What a wonderful Sunday we had gathering together at the first in-person service (restricted to 250 people) since March this year. It was so special seeing your beautiful faces. Many of you also joined us online as the service was livestreamed from New Life Church. We apologise to those who were watching online for the sound technical issues at the beginning of the 9am service. Everything was resolved for the 11am service so if you missed it, please feel free to watch
on demand.
Although restrictions are easing, on Sunday we observed social distancing protocols, wore masks and sanitised our hands. We need to remain prayerful, aware and vigilant as we are still in a world-wide pandemic. We fully respect the choices of all New Lifers to attend in-person services or not.
This past Sunday we heard the next message in our series,
“Habits that Heal: Sorting out the good and bad.” God designed us to be perfect and live in a perfect world. Unfortunately, the disobedience of Adam and Eve in choosing the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, has left mankind with the residue of their shame and brokenness. As a consequence of this choice, they had to leave the perfection of Eden. Through Adam and Eve’s disconnection and fall from grace, humankind lost their connection to God, however, God provided the cross and a process of sanctification to save, heal and restore us.
Leaving Eden has left humankind (and even believers) with a strong desire for personal and interpersonal perfection wired into our psyche. It is because of this wiring we have not properly processed that
knowledge of good and bad. However, to be emotionally and spiritually successful, and to be free, we must be able to deal with the good and the bad, both in us, in others and in the world.
Generally, we deal with the conflict between good and bad in our lives in four different ways, three of which fail miserably. We can: 1. Deny the Bad - pretend that it’s not there. Live in denial and never deal with anything bad in ourselves and others.
2. Deny the Good - where our self-image and image of others becomes skewed by negativity and suspicion.
3. Attack and Judge - where we become critical of ourselves and others. We can begin to deny the good in ourselves and others. This is called judgement or condemnation.
4. Acceptance - No Condemnation - the key to overcoming the cycle of sin and condemnation, is to sort through the good and the bad in us and others through acceptance and grace. As we lean into grace, we lean into what Jesus did for us through His death and resurrection, His grace will set us free.
Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." There is so much more to this message, so if you missed it, you can catch it online
here.
As we have mentioned, we are restricted by regulations to 250 people per service so if you missed booking your seat for the
in-person services this week, you can
book here. Bookings open from 8am every Monday for the following 9am and 11am Sunday services on a “first come, first serve” basis.
We’re always thrilled to offer new opportunities for people to grow and connect. Starting next week, you can take advantage of these opportunities,
1.
In-person Financial Hope Course at the Church observing social distancing protocols. Click here to register and/or find out more. This is a 7 week course.
2. Doing the renewed version of
The Marriage Course online at home in your own time over 7 weeks. Click here to register or for more information.
3. If you missed the start of Connect Groups,
Connection Point is a group that starts on
Wed 21 Oct, 7pm and runs for 6 weeks. You are sure to enjoy an inspirational evening and make new friends.
Click here to register or for more information.
You can also join us for 30 minutes of
live prayer every Wed at 8am on
New Life Church Facebook Live. We pray together in agreement for the nation, the church and for personal needs.
A huge thank-you to every New Lifer who has loved their church and stood with us in faith over the past six months.