Tell The Story

A New Sound at Energizer Church

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A good song really is an amazing thing. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being united in song with other people. We are incredibly diverse, with completely unique experiences, opinions, tendencies and beliefs, but somehow, music unites us, stripping away our many differences. Few art forms allow so easily for the transference of meaning and emotion between souls as well as the song.

In The Church, the song is given even more responsibility, acting not only as a unifier of people, but also as a vehicle through which we can engage with God in spirit, mind and body. What an amazing gift God has given us in the song!

For so many of us, at specific times certain songs have helped us express something to God that we might not have been able to articulate otherwise. There are always amazing songs being written across the global church and, often we can find songs that feel really relevant for where we are at as individuals and as a local church in one corner of the world; Energizer Creative’s Songwriting Workshop is about developing our ability as a group of believers to express what God is doing among us – specifically.

We don’t just want new tunes to sing; we want to chronicle in song the journey God has us on, as a church. We want songs that celebrate our victories, embrace our challenges, speak prophetically to our church and our city and create moments of intimacy with God that are truly ours.

The format of the night is not so much about the generation of new ideas, but the shaping and polishing of ideas that our people have already partially formed. As such, each time the night rolls around, we’ll aim to get one to three songs from a basic idea to a fully formed song, ready to go for Sunday!

It’s about what’s in our hands: while we don’t have fancy recording studios or full-time Creative staff, we’ve got some great lyrical and musical minds, a physical space and some time set aside. We want it to be a simple process to get songs from sketches to finished products.

The Process:
If you’ve got a song, or even half a song, here’s how Songwriting Workshop can get it finished and ready to be used on a Sunday:
Send a demo and chart (chords and words) to me on email (simongrubb@gmail.com.
I’ll listen/read it and either send it back to you (and possibly on to someone else) with suggested additions or changes. Once the idea is ready, we’ll take the demo and chart to Songwriting Workshop for full-band arrangement and basic recording.
Finished songs will be checked by senior church leadership and then loaded into the database with recording and charts, ready for use in services!

I’m excited to get going and get some homegrown songs written from the heart of our church into our amazing services. I really believe God can use these songs, as yet unheard, to minister to his people, to reach the lost, to change the world.

“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭96:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

– Simon Grubb
Energizer Creative

A God Story: Little Prayers

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‘Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”‘
Matthew 19:14

I was raised in a great home, but not one where faith was prioritised. Until I was fifteen, I knew nothing of a God who loved me and would go to great lengths to have relationship with me. Overnight, my discovery of Jesus changed the direction of my life. I don’t know what it’s like to go through childhood with an awareness of the spiritual world. For this reason, I sometimes feel I’ll-equipped to teach my children what it means to have a relationship with God.

As parents, isn’t it true that sometimes we are hyper-aware of the areas we feel like we are failing, or not enough, that we miss the great things we have done for our kids?

Completely by accident, I discovered last week that I have in fact done something great for my little boy: I have given him the Church. At times, it is really hard to be an involved, serving, leading, member of the church with little ones, but one simple conversation with my two year old, reminded me that it is so worth it.

While playing with his cars (an activity that occupies around 75% of his waking hours), Jasper looked up at me and, quite matter-of-factly, stated:
“Mummy, I can talk to God. It’s called PRAYING. We do it at church and I talk to God in my bed. At church they teach me praying and I talk to God about you, mama”.

He’s two.

This is the strength of the local church: in the area where I feel like I am letting this amazing child down, some other beautiful soul, serving downstairs on a Sunday, unbeknownst to me, has taught him to commune with his creator. My little boy is praying for his mama.

This child has been loved and encouraged by the church family since he was born, he has received abundantly more input, perspective and care than we could have given on our own. I truly believe that my greatest strength as a mother is that I do not even try to carry the burden of raising little people, little disciples, on my own, but that I give them the Body of Christ as their family. ymMy children will never remember a time when they were not part of the family of God. In my family, the will be the first generation that I know of who can say this!

