october / november 2010 edition

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October/November

twentyten

the world is waiting...

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It’s so great that you’re a par t of our Sunday celebration service. As we celebrate Jesus today, we pray that you feel right a t home. We would love for you to join us in the “Meeting Place” after our morning service for a cuppa so we can enjoy some great coffee and connection!

WELCOME

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WELCOMEPsalm 119 contains 176 verses and every one of them contains a reference to God’s Word. Commandments, ordinances, instructions, precepts, statutes, judge-ments are just some of the words used to refer to what God requires of his human creation.

For anyone who wants to live a successful , productive li fe that is fulfilling and God-honouring, i t ’s excit ing to know that such great wisdom is contained in not only this psalm but the entire Bible.

Many people get their advice from the soapies, advice columns or fr iends; which may or may not be helpful , however the best counsel comes from the Word of God.

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” This is a well known and powerful scripture. When making any decisions switch on the lamp of the Word to examine that decision in the light of what God thinks .

Psalm 121:1”I will li ft up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help.” The Psalmist ’s help does not come from the hills , but verse 2 says “my help comes from the Lord.”

Our lives are full of challenges and distractions but we must learn to focus on where our help comes from or we will be subject to the circumstances and vagaries of li fe .

I pray for you a li fe filled with blessing, but I am wise enough to realise that some-times blessings come disguised as problems. Don’t focus on these problems but focus on the God who can see you through to a li fe of victory and achievement .

May your li fe be filled with opportunit ies to prove God’s faithfulness and thereby grow closer to our loving Heavenly Father .

In His love.

PASTORS ROB AND DENISE

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CONTENTSNEWS // p.6

FAMILY LIFE

FEATURE // p.14

p.6 October / November Bir thdaysp.8 Church Life

p.14 A Life Surrenderedp.20 Change Begins Here // Extreme 2010 Reflection

p.24 Journal Readingsp.26 MCF Calendar // October & November

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NEWS // p.6

FAMILY LIFE

p.14 A Life Surrenderedp.20 Change Begins Here // Extreme 2010 Reflection

NEWSSYMPATHYMackay Christ ian Family Church extend to Jo Alexander and her family our heartfelt condolences on the loss of their husband, father and grandfather, Stewart . Please continue to pray for Jo and give her your love and sup-port as she walks through this sad t ime.

CONGRATULATIONSI t ’s with great pleasure that we congratulate Dannielle Kerrigan and Ben Croker on their recent Engagement . Ben proposed to Danielle on Hamilton Is land on Friday September 17th. We pray your engagement period will be joyful and excit ing as you plan your future together .

We pray your

day will be

full of joy and

blessings!

October/NovemberBirthdays!October Birthdays1/10 Ps Rob Booth-Jones, Zachariah Rosmalen3/10 Jill Pronger, Priscilla Lister8/10 Bethan Steane, Tegan Zimmerman9/10 Darcy O’Riely12/10 Catrina Lawrence13/10 Kathy Welby19/10 Ruth Bell22/10 Naomi Watson25/01 Earl Winterstein, Hannah Watson, Nathan Dickerson, Keeley Dixon29/10 Elaina Robertson30/10 Zoe Daramola31/10 Hope Gately, Rebecca Woodworth

November Birthdays1/11 Inge Cain2/11 Kerry Brannan3/11 Lee Ahern, David Jenvey, Milly Hyatt4/11 Wayne Aprato, David Serginson9/11 Suzanne Blignaut, Josh Corino, Spencer Radford10/11 Peter Chand11/11 Lily Ritchings12/11 Rachel Quilliam14/11 Laura Ellul16/11 Cheryl Vigliante, Tyler Litt le17/11 Alyssa Woodward20/11 Coral Thomas21/11 Denise MacDonald, Richard Fehring, Lacey Fry24/11 Christ ian Leon25/11 Tania Butt le28/11 Dannielle Kerrigan, Jemiah Robertson29/11 Carol Capper6

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Sunday 5th December 2010 @ 6:30pm

We are looking for singers, dancers, actors, production crew, people wanting to have fun!

