Technology changes.
In the good old days, if you wanted to watch TV, camped out in your 1980s Mitsubishi Sigma on the side of the road somewhere between Melbourne and Ulladulla on the NSW South Coast, you needed technology like this portable Toshiba TV and a battery pack.

Technology changes.
Now, if you wanted to do the same thing, you would just pull out your mobile phone, and chances are you could stream your favourite movie on demand. And while the screen size might not have changed too much, the technology behind it sure has.

Technology changes. But have you ever wondered how it changes us?

A message by David Toscano

With a desire in the 1950s to settle an agreement about the fastest game bird, we now have the annual Guinness World Records, where we celebrate those who achieve record-breaking achievements and beat previous records.

The hunger and thirst to be the best, individually or as a team, fuel passion and drive gambling business worldwide. AFL players are willing to risk brain injury like CTE and lay their lives on the line for player contracts and the hunger for a win.
And so it is, each week we cheer our modern gladiators marching into the Colosseums of sport. We celebrate and cheer competitors who risk their health, even their lives, to break records and overcome human limitations.

It is a good thing that it never happens to people like you and me. After all, we would never get sick, have a relationship broken or compromise like the gladiators we see in the media. Or would we?

A message by David Toscano

One of my favourite things to do is to people watch. You know when you are in a café or at a train station, on a bus. And you just see people. People who all have their own concerns and their own lives. They are managing their families and talking to their friends, reading a book, scrolling on their phone. They are living their lives. And, as we know when people live their lives, there is great joy and deep sadness, there is stress and pain, and busyness and loneliness. We all have our own stuff, don’t we?
How will I pay that bill?
What does this diagnosis mean?
How will I manage to get everything done?
Am I raising my kids the right way?
Should I have done something differently?
What will it take to get a promotion?
What do I need to plan for someone’s birthday, or should I start thinking about Christmas gifts?
What are we doing for Christmas?
Sometimes it can feel like, with everything going on, we are just getting by. We make it through the week. We get here on a Sunday, and someone asks how we are and we say, fine.
We say, I’m here.
We say, I’m ok.
And we worship together and we learn and we feel cared for and we stop for a moment.
But by Sunday evening we begin to think about making it through to Friday night. Whether you are working or retired, whether you are busy or have lots of time – we can all feel, sometimes, like life is heavy and we are just getting by.
But I don’t think that Jesus lived as though he was just getting by. I don’t think he died and was raised to life so that I could get by. Jesus said, I came that they might have life and live it… on the weekend? No – Live it to the full.
But what does a fully lived life look like anyway?

A message by Sam Barlow

All we've ever wanted is to look good naked
Hope that someone can take it
God save me rejection from my reflection
I want perfection.

Such are the lyrics of Robbie Williams' song ‘Bodies’. And while some of Robbie’s conclusions are different to what I believe, the yearning he expresses is one that I think cuts to the core of how we are created.

In a world full of Facebook facades, Instagram influencers, and deep-fakes, what we want, what we yearn for, is to find someone in our life with whom we can be completely vulnerable – ‘warts and all,’ as the saying goes. And that, rather than facing rejection, in all of our imperfections, we hope that they can not only take us for who we are, but actually love us in our brokenness.

Have you found that special someone in your life? If not, then stick around because I would love to show you how you can.
A message by David T

God is a Father. He counts His children.

Some of His first words with man were, “Where are you?” to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God knew where Adam and Eve were hiding and what they had done, but he calls to them and seeks their presence. He had been caring for them like a father all along.

God desired to have a relationship with Adam and Eve and spend time with them in an intimate friendship. God is very personal.

All throughout the Bible we see a God that responds to people. We have received God’s spirit where He has adopted us as His own children.

Today we will delve into the loving chase or as one pastor termed it, ‘the hound of Heaven’ dynamic where God takes the first step toward a relationship with His children.

A message by Janet

As followers of Jesus, we believe that we can have a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe.

Being close to God means we communicate with Him – speaking to Him but also listening. And it is the second half of our conversation with God that can often feel uncertain –

Does God speak to everyone and if He does then how do we hear His voice? How can we know it is God and not our own subconscious? And what language can we use for our experience that doesn’t make us sound crazy?

A message by Samantha Barlow

Junk mail. It fills our letterboxes and email inboxes; it comes as text messages and even robo-advertising or phone calls at dinner time.

So, we hang up the phone, block the mobile number, or move the email to the junk mail folder or the letterbox contents to the recycle bin. And get ready, ‘case we have a state election coming up – so Effie - brace yourself.

But when it comes to our praying, have you ever considered that God might have a junk mailbox? And how do we keep our prayers out of junk mail?

When we speak to God, it is instant. He hears us. And we believe that our God is powerful and willing to act for good.

So, why does it sometimes feel like he is ghosting us or that His response is significantly delayed, especially when he appears to answer other prayers immediately? Does God sometimes have a hard time hearing us, is he indecisive? or is he up to something else entirely?

A message by Sam Barlow