Church can be hard, emotionally, logistically, even financially, especially with little ones, but it is a vehicle through which God redeems generations; it is a place to give and receive encouragement (and parents of toddlers need PLENTY of that!). It is a blessing to belong in a local church and I am so thankful that Energizer Church loves my children so well.

– Jen Grubb

A Father’s Love: A God Story from Tash

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My father left the family home when I was two and my sister was one. My Mother re-married and went on to have three more children. My childhood was not a happy one; it was marred with years of physical and mental abuse, at the hands of my step-father (at the time). I never knew the love of a father, until I gave my heart to The Lord.

Around six months ago, I received a message from my father, asking to meet for a coffee. This message came as a huge surprise to me, as I had only had very limited contact with him over the last 40 years. Even though, at that stage, he was not a part of my life, I had been trying hard in the last five years or so to honor my father, though honoring him hasn’t always been easy for me. However, I would continue to try because he’s my father – not because he was there for me, or because he taught me great life lessons or because he’s a great role model. Unfortunately, none of that has been true in my life.

Despite this, God commands me to honor my father and, present or not, perfect or not, my father contacted me, wanting to be a part of my life and my children’s lives, so I choose to let that be enough.

Our first meeting was a little awkward for me, but my son, Connor instantly took a liking to him. This encouraged me to follow up with another coffee date, and things very quickly improved from there. I became very comfortable sharing my life, past and present with him; I met his lovely wife, and can now say he is a big part of my life.

One day my father ended our conversation with “I love you, sweetheart.” I don’t know how long it took me to respond because I had to absorb the moment. I had never heard my father say that to me before. Had I always had the love of my father? What difference would that have made in my life had I known? How would my life be different today?

The whole experience has made me think about our heavenly Father’s love for us, how much he loves us, how much he treasures us and how his love for us never fails.

Many people struggle to believe God loves them because of dysfunctional parents. What about you? Do you have emotional wounds resulting from your upbringing? If so, such hurts can block your understanding of God’s unconditional love. I encourage you to not only to move towards forgiveness but also to reject unhealthy mindsets you may have adopted because of trauma.

Believe the following:

Your heavenly Father will never abandon you. Circumstances never affect God’s nature. He will always, always, always stay the same.

“I will never fail you, I will never abandon you” (Heb. 13:5, NLT).
Your heavenly Father will never verbally criticize you. The Lord is a loving Father who speaks tenderly to His children, and even when He must discipline us, it is for our good.
“ …. for the lord is full of tenderness and mercy.” (John 5:11, NLT)
Your heavenly Father will never abuse you. God is not an abuser. He is a good Shepherd who protects us. If you were abused by someone, either physically, sexually or verbally, recognize that God did not approve of that behavior and He wants to heal you from the pain of that experience.

Your heavenly Father will never withhold affection from you.: God is crazy about you and He wants to shower you with love! As a believer in Christ you always have access to the Father through the Holy Spirit . He wants you to be close to Him.

No matter what fatherly wounds you may have suffered, and no matter how long ago the pain entered, God can heal your heart and fill in the gaps. Reach out and receive the Father’s embrace.

– Tash Ellis

A God Story: Chris

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This story began toward the end of March this year, when I reached a very low point in my life. My business ventures were moving agonisingly slowly; I had little passion and, above all, I felt completely disconnected from the world.

I saw others in my life with immense enthusiasm and flourishing relationships, so I asked the Universe to present me with the ‘next step’, so that I could begin to experience more connection and fulfilment. Even though I was feeling low at the time, I truly believed that there was something much better for me around the corner; all I had to do to get started was ASK!

One Friday night shift at the hotel where I was working, I served a family named the McDermotts. They were incredibly happy, and I was really enjoying the time going back and forth from their table. Damon, the father, eventually asked me what I wanted to do outside of my bar job, and I mentioned to him my intentions for creating a coaching and public speaking business. Without hesitation, he asked me to email him with some information so that he could put me in touch with a friend of his.

