Newlife Anglican Church, Oran Park

With God on mission: Set Free to Live Free

The early Hebrews, living as slaves in Egypt, had known only a life of hardship, abuse, persecution and oppression. For four hundred years they were forced to build and prop up the Egyptian empire, working as slaves for more than 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. The severity of this persecution and maltreatment was so in-ground in their very being, that their worth was measured in their ability, (or lack thereof), to work - indelibly scarring the psyche of the people. The distant memory of a life in freedom was nothing more than a story. To liberate a people from this kind of oppression by force, (or miracle), is one thing - but how do you un-work the very real and lasting effects of the systematic subjugation and enslavement of an entire nation?

God starts by reminding them that they are His people, and that He is on their side. He alone has heard their cry and He alone has carried them on eagles wings out of slavery. He then gives them new words to live by, so that they would also remember who they were. He gives them words to remember that their worth is not measured in the quota of bricks that they could make. He reminds them that He is looking for a people to show the world his redeeming love.

It’s easy to see why our modern culture sometimes misses some of the major themes in the Bible. The Ten Commandments are often understood as how far short we fall from God’s standard - yet for the Hebrews, these powerful words essentially recalibrated their understanding of what it was to be human. The Ten Commandments reaffirmed that God has gone on ahead of them and is leading them into a new day, and that the moral arc of the Universe is bent towards justice and is on the side of the weak and the oppressed.

Join with the NewLife@10 service, as Lead Pastor Stuart Starr reveals that the Ten Commandments are reminders for us too, how we can carry right living and relationship with God and each other through our lives, and to remember the name of the Lord wherever we are.

 

[bible passage="Exodus 19" heading="h3"]

 

[bible passage="Exodus 20:1-12" heading="h3"]

With God on Mission: Holy Promise @Night

The people of the ancient world lived in the awareness that you were dependant on the “forces”. Your crops, health, well-being, tribe and family were all reliant on whether you were in favour of the gods - or not. This constant need to appease the gods came with a deep seeded sense of apprehension, uncertainness and anxiety, because how do you ever know where you stand with the gods? This is the story of humanity in the ancient world - an anxiety induced, cyclical world view that each generation lived in, generation after generation. Lead Pastor Stuart Starr takes us back thousands and thousands of years ago, inside the scriptures, into the period where humanity was set apart from each other in tribes and groups, and opens up remarkable story about a man called Abraham. 


Now, Abraham had many sons… and many sons had Father Abraham… and I am one of them… and so are you…… but before all of that - the story is flipped upside down. The story that we live in a cycle of anxiety and not knowing where we stand with the Divine, because this story shows us a God who provides. This story shows us a God who is mindful of man. This story reveals a God who enters space and time and hearts and shows us how to leave behind the world of anxiety and tension that we’ve been living in, and invites us into a whole new reality that He has already prepared.

Lead Pastor Stuart Starr takes us through Abraham’s awakening as he encounters God Almighty. Listen with the NewLife@Night service as Abraham’s whole story is flipped upside down, in the knowledge and understanding that God is on his side. See how God reveals his heart to Abraham and the truth that He is eagerly awaiting a people that will join him on mission. And trust that the same God is also already preparing something greater, more adventurous and exciting, just beyond the horizon in your own life, as we join with Him on Mission.

 

[bible passage="Genesis 12" heading="h3"]

 

[bible passage="Genesis 17" heading="h3"]

With God on Mission: Holy Promise

The people of the ancient world lived in the awareness that you were dependant on the “forces”. Your crops, health, well-being, tribe and family were all reliant on whether you were in favour of the gods - or not. This constant need to appease the gods came with a deep seeded sense of apprehension, uncertainness and anxiety, because how do you ever know where you stand with the gods? This is the story of humanity in the ancient world - an anxiety induced, cyclical world view that each generation lived in, generation after generation. Lead Pastor Stuart Starr takes us back thousands and thousands of years ago, inside the scriptures, into the period where humanity was set apart from each other in tribes and groups, and opens up remarkable story about a man called Abraham. 


