WHAT’S
ON
APRIL
2015
Easter and Beyond
For the church, Easter is an
important and significant time, it
marks a celebration of the death
and resurrection of Jesus our
Saviour. We often call it the passion
of Jesus Christ, and it really is a
demonstartion of John 3:16-17 “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. For God did
not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the
world through him.”
The question for us as a church
and individually is, how do we live
out this Easter miracle of new life in
Jesus Christ? Does Easter make a
difference to the way you live your
life?
During April we will be focusing
on how Easter made a difference
in the disciples lives and the early
church as we look at the Acts of the
Apostles.
Blessings
Simon Lee
Lead Minister
WHAT’S ON:
April 2015
Sunday 5
Weekend Services
Easter Day
Communion Services | Cronulla
Friday 10
Daytime Group for Ladies
10am Cronulla
Sunday 12
Sunday 19
Weekend Services
Beyond Easter - Week 2
Church Council
2.30 pm Cronulla
NEWBeginnings Uniting
service times
Cronulla
9am
Traditional
10.30amModern
10.30am Kids Church
10.30am Sunday Youth
Sunday 26
South Cronulla
9.30amTraditional
Communion Service | Bundeena
Bundeena
9am
Traditional
Weekend Services
Beyond Easter - Week 3
Weekend Services
Beyond Easter - Week 1
Communion Service | Sth Cronulla
online giving
Tuesday 14
Tithes & Offerings
NEWBeginnings Uniting Church
BSB: 032-052
ACC: 29-1918
Men’s Group
11.30 am Cronulla
Wednesday 15
Women’s Fellowship
10 am Sth Cronulla
Talk Series in April
Beyond Easter
Our Latest talk series will focus
on how the disciples responded
to the events of Easter and how
the church was established as a
response to Easter.
New to NEWBeginnings
Cronulla Community Cafe
Every Wednesday
8.30am - 1pm
Free breakfast, lunch and food for
those in need
Here’s how to connect:
1. Fill out the connect card and
drop it in the offering bag or give to
one of the welcome team
2. Join a LIFE group to connect
with others
3. Join a serving team
connect online
You can connect with us online as
well. Check out the website at
www.nbu.org.au
We would like to resource you
for your christian walk, with study
resources from the LIFE groups,
past message series and videos.
NEW Beginnings Uniting Church
also has a Facebook page.
check back regularly for updates
and changes.
Radical
Effects of the
Resurrection
If in Christ we have hope in this
life only, we are of all people most
to be pitied. . . . Why are we in
danger every hour? 31 I protest,
brothers, by my pride in you, which
I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I
die every day! 32 What do I gain
if, humanly speaking, I fought with
beasts at Ephesus? If the dead
are not raised, “Let us eat and
drink, for tomorrow we die.” . . .
But in fact Christ has been raised
from the dead, the firstfruits of
those who have fallen asleep. (1
Corinthians 15:19, 30-32, 20)
Paul ponders how he would
assess his lifestyle if there were
no resurrection from the dead.
He says it would be ridiculous—
pitiable. The resurrection guided
and empowered him to do things
which would be ludicrous without
the hope of resurrection.
For example, Paul looks at all the
dangers he willingly faces. He says
they come “every hour.”
On frequent journeys, in danger
from rivers, danger from robbers,
danger from my own people,
danger from Gentiles, danger in
the city, danger in the wilderness,
danger at sea, danger from false
brothers. (2 Corinthians 11:26)
Then he considers the extent of his
self-denial and says, “I die every
day.” This is Paul’s experience
of what Jesus said in Luke 9:23,
“If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up
his cross daily and follow me.” I
take this to mean that there was
something pleasant that Paul had
to put to death every day. No day
was without the death of some
desire.
. . . with far greater labors, far more
imprisonments, with countless
beatings, and often near death. 24
Five times I received at the hands
of the Jews the forty lashes less
one. 25 Three times I was beaten
with rods. Once I was stoned.
Three times I was shipwrecked; a
night and a day I was adrift at sea
. . . 27 in toil and hardship, through
many a sleepless night, in hunger
and thirst, often without food, in
cold and exposure. 28 And, apart
from other things, there is the daily
pressure on me of my anxiety for
all the churches. (2 Corinthians
11:22-28)
Then he recalls that he “fought
with beasts at Ephesus.” We don’t
know what he is referring to. A
certain kind of opponent to the
gospel is called a beast in 2 Peter
1:10 and Jude 10. In any case, it
was utterly disheartening.
We do not want you to be ignorant,
brothers, of the affliction we
experienced in Asia. For we were
so utterly burdened beyond our
strength that we despaired of life
itself. (2 Corinthians 1:8)
So Paul concludes from his hourly
danger and his daily dying and his
fighting with beasts that the life
he has chosen in following Jesus
is foolish and pitiable if he will
not be raised from the dead. “If
in Christ we have hope in this life
only, we are of all people most to
be pitied.” In other words, only the
resurrection with Christ and the
joys of eternity can make sense
out of this suffering.
If death were the end of the
matter, he says, “Let us eat and
drink, for tomorrow we die.” This
doesn’t mean: Let’s all become
gluttons and drunkards. They are
pitiable too—with or without the
resurrection. He means: If there is
no resurrection, what makes sense
is middle-class moderation to
maximize earthly pleasures.
But that is not what Paul chooses.
He chooses suffering, because he
chooses obedience. When Ananias
came to him at his conversion with
the words from the Lord Jesus, “I
will show him how much he must
suffer for the sake of my name” (
Acts 9:16), Paul accepted this as
part of his calling. Suffer he must.
How could Paul do it? What
was the source of this radical
obedience? The answer is given
in 1 Corinthians 15:20: “But in fact
Christ has been raised from the
dead, the firstfruits of those who
have fallen asleep.” In other words,
Christ was raised, and I will be
raised with him. Therefore, nothing
suffered for Jesus is in vain (1
Corinthians 15:58).
The hope of the resurrection
radically changed the way Paul
lived. It freed him from materialism
and consumerism. It gave him
the power to go without things
that many people feel they must
have in this life. For example,
though he had the right to marry
(1 Corinthians 9:5), he renounced
that pleasure because he was
called to bear so much suffering.
This he did because of the
resurrection.
This is the way Jesus said
the hope of the resurrection is
supposed to change our behavior.
For example, he told us to invite to
our homes people who cannot pay
us back in this life. How are we to
be motivated to do this? “You will
be repaid at the resurrection of the
just” (Luke 14:14).
This is a radical call for us to look
hard at out present lives to see
if they are shaped by the hope
of the resurrection. Do we make
decisions on the basis of gain in
this world or gain in the next?
Radical Effects of the
Resurrection cont.
Do we take risks for love’s sake
that can only be explained as wise
if there is a resurrection?
Do we lose heart when our bodies
give way to the aging process, and
we have to admit that we will never
do certain things again. Or do we
look to the resurrection and take
heart?
We do not lose heart. Though our
outer self is wasting away, our
inner self is being renewed day
by day. For this light momentary
affliction is preparing for us an
eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparison. (2 Corinthians 4:16)
I pray that we will rededicate
ourselves during this Easter
season to a lifetime of letting
the resurrection have its radical
effects.
By John Piper. ©2015 Desiring
God Foundation.
Website: desiringGod.org
Quotes about the
Resurrections
“If Jesus rose from the dead,
then you have to accept all that
he said; if he didn’t rise from the
dead, then why worry about any of
what he said? The issue on which
everything hangs is not whether
or not you like his teaching but
whether or not he rose from the
dead.”
― Timothy Keller, The Reason for
God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
“The resurrection completes the
inauguration of God’s kingdom.
. . . It is the decisive event
demonstrating that God’s kingdom
really has been launched on earth
as it is in heaven.”
“The message of Easter is that
God’s new world has been unveiled
in Jesus Christ and that you’re now
invited to belong to it.”
― N.T. Wright
“Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, that he was
buried, that he was raised on the
third day.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)
“I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me, though he
die, yet shall he live, and everyone
who lives and believes in me shall
never die. Do you believe this?”
(John 11:25-26)
KIDS
CHURCH
Kids Church is continung to use the new curriculum in 2015, the curriculum
is provided by “reThink group” and has at its heart to equip kids from
kindergarten through primary school with basic truths. In fact, when a kid
transitions into high school, we want that child to have experienced and
own three basic truths modeled by Jesus in Luke 2:52
I need to make the wise choice.
I can trust God no matter what.
I should treat others the way I want to be treated.
These truths are reinforced each week through fun and challenging
activities but we do more than teaching three basic ideas. We also take kids
into the heart of God’s Big Story.
Kids Church is using the strategy that combines the critical influences of the
church and home to incite wonder, provoke discovery and fuel passion in
the hearts of the next generation.
This month Kids Church
will be focusing on
“PEACE”. Proving that
you care more about each
other than winning an
argument
As a part of the Kids
Church program parents
have access to material
online that will help them
embed the truth of the
message that is being
taught each week at
church. This is via the take home material and through the “Parent Cue”
app or via the web at studio252.tv. To access this please see Annette.
ministries:
Cronulla Community Cafe
Wednesday 8.30am - 1pm | Cronulla
Open for Breakfast and Lunch
If you would like to volunteer at the
cafe please contact the church office.
KidsChurch
Sunday 10.30am | Cronulla
For children in pre-school to year 6
SundayYouth
Sunday 10.30am | Cronulla
Year 7 and up
LIFE Groups
Wednesday 1pm | Cronulla
Bible Study
Tuesday 2.30pm | Sth Cronulla
Op Shop
Tuesday 10.30am | Bundeena
Second hand clothes and household
goods.
Women’s and Ladies Fellowships
2nd Wednesday and 2nd Friday of the
month
Wednesday 10am | Sth Cronulla
Friday 10am | Cronulla
Men’s Group
2nd Tuesday of the month
Tuesday 11.30am | Cronulla
Men’s Coffee/Breakfast
4th Saturday of the month
Saturday 8am | Soho Cafe, Cronulla
Contact info:
office
2-4 Gosport St, Cronulla
02 9544 1144
[email protected]
Rev Simon Lee | Lead Minister
[email protected]
Kathryn Wyndham | Student Minister
[email protected]
NEWBeginnings Uniting Church
[email protected] | nbu.org.au | 02 9544 1144
Leading people to become fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