Mandy's Musings

Sunday, April 29, 2007

James' Surprise Party!

Caught up last night with some good friends - members of the 2000 Hohne Bible Study Group at St Matthew's Wanniassa. The occasion was James' 26th Birthday and it was a great chance to have so many of us together again.

Sadly David and Amelia couldn't make it, but we had a picture to remind us:

Here's the gang that made it, Nathan, Yani, Skye, James, Bron, Pam, Michelle, Me, Luke, Dave:



And the cake we enjoyed (Yani helped to decorate it):



More stories to follow, but now I'm off to invite people to come to church tonight. Doing anything at 6.30pm? Why not join us at The Bible Talks, St Andrew's Cathedral, right near Town Hall. All welcome.

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Monday, April 23, 2007

A Tale of Two Kings

Last night Andrew preached on Mark 6:7-56. A great sermon that contrasted King Herod with King Jesus and demonstrated that Jesus is God's King, the Lord of Glory who is now sitting enthroned in heaven as the judge of all.

One of the things he pointed out to us about the crowds following Jesus was something I'd never really noticed before. He demonstrated the relentless pursuit by the crowds of Jesus and the disciples. As we looked through from the end of Mark 3 we saw the crowds continually coming to Jesus wherever he was. The pace and pressure was relentless.

It did give rise to my favourite line in the sermon:
The crowds make the paparazzi look like shrinking violets!
I'd never really thought about the way the crowds followed Jesus and his disciples and the way that must have been really draining as the pressure builds as they continue to impose on Jesus and the disciples. I guess I'd noticed the way that in some ways the crowds seem to distract Jesus from his 'main game' of declaring that the Kingdom is at hand so that people must repent and believe the gospel (See Mark 1:14-15, 38). But haven't ever really pondered the significance of the crowds.

What do you think?

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Friday, April 20, 2007

Sword of the Lord

Check out Dean Phillip Jensen's call to prayer in the pages of the Telegraph today here.

Why not join us on Sunday as we pray for service personnel, federal police and the families of those currently serving overseas.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Mission brochure



The front of our mission brochure. Praying that lots of the people who get a copy will indeed stop and consider Christ

Friday, April 13, 2007

A day in the sun

Monday was a lovely day off - I really felt like I needed it. I have photographic evidence, but my camera phone doesn't want to talk to my computer, so no can post. Instead, here's a blow by blow account of my day.

My day started with what could be descibed as 'tennis', although I fear to call it such it may be an insult to the sport. Nevertheless Alison and I had a good time as I attempted to run around every backhand :) and we managed the ocassional rally.

Then it was off to Manly with Jess. I had some simple goals for the day: a ferry ride, hot chips, chocolate and a walk on the beach, although not necessarily in that order. We wandered down to Circular Quay and hopped on the Manly Ferry, smiles as wide as kids as the sun beat down and we chugged over to Manly. Of course we were standing at the front of the ferry trying to get the best view, looking like complete tourists as we took photos of each other infront of the bridge.

From the ferry we headed straight to the beach for a paddle. The water was surprisingly warm for April, so with jeans rolled up to our knees we enjoyed the water. We then went for a walk along the beach - all the way to the North end and back again, ready for lunch.

Now, wouldn't you think that finding fish and chips in Manly would be the easiest thing in the world? Well, it wasn't. We decided to bypass the really trendy looking place in search of a more regular fish and chip shop. Heading north along the beachfront road, we were certain we'd find something ... although at one point Oporto's was looking like the best option! Finally we headed back south, past the plaza and found the Manly Fish Shop and ordered - fish and chips for Jess, just chips for me; no drinks, because they didn't have Fanta. So it was off to coles in seach of the orange fizzy drink. After checking out every reridgerator within the store and not finding any, Jess settled for orange juice - paid for it and walked out past the registers to discover bottles of Fanta! So after waiting at the customer service counter for what seemed like an eternity, a refund on the juice was obtained and the Fanta was purchased :)

Back to pick up lunch, then find a seat near the beach. We settled on the ledge at the south end of the beach with a lovely view of the rolling waves and squarks of the seagulls. The next bit of excitement for the day was watching a lifeguard in full sprint down the beach, picking up some kind of rescue type equipment and then run back the other way with 4 other lifeguards. We never did see where they ended up! The rest of lunch was uneventful as we ate and chatted and had a lovely time.

Last stop Max Brenner chocolate shop. I couldn't go past the dark chocolate suckao (a pile of dark chocolate buds and a jug of warm milk to be mixed at leisure over a tea light candle warmed cup then sucked through the stainless steel straw) while Jess had the chocolate souffle with icecream. I think we rolled out of the shop.

Then back on to the ferry for the trip home ... a lovely way to spend a public holiday monday, with all goals achieved!

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Mission Logo

I'm a bit excited - I think we have settled on the Logo for the Cathedral Mission with Moore College from 29th April - 6th May and I'm going to unveil it here.



Very thankful for Jess who designed it, and even more thankful for the opportunities we will have over the week to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Earth Hour

What were you doing between 7.30-8.30pm last night? I was having dinner by candlelight at my place with friends as we participated in Earth Hour.



Here are two photos taken by Mike Bowers from SMH showing the bridge at 7pm and then again at 7.45pm. More photos are available here

So what was the point?
The aim was to draw attention to simple ways of fighting global warming. According to the website: 'It's a simple action if everyone takes part, sending a powerful message that we care about the future of the planet.' Across Sydney households, businesses and government departments turned off their lights for an hour in the launch of an ongoing campaign aimed at reducing Sydney's greenhouse gas emissions by 5% in 2007. The Coca-Cola sign in Kings Cross was turned off for the first time since it was installed in 1974!

For more details check out here

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