Now, Abraham had many sons… and many sons had Father Abraham… and I am one of them… and so are you…… but before all of that - the story is flipped upside down. The story that we live in a cycle of anxiety and not knowing where we stand with the Divine, because this story shows us a God who provides. This story shows us a God who is mindful of man. This story reveals a God who enters space and time and hearts and shows us how to leave behind the world of anxiety and tension that we’ve been living in, and invites us into a whole new reality that He has already prepared.

Lead Pastor Stuart Starr takes us through Abraham’s awakening as he encounters God Almighty. Listen with the NewLife@10 service as Abraham’s whole story is flipped upside down, in the knowledge and understanding that God is on his side. See how God reveals his heart to Abraham and the truth that He is eagerly awaiting a people that will join him on mission. And trust that the same God is also already preparing something greater, more adventurous and exciting, just beyond the horizon in your own life, as we join with Him on Mission.

 

[bible passage="Genesis 12" heading="h3"]

 

[bible passage="Genesis 17" heading="h3"]

With God on Mission: The Language of The Kingdom @Night

If you look carefully through the Bible, there are certain stories and themes that crop up again and again. The Israelites had preserved and passed down these stories through their generations, to speak pictures and insight about who their God was and why they worshipped Him. They used beautiful imagery and metaphors to talk of a God who was for the powerless, on the side of the oppressed and was faithful to the faithful. So when our modern culture examines some of these stories, its good to have some understanding and acumen into what was going on at the time when these stories were actually written down. Senior Assistant Pastor Geoff Leader examines what is just below the surface and why our ancient ancestors found this story so important and worth passing on.

At the time of this story, people lived in small gatherings called tribes. Your tribes power and influence came from the size and wealth it had accrued, which was measured in cattle, livestock and possessions. Now, if your tribe was larger than a neighbouring tribe, then the neighbouring tribe would pay tribute or tithe, or risk being attacked, pillaged or even wiped off the face of the earth. Your very survival was based on how well you amassed wealth and power. If you read this story as only as story, you could assume God didn’t like the way his people were becoming more and more inward, becoming proud and powerful and even godlike, so he comes down and confuses their language and disrupts the whole forward momentum of mankind. If you only read the story of the Tower of Babel as just a story, you would miss one of the central themes to the whole Bible.

Senior Assistant Pastor Geoff Leader shows us that inside the story, there is a growing awareness and concern that there is a higher good for humanity than simply the strong dominating the weak, the powerful crushing the powerless and the proud raising themselves up to godlike status. Imagine travelling to see a tower like this - imagine seeing the technological superiority of a nation that at any second could use that technology to crush you.

The story of the Tower of Babel has enduring power because of its reminder that we’re building the world. We’re creating something. We’re doing something with our minds and energies and money and technology. And what we’re doing, with fossil fuels and nuclear bombs and poisoned water sources and factories belching smoke into the air is threatening the future of the world. We have tremendous capacity to invent and innovate and create, and that power can be used for good - to care for each other and the world. And it can be used in destructive ways to oppress and dehumanise others.

Join with the NewLife@Night service, as Geoff reveals how the story of the Tower of Babel is less about an ancient people, and more about what is happening right now - and listen as we see the mode and the language and that the Kingdom of God is bigger, more accepting and expansive than anything that we could build with our own hands.

 

[bible passage="Genesis 9:1-17, Genesis 11:1-9" heading="h3"]

With God on Mission: The Language of The Kingdom

If you look carefully through the Bible, there are certain stories and themes that crop up again and again. The Israelites had preserved and passed down these stories through their generations, to speak pictures and insight about who their God was and why they worshipped Him. They used beautiful imagery and metaphors to talk of a God who was for the powerless, on the side of the oppressed and was faithful to the faithful. So when our modern culture examines some of these stories, its good to have some understanding and acumen into what was going on at the time when these stories were actually written down. Senior Assistant Pastor Geoff Leader examines what is just below the surface and why our ancient ancestors found this story so important and worth passing on.

At the time of this story, people lived in small gatherings called tribes. Your tribes power and influence came from the size and wealth it had accrued, which was measured in cattle, livestock and possessions. Now, if your tribe was larger than a neighbouring tribe, then the neighbouring tribe would pay tribute or tithe, or risk being attacked, pillaged or even wiped off the face of the earth. Your very survival was based on how well you amassed wealth and power. If you read this story as only as story, you could assume God didn’t like the way his people were becoming more and more inward, becoming proud and powerful and even godlike, so he comes down and confuses their language and disrupts the whole forward momentum of mankind. If you only read the story of the Tower of Babel as just a story, you would miss one of the central themes to the whole Bible.

