BIRTHDAY GIFTS FOR JESUS - BAPTISM AND YOUTH SERVICE

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

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

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