This weekend MAKE is off to the beach for our Annual Church Camp. Unfortunately that means we have cancelled our regular Sunday service, just for this Sunday – 26th May.
But, have no fear, we’ll be kicking off again, refreshed and energised, on the 2nd of June. Look forward to see you then – 4pm, Fitzgerald State School Hall, Norris Rd, North Mackay!!
Renovation is all the rage at the moment. The Block is about to start a new season, Mackay itself is about to get a Masters Home Improvement store and the reality is, if you are a home owner, you either renovate or it will eventually catch up with you.
But the thing is our lives need a bit of renovation as well. There are great things about us and how God has made us, but also things about us that are not so great. We come into seasons of our lives where we see parts of ourselves that we thought never existed. Attitudes towards others that are shameful, actions that betray our principles and desires that control us more than we would like.
Jeremiah (the Prophet) in his own day, prophesied that God was about to do some renovation work of his own. God says to Jeremiah, ‘See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms, to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and to plant’ (Jer 1:10).
The great news is that in the end, Jesus himself was demolished in our place. As he hung on the cross, he experienced what we deserved and needed: to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed. Now God is building and planting a new people, and we too can be part of that people as we receive Jesus as the one who experienced the pain of renovation for us.
This term at MAKE we’re working through the book of Jeremiah, in fact, we’re a few chapters into the book now. Why not come along and hear Jeremiah’s words about renovation and consider further the one who experienced that renovation for us? Cause just like our houses, you either renovate or it will eventually catch up with you.
MAKE meets – 4pm Sundays, Fitzgerald State School Hall, Norris Road, Mount Pleasant.
Join us as we remember the wonderful truth that Jesus is risen.
MAKE is a friendly and relaxed church. The service will run for about an hour, followed by afternoon tea. We’d love to meet you.
Again this year we’re joining together with a group of churches in the north of Mackay to put on a Good Friday Service at Bucasia Beach Esplanade. Come along, enjoy the service and tuck into some hot cross buns for morning tea afterwards 
Listening to some of the songs moving through the top 40 this year, it’s good to see that getting along is such a big theme. Guy Sebastian is singing it, asking ‘Dear God, dear soul, dear Mary, Muhammad, can we all just get along?’ Macklemore expresses the same desire – for a community characterised by love and acceptance – as he denounces the refusal of gay marriage which creates ‘a world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are’ (in his hit ‘Same Love’). Deep within each of us there is this good desire, for a world where there is peace, mutual understanding of one another and love.
Yet what is the source of the division and hate that plagues our relationships, communities and nations? The Birds of Tokyo (my favourite band) in their recent song ‘This Fire’ are honest in their analysis of this problem:
OUR CITY IS A BLAZE OF NEON FLARE
DOES ANYBODY CARE
FRACTURED LINES IN THE PAVEMENT
EMBERS COLOUR THE AIR
THESE STREETS WE NAMED
WILL NEVER BE THE SAME
THIS FIRE, THIS FIRE WE LET IT ALL BURN
We let it all burn. It’s us that are the problem.
The Bible tells us that each of us lives as if we are ‘god’. Our desires and wants are at the centre of our lives. We are the ones who call all the shots and make all the decisions. Because of this, we will always be biased towards those who are like us and who affirm us and our decisions and preferences. Until we face up to this deep problem, we will continue to fight the spot fires of hatred and intolerance. Sexism, racism, homophobia, ageism, weightism, religionism. The list will continue to grow.
What then is the solution? Well, that’s where the message of Easter comes in. Jesus died 
and rose to free us from a life where we are god, to give us a new life where God is God. His death cuts the cord with that old way of living and opens the door to a new life where, by the Spirit of the Risen Lord Jesus, we can now start to live with the true God at the centre of our lives.
You see, in the Christian view, heaven is a place where everyone loves and accepts everyone else. It will be wonderful. However, you can’t get to heaven if you’re focused on yourself and not on God. You’d ruin it. We need this change to occur, right at the centre of our being, and only Jesus – by his death, resurrection and the pouring out of His Spirit – can perform that change.
Can we all just get along? Yes – it’s called heaven – and it all begins with accepting the change of life offered by Jesus.
EASTER SERVICE TIMES:
Good Friday Service, Bucasia Beach Esplanade, 9am 29th March 2013
Easter Sunday, Fitzgerald State School Hall, 4pm 31st March 2013
When we look at the natural beauty of the world, and the design of the human body, the question is: Did this all happen by chance? Or did someone create it? The Bible says God is the one who created the universe we live in and the bodies we inhabit. So how can we know him? Well, the Bible says it’s by looking at Jesus Christ.
At MAKE we’re currently running through the Christianity Explored Course for the first time together in our Bible Study Groups. It’s a great course, thinking about life and about Jesus who gives meaning and purpose to this life. We’re hoping to run the course again in the future. If you interested in coming along when we do – contact us here.
We’re very excited to be moving to Fitzgerald State School Hall, Norris Road, North Mackay from the 3rd of February 2013 (This Sunday!!). Kids church kicks off again this week too. We’ll be slowly tweaking and improving things as we go (house-warming is planned for term 3 this year), but why not come along and check it out as we work through the New Testament book of Acts this term. Same time – 4pm Sundays. Just new location:
