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Issue 2.2 March 2011

SQUARE 1PITTWATER UNITING CHURCH

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind.Matthew 22:37

dream to have a great job and work hard, be a good person, own your own home, have a nice family or maybe you have stopped holding onto a personal vision because you feel the reality of life has smacked you down.Jesus is alive and offers us a different way of grounding our life. The Christian life is all about being like Jesus. God makes this likeness possible. The simple reason for this is that no ideal or person can compare to Jesus because he is God. The Scriptures tell us “God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.” (Romans 8:29, The Message)Maybe its time to embrace the reality of who Jesus is and what vision he has for your life. After all, he is about YOU living life to the fullest.

Nige

To suggest that my son Harrison and I love cricket is an understatement! We talk like a couple of nerds about all things to do with the game. Recently I had to take Harrison to a doctor’s appointment and during the consultation the topic soon moved to cricket. It appeared that the doctor was just as mad about it as we were. In the course of the conversation the doctor asked Harrison which cricketer he wanted to be like. Without missing a beat Harrison shrugged his shoulders and said “I think I just want to be like myself ”. The doctor and I both raised our eyebrows at the innocent wisdom of his answer. Following this the doctor told Harrison he wanted to be like Batman! It seems that it’s part of the human condition to want to be like someone else, even superheroes. Ironically as I sit in my favorite coffee shop writing this there is a Foo Fighter’s song blaring from the radio with the key line “there goes my hero”. Who are the heroes that you seek to be like? What kind of vision or dreams drives what you want your life to look like? Perhaps it is the

PERSPECTIVEthat the people ahead would be spared. Then it ended.I still daily ponder the dream in my heart. What was the Lord saying to me? Lots of things have already become real and true to me and no doubt He will continue to reveal more in His time. Was it about praying longer, more often, more purposefully and with more faith? I think it probably was. Was it also a ‘heads up’ for a rough season ahead? I feel it may well be that as well. Was it to do with yet another natural disaster? What isn’t quite so obvious but what I think God is saying to me (and us) for now is this; a personal dependency on Him and an intimacy with Him, through prayer, devotion to the Scriptures, worship and so on is what anchors us, no matter what the size of the body of water or the enormity of the circumstances we find ourselves in. Whether we currently need a little anchor for the calm rivers and estuaries of the peaceful times or the enormous anchor needed for a raging ocean storm – He will be that anchor for those that really know Him. The times that I make to just seek after Him, to encounter His presence and to know His ways – that is my anchor.

Fiona Blair

Anchors in the stormMy son Harry was born in the early hours of January 18, 2001. Exactly 10 years later, again in the early morning hours, the Lord gave me a dream. I’m not normally a spiritual dreamer but this was unmistakable. It began with me, Mike (my husband) and my Dad getting into a vehicle that seemed like a car but morphed into a boat, saying goodbye to the kids and my Mum and heading off to a destination unknown. Within a few moments I looked to my right and saw the most enormous wave of fierce, black, trembling water rise up like a massive raging wall, so close that I could reach out and touch it, and so high that it was out of all earthly proportion. Then I saw the same thing on my left. I gasped for air at the enormity of the wave but actually wasn’t a bit frightened and just knew that all three of us needed to pray. So we did. We prayed for some time and the waves stayed parted, we rode high, dry and steady on the water – not even a drop of spray on us. Then up ahead I saw what appeared to be dry ground. It was a long straight road with lots of people around. As we continued to move forward we knew that the water was headed for the people but still we continued to pray, certain

DEVOTED

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WHAT’S ONNeighbours” in Zimbabwe. Jarrod brought along to Revolve and PBN his offering of $326 in a plastic jug that he called “the jug of love”.

I’m humbled by Jarrod’s heart to bless others and his attitude toward material things. He is a devoted follower of Jesus and he gets how to live that out in practical ways. I’m so grateful that it’s not really spectacular programs and activities that disciple and transform us, it’s each other. Thanks Jarrod! Thanks God!

Fiona Blair

At PBN a couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of introducing Jarrod Watts who is a year 8 student at Pittwater High School. He is a regular at Revolve Youth and is a young man whose life has been impacted by Jesus.

At PBN he shared about the way the Holy Spirit had led him to do something profound as part of his 13th birthday celebrations. Jarrod asked his family and friends to give him money instead of presents for his birthday. Jarrod took all the money he received for his birthday and gave it to the work of “Our

TESTIMONY

MARCH

26 Paintball ... Golf ... Slow Food Eveningregister in the foyer or email Ghafur on [email protected]

Action

at PUC we seek to develop a Good News culture, part of which requires reading the Scriptures. Integrate - The Challenge is designed to help you with this. So take the challenge today by going to www.pittwaterchurch.org and click on the ‘Blog’ tab.

We would love to hear from YOU!If you would like to share a testimony of what God is doing in your life of the lives of those around you, please email us at [email protected] so that we can put it on the PUC blog or in Square 1.

