Andrew Poyser

Starting next year we have another Pastor coming to work in our growing church: Meet Andrew Poyser!  No, Andrew’s not the Saint in St.Andrew’s but because of Jesus he is a saint.  Andrew has just finished his studies at QTC (Queensland Theological College) in Brisbane and comes ready to teach God’s Word so that others can come to know and grow in their love for the Lord Jesus.  We’re really looking forward to the Poyser’s joining us in 2011.  Please pray for Andrew and his family as they make their final preparations and arrangements to come and minister with us in Rocky.

Oops

“I’m disappointed that I missed the conclusion of this series as the rest of it was very thought provoking. Thanks Mike!”

“The series you just completed on Ecclesiastes was outstanding.  You made a potentially impossible book come alive with relevance and great learning. Thank you Mike.”

Make sure you listen online – we’d love to hear from you and what you think.

Stand ‘N’ Deliver

We have two great bible teachers Phil Campbell and Luke Tattersall coming along to show us how they do what they do. We’ll be learning from them about preparing and communicating God’s Word to others.

Cost is $20 but that includes your lunch! So come and join us on Saturday, September 4 from 9am-3.30pm at st.andrew’s rockhampton presbyterian church.

ALL ABOARD!  Sorry that was a bit lame.  But this isn’t!  This saturday at church at 8am we will begin the first of our saturday morning train-ing events.  This time we will be looking at how to lead church.  Welcoming people, setting the tone for the meeting, directing people to the Bible and getting them to begin engaging with God. Its more than just the announcement!!  If you’d like to lead church or have a go at it then make sure you come along this Saturday for the train!  Yes, at that time of morning there will be coffee (and pastries – I hope) let Mike know if you are coming.  mike@rockypc.org.au

If you live in Rocky why not come along and join us or if you can’t get to church with us you can listen to our talks here under the bible talks tab.

It’s going to be huge week for the team and for our church – please pray that we can make some great contacts at the School and the University and encourage and strengthen the Gospel work and workers in those places.  If you want to be involved swing by the church and if you can’t do that be sure to pray for us.

Rockhampton is the beef capital of Australia and has over 2 million head of cattle in its surrounding districts.  For many years the beef cattle industry was the city’s main economic source. Beef is in our blood, of course now so is mining and tourism.  In May 2009, Rockhampton will host “Beef Week” – it’s kind of a big deal. It’s anticipated that Rocky’s population doubles in size as people from around Australia and Overseas arrive for the latest brief on beef!

Rocky is famous for its statues (and Rod Laver)! Some six different bull statues in various sizes reflecting various cattle breeds are located in different parts of our city and a number of local business also have their own shop front “bull” statues.  A leasing business has a “LEASE-A-BULL” bull, a local removal company has a blue “ReMOOvaBULL” bull and we now have the “BELIEVE-A-BULL” bull poster (I know, its not the same as a statue).

The poster is meant to be a light hearted connection with our City but also a statement about our church and what we believe and the things that we are on about.  We are a Christ-Centered church,  make no mistake when you come to st.andrew’s it is Jesus who is the focus.  It is Jesus’ church so he is the one that we meet to worship and serve.  We learn about Jesus from his Word to us and nowhere else does Jesus promise to speak to us than in his Bible. We are a Bible-teaching and Bible-believing church.  God’s Word matters to us, it is the focal point of everything we do for faith and life.  When you come along to st.andrew’s you can expect to hear the Bible explained in a way that is simple, clear, relevant and accessible (access-a-bull).

No Bull we are trying to cut out the nonsense that some churches carry on with.  We value our past but we want Jesus to govern our future.   We want people to meet and serve Jesus!  We don’t carry on with traditions, rituals and funny language. It’s not about religion but it is all about Jesus who we can come to know in his Bible.  And that’s NO BULL.

We come to Jesus’ letter to the seven churches in Asia Minor so that together as a church we might catch a vision of the kind of church Jesus wants and what kind of church we need to be so we can be the church that Jesus wants in our city: Rockhampton.  

Beginning in February from our Bible talk series and our small group studies together we will cast our mission statement and our core values for our church.  The purpose of a mission statement is so that everyone knows who we are and why we are here and what it is that we are doing. With a clear mission statement, no one gets left behind – the vision is cast, the direction is set and we all move together in the same direction to be the church Jesus wants. 

From Jesus’ clear teaching to these seven churches in Revelation 1-3 we will also clearly see the things Jesus values in a church and the things that he condemns them for.  With a list of core values we can continue to assess all that we do together as a church and the kind of areas that we need to work on as well as things that we need to say “no” to.

We would love it if you would come and join us so that we can be the Church Jesus Wants in Rocky!