Christmas Spectacular 2010 Rehearsal ScheduleSaturday 9th October 9:30am-2pm Saturday 16th October 9:30am-2pmSaturday 23st October 9:30am-2pmSaturday 30th October 9:30am-2pmSaturday 6th November 9:30am-2pmSaturday 13th November 9:30am-2pm Saturday 20th November 9:30am- 12:30pm (Schoolies)Saturday 27th November 12pm-3:30pm (Schoolies)Wednesday 1st December 6:30pm-9pm (If needed)Saturday 4th December 10am- 5:30pm(Dress and technical rehearsal)Sunday 5th December- Rehearsal 2pm-5pm Performance 6:30pm-8:30pm

CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR 2011

For more information see Amber Clark8

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By Pastor Jill HyattcellsCARE

“ARE YOU READY TO WIN A MILLION DOLLARS? NO! How about Fish and Chips then?” That was the cry heard as we played off on our Moment to Conquer evening for our Father’s Day Celebration night . I t was heaps of fun. You didn’t need to be too smart, just clever enough to roll a biscuit down your face and into your mouth or flick a broom to hit a plate and toss a marshmallow in the air and catch said marshmallow in a mug. Yes, i t was great fun and the winners took home a $100 voucher for fish and chips and then shared a meal together . I f you missed out on celebrating with us, book it in now for Father’s Day date next year - i t will only get better!

Care cells are making a difference and I need to let all our leaders know that in 4th term we are running Care Cell Leaders Train-ing star ting on the 9th of October. Check with your leader if you think this is for you.

God Bless You Ps J ill

LAUGHTER DOES YOUR HEART GOOD LIKE MEDICINE

OCTOBER: 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th

NOVEMBER: 6th, 13thCCLT

TRAINING DATES

Our children are like li t t le sponges, they soak up everything they see and hear. Not only do they learn from us but we can learn from them. They like to colour outside the lines – when is the last t ime you thought out of the box? They don’t enjoy losing – when is the last t ime you knocked and knocked on God’s door? They are always hungry – when were you last hungry for more of God, and not what He can do for you? They are free to cry – when was the last t ime you cried out to God? And best of all chil-dren forgive quickly . Enjoy every moment of your children and every season the y go through. The y are truly a very very precious gift from God for us to train and then give back to Him for Kingdom business.

We are coming up to the end of the year where our children will be busy preparing for something special to share with you in church. Please be aware that in November things will be a bit different and your assistance may be required, but i t will be all worth-while .

KIDZ

By Cheryl Greer

Recently a group of leaders from our Children’s Ministry team went down to cold Melbourne to a children’s conference and were inspired and challenged with the wonderful messages given. Nathan Mclean was one of the speakers and he shared that if you faithfully use what is in your hand, God will fulfil your dreams. Now I know he was talking about working in children’s ministry but i t also means that for me and my husband who have been given 3 beautiful children, we are to nurture, love, discipline and raise them according to God’s direction. This is what is in our hands right now! Raising chil-dren is not always going to be a bed of roses, but it is our responsi-bility to train them to the best of our ability.

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THEY’REWORTH IT.

“Enjoy every moment of your children and every season they go through. They are truly a very very precious gift from God...”

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September sure has been a jam-packed month for our Young Adults! With a Youth Alive Rally, Faylene Sparks, Synergy and Extreme, God is do-ing some awesome stuff ! But, we don’t s low down after a busy month! We keep moving with what God is doing. So if you thought September was amazing, watch out because October will blow your socks off!

I f you’re 18+ and love young people and God, come and join the Red Frogs Schoolies Crew!We need chaplains to come and serve in Airlie Beach November 20th-27th.This is an awesome opportunity to reach the next generation of workers and uni students and do a mission tr ip in your own back-yard! We would love to see you there!To register, jump online at redfrogs.com.au and fill out an application, or for more info seeAmber Clark or call the church office.

RED FROG CREWWE WANT YOU!

THEY’REWORTH IT.

Coming up @ IGNITE!Oct 8 Bevan Litt leOct 15 Ps . DavidOct 22 Ps . SharrynOct 29 SOCIAL!! !

{HEARTS} OCTOBER!IGNITE

REV

I remember one day when I was ‘younger and invincible,’ my brothers and I had a brilliant idea to collect as many red, thick, post office rubber bands as we could over a period of a few weeks. Our plan was to collect hundreds of them and create a SUPER RUBBER BAND that would blow away all who looked upon its awesomeness . . .

The weeks went by, and one by one, we collected with enthu-siasm and with the end goal in mind hundreds of red rubber bands. Our plan was to t ie them all together, and then t ie i t to our street post and see how far we could walk back and cre-ate a whiplash that would penetrate through t ime itself . We stretched the band to what we thought was 800 metres (prob-ably more like 80m), and then we let go. The sound of the rubber band I can st ill hear, whist ling through the air at great speed, having no mercy for anyone who got in i ts way. Fortu-nately for us, we weren’t that dumb to make one of the broth-er’s stand at the street post to feel the effects of the contracting red rubber band, although it did go through all of our heads to send the youngest there. . .

