What is Church?
The original meaning of ‘Church’ is ‘assembly’, so it is really a group of people meeting together. It’s not the building. Church is God’s people getting together to worship God.

Why Church?
Because God commanded it (see Hebrews 10:25) and each of us is part of a family and we need each other, or to put it another way, we are all members of one body and all necessary for the working of the whole (see Romans 12:4-5). Living God’s way is not something we can do in isolation – it can only happen in community as we share life with others and grow in love for others, and as out love is expressed in action.

We grow by hearing God’s word preached and meeting together to encourage each other to live what we believe and to put God’s word into practice. We get caught up in worshipping God and collectively focusing on our great God and Saviour, praising Jesus, expressing our thanks and worship of him together.In the big picture, church is like a foretaste of heaven – knowing God more, being a part of God’s family and giving glory to God by worshipping Him together (see Revelation 5:11-12)

What to expect at Church…
At present we have two services each weekend, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. These times are when we get together as a larger groups. If you’re new to church and aren’t to sure about it, here are a few things you can expect to happen when we meet together. To find out when we meet, check our meeting times.

We Sing: Public singing isn’t very common these days, but it’s an important part of what we do as a church. Singing is one of the many ways we worship God and express our thanks our love and thankfulness to God.

We Pray: Prayer is perhaps even less common than singing in our society, but it’s another important part of what we do as a church. Prayer is talking to God, so it makes sense that we pray quite a bit when we meet as a church at different times throughout the service.

We Check out the Announcements: General news and housekeeping matters will be announced.

We have a Kid’s Talk/Song: We usually have a talk or a song especially for kids. This is followed by a break for kids to go out to Kid’s Church and parents to take their Pre-schoolers to Creche.

Kids go to Creche, Kid’s Church & Brekky Club (Sunday Morning): Creche, Kid’s Church and Brekky Club run for the second half of Sunday Mornings, until the service is finished and the adults head over to morning tea (and to collect their kids). They provide fun activities to help kids engage with the truth of God’s word and grow as followers of Jesus at their own level:

• Creche is for Preschoolers
• Kid’s Church K-1-2: Kindergarten, Year 1 & Year 2
• Kid’s Church 3-4-5: Year 3, Year 4 & Year 5
• Brekky Club: Year 6, Year 7 & Year 8

Kids on Saturday: During our gathering the kids head to an ajoining room during the Bible Talk. At the moment the kids have craft and Vege Tales videos. We are planning to provide a structured program from the start of 2012.

We Listen to a Bible Reading: A section of the Bible will be read. We usually work through a series of Bible Talks from a book of the Bible, and the Bible reading will be the section that the preacher will be talking about in the Bible Talk. We may also read sections of the Bible that relate to the Bible talk, or are relevant to current issues in the life of our church, our community, our nation and the world.

We Listen to a Bible Talk: We believe that the Bible is God’s word and that is not only relevant, but essential for life today. We are committed to the clear and faithful preaching from the Bible. We expect that the truth of God’s word will be explained and that the preacher will help us apply it to our lives.

We have the opportunity to give: We have the opportunity to give towards the work of the church. This is for members and regular attenders to help pay the bills. Visitors won’t be asked to give and should not feel any pressure to contribute.

We enjoy a chat and a cuppa: our gatherings are more than the formal meeting time – we enjoy a chat over morning tea together.

The Church is really the family of God, so we love each other like brothers and sisters. As God’s children we naturally enjoy spending time together and we want to encourage and support each other.

Living as God’s Family…
Since church is about being the family of God, we don’t just meet on Saturdays/Sundays – it’s an all of life thing. We also get together with each other during the week. It’s all part of living in community with God and with each other, growing as God’s people and serving each other in love. Some things, like Growth Groups, happen regularly each week. Also, a lot of things will happen naturally and spontaneously, and there will be special events organised from time to time.