About a week later I heard back from Damon, who’d organised a meeting with his close friend, Grant. Grant also happened to be a successful coach who was doing a lot of what I wanted to do, and from what I could see, he was an ideal person to ask for help. I saw that Grant was a great speaker and coach, but I never would have expected what came of the meeting…

I met with Grant and after an hour’s conversation, I was in tears. The tears were because this man challenged me in a way that I’d never been challenged before, and spoke truth to me that I’ll never forget. Grant dug very deep and I couldn’t be more grateful for that special meeting. As we left, he invited me to Energizer Church, and I knew straight away that this invitation was one of the ‘next steps’ that I’d been asking for.

Even though the fear and limiting beliefs began to arise, I made the decision to leave my past judgements of Christianity behind and commit to opening my life to new possibilities. Within the first two weeks of going to Energizer Church, I began to notice a few shifts taking place in my life. These shifts were amplified when I started to really let go of old fears, and immerse myself in the Bible and conversation with God.

I kept focusing on asking God for the ‘next step’, and, at the end of May, the opportunity came for me to be baptised at Energizer Church. This was a special moment, because I felt that my decision was official and the old me was to be left behind for good! I continued to read the Bible, I prayed, and every week I felt myself connecting more and more with God and the people around me.

Shortly after my baptism, I attended a networking event with StartUp Tasmania, and met with a wonderful lady with whom my new coaching concept resonated. I’d been asking God for the next step in my business, and the initial conversation with Clare has since led to the growth of a partnership and interactive workshop for young athletes with StartUp Tasmania at the end of July. The fire’s beginning to burn again, and the momentum is really starting to build!

What I was missing in my life was connection, and after only fifteen weeks on the journey with Christianity, I feel the most connected I’ve been in about fifteen years, both internally and externally. If you feel that something is missing in your life, know that God will provide if you just ASK and build your faith strong enough to let the path unfold as it should. When in doubt, just ask for the ‘next step’…you never know where God will lead you.

“In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:6

– Chris Ogle

Prayers Over the Fence

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“Whatever you do for my people, you do for me.”
Matthew 25:40

Max Lucado wrote “I am reminded that I am to be about God’s business – our purpose is to be an extension of His nature and a proclaimer of His message.”

Fifty years ago, a young family went to church and were told that they had to either sit up the back or not come, because the young mother was in a wheelchair and was unable to stand when the order of service required it.

Eight years ago, Dennis and I moved into the house next to this beautiful old couple. Ian first met our son Chris over the fence and the next day I got to say hello. He told me how Chris was the first teenager to stop and not only say hello, but to have a very pleasant conversation with. He asked where we had been in the morning and, when I told him we had been to church, he got quite serious and told me of his experiences fifty years earlier. They had never been to church since. Ian’s wife, Dot, had serious rheumatoid arthritis and was quite debilitated, but an incredibly positive person nevertheless. She spent a lot of her time inside. From that that first meeting onwards, I had many over-the-fence conversations with Ian and he always asked if we had been to church. He was watching.

Three years ago, Dot became very ill. Ian was very concerned and I asked him if he had asked God to help Dot? He said he had’t, but that Dot prayed every night. He said he didn’t like praying aloud. I knew then that that was what God wanted from Ian: to talk to Him and have a relationship with Him, a connection with God that wasn’t just on Sundays or reading a Bible. Ian said it wasn’t worth it anyway, because they didn’t go to church; I told him church is not a building but that we were having church right there over the fence. Where 2 or 3 are gathered…

Before I finished our chat I asked him if he was going to talk to God that night? He said “You’re not going to let this go are you?” And no, I wasn’t.

