
What can I tell you about a whole church in just a few shorts paragraphs?
Well, most important, we follow a God who loves the world so much that gave His one and only Son to save us from our sins. We follow Him by worshipping Him, learning about Him, serving each other, being in relationship with each other, and serving people outside our church …
Worship - As well as praying, singing, baptising and having Communion together, we live our whole lives for God - in church, in our homes, in school, at university, and in the workplace.
Learning - When we became Christians we made a new start; so we know we need to keep on learning about God and what He wants of us, and how He can help us. We do this by reading the Bible, hearing preaching and teaching in Sunday services, and in small groups held in people's homes during the week.
Serving each other - A church doesn't just happen. There are many things to be done: operating the sound system, cleaning, catering, home visits, teaching, to name just a few. Every church member has a role.
Relationship - Real church is about more than just turning up on Sunday morning and saying, 'How are you?' 'I'm alright. How are you?'. Real church is about the church being a part of your life and your life being a part of the church. That means building real, meaningful relationships with people. We do that at Eltham Park not only by worshipping together, but also through serving together, through God's Galaxy (our children's church), through small groups in people's homes, in our Friendship Centre, our Tuesday fellowship, through our Boys' and Girls' Brigades, through Eltham Park Youth Crew, through social events, and by supporting each other in the hard times. In short, we laugh together and we cry together.
Serving people outside - God loves the world, not only the Church. So, we serve the world, not only our church. We do this through all the organisations I mentioned under Relationship, which are open to people outside our church, and through our pre-school, Playwell. We also campaign for justice - at home and abroad (we are currently supporting the Stop The Traffik campaign against human trafficking) and we support overseas mission and aid projects.
Now that you've virtually checked us out, why not come along and see the real thing? We'd love to see you.
Gary Serra di Migni,
Pastor
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