With the year now well under way, this week felt quite busy in the office, full of many tasks. Though as I came to the end of the week feeling a little drained, God met me so powerfully! He redirected my thinking and refreshed me and encouraged me, as I fixed my eyes not just on the tasks that needed to be done, but on all that He was doing!

On Thursday afternoon, I received the following encouraging note from Meryl, who co-leads the Creative Crafters group with Lynette. It read:

11 people gathered for our first daytime Creative Crafters group on Monday morning.  It was great to hear lots of chatting and encouraging to see new people in the group.  There was joy in the room as people spent time catching up in a relaxed way. This is a good opportunity to develop new friendships as we share our craft ideas and help one another to learn new skills.  We look forward to welcoming more people as time goes on!

The table tennis ministry also meets on Monday mornings, and it was heartwarming to hear that the building was filled with joy, friendship, and laughter! 

I’m also thrilled to share that our Women’s Ministry is planning our first event! We will host a Prayer and Worship Night on Saturday 15 March from 7pm in the auditorium. This will be a special evening where we can come together as women of all ages, lift our voices in praise, and seek God’s presence. As we prayed together about this event on Thursday evening, we felt led to focus on the vision God gave us as a Women’s Ministry in 2023, Isaiah 58:11 “The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.” What a beautiful promise! I can’t wait for us to invite many and gather in worship and prayer. Stay tuned for details in the Newsletter next week, we hope to see you there!

As we celebrate women, I want to express my gratitude to God for bringing Emma and Jade to our staff team! You can find more about their appointments in the Newsletter, but I am truly thankful for God’s perfect timing, as well as for Emma and Jade’s servant hearts and the unique gifts God has given them.

As we celebrate these wonderful updates, I am reminded of Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” 

It is so incredible that God is at work in us and through us, ready to do more than we can imagine. As the Saturday Summit approaches, let’s keep our hearts open to all God wants to do in our lives and in our neighbourhood. We are all part of this beautiful 

tapestry God is weaving at The Grove, and I’m so grateful for each of you 

and the unique gifts you bring to our church family. Let’s continue to lift 

each other up and praise God for all He is doing!

Mel

This weekend we are celebrating 18 years as a church. When a person turns 18, they are officially recognised as an adult. I am not sure that's transferable to churches. But if it is, then we can be sure our Father in Heaven has been preparing us for adulthood! This got me thinking about key lessons Jesus taught us in 18 years. Many lessons indeed, and we can be thankful for them all. Let me share just four of them. 

1. Jesus builds his church, and nothing can stop him.

The journey hasn’t been easy, but the Lord has been faithful. There were times when obstacles looked insurmountable, yet Jesus overcame them all. This last year has been incredibly difficult for our family, staff and church, however, we have experienced the strength of God and depth of his love through his church. In every season, we can trust Jesus, because his church is unstoppable. 

1. Prayer is powerful and essential.

‘Pray always’ was the first word to The Grove through a miraculous sign. On our first prayer walk at Easter 2007, we found a car mat someone left on the path with the words ‘pray always’ painted on it. We took this as direction from Jesus to never stop praying as a church, and we haven’t for 18 years. We give thanks for the many powerful answers to prayer we have seen, and for how prayer has taught us to rely on God. Let’s keep praying in increasing measure in our 19th year. 

3.    God is faithful to his word.

We thank God for all who have taught the bible to adults, teenagers and kids each year. We also praise God for the many promises he gave and fulfilled. Faith is hearing God speak, and responding in active obedience. One example is 10 years ago Jesus gave us a promise about our monthly PM service, that this mustard seed would become a large tree. Two years ago we remembered that word and started a weekly congregation at 5.30pm. We begin 2025 with a growing faith community of youth and young adults, and baptize one of our teenagers on our 18th birthday. We praise God for a church who keeps listening, trusting and obeying God as he speaks. 

4.    One person at a time.

The story of one person reaching another is in the DNA of The Grove. We were led to our property because a cancer patient walked across a hospital ward to share Jesus love with another. There are many wonderful things we do as a church, but the missional edge of the church is the people reaching out to one person at a time. In the gospels, this is how Jesus changed the world. 

Something significant happened last term mostly behind the scenes - the completion of our Kitchen! Praise God for this wonderful provision! Our new kitchen provides the infrastructure needed for hospitality and our Neighbourhood Café dream, which serves our one at a time mission. Jesus calls us to love our neighbour, and we believe there will be many conversations and love shared on our back deck, where hearts will open to our awesome Saviour and King. 

On our 18th anniversary, we celebrate and give thanks to the founder and head of The Grove Baptist Church, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is building his church on the foundation of his word, and empowering his church as his people pray. He has grown his church to reflect the heart of Jesus, who gave living water to a woman at a well, sight to a blind man beside a road, and led a celebration when a lost son came home. Thank You Jesus for 18 years and for all that's to come,

Marty

There are mixed reviews about new year's resolutions. Some people love them and always make their list. Others think they are pointless, maybe because they never stuck, their list wasn’t achievable, or they couldn’t see how a change in the calendar would make much difference. Then of course there are those who like the idea of them, but because they are procrastinators, never get around to making any resolutions.