Ian’s wife passed away six months later. His children wanted him to move interstate to stay with them but he didn’t know what to do. I suggested he pray about it, because God really wanted to help him. He said he probably should.
Ian was diagnosed with cancer eighteen months ago and, by the beginning of this year, things weren’t looking good and I felt an urgency to help him connect with God. So again, I asked, “Have you been talking to God?” This time, the answer was different: “yes,” he said. “When I get out of bed every morning I say, “Oh god that hurts!” This was not quite what I was thinking, but the humour was a great way to begin a conversation! He was lonely, unable to move around his house and in a lot of pain. These all caused him to be quite depressed, wanting just to fall asleep and not wake up.

I visited him every other day, on the days his carer didn’t come, and simply helped with lots of practical things: a cup of tea, a sandwich, doing the dishes. He loved it when I came and I also really enjoyed chatting with this dear old man. He always asked about the family and where Dennis was working. He told me stories that he had told me before, but I just listened as if it was the first time. I prayed for him and talked to him about how much God loved him and cared about what he was going through. I suggested he tried praying himself. He said that he might. Alan Bahr had also visited him and prayed with him.

The night before Church Together, Dennis and I visited Ian. He was extremely down. We talked about Heaven and going to see his wife. I asked him if he believed that Jesus had died on the cross for him and he said he did. I said that I wanted to see him at Heaven’s gates, waiting for me when it was my turn. “We won’t see each other in Heaven,” he said, “we go to different churches”. “Guess what we are doing tomorrow, Ian?” I asked him. We told him how the Catholics, Salvation Army, Anglicans, Pentecostals, all the different churches of Hobart, were getting together to have a church service. He was so pleased.

I offered to pray for Ian. During the prayer I asked God to give Ian peace and he spoke, allowing his agreement. “Yes please give me peace. I need it,” he prayed. I asked God that if it was His will that it would be Ian’s time to go to Heaven and to meet Jesus who died on the cross for him. “Yes God,” he allowed. He was praying with me and I knew then something had changed in Ian.

A few days later I got a call from Ian asking if I could come and help him pack his bag to go back to hospital. I knew it probably would be for the last time. As I was gathering his clothes in the bedroom he called out from the lounge, “Karen, you have really got my mind thinking on God all the time now!” I told him that was exactly what I was hoping for, because God just wanted to help him through this. When I had visited him a few times in the hospital, he told me he talked to God and that He was helping Ian and that he was so looking forward to seeing Dot again.

Ian passed away on Saturday 28th May with his two children, who made it just in time from interstate.

This experience has changed me. I feel honoured that God chose me to help Ian find his way back to his Lord and Saviour. God never gave up on Ian. He had a plan and we were privileged to be part of it. I think of my dear friend every day as I see his empty house in front of ours. My sister is a real estate agent and she rang to say a dear old man is looking at Ian’s house and it put a smile on my face to consider another neighbour that I can get to know and share with him about Jesus.

– Karen Ekkel

Polish Your Crown: Psalm 8

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I recently witnessed a toddler meltdown of epic proportions, this is not really newsworthy as the toddler in question is mine and I see these scenarios quite regularly. However, this particular meltdown took place at 11pm and all parents will tell you that the later the hour, the louder the cries. We had gone up to stay with my parents, who live three and a half hours’ drive away. I’m a planner, so I decided if we left after dinner, both children would sleep in the car and we could pop them straight into bed at the other end. Great plan, right? The first part went perfectly, but my plan did not account for an overexcited grandmother. When my little boy blearily opened his eyes in Nanny’s living room, he might well have just closed them again and drifted off, EXCELT that there were TOYS everywhere awaiting his arrival. Anyway, sleepy playing ensued, followed by exhaustion, followed by a meltdown. He was tired, but he would not go to bed (some of you might know this story). It was not his bed, it was not his room and he felt disoriented.

Disorientation is an unpleasant feeling for all of us, even if we don’t beat our fists on the floor like a two year old. We feel like we are drifting, nothing feels sure or fixed and we feel that we have no control over where our feet may fall next. It makes us forget who we are.

