says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you”. This encourages us to get our hearts in line with what God wants, and as we do, we begin to long for the very things that God longs for as well.

An easy way to help us remember how to pray is using this method: A-C-T-S
A – Adoration (spend time adoring God, and placing Him where He deserves to be – Above all)
C – Confession (place things before God that get in the way of a deep relationship with Him [sin] and ask for His forgiveness)
T – Thanksgiving – (spend time praising God for what He has done in your life, and the blessings He has given)
S – Supplication (present your prayer requests before Him, now that your heart is in line with His)

As a church we practiced this method of prayer during the service. It was fantastic to be able to worship Him through prayer together as a body. At the end of the service, we spent time praying for those near us who requested it – and the worship team continued to play. I believe that this was truly a time of bonding us closer together as a family, as we offered our hearts back to Him, and I trust that God was pleased with our worship and prayer.

Looking forward to next Sunday’s Yorkie Celebration!

JUSTICE TO CELEBRATION

2009-10-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was fantastic. I heard there was a rousing sermon in the morning when Blake touched on some hard issues regarding Justice – another one of our core values. I haven’t heard the sermon yet, but I heard it was great. In fact, there was a standing ovation at the end! The Archdeacon of Ballarat happened to attend the service and sent this email to say,

“The main reason for this message is to thank you for yours, about justice. It was excellent: hard hitting, honest, and Godly! I imagine it must have taken a lot of courage…you said things that I probably would not dare. We Christians become so comfortable in our ways of doing things, that we no longer see what is going on around us, and the expectations that God has for us. I am sure that is why the prophets had such a bad time; telling people things, made life difficult”

The evening service was a grand celebration honouring our year 12 graduates. It was also our “Youth Takeover Service” - And the youth did a fantastic job. We had a strong band that excellently led others into worship.

We got to hear a beautiful item by Sarah and Hannah Westaway who sang the Brooke Fraser song “Lifeline”. A youth band led by Justin Gray, jumped up and did a great job of singing “Amazing Because It Is” for the church (with a back up youth choir too).

The sermon was split into two parts. The first part was done by our year 12 student Ben Dainton sharing his thoughts on 1 Tim 4:12-16 - encouraging the youth to “blaze a trail” on their own as Jesus did by setting an example for others, devoting yourself to scripture, and not neglecting your gift(s). The second sermon was by Blake who wished to impart 3 spiritual hints to the graduates:

1 – Know what you believe, and why you believe it
2 – Build habits into your life
3 – Live a life upward and beyond you!

Pam McKee made a beautiful video tribute to the year 12’s –growing up thru the years. The service ended with a gift from the church for the graduates and a time of prayer and blessing.

Here are some thoughts Michael Fraser put forward regarding the evening service:
"Even with the impending stress of the upcoming exams looming, the guys were still keen to serve in their respective ministries - with Justin, Sharlene, Simon, Josh and Sarah on the music team (and various items!), and Ben Dainton bringing the message. It was great to hear the energetic worship that only a group of young adults in the prime of their life can bring. You guys are all so very talented, and the church as a whole is extremely blessed to have such the depth of talent that you all bring to the team. Ben's message on blazing a trail was right on the money, and well ahead of his time - to see so much maturity and instinct for teaching in someone fresh out of high school is extremely encouraging, and I think we all learnt something from what you had to say...

...Just as University life is a transition of responsibility academically, I'm sure you'll all be challenged spiritually along the way also. The difference this time, as Blake mentioned in his sermon, is that you've got to stand on your own two feet and be responsible for your own faith. So I'd encourage any young adult coming out of VCE to really have a good think about what they believe and more importantly why they believe it.

There's a lot of Generation Y bagging that goes on these days, but I would defy anyone to say that the up and coming York St young adults are a lost generation. You're talented, energetic, eager and willing to serve. I'm personally very excited for the future of the church because I'm certain it's in very capable hands. Congratulations on all you've achieved through the past 13 years at school, it's a hard slog - but it's only just the first steps to more exciting things that God has in store for your life. We all wish you all the very best for your future endeavours, and hope that a piece of you stays at York St wherever the future may take you!"

There is access to the podcasts on our website under the sermons/messages section if you are interested in an audio version of any of these services.

ALL I HAVE IS YOURS - STEWARDSHIP

2009-10-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I missed hearing Blake's sermon on discipleship 2 Sundays ago. After reading his notes, I would encourage anyone to get the audio version of the service. If you'd like to comment on this or any other sermon, please feel free to do so!

However, this Sunday, Tim shared on our core value – STEWARDSHIP. It was a fantastic sermon. In Genesis God gave us full reign of the earth. In light of the way the world is today, it makes me wonder what kind of “care” we have taken of the gift that God has given us. Even beyond stewarding the world well, Tim challenged us to steward our finances, our resources/gifts/ time, and talents as well.

Money should not just be carelessly “thrown” into the offering plate when passing by, but given with thought and preparation – asking the Lord. Nobody should tell you what or how to give. God doesn’t need your money….so most of all do not give out of guilt. There is a Biblical principle of giving 10% of your first fruits (Num 18:26) but the ultimate decision is between you and God. Keep in mind tithing involves sacrifice (remember the story of the widow’s offering – Mark 12:41!)

