Nudie Rudies

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lance

For those of you that have had the privilege (a dubious title) of changing the nappy of a toddler, you would likely have picked up on something… And, no, I’m not talking about the foul stench that may be gloriously presented before you. A toddler’s only objectives are to grow and burn as much energy as possible. Each day, they are gaining strength and fine-tuning their motor skills; a couple of which just happen to be the ability to physically refuse with their newly acquired strength and, in the blink of an eye, run away. It’s as if they have an instant download of heroic powers from Flash Gordon himself. This seems to be an ongoing occurrence at our place and even more so after a bath. Our youngest one loves being in the bath. Everything is free. The water is warm and relaxing, it feels cleansing and refreshing and, above all things, there are usually BUBBLES! Why in the world would you ever want to get out? Out into the cold harsh reality of ‘life beyond bath’; only to go and have someone shove something restricting on you!?

They are simply happiest when they are naked.

It may seem all cute and adorable at the time in a toddler, but I believe there is a parable here for grown-up folks as well. As Christians, there are some fundamental challenges for us nestled in what appear to be the simplest parts of life. As we mature in our faith, and unavoidably our age, there’s no hiding that each day comes with its own challenges. It’s so easy to get caught up in it all and let life become a burden. However, this is not Gods intention for us. God has placed freedom before us and He wants us to grab it with both hands.

Briefly, I’d like to place our attention on David. King David’s story about the Ark of God is a classic portrayal of freedom in Christ. David was a king, a man of power and influence, a man of many shortcomings, yet a man forever chasing the heart of God. In 2 Samuel 6, the Ark of the Covenant was brought to King David and the House of Israel. The whole place erupted with celebration. They were pumped! The presence of God was coming to town. The Israelites were celebrating with all their might: vigour, power, strength, passion, zeal, radiance and DYNAMISM. (What a great word.)

The end of the party, however, must have wrecked them. Obviously, David liked the idea of the Ark coming to town, but after a bit of an incident (read: a guy died because he touched it), David became a little scared when he saw just how powerful the Ark was. So he had the Ark sent to Obed-Edom’s house. However, during the Arks time there, David got word of how Obed’s place had become continuously blessed. Man! If my mates place had God’s presence all over it and I was missing out; I’d be like, “Ooooh, Gimme sum of dat!”

So at a guess, I’d say David got a wee bit jealous, and I don’t blame him! I wouldn’t want to miss out on it either. We need to get hungry for more; never becoming complacent or letting fear or shame take away from that. If we become too afraid, we may miss out and not get the full blessing God has intended for us. His presence brings blessing.

When the Ark finally came to him, David danced will all his might, stripping down to his linen ephod. David took off his kingly garments, essentially stripping himself of his title and humbling himself before a King greater than he. How many times do we come to worship God with our title still hanging off us? In my life there has been countless times when I have stood in the presence of God and I have just felt like ripping everything off. Not so much physically, but just start tearing off everything that has restricted me over time, just so I can know what it is like to stand fully uninhibited in Gods presence.

Yes, David looked like an idiot and was frowned upon, but he didn’t care; he knew where his security and freedom was. We may feel or look silly, but others will see your passion and passion is infectious. You may dance funnier than the person next to you, clap out of time, your singing may even be best kept for the shower! But you know what? God doesn’t care! He wants you to enter through His gates – Free.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

~

 Psalm 100.

Recently God has been teaching me about His freedom. He’s taken my ‘nappy’ off, He has put me back in the bath and I’m doing best not to be taken out and clothed by limitation’s wardrobe. I want to be less restricted, so that I can move with DYNAMISM; pressing into Him. I want to encourage us all to take a good look at ourselves in the ‘mirror’. That mirror may be your Bible or your prayer life, or even a song. However you connect and whatever you see, I pray that the reflection is an image full of promise and freedom. Become comfortable with who you are and know that with full assurance, you are a child of the Most High, created in His image. By grace, we have already entered through His gates, there is now no reason we have to stand in His courts, trying to cover who we really are, insecure and despondent. We can actually stand there NAKED! Vulnerable, safe, secure and empowered, because WE are His people and God’s love for us endures forever.

So this week, how about each day we wake up and get naked? Let’s get to church – naked. That’s right, completely starkers! Now, I’m not suggesting we start another MONA event, but imagine how it would feel to take off all the things we may have been clothed with over time, only to become known as a people that move, every day, in the freedom of God.

Peace.

Written by Lance Cooper

Greetings From Brisbane!

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Hi everyone,

Alix and I have had a very encouraging week at our ACC National Conference. The National Conference is like the family getting back together.

It just reminds me again how important it is to be part of something that is bigger than ourselves. We have all been adopted into a family, which has a cause and purpose that is so much larger than any of us as individuals.
Together we win, together we’re part of great things God is doing in our Nation, and together as a Church God is using us to influence and shape the culture of our city.

At the opening of the Conference, National President Ps Wayne encouraged us that we are all about people. We influence our City through people; we influence families, schools and work places through people.

Let’s continue to love, reach and value people the way we have been. This Sunday I know the Holy Spirit will move through your kindness and love.

Keep praying for salvation and let’s keep those pre-service prayer meetings strong. They really are making a difference, as we take authority over the atmosphere before our services.

Pray for us as we minister in Brisbane this Sunday.

Miss you all. See you soon!

Dave

A Second Mile Spirit

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nic

One frustrating tendency we’ve developed as a society is the frantic pace we seem to be expecting ourselves to sustain each and every day.

Just 2 years ago I was given a second chance at life, literally; surviving an ischaemic stroke caused by a bloody clot in the base of my brain stem. At the time, I was allowing myself to work under significant pressure, trying to balance 68 balls in the air, and still keep enough in the tank to bring up my young family, spend time with my wife and live a purpose-filled life….

A life event such as this has the tendency to make you sit up and consider things in quite a different way, and for me, this one was transformational.

It was only later on that I realised this was God’s will and grand plan.

Indulge me for a moment; think of a time in your life when you feel like you’ve lost control: a moment of high stress, conflict with a co-worker, a bitterly angry partner, relationship breakdown or maybe your own health scare… During