At Revolut ion Youth, i t is our intention and brilliant idea to col-lect as many young people that we can find, and join them all together and stretch them and develop them to be like a rubber band. Not only will i t look amazing seeing so many people to-gether for one purpose but also for the major mark of whiplash that the devil is going to get . These next two months we will be imparting faith and generosity into our young people, stretch-ing them and developing them to be all the God has planned for them to be. Pray for our kids that the Holy Spirit would take them to a new revelation of who they are and who God is .

“The

se n

ext

two

mon

ths

we

wil

l be

im

part

ing

fait

h an

d ge

ner

osit

y in

to

our

you

ng

peop

le,

stre

tchi

ng

them

an

d de

velo

pin

g th

em t

o be

all

the

God

ha

s pl

ann

ed f

or t

hem

to

be”

THE RUBBER BAND REVOLUTION.

By Pastor Tim Spark

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REVOLUTION YOUTH is for anyone aged 12 – 18

years who wants to know more about God, have

fun and get the most out of life. Rev Youth meets every Friday night, 7 - 9pm in Faith Centre and Rev North

meets every Thursday afternoon during the school term at North High

Community Hall from 3 - 4:30pm. Cell groups run throughout the week on

Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night .

COMING UP @ REV FRIDAY NIGHTS OCTOBER8th - Ps Tim15th - Rev Senior/Rev Junior22nd - Ps Kat29th - “Minute to Win It”

NOVEMBER5th - Revolution and New Life Youth Unite12th - Rev Senior/Rev Junior19th - Revolution26th - So You Think You Can Preach

REV NORTH:Please see Mia Ellul for all Rev North activit ies

Rev North is our second campus of Revolut ion Youth. I f you would like to know more about Rev North or how to be involved in youth ministry, please see Ps Tim or Kat for informa-tion on how you can be involved.

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A LIFE SURRENDERED.

Let’s be honest, overseas travel is not for everyone. For some, i t ’s due to a fear of flying, for others i t ’s the overwhelming thought of organising flights, passports, vaccinations and items to pack etc . that makes you feel already exhausted. However for others i t ’s the financial factor, the amount of money that is required to travel and yet for some it ’s because there’s a deep desire to not be away from family . How-ever I think for the most part , overseas travel is s imply not everyone’s cup of tea. . . and that’s ok.

continued next page...

By Jen Booth-Jones

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A LIFE SURRENDERED.

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However, what would you do if God told you to sell your belongings and move to an unknown land with an unknown language and share his love amongst a people group for the rest of your li fe? I think it ’s safe to say that not all of us would respond with a resounding ‘Amen, ’ which then raises the question, ‘ is God’s word supreme over my dreams?’ In other words, will I profess that Christ is Lord of my whole li fe, yet st ill ex-pect to take turns at s i t t ing on the throne of my heart? Would I be prepared to do some-thing for Him even though I don’t understand why at the t ime? Am I fully surrendered?

Is God’s word supreme over my dreams?

Well , now it ’s my turn to be honest and say that this thought arrested me the whole t ime I was in Malaysia. Upon returning from doing the 9 week Global Evangelism Training in Malaysia with Tim, Kat & Mel, I realised as I looked through past journal entries I ’d made over recent months how every single journal entry carried a central theme which was – you guessed it , surrender. I realised in that moment how great God’s humour is and that whether it ’s through the Bible or through a billboard, God has this innate abili ty to challenge us to make huge changes through subtle or sometimes, very direct mes-sages! So for me, this challenging thought of, ‘How would I respond if God told me to work in a remote African village for the rest of my li fe?’ brought a lot of true colours and heart motives to the surface. Al-though I ’m not afraid to say that my desire is to not work in a remote village in Africa for the rest of my li fe (and I know without a shadow of a doubt that God knows that too!) I need to remember that God is God. If Jesus willingly laid down His li fe for me, than who am I to refuse Him mine? God’s the same God who gave Abraham his prom-ise in Isaac yet asked him to sacrifice that very promise. So although God’s methods don’t always make sense or comply with my desires, I think God likes to test us every now and then to see how truly sur-rendered we are and how much we truly love him! And you know what? He is an Almighty God – He’s allowed to!