Like my little one provided an excellent example of these feelings over he weekend, children are a symbol in Psalm 8. They represent innocence and vulnerability; weakness and dependence.
“Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.”
Psalm 8:2

The innocence if children is contrasted with the strength of foes and avengers. God wants us to know that our strength is not our victory; our surrender to His strength is. He strengthens the weakest and most vulnerable, our praises are what makes us powerful!

This psalm is written evidence of God’s care and concern for us: His children. The psalmist writes of the very existence of Heaven and Earth as a declaration of love from God to humanity. Our position of trust as the appointed rulers of this world shows us that God has adopted us and sons and daughters, placing everything under our feet.

Psalm 8 is a timely (for me anyway) reminder of how we should view ourselves. I don’t believe I am alone in my ability to get disoriented and feel overwhelmed by the demands of everyday life. Although I often feel that I am not enough for the tasks at hand, this psalm reminds me that God has made me a “ruler of the works of his hands”.

“You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet”
Psalm 8:5-6

We have been crowned with glory and honour. We cannot crown ourselves, we cannot change our crown, or do anything to earn it; it has been given as an expression of our intrinsic value to God. That certainly makes me feel better amidst the struggles of life and ministry. A crown is a symbol of authority and, when I feel like anyone other than me would do a better job, I remember that God has crowned me with glory, honour and the authority to carry out great works in His name. In times of discouragement or trials, we must remember to polish our crowns.

Polishing your crown means adjusting your self-image to reflect the care and consideration that God gave and continues to give to your creation. It means spending time in His presence, being transformed into His image. Praise God for who you are; you are exactly as He intended you to be, crowned with glory and honour.

– Jen Grubb

A City to Settle

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“Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.
They were hungry and thirsty and their lives ebbed away.
Then, they cried out to The Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.
Let them give thanks to The Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”
Psalm 107:4-9

I have rediscovered something about myself recently: I do not transition well! This has been exemplified lately by my switch from full time work (and everything else we’ve got going on in church, family and all the rest) to maternity leave. Essentially, I’m at home hanging with a two-year old and awaiting the arrival of a new baby, on a full time basis. I have more time than I know what to do with, literally!

Now, the normal response to such a change of pace one would think, would be an overwhelming sense of peace and relaxation. Apparently, I am not normal! Instead of entering into some sort state of domestic bliss, I have experienced a shock wave of the anxiety that comes and goes in my life from time to time. Perhaps I don’t know myself when I have room to move, who knows, anyway, it hasn’t been very calm or serene around here recently.

Perhaps this is why I identified with the Israelites as they are documented in the above Psalm snippet; I’ve landed myself in my own private desert wasteland. A desert implies a sense of lifelessness and a wasteland denotes pointlessness, of lack of purpose. It’s amazing how the psalmist has perfectly captured in one simple phrase, written so long ago, how many people experience mental illness in our contemporary society.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had the time and space to be still; life has been ridiculously busy, probably unhealthily so, if I’m honest, so I empathise with the Israelites in this psalm, as they struggle with being unable to find a place to settle. Again, the psalmist captures the feeling perfectly: “They were hungry and thirsty and their lives ebbed away.” My sudden change from a packed schedule to a relative lack of structure gave me a sense that nothing meaningful was being achieved!

Eventually though, just like the Israelites, I started to get my act together and take my troubles to God. Slowly but surely, as I follow the sound of His voice, I am learning to navigate this new chapter. I am remembering that achievement does not define me, nor does accomplishment, but rather the time that I spend in the presence of God, settling.

God leads by “a straight way”, in other words, he gets to the point!mhe has no desire to see any time wasted in delivering us from our distress. So often, I feel like the sheer number of obstacles, twists and turns that lie between where I am and peace make it a basically unachievable goal, but when I actually listen to the voice of God, I find the straight way. When I am listening, he leads me to a city where I can settle.