Senior Assistant Pastor Geoff Leader shows us that inside the story, there is a growing awareness and concern that there is a higher good for humanity than simply the strong dominating the weak, the powerful crushing the powerless and the proud raising themselves up to godlike status. Imagine travelling to see a tower like this - imagine seeing the technological superiority of a nation that at any second could use that technology to crush you.

The story of the Tower of Babel has enduring power because of its reminder that we’re building the world. We’re creating something. We’re doing something with our minds and energies and money and technology. And what we’re doing, with fossil fuels and nuclear bombs and poisoned water sources and factories belching smoke into the air is threatening the future of the world. We have tremendous capacity to invent and innovate and create, and that power can be used for good - to care for each other and the world. And it can be used in destructive ways to oppress and dehumanise others.

Join with the NewLife@10 service, as Geoff reveals how the story of the Tower of Babel is less about an ancient people, and more about what is happening right now - and listen as we see the mode and the language and that the Kingdom of God is bigger, more accepting and expansive than anything that we could build with our own hands.

 

[bible passage="Genesis 9:1-17, Genesis 11:1-9" heading="h3"]

With God On Mission: Sin's Curse @Night

How do we begin to comprehend and understand what sin really is? How do you measure its affects? How do you, in a world of military and political and humanitarian unrest, comprehend a world that is turning in on itself, a world that is feeling the very real pressure of the abuse of its natural resources, a world that accuses and doesn't accept? Genesis starts with the unmistakable truth - that it is all a gift.

Then something happened.

But a story about a talking snake, a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, a Tree of perpetually sustaining life? That’s hard to wrap your head around. How, in our modern, scientific and empirical culture, do we even begin unpacking it? In our analysis and examination, we only read what is black and white, and miss the more vital, more enlightening words that are written "in between the lines".

Lead Pastor Stuart Starr invites us back to the garden, “In the beginning”, to show us how the fall of man is less a story about how Adam and Eve sinned, and more a story of how WE sin. Listen as he connects the story of the deceptive serpent with the very real way we are all deceived by sin. Be encouraged to know that even in our darkest, we have a God who does not give up.

Everything that we are, everything that we have - our work, our relationships, our health, our planet - finds its roots in the wonderful provision from Him, yet it is sin that robs and corrupts and leaves its fingerprints on it all. Join with the NewLife@Night service as we see what an amazing opportunity we all have, in putting “self” aside to rule over it, to once again recognise the blessing and provision we have all been given so freely.

 

[bible passage="Genesis 3-Genesis 4:1-18" heading="h3"]

With God On Mission: Sin's Curse

How do we begin to comprehend and understand what sin really is? How do you measure its affects? How do you, in a world of military and political and humanitarian unrest, comprehend a world that is turning in on itself, a world that is feeling the very real pressure of the abuse of its natural resources, a world that accuses and doesn't accept? Genesis starts with the unmistakable truth - that it is all a gift.

Then something happened.

But a story about a talking snake, a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, a Tree of perpetually sustaining life? That’s hard to wrap your head around. How, in our modern, scientific and empirical culture, do we even begin unpacking it? In our analysis and examination, we only read what is black and white, and miss the more vital, more enlightening words that are written "in between the lines".

Lead Pastor Stuart Starr invites us back to the garden, “In the beginning”, to show us how the fall of man is less a story about how Adam and Eve sinned, and more a story of how WE sin. Listen as he connects the story of the deceptive serpent with the very real way we are all deceived by sin. Be encouraged to know that even in our darkest, we have a God who does not give up.

Everything that we are, everything that we have - our work, our relationships, our health, our planet - finds its roots in the wonderful provision from Him, yet it is sin that robs and corrupts and leaves its fingerprints on it all. Join with the NewLife@10 service as we see what an amazing opportunity we all have, in putting “self” aside to rule over it, to once again recognise the blessing and provision we have all been given so freely.

 

[bible passage="Genesis 3-Genesis 4:1-18" heading="h3"]

With God On Mission: Planted @Night

The people of the ancient world believed that the creation of the Universe had occurred after a violent battle between two gods. The male god kills the female god, then tore her body apart and used half of her to create the heavens and half to create the earth. The driving engine of this story is violence, carnage, and destruction.

