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Hi Northside family,

School has started again! That means our kids and youth programs will be back in full swing this Sunday.

We’ve begun a new teaching series on prayer. Our heart behind learning about this is:

“God would do something beyond our cleverness in our lives and church.”

If you missed last week, 3 “micro-prayer” towards God’s guidance from Psalm 25 are:

• God guide me to you
• God guide me to a true picture of myself
• God guide me through your revealed plan for my life (The Bible)

Try them out! We would love you to be a praying for Northside, and our city, during this focused season on prayer.

Hope to see you Sunday if you are around.

Blessings,

Sam

I’ve long been fascinated by the way in which music has a unique way of accessing our long-term memory, in a way unparalleled in traditional acquisition of information.

Can you remember any Sunday School songs you sang as a child? It’s amazing how music and lyrics can imprint on us, similar to the way in which it’s believed writing in addition to hearing increases the retention of information.

When we use music to worship God, we can stimulate not only cognition but also emotion. By participating in singing in corporate worship, we have an opportunity to declare truths about God, which can impact us in a deep and meaningful way.

While you may not consider yourself much of a singer, or very emotional, challenge yourself in declaring the truths during Sunday worship songs and reflecting on them. Perhaps they will move us into something deeper as we connect to our God.

Over the last few weeks at a couple of our men’s gatherings and catch-ups we have been exploring the question, do I matter? This question has exploded into a series of sub-questions all trying to get the heart of whether or not our lives actually matter.

Questions such as: does one first have a faith and then believe that they matter, or do we believe that we matter first and thus develop a faith? It was my understanding that we require a faith to be able to believe we matter, but to my shock, this was not the case for a couple of the Christian guys who were part of the discussion. They felt that they and their lives don’t matter in the vast picture. I can believe this because I too felt this way a few years back. Life felt meaningless even though I was a “Christian” and, as a result, living or dying was insignificant in the big scheme of things.

Based on this thought pattern is it any wonder so many of us suffer from poor self-esteem? It’s one of the reasons we can hear the gospel being preached every week and still leave depressed and helpless. We have not fully understood and internalised the truth of the Gospel to the point that we feel it and see it worked out in how we live our lives. If we want to see more people come to know Jesus, then we must first encounter Him ourselves – where the good news moves from information that we know in our heads to a revelation that we understand in our hearts. From that revelation, purpose, joy, satisfaction and love can flow out of us, and it is only then that the world will come to us to enquire about the life that flows from within us.

Do you matter? I believe Jesus answered that question at the cross. You are worth dying for and so the answer to that question is “yes”.

For many of us the end of the financial year is a very busy, stressful time particularly in the workplace. It can be similar on the home front too. Relationship tension, financial worries and health concerns are added stressors that can drive you into a spiral of despair. At times it’s hard to navigate your way through the maze of difficult situations and find solace and strength to continue.

Did you know that being a part of community is vital to our wellbeing? Being connected in community can help give perspective and encouragement when the harsh realities of life set in.

Just recently, I have really appreciated connecting with women at Northside who were doing the “First 5 for 35 Days Devotional Challenge”. Over 90 women signed up using the online app or printed booklet to commit together to make a priority to give the first 5 minutes of our day to God.

Though many of us were not perfect at keeping on track 100% of the time, it helped us make a conscious effort to put ‘first things first’. Feedback received was that our women felt connected with each other in community. They loved the idea that they were ‘sharing the experience simultaneously’. They found a great source of encouragement from those who regularly posted their insights from the daily scripture readings.

Most importantly is how it made a noticeable difference to each day. When you’re connected in community, putting ‘first things first’, it changes your focus to that which is really important. It can change your current reality by giving you an eternal perspective!

“We are God’s creation. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good works. Long ago God prepared these works for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 NIrV

Every person has been uniquely created by God. That means we have DNA, personalities, experiences and relationships that make us different from one another; we’re made to have a special impact on this world that no one else can have. This can be in the way we’re gifted to do our work, the way we serve God’s church, or the way we’re wired to share God’s love with others.

This week may you choose to live in the knowledge that you are uniquely made to play an irreplaceable role in this church and on this earth!

We are thrilled to have welcomed 19 new members into our church family over the past fortnight. That’s 19 new brothers and sisters to share life with as together we point one another and those in our lives to Jesus, the giver of life.

This is significant not just because it shows our church is healthy and growing, but because each of those 19 people – precious and loved by God – have experienced something of God amongst us and want to be part of our shared life.

What an incredible privilege and responsibility to be Jesus’ representative body; a place where people can experience a taste of what He is like.