I personally think new year’s resolutions are good in principle. God created the world with a rhythm of new year’s, months, weeks and days. It seems to me like a biblical idea that God invites us to start fresh and set goals. I mean the gospel is essentially God offering us a new beginning. Jesus’ death and resurrection cancelled the debt of sin, and provided a clean slate and new life to all who receive him. 

Paul wrote about the outcome in 2 Corinthians 5:17. Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  

Whether you are restarting with Jesus, or you have been following him for years, let these words sink in to start 2025. The old is gone, new life has begun. We have tried the old life, and too many years were wasted on it. New life in Jesus is a better adventure into the new things God wants to do in and through us. We don’t know what the year holds for each of us, or for our ever changing world for that matter. But we do know the One who holds the year, also holds our lives in his loving and powerful hands. 

On Thursday I was texting with Joel Hockey who mentioned he was reading Isaiah 54, and knew verse 3 was significant for The Grove. Then he wrote words from verse 4 in the Message translation that struck a chord in my heart. Don’t be afraid—you’re not going to be embarrassed. Don’t hold back—you’re not going to come up short. 

If you are like me you’ve had a mixed relationships with new year’s resolutions. But this year, I believe God is saying to not procrastinate stepping out in faith to how Jesus is leading us. Whether individually or as a church. To not fear humiliation that something might not work out, or to fear a lack of provision would stop us in our tracks. Do not be afraid, do not hold back. Those are words for the new life of following Jesus, and I pray we will all hear those words behind however God calls us to step out in faith in 2025. 

Happy new year, and may the Lord grant you courage, clarity and conviction for 

all he calls you and us to in 2025.

Marty

Besides Jesus, Mary and Joseph, my favourite characters in the Christmas story are the Shepherds. There’s hardly a more unlikely group to be first recipients of the news that God’s Son was born on earth. Shepherds were the kind of blokes last on anyone’s list to share something valuable with. They had a reputation of being untrustworthy and unholy, which made them unwelcome by almost everyone. The Shepherds inclusion as first responders in the Christmas story, is what makes it so surprising. 

It was to this unlikely bunch God sent a mighty messenger from heaven, surrounded by the light of his glory and accompanied by an army of angelic warriors. The message announced was also unlikely to Shepherds who would have expected bad news from God. But it was good news of great joy for all people…even shepherds…even you and me! 

Christmas can be quite familiar to us, to the point we don’t expect anything unlikely to happen. Yet the first Christmas was unlike anything that’s happened before or since. Elizabeth Elliot wrote, A thousand times in history a baby has become a king, but only once in history did a King become a baby. 

The unlikely happened, and if you consider yourself unlikely to receive something good from God, then Christmas is for you. God came to this world in an unlikely way, and announced his coming to unlikely people, which kind of wrecks our protests of being an unlikely person that God would care about. It’s the whole point of Christmas. God is not like what most people think he is like, and we are not like those we think God would love. That’s the good news of great joy for all people. 

The King who is born is a Saviour. As unlikely at it seems, God came to rescue us from fear, loneliness, boredom, hatred, addictions, empty pursuits, dead end streets, broken dreams, despair, guilt and annual cycles of regret. Jesus came to turn our lives around, from the inside out. He came to wipe the slate clean, to start again in a new relationship with him. There is no greater Christmas gift than to receive the King who was born, and all the benefits of walking with God everyday as his child. 

What we thought was unlikely, is actually the most likely thing when we experience it. It’s what we were created for and born to live. The God shaped hole can be filled, and the life we long for can be lived. We finally discover that we were made to be like Jesus, made in the image of God, made to be filled with his love and to fulfill his great purpose. 

May you know the blessing and love of Jesus this Christmas, and in 2025 you are so welcome to come worship Jesus with us and share his love in our neighbourhood.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours, Marty and Leanne Luke

This past week has been filled with joy and expectation as many people came together to prepare for the wedding of Bek and Louis! Thank you to everyone who lent a hand in the preparations, ensuring this special occasion is overflowing with love and celebration. It is such a joy to witness the body of Christ coming together in various ways, and truly reflects the beauty and care of our church family as we honour and support one another through moments of love, commitment and shared joy.

Although Thanksgiving Sunday was last week, I can’t help but continue to express my thanks! Particularly to everyone who contributed to the Christmas hampers this year. Whether you gave financially, helped collect items, or assisted with packing and distributing, thank you! This was my first year organising the hampers, and after speaking to our local school chaplains, it’s clear just how great the need is in our neighbourhood. Because of your generosity, families will experience the tangible love and care of God this Christmas. I’m reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”  Such love for others glorifies God by reflecting our love for him. 

As we celebrate this season of giving, we are reminded of the greatest act of generosity the world has ever known, God giving us His Son, Jesus. This gift was not wrapped in beautiful christmas paper, or adorned with ribbons, but came in the form of a humble baby, born in a manger, sent to bring hope and salvation to a broken world. Christmas is a beautiful time to reflect on this extraordinary gift, recognising that God’s generosity inspires our own acts of kindness and love.

Let’s embrace this spirit of service and generosity, letting our light shine brightly, during this Christmas season as we step out in anticipation, trusting that God will use every effort, no matter how big or small, to bring hope and transformation to those around us. 

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, 

that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven.” 

(Matt 5:14-16)

Mel