Preaching Calendar
Here's what's coming up at GPC this year:
Overarching theme:
People always get excited about church planting - about starting something new. But at GPC this year we feel called to be excited about planting our roots deeper in the community. We see a need for people in the community to understand why they need Jesus in their lives and why Church is important. The way in which we do this is through relationships. Through being great neighbours and friends and intentionally living out our faith in those relationships we seek to help people understand the faithfulness and love of God. So as leaders Kris and Becky want to help equip us to do just that by grounding our lives in prayer and self-reflection, by being intentional in our relationships, by understanding and being a caring presence for people living with mental health issues, and by deepening our faith through understanding God's love for us more and showing this in the way we interact with others. By doing so we hope to bring love, understanding and add undeniable value to our community.
Term One
The 40 Days of Lent
In term one we begin our year by looking at the ancient christian practice of Lent. The number 40 is seen throughout scripture as a period of preparation: the story of the great flood, the wilderness wanderings of the nation of Israel, Moses preparation to receive the law, Elijah's fasting and these experiences are fulfilled in Jesus' 40 days of temptation in the desert. This has traditionally been a time of self examination, self denial, and prayerful reliance on God. We encourage you to engage with this ancient practice to prepare yourselves for appreciating Christ's salvation afresh this Easter.
During our Lenten study we will also be running our church wide small group study on prayer. Please contact the office if you are not already in a small group so that everyone can participate.
Term Two
Living Intentionally - Wisdom for life from Romans 12
We don't want to just go with the flow, get stuck in the daily grind or waste opportunities in life. We believe that God wants us to follow Jesus' example and live purposeful lives, making the most of the blessing and gifts he has given us and maximising our potential. He wants us to live well: to worship him, to accept and learn from suffering, to generously serve others, and to be filled with joy. Lets take lessons about how we can be living sacrifices for God and bring life and love to those around us.
 Term Three
Equipped to Care - bringing God's love to those with mental health issues
As a church we want to deepen our roots in the community. We do this through being intentional with our relationships - committing to turning up and being present with people in the good and the hard times. In a community where physical needs are less prevalent, mental health issues are a main concern. We want to be equipped to understand mental health issues in ourselves, in others in our church and in our community and to be Jesus to people who are going through mental health struggles. We are not health professionals, and we are not going to learn to be. But we are neighbours and friends placed here by God to be present, empathetic and loving in this area and to bring transformative change to people as we incarnate our loving saviour. The Sanctuary Course (on which we draw our material) will be encouraged to be undertaken by small groups alongside this series and can be found here: https://sanctuarymentalhealth.org/sanctuary-course/
Term Four
Prepared to Love
In our final series for the year we want to continue the theme of deepening our roots in the community through being intentional in our relationships. We will look at 1 John, a book predominantly about love, light and goodness, which we hope will deepen our faith and empower us to be more available and present to those around us.
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