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God With Us

04.12.2020 Categories: All | Christmas Written by: Neil Percival

The bible describes the birth of Jesus like this…

All of this occurred to fulfil the Lord’s message through his prophet: ‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God with us.”’ (Matthew 1:22-23).

God Is On Our Side

20.11.2020 Categories: All | Advent Written by: Neil Percival

In a week, we’ll enter the Season of Advent. Advent is a time of preparation for our celebration of Christmas and the coming of Jesus into the world.

Tags: Celebration, Luke 4:18-19

How Much Knowledge Is Too Much?

06.11.2020 Categories: All Written by: Neil Percival

We live in a world where we have easy access to information. A few keystrokes and we can find out almost anything we want to know. But how much knowledge is too much?

The Bible is Not a Self-Help Book

16.10.2020 Categories: All Written by: Neil Percival

We recently had problems with our stove. I googled our model of stove, found what seemed to be the most likely cause of the problem, found a step-by-step guide for fixing it, ordered some replacement parts on eBay, and confidently told my wife, “We don’t need a new one. I can fix it…”

Tags: Bible, John 16:33

Control, Self-Efficacy, and Resilience

04.09.2020 Categories: All Written by: Neil Percival

A few weeks ago I shared my thoughts about the importance of having a clear sense of meaning and purpose when it comes to our resilience in the face of the natural disasters we have faced as a community over the past year. A few people asked if I could say more about this.

Tags: Resilience, Control, Romans 8:28

Meaning, Purpose, and Resilience

21.08.2020 Categories: All Written by: Neil Percival

After many mornings of crossing my frost covered lawn, feeling the grass crunch under my feet, I never cease to be amazed at how quickly the grass recovers when the sun hits it. The word for this is ‘resilience’, or the ability to bounce back from a difficult situation.

The Danger of Conventions

07.08.2020 Categories: All Written by: Neil Percival

My daughter recently said to me, “Dad, you’re old because you use punctuation.” At first I felt proud to be thought of as a good punctuator, but then I realised that I was just confirming her point. We come from very different generations.

Cleaning and Disinfecting our Lives

24.07.2020 Categories: All | Coronavirus Written by: Neil Percival

Like every organisation, we had to have a COVID Safe Plan in place before we could resume Church Services early last month. One component of that plan is a deep clean and disinfect of the Church after each service.

Have We Used The Time Well?

08.05.2020 Categories: All | Coronavirus Written by: Neil Percival

I’ve been thinking back over the last two months and what I’ll miss, or won’t miss, about the current restrictions…

The Power Of Love

24.04.2020 Categories: All | Anzac Day Written by: Neil Percival

Like so many other things, Anzac Day will this year will be very different. However, while we may have to change the way we celebrate this day, the truths behind it do not change. Jesus said, “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13).

Life Emerges from the Darkness

07.04.2020 Categories: All | Easter Written by: Neil Percival

Current coronavirus restrictions are driving us to do some things we might not otherwise do. Last weekend we spent a family day cleaning out our fish pond. The water was very green and who knew what was lurking in its inky depths…

Tags: New Life, Matthew 28:1-7

Don’t Forget About Easter

03.04.2020 Categories: All | Good Friday Written by: Neil Percival

Good Friday and Easter Sunday services are usually our largest services of the year. With the Church closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year will be very different. We may not be able to meet, but that doesn’t mean we should forget about Easter…