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1Table Tennis, 9am at New Life Sport & Fitness Centre

Jacaranda CAFE

Life Central, 7:30pm, in the Jacaranda Room

2Playhouse Kids

Jacaranda Enriching Life

PUC United in Prayer

Breakfast & Prayer 6:30-8am, in the chapel

3Jacaranda CAFE

Womens Multisport

4KUCA

Launch Mob

Revolve Youth

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6 Worship Services @ 8.15am & 10am; – Preacher: Cliff Powell

6.30pm – Q&A Panel “Does God heal today?”

7Playhouse Kids


Table Tennis, 9am at New Life Sport & Fitness Centre



Nursing Home Ministry - Avalon House

9Playhouse Kids



Senior Leadership Team Executive Meeting.

10MOPS

Jacaranda CAFE

Womens Multisport

11KUCA

Launch Mob

Revolve Youth

Deadline for inclusions in next Square 1

12

13Worship Services @ 8.15am; 10am; 6.30pm – Preacher: Nigel Rogers

14Playhouse Kids




Jacaranda CAFE


16Playhouse Kids



17 18KUCA

Launch Mob

Revolve Youth

Nursing Home Ministry - Bayview NH

19Nursing Home Ministry - War Vets Collaroy

20Worship Services @ 8.15am; 10am; 6.30pm – Preacher: Steve Everist

Nigel Preaching at Avalon Uniting Church, 9am

21Playhouse Kids




Jacaranda CAFE


NH Min - Avalon House

23Playhouse Kids



24MOPS

25KUCA

Launch Mob

Revolve Youth

26Men: “Action Man” day

27 Worship Services @ 8.15am; 10am; 6.30pm – Preacher: Nigel Rogers

Children’s Service and Family Picnic

Commissioning Service for Fiona Blair

28Playhouse Kids




Jacaranda CAFE


30Playhouse Kids



31Jacaranda CAFE

March

Coming up... March• PUC United in Prayer, March 2.

• Men: Paintball, Golf & Slow Food Evening, March 26.

• Children’s Service and Family Picnic, March 27.

April• Shimmer Retreat, April 1-3.• Martin Barrow will be speaking about “Our Neighbours” ministry at all Sunday services, April 3.

• Maundy Thursday Service, April 21.

• Good Friday Service, April 22

• Easter Sunday Services, April 24

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COMING UPof Christ as it plays out locally, nationally and globally.

Make sure you get Integrated this year at PUC.

PrayerWe seek to ensure that prayer is central in the life of the church by encouraging more people to engage in prayer. We seek to pray for more people in our congregation and our wider community.

Opportunities to pray for others: Staff prayer times on Monday; Prayer breakfast Wednesday mornings 6:30-8:00 am in the chapel; Praying over congregations prayer requests (including blue slips) Thursday 9am; United in Prayer – congregation gathers to pray for revival first Wednesday evening of each month in the chapel.

There are also opportunities to receive prayer: after each Sunday service; in Life Groups and ministry teams; by request to pastoral staff; and the Pittwater Healing Centre Saturday afternoons at 2pm.

Children Our vision is equip children to have their very own walk in Christ, starting NOW, that will last them a lifetime. We aim to let them know that they are never too young to engage with God and that Jesus can and wants to be their friend.

SundaysCubbyhouse kids, ages 0-3s & Treehouse kids, 3-5s, meet in the Basement, 10am. Clubhouse Kids, grades K-6, start with parents in church.

WorshipOn Sundays in the month of March, we will be looking at:

March 6: Matthew 17:1-9 March 13: Matthew 4:1-11March 20: John 3:1-17March 27: John 4:5-42

Life GroupsIn 2011 and beyond the small groups at PUC will be known as Life Groups. We hope to see at least 75% of people who belong to PUC engaged in a Life Group in some way this year. There are a lot of different types and times for Life Groups so there is bound to be one that suits you. One of the new initiatives for 2011 is Life Central. This will be a weekly gathering on Tuesday nights 7.30pm in the Jacaranda Room and will be run by Ps. Ric Bollen. Life Central is for anyone new to PUC or for those who are seeking to get plugged into a Life Group.

IntegrateIn 2011 we will be continuing to run the three Integrate Modules which proved so popular last year. The Engage Module which focuses on what we believe as a Church will run at Life Central during March and is going to be developed in a portable form so that it can be covered in Life Groups. The Grow Module will run for five Tuesday nights in May. We will be offering this module in an elective format where people can choose one of a number of subjects which are all aimed at growing faith in Christ. The Go Module will run later in the year with the focus continuing to be on equipping people with an understanding and capacity for participating in the Mission

MOPSMothers of Preschoolers is an outreach ministry of PUC that enables mums with children who are 0-5 years old to have some time out & opportunity to have some real sharing with other women in the same stage of life (incl. morning tea/listen to a talk/ discussion groups/ creative activity) whilst the children are lovingly cared for in the MOPPETS program.

MOPPETS is the children’s program and it is separated into 2 groups; 0-18 months & 18 months - 5 years.

Fortnightly Thursdays, 9:30-11:30am in the church foyer.

Jacaranda Enriching LifeThe vision for this ministry is to provide a caring environment where we enable the elderly and disabled members of our community to develop social relationships and engage in purposeful community activities.