Written by Jen Grubb

Hard Choices, Worth Making

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Last night I sat in a meeting of some of the key leaders of our church, being poked, prodded, climbed and kicked by my children: one on the outside and one on the inside. I am sure I spent more time getting up to assist my son with the potty, or help him locate a particular toy car than I did sitting down. While the others took notes or discussed ideas, I tried to convince my little boy to eat sandwiches and tried my hardest to listen to other grown-ups talking about grown-up things over the top of Jasper listing all the colours he could see. My main contribution was “ssshhh!” (directed at my child, not the other leaders!). It was frustrating in the extreme and I just kept thinking to myself “this is so hard!”.

It would have been so much easier to be at home, where instead of a sandwich, I would no doubt be trying to get my son to eat something I had cooked, with vegetables in it. My success rate might not have been any better, but at least I wouldn’t have been worried about whether or not his perfectly natural, two year old noise level was disrupting others. It would’ve been so much easier if all I had to worry about was how much food went into his mouth, not whether he was derailing a meeting while he ate. It would be so much easier to avoid these scenarios, to remove myself from positions of leadership and influence, until my children are older – that’s what I was thinking throughout much of that meeting.

Maybe it would be easier, to leave behind the world of events, meetings and countless volunteer hours that we as a family have devoted to building the church. Maybe I should just get this season out of the way. That sometimes feels very tempting.

However, I am convinced that I would not be able to parent my children as effectively if I sidestepped the calling that God has placed on my life, which above all is to build the church. These little people, one of whom is not even born yet, will grow up not just hearing me talk about the importance of gathering with and supporting other believers, but seeing me pour my heart and soul, often my tears, very often my laughter, into facilitating that gathering. When they are older, they will know the church and they will feel known within it; they will understand that this is their place and these are their people. My son already does.

I hope they will be able to see that the church is a little bit stronger, a little bit better, because mummy and daddy worked their butts off to make it that way, along with an incredible community of like-minded people, even when the seasons of life made it difficult.

I hope that they will see that we have sown our time and finances, not in spite of having children to raise, but because of them. One day it will be their turn to lead, to push through the limitations that my generation faced and extend the boundaries of the kingdom of God. When that day comes, I want to be able to say I have done everything I could do to build the best platform for them to launch from.

Full disclosure: I cried a bit as I wrote this, because I know that the majority of those years of making hard choices to be part of the heart and soul of our church, no matter what, are still in front of me. Perhaps those choices will always be hard and the reasons will just change, but I know that being part of this incredible community and having the opportunity to lead and encourage others and to serve our community – these things are worth making hard choices for.

Being part of the heart and soul of church is sometimes hard, but it is always worth it. Ultimately, I hope this is what my children will learn as we walk this journey together. I also wouldn’t mind if they learned to play quietly during the odd meeting.

“The one thing I ask of the Lord—
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.”
Psalm 27:4

Written by Jen Grubb

Pop Up Church – Round 2!

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Hi everyone,

Our first Pop Up Church was a great night, with lots of new people and meaningful connections with individuals and families and a handful of people making decisions to follow Christ.

These events are great to bring someone who has never been to a church service too as they are full of ways to attract attention; food vans, live music, a cool decked-out shed + much more! So let me encourage you with a story about the power of the invite!

A young man name Dwayne was invited; he had never been to church, but got involved boots all when he arrived at 4pm. On the night he had a blast and then responded to an invite to ask Jesus to be his Lord and Saviour! Dwayne was then at church at both our services on Sunday and even experienced God heal some pain in his leg at our morning service on Sunday.

My encouragement leads to a question: WHO can YOU INVITE? Last week it was Dwayne and this week, I know if you invite people who are disconnected or distant from God that, like Dwayne, this may be exactly the setting they need to find themselves in a placeto respond to the invitation to ask Jesus to be Lord and Saviour.

God Bless!
Be encouraged and can’t wait to see you Saturday!

Dan Pastoor,
Service Pastor, Pop Up Church