Quite literally – we are His body! As the Apostle Paul puts it in his first letter to the Corinthian church:

“You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this.” (1 Corinthians 12:27, The Message).

2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ walked the earth, putting hands and feet on the love of God. Now he’s passed that mantle on to us so that, through the Holy Spirit who’s made his home among us, the people in our lives might experience what He is like. And while there is an individual dimension to our embodiment of God’s love, it is when we fit together as one body that we represent Him most fully and most beautifully.

Rest assured that as together we worship God, encourage each other and love our neighbours, God is moving powerfully to invite others into an experience of His love that will bring life-changing beauty and goodness to their lives and communities.

Last week we learnt that your brand is “what people say about you when you’ve left the room.” Looking at Daniel’s example, those around him could have said when he left the room:

• He was with us and for us – he didn’t withdraw from the world around him.

• He was awesome – he was excellent at what he did;

• He was different from us – his character was beautiful;

• He pointed to something beyond his circumstances.

Is your faith firstly visible, and secondly, lived the same in each context? What will people say about you when you leave the room as a believer this week?

Last week I shared part of our bigger dream as a church. How do we become people who love the city of Sydney… even if it may not love us back?

Now… the city doesn’t mean the CBD & the buildings. The city is the “highly urbanised, high proximity relationships we find ourselves in”.  That means you’re a part of “the city” whether you live in Crows Nest, Castle Hill, Parramatta or Pittwater (we have Northsiders in each of those areas by the way!).

Therefore, if less than 40% of our church comes from this local area, could it be God is giving us every opportunity to impact Sydney for His good? How? Simply by loving our neighbours. Here’s 4 practical ways you could do that.

Let’s be a people who love our neighbours by…

Staying – getting to know them.

Of course it means to have a physical presence in your neighbourhood, but more importantly it simply means: what if you spent more time focused on being interested in people rather than interesting to people?

Praying – praying for them.

Pray for yourself and for your neighbours. But if God doesn’t seem to be answering the need, then maybe He is wanting you to be part of the answer!

Playing – offering hospitality.

Your home is Northside’s most under used resource.

Conservatively, if we said every Northsider lived in 85 square metres of space ,that would mean we have 18,000 square metres available for ministry! If you are anything like me, and you are not a “party thrower” – then be a “party goer”! Be unafraid to engage with those around you.

Saying – sharing Jesus with them.

Here’s where we sometimes have evangelism all wrong. We sometimes think of ourselves as “salespeople” when we’re actually “satisfied customers”. Consider the difference between these two phrases: “If you buy this car, you are going to love it!“ versus “I bought this car, and I love it.”

What if we simply shared Jesus that way?

There it is… what could you start on this week to be a part of our bigger mission?

I was challenged by Sam’s first sermon on “Brand Recognition”.  Sam highlighted from the book of Daniel, how Daniel had moved out from his cultural comfort zone into a different cultural setting that was quite different and even oppressive to that which he had been accustom. ‘Consistent integrity’ was the key that made Daniel stand out from the crowd and won favor with the king.

How will you stand out this week in your workplace, in your home, within your social networks? Do others see in you, ‘consistent integrity’ that sets you apart from today’s culture?

Our women’s team posted on Facebook something to think about: integrity is choosing courage over comfort, choosing what is right over what is fun, fast or easy, choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them.

How will you stand out this week?

Every contemporary church I’ve attended in recent years has included creativity in various ways, the most common being music performed and/or sung congregationally. To achieve this, instrumentalists and singers are generally required and in the modern era of amplification and technology, there are a number of different production or technical roles that exist – from sound, lights, projection, camera operators, recording and many more.

In some church contexts there is the inclusion of drama, dance, painting/visual arts and other areas of the performing arts. This may be on a regular basis or for special circumstances. We’ve been blessed at Northside to have a history of a strong creative presence, with highly talented individuals who have been willing to use their talent and time to create special memorable experiences and help reinforce what is being communicated.

I’m grateful to serve here alongside some wonderfully gifted and passionate people who serve in a myriad of roles – seen and unseen. As we move towards the second half of the year, I would love to see our Creative Arts team expand. If you have a background in music, drama or dance I would love to hear from you. Likewise, if you would be willing to volunteer a Sunday morning or evening once or twice a month to help in our production team we will be thrilled to provide training for the much needed roles.

You might be newer to Northside or have been around for a long time, either way I would love to hear from you. There are lots of opportunities to serve and needs within the team – for instance we would love some new singers, instrumentalists, production crew, actors and dancers. If you’re interested, please contact me at [email protected]