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Recently when I was on Twitter I came across this quote by Pastor Danny Guglielmucci , “A li fe surrendered, leads to a li fe extended.” My first reaction was, “There it is AGAIN God – surrender!” Then as I read it again, the very depths of my being had this unbeliev-able peace. Just think about i t , when we live for God without any restraints or reservations, we find that our li fe has so much more purpose and meaning. We’re not living by own fallible understand-ings and plans but instead we are surrendering ourselves to a powerful , eternal God who can empower us to do mighty things for His glory.

“True surrender is letting go of what seems right and holding fast to what is truth...”

I t ’s crazy to think that i t was only four months ago when myself , Tim, Kat and Mel were all embarking on the journey of a li fet ime. As excited as we were, we knew there would be uncomfortable and challenging t imes ahead. We were going to be immersed in new culture; we had no idea of what our schedules would be and had no idea what God had in store either! However when we accepted the fact we couldn’t control our schedules, our environment and our lives, we began to simply embrace the ex-perience that God had for us in HIS plan which was far beyond our expectations .

Here’s some food for thought: True surrender is lett ing go of what seems right and holding fast to what is truth, and that is God, whom we should never be lett ing go of! So, whether you’re serving God in the nations or the neighbourhood, let ’s not cling to our schedules or to the safest option. I f you hold on to your li fe so dearly, you won’t be able to share the One who gave you li fe . However if you choose to live completely and ut-terly surrendered, get ready for the most excit ing, exhilarating and totally fulfilling journey of a li fet ime! I t ’s our all for His all ! Let ’s get going!

some pics of our journey...

How do I describe Extreme 2010? Months of planning, hours of preparation, countless hours of prayer, 4 nights, 3 days, 350 delegates, 4 amazing speakers and 50 brilliant volunteers and one God doing supernatural works beyond our wildest imaginations.

Youth and Young Adults from as far North as Thursday Is land, as far West as Blackwater and as far South as Gympie joined us here in Mackay for 4 nights and 3 days of Extreme to not only help us celebrate 10 years of Extreme, but to be changed by God. With top speakers from around Queensland and the USA, God showed up and brought nothing

By Catherine Murison

CHANGE BEGINS HERE.

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but His very best . God totally moved, changed, broke and moulded ev-ery single person at Extreme. With this year’s theme being “Unstoppable” God truly turned up and showed He is the Unstoppable God. We can’t box Him in, we can’t limit Him. He is limit less and if we allow Him to, He will do unbelievable things in our lives, in the lives of our family and our cit ies and communit ies . We already had great expectations for Extreme 2010, but as usual , God showed us up and had even greater things in store.

The church is about people and WE are the church, coming together to worship one God, with one voice, one spir i t , in unity as the body of Christ . We may come from all over the state, but we are one church serving the same God, just at different campuses. Extreme doesn’t end when the conference does, i t continues on when everybody has returned home because we’re equipped for the work that is st ill to be done. As everyone who has attended returns home, this is when the work begins, but praise God, He is Unstoppable.

Extreme 2010 was definitely one to remember, but without the help of our wonderful team and volunteers none of i t would be possible. We can’t thank you enough for the hours of hard work, s leepless nights, sweat and blisters you endured to make this conference possible.

With less than a month’s break, preparations will soon begin for Extreme 2011, God’s got more in store, so stay tuned!

“The church is about people and WE are the church, coming together to worship one God, with one voice, one spirit, in unity as the body of Christ.”

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Tithes and offerings can be paid via the internet .

Bank details for MCF are:Account number: 69481 8914BSB: 084 792

Please label your transfer with the appropriate t i t le so we can direct your money to the right area. eg. ‘ t i thes and offering’ , ‘Leroy sponsorship’ , or ‘missions’ etc .

Cheques should be made payable to Mackay Christ ian Family .

MCF BANK DETAILS

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1 Zech 10-12 / Ps 126 / Lk 14

2 Zech 13-14 / Ps 147 / Lk 15

3 Ezra 5-6 / Ps 138 / Lk 16

4 Est 1-2 / Ps 150 / Lk 17

5 Est 3-8 / Lk 18

6 Est 9-10 / Lk 19 / Ps 87

7 Ezra 7-8 / Lk 20 / Ps 112

8 Ezra 9-10 / Ps 131 / Lk 21

9 Neh 1-2 / Ps 133 / Lk 22

10 Neh 3-4 / Lk 23 / Ps 134

11 Neh 5-6 / Ps 146 / Lk 24

12 Neh 7-8 / Acts 1 / Ps 30

13 Neh 9-10 / Acts 2 / Ps 78

14 Neh 11-12 / Ps 1 / Acts 3

15 Neh 13 / Mal 1-2 / Acts 4

16 Mal 3-4 / Ps 148 / Acts 5

17 Job 1-2 / Acts 6-7

18 Job 3-4 / Acts 8-9

19 Job 5 / Ps 108 / Acts 10-11

20 Job 6-8 / Acts 12

21 Job 9-10 / Acts 13-14

22 Job 11-12 / Acts 15-16

23 Job 13-14 / Acts 17-18

24 Job 15 / Acts 19-20

25 Job 16 / Acts 21-23

26 Job 17 / Acts 24-26

27 Job 18 / Ps 114 / Acts 27-28

28 Job 19 / Mk 1-2

29 Job 20 / Mk 3-4

30 Job 21 / Mk 5-6

31 Job 22 / Mk 7-8

JOURNAL

OC

TO

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R R

EA

DIN

GS

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1 Ps 121 / Mk 9-10

2 Job 23-24 / Mk 11-12

3 Job 25 / Mk 13-14

4 Job 26-27 / Mk 15-16

5 Job 28-29 / Gal 1-2

6 Job 30 / Ps 120 / Gal 3-4

7 Job 31-32 / Gal 5-6

8 Job 33 / 1 Cor 1-3

9 Job 34 / 1 Cor 4-6

10 Job 35-36 / 1 Cor 7-8

11 Ps 122 / 1 Cor 9-11

12 Job 37-38 / 1 Cor 12

13 Job 39-40 / 1 Cor 13-14

14 Ps 149 / 1 Cor 15-16

15 Job 41-42 / 2 Cor 1-2

16 2 Cor 3-6

17 2 Cor 7-10

18 Ps 124 / 2 Cor 11-13

19 Mt 1-4

20 Mt 5-7

21 Mt 8-10

22 Mt 11-13

23 Mt 14-16

24 Mt 17-19

25 Mt 20-22

26 Mt 23-25

27 Ps 125 / Mt 26-27

28 Mt 28 / 1 Th 1-3

29 1 Th 4-5 / 2 Th 1-3

30 Rom 1-4

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT JOURNALLING OR HOW TO JOURNAL, VISIT: http://www.mcf .org.au/resources/journalling/

NOV

EM

BE

R R

EA

DIN

GS

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10th CELEBRATION SERVICE // 9:30am & 6pm*


* 5pm Powerhouse Prayer - be there!

22nd REV & IGNITE // 7pm & 7:30pm

3rd CELEBRATIONSERVICES9:30am & 6pm*

24thcelebration service9:30am & 6pm*

8th REV Yr 7-12 // IGNITE 18+7pm // 7:30pm


MCF Worship Team meets every Thursday night @ 6:30pm in the Faith CentreCare Cells meet during the week at various locations // For more info call 49631155

October

9th CCLT & Christmas Spectacular Rehearsal


23rd CCLT & Christmas Spectacular Rehearsal

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REV Yr 7-12 // IGNITE 18+7pm // 7:30pm


MCF Worship Team meets every Thursday night @ 6:30pm in the Faith CentreCare Cells meet during the week at various locations // For more info call 49631155

October November


23rd CCLT & Christmas Spectacular Rehearsal



19th REV & IGNITE // 7pm & 7:30pm

7th CELEBRATIONSERVICES9:30am & 6pm*

28thcelebration service9:30am & 6pm*

20th Christmas Spectacular Rehearsal



5th



21st CELEBRATION SERVICE // 9:30am & 6pm*

26th REV & IGNITE // 7pm & 7:30pm

27th Christmas Spectacular Rehearsal

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9 Quarry Street, North Mackay07 4963 1155www.mcf .org.au

CREATING HOPE ExPRESSING LOVE GIVING LIFE

SENIOR EDITOR // Denise Booth-Jones EDITORS // Mia Ellul, Tiana Fry SENIOR CO-ORDINATORS // Jen Booth-Jones, Maria Ellul, Katharine MacDonald CREATIVE DIRECTOR // Jen Booth-JonesOCTOBER/NOVEMBER CONTRIBUTORS // Jen Booth-Jones, Cheryl Greer, Jill Hyatt, Catherine Murison, Tim SparkFEATURED PHOTOGRAPHY // Jen Booth-Jones, Creativemyk.com, Madelyn Grace Photography, Catherine Woodworth

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october / november 2010 edition

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