Stewarding our “resources/gifts/time/talents” can be as simple as volunteering your time to help out with kids church, offering to help with preparing food for events, serving on the music worship team, serving Communion, etc. There are many ways that we can give back to God. The most important thing to remember is to be listening to what He is asking of you – and to DO it!

Be faithful in your generosity and God will bless you.
1 Cor: 9

⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written:
"He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever."^a]">[a] ¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

¹²This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. ¹³Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Unity Among Us!

2009-10-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry this has been posted late - I've been a bit busy. I'm hoping to get this all back on schedule soon - so that you can read "up to date info" This is from 4 Oct Service...

What a week it’s been! It has been a flurry of activity. There have been lots of joys, and a few sorrows in our family as well. This week we got word that Lisa Fisher (who used to co-run our youth programs) past away in the dust storms in Sydney. It wasn’t an easy piece of news to digest. Along with that we got word that one of our members Janine Brookshaw was in critical condition in the hospital after being crushed by a car, and just this morning she passed away. Please keep the family and friends of these women in your prayers as they grieve. On top of that, as you may know, there have been terrible disasters with the tsunamis that have hit the pacific region. What tragedy.

But today we can also rejoice! There are 2 new “lives” to celebrate – two new babies. The Huf family welcomed a 4th baby on Monday 28/Sept to their family named Sophie Grace. A few days later on Thursday the 1st of Oct, The Moores also welcomed a 4th child to their clan by the name of Ezekiel Ben. Both babies (and mummies) are healthy and well!

This week Tim continued to focus on our core values with an emphasis on UNITY. Many of our core foundations were based directly from this principle. In order to work together and grow together as a family, we need to work through our issues of unity. Disunity is a tool that the enemy loves to use to tear churches apart. Tim advocated that we be on guard, and proactively seek unity among one another.

In Eph 4 Paul encourages the church to: “…be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
He goes on to share how we each have our different roles to play, but the bond of peace is essential.

I was thinking how amazing it was that this week we were faced with so many ups and downs - trials and joys. Nothing brings a family closer together than experiences like these. God is already doing a new thing among us in creating a bond of peace - bringing us closer together, making us stronger, and for this we can only rejoice!

RETRO WORSHIP NIGHT!

2009-10-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

“the retro was a hoot , dressing up getting into the theme was a big plus. In amongst all those great old songs was a real sense of worship through the music and that is what is most important, it was great looking out at the congregation seeing people really engaging” Leigh Zeuschner .

This was the second Retro Worship night at Yorkie. And what momentum it has now! Some of the congregation dressed up as well as the band. The most prevailing thing was that using old favourite songs added to a new way of worshipping. The worship team, and the congregation together had fun and worshipped. God is not interested in the style or method of worship, He is interested in any form of worship in spirit and truth! I hope to see you all there at the same time next year! Sarah Barlow

Extending Outside Our Doors

2009-09-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

In the last 2 weeks, we have gone on a journey to gain a further understanding of our vision and purpose as a church. Last Sunday Tim reminded us of our mission, that we were encouraged to be God’s mouthpiece, His hands and His feet within our community. The service was geared to encourage you to get involved in the lives of those around you, and I believe that many were challenged to do so! Here’s an excerpt that someone wrote from the 6pm service 2 weeks ago, with regards to the service.

“Sunday night was such an incredible time of worship and refocussing on our purpose in this world. I remember as a teenager the burning question which drew me towards God - "Why am I here?". The answer I found at age 16 is still as relevant all these years later..... I am here to be loved by my Father and to love Him and the world around me.

Tim's message fanned the flame once more for mission, and the worship team provided an avenue to make that commitment to God. I felt we were all part of the worship, not just observers.

As we sang "You Said" I had the feeling God was showing me that taking his love out into the world can mean both leaving the comfort of our homes and our culture, but it can also mean ministering to those God brings into our lives. We should be prepared to do both. Reaching out across cultures and lifestyles can be as easy as spending time helping new residents from overseas get settled into our community. It can also mean reaching out across oceans and continents to touch the lives of those our Father's heart aches for. Whatever it means for each of us, it will always mean stepping out of the comfortable view of Church and worship”

This past Sunday, Tim took time to go into more depth about our core values. (see the Vine) Also, there was a “retro” worship night for those that attended in the evening, taking people back to well loved worship pieces of the past.

Photos to come...

Welcome!

2009-09-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to York St's first journal ALL ABOUT LIFE!

Thank you for stopping by.

Our intention for this blog is to create a space where our church family and friends can be enriched and encouraged by the stories of faith in our "everyday lives". God is moving and doing new things in each of us, and it is wonderful to celebrate His goodness, and be challenged to invite Him into every part of our lives.

Also, many times our family is away traveling, sick, or unable to attend, and this can be an easy way to keep us all in the loop.

To start:
This blog will recap our Sunday services every week and give an overview of the focus of those services, from a personal point of view.

We will also share stories and comments from the congregation who wish to share of what God is doing in our lives. (by permission only)

I invite you to submit stories that can be put on here as well!

This is NOT a gossip column, an advertising space, or a space to share prayer requests as we wish to keep these requests confidential.

Every story or entry will have to be submitted to yorkstreetlife@gmail.com and approved before it will be posted.

Let's celebrate life together!

Happy Reading!

"Jesus came that we might have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10