Dear Friends,
 
As we reach the halfway mark of the year (can you believe it!), I have been reflecting on the privilege I enjoy to be one of your pastors.  Over the last six weeks we have been exploring the six values that define who we are, and long to be as a community. With God’s help, we aspire to be a community marked by fervent prayer, adventurous faith, empowering leadership, genuine love, creative worship and scriptural discernment. The privilege I enjoy is to have a ‘front row’ seat to view how God is forming this culture in and through us – all for God’s glory.
 
Last Sunday we explored what it means to be a people formed by the truth of scripture (scriptural discernment). Two practical invitations were offered to help us all enjoy the beauty, truth and power of scripture.
 
First, every week for the remaining 26 weeks of the year we will be posting a ‘memory verse’ drawn from the rich treasure-trove of scripture. Each weekly memory verse will be posted on our social media pages (Facebook and Instagram) on Sunday afternoon. If you are not following us on social media, we encourage you to do so (it’s one of the best ways to keep informed of what’s happening in the life of the church). You can find us here: Instagram and Facebook. But if you can’t do that, every month I will email the memory verses for that month, plus each week our creative team will update the online folder you'll find by clicking the image below. When we memorize scripture, we dig a deep and life-giving well of spiritual power that we can draw from for the rest of our lives.

Second, along with memorising scripture, we’re encouraging you to mediate on it daily, as many of us already do.  To help you get (re)started, we’re encouraging you take up the 66 Day Challenge of reading one chapter of the bible every day for 66 days. Why 66 days? Research suggests that to establish a positive and lasting habit, repeating the same pattern of behaviours over 66 days will go a long way. We have prepared a reading plan that will take you through four books/letters of the Bible (Proverbs, Luke, Ephesians and James).  Don’t worry too much about the dates; just start when you can – crossing off each reading as you go. If you weren’t able to join us last weekend, I’d encourage you to watch my message to hear more about establishing this life-changing habit.

Download the 66 Day Challenge, as well as a bunch of images you can use to join us in meditating on and memorizing scripture, by clicking below.

There’s a bunch more to share with you. Please read on!

CROSSROADS AND FAMILY SUNDAY | JULY 7
On June 28, our Crossroads community celebrated its 25^th anniversary. And this coming Sunday our Crossroads community will be joining us at our morning gatherings (8am and 10am), leading us in ‘all in’ worship celebrations, as our children join us as well. We will be celebrating communion together, Brad will share a message and then the celebration will continue in the courtyard with a jumping castle for the kids and a sausage sizzle for everyone. It’s going to a wonderful morning.

JOHN DICKSON | JULY 14
On Sunday July 14 we are super excited to welcome our long-time friend, Rev Dr John Dickson, as he speaks across all four of our Sunday gatherings – on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane. A prolific author and Anglican minister, John is one of Australia’s foremost thinkers on Christian faith, regularly sought out for his insights by secular media outlets and organisations. We LOVE John, who has visited with us many times! This would be a great weekend to invite a friend who is open to exploring Christian faith.

ALPHA COURSE | JULY 16 - SEPTEMBER 17
As you should know by now, our next Alpha Course kicks off on Tuesday July 16, and will run from 6.30pm – 8.30pm for 10 weeks. Simply put, Alpha provides the opportunity to explore and question the meaning of life through and exploration of the essentials of Christian faith. It’s FREE, there is no pressure and any and all questions are encouraged!
 
Each night kicks off with a shared meal, then some video content followed by conversation is smaller groups. More than 22 million people worldwide have completed Alpha!
 
So, if you are new to faith or are exploring faith and have a bunch of questions – Alpha is for you. Alpha is also for your friend who has questions about faith, or who you would like to introduce to Jesus. Why not invite and come with them?

Registration is free but bookings are essential. Click the link below to register.

GLS PLUS | JULY 23

In less than three weeks Newlife will enjoy the privilege of hosting GLS Plus, featuring Craig Groeschel. Craig is the Senior Pastor of Life Church, the largest church in the USA. Craig is an entrepreneurial and innovative leader who has a wildly popular leadership podcast that equips leaders inside and outside the church.

850 leaders will join us for GLS Plus. There are less than 100 tickets still available.  I would love as many Newlife leaders to attend as possible. Don't hesitate to book now. Click the link below to register.

As always, thank you for partnering with us in the gospel. May God richly bless you and those you love.

Grace and Peace,

Stu Cameron
Lead Minister