Jacaranda Respite meets Mondays and Wednesdays 10am-2:30pm, in the Jacaranda room.

Jacaranda CAFE is on various Tuesdays and Thursdays, according to bookings made by different groups. Check out the calendar on pages 6 & 7 for bookings.

Nursing Home Ministryvisits local nursing homes throughout the week and some weekends. The elderly enjoy this time with all ages including children, youth, adults and seniors.

WeekdaysPlayhouse kids (play groups), ages 0-5s having fun and parents engaging with each other. Monday and Wednesday mornings, 9.30–11.30am in the Basement.

KUCA, grades 3-5, Begins in the New Life Sport & Fitness Centre — finishes outside Kidz Zone (next to the Basement). Cost $5. Fridays, 4.30–6.30pm.

Launch MobA brand new, three-strand program for year six students starting in 2011. This program will develop an authentic experience of God ensuring firm biblical foundations in the context of a sceptical society. Fridays, 4:30-6:30pm in the chapel.

Revolve YouthRevolve Youth is our ministry to young people here at PUC headed up by an awesome team of committed and passionate leaders. We exist to have our lives revolve around Jesus and point other young people to this rich, exciting and powerful reality. Revolve Youth is on Friday nights, 7.30pm - 9.00pm.

MenPUC Men is about guys engaging with each other so they can share life, grow faith in Christ rather than ourselves and get into the things that God does in our community and world.

Shimmer Women’s MinistryInspiring women to reflect God’s heart, and releasing His radiance, beauty and power in our lives to change our world.

For more info, go to www.pittwaterchurch.org, into the church foyer or ring the church office

COMING UP

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NOTICE BOARD

Our Neighbours

Martin Barrow, director and

founder of ‘Our Neighbours’

ministry in Zimbabwe is coming

to Australia!

He’ll be sharing at PUC on

Sunday, April 3.

PUC Sermon Podcasts are podcasted every week. To subscribe visit www.pittwaterchurch.org and click on the “Pod Cast” link.

For SaleKeyboard and sustain pedal

CTK - 811ex 61 full size keys with touch response,

synthesizer function, speaker

system and more, $150. Cover

and stand included. If interested please ring Helen

on 0421 278 707.

Finance Update:

We received $32,045.15 in offerings for the

month of February, which was a little behind our

budgeted offerings of $37,350.00 for the month.

Our total offerings for the current financial year to

February 28, 2011 are $270,564.19 compared

to budgeted offerings of $298,800.00. We

are currently $28,235.81 (9.5%) behind in our

budgeted offerings for the financial year.

We have four months left to the end of financial

year June 30, 2011 and it would be great if we

could all participate in catching up on all or some

of our shortfall in offerings.

All other financial activities of the church are

operating within budget expectations to date.

Matt Gleeson

Why do we give?Here at PUC we give financially and of our time and energy so that we can share in Christ’s mission. In doing so we are always seeking to see people reconciled to God.

How?At PUC you can give in 3 ways:

• Credit Card

• Direct Deposit (Netbank)

• Money/cheque in the offering bag.

• Online. Find it on our website under “Services”

Tithes & offeringsOpportunities to contribute financially to needs both locally and globally are often publicised through our church. These gifts are to be in addition to, not instead of, our weekly financial tithe commitment to the mission of our church.

Giving

Need a babysitter?Katie Marshall, our very lovely Children’s Worker, is available for casual babysitting.

Give her a call on 0406 767 176 if you are interested.

Aged Care WorkshopsContinuing again this year bi-monthly in the Jacaranda Room 9 am-12.30pm commencing on February 26. These are to encourage and empower those who are either ministering to, or wish to minister to the frail aged. It is a time of networking with our brothers and sisters from other churches and sharing our vision together.

For bookings ring Helen on 0421 278 707 or email [email protected] Helpers and prayers needed.

Needs at PBN:* Powerpoint operators

* Coffee baristas

Please contact the church office if you would like to

serve in either way!

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Sunday WorshipChapel Service, 8.15am • 10am Service

• PBN Service, 6.30pm

Church contacts 9997 2386

Rev. Nigel Rogers 0411 133 389 Senior Minister

Rev. Steve Everist 0431 677 846 Minister

Ps. Ric Bollen 0410 496 718 Pastor

Fiona Blair 9997 2386 Youth Missions Pastor

Katie Marshall 0406 767 176 Children’s Worker

Lexi Oldenburg 9997 2386 Office Administrator

Esther Durham 9997 2386 Awesome Office Person

Ken Hedstrom 0432 996 027 Caretaker

New Life Sport & Fitness Centre

Deb Everist 9997 2386 Sport & Fitness Centre Coordinator

David Vaealiki 0437 220 318 Personalised Group Training Coordinator

Jacaranda Enriching Life Ministries

Jacaranda Respite 9979 4299 CAFÉ Jacaranda 9999 1217

10 Jubilee Ave, Warriewood, 2102

PO Box 63, Mona Vale NSW 1660

Phone: 9997 2386 Fax: 9997 8770 [email protected]

information and podcasts www.pittwaterchurch.org

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