Not a children’s bedtime story.

The Jews on the other hand, who were in exile at the time, had a different story - a story that had lived in their bones - a story that had been passed down from generation to generation - a story that spoke of hope and redemption and even love. It spoke of a God who makes without compulsion. A God who creates without conflict. A God who is intentional and forges without confusion. A God who is willing to step outside of Heaven to walk with His people and provide for them and care for them. A God who provides meaningful purpose and mission.

Lead Pastor Stuart Starr opens up our new series, “On Mission with God”, with dynamic teaching on Genesis and Revelation, and how we can live a life that flourishes in the knowledge that we are created by a loving God - to live in relationship and harmony with each other, with seeking and right relationship with God, and in partnership with Him in caring for our beautiful planet.

By beginning with Genesis we get to see where we started and by looking at Revelation we understand what God's goal is for us. We saw the goodness of the original order with perfect relationship with God, with others, with satisfying work, and with the creation.

Join with the NewLife @Night service, as we seek to know God more, by finding avenues to use our energies for the good of the Lord and the blessing of others, as we look towards the promise and revelation of New Life and a New World, With God On Mission in the Old Testament.

 

[bible passage="Revelation 21:1-8" heading="h3"]

 

[bible passage="Revelation 21:22-22:1-5" heading="h3"]

With God On Mission: Planted

The people of the ancient world believed that the creation of the Universe had occurred after a violent battle between two gods. The male god kills the female god, then tore her body apart and used half of her to create the heavens and half to create the earth. The driving engine of this story is violence, carnage, and destruction.

Not a children’s bedtime story.

The Jews on the other hand, who were in exile at the time, had a different story - a story that had lived in their bones - a story that had been passed down from generation to generation - a story that spoke of hope and redemption and even love. It spoke of a God who makes without compulsion. A God who creates without conflict. A God who is intentional and forges without confusion. A God who is willing to step outside of Heaven to walk with His people and provide for them and care for them. A God who provides meaningful purpose and mission.

Lead Pastor Stuart Starr opens up our new series, “On Mission with God”, with dynamic teaching on Genesis and Revelation, and how we can live a life that flourishes in the knowledge that we are created by a loving God - to live in relationship and harmony with each other, with seeking and right relationship with God, and in partnership with Him in caring for our beautiful planet.

By beginning with Genesis we get to see where we started and by looking at Revelation we understand what God's goal is for us. We saw the goodness of the original order with perfect relationship with God, with others, with satisfying work, and with the creation.

Join with the NewLife @Morning service, as we seek to know God more, by finding avenues to use our energies for the good of the Lord and the blessing of others, as we look towards the promise and revelation of New Life and a New World, With God On Mission in the Old Testament.

 

[bible passage="Revelation 21:1-8" heading="h3"]

 

[bible passage="Revelation 21:22-22:1-5" heading="h3"]

Johns Gospel: The Reality in Resurrection

Senior Assistant Pastor Geoff Leader leads us through Jesus’ fourth appearance after his resurrection, continuing in our series, Johns Gospel. Unlike earlier parts of John, which transpired mainly in Jerusalem, this account begins with the resurrected Jesus and seven of his disciples on the beach of the Sea of Tiberius.

The location is open and expansive, matching the message of its words - and rather than the fearsome place of Jewish tradition that we read of earlier, the sea is a fitting backdrop for physical and spiritual nourishment. The resurrected Jesus shows himself to his disciples, unadorned, standing on a beach, later serving breakfast. Much of the account revolves around fishing, a beautiful metaphor that Geoff opens up as you listen along.

Our chapter is concluded perfectly with Jesus’ instructions and teaching, twice with direct instruction about humility and service, and a then a wonderfully lyrical teaching to Peter that is the primary message of his account. Its wise and lovely words usher in for all of us a new maturity, with seeking, hands-open and willingness in our own journey.

Johns Gospel overwhelmingly shows us how to remain open and allow ourselves to be guided, by the Light and the Hope of the world, and provides much wisdom in seeking patience, trust and the calm knowing that is only from above.

 

[bible passage=“John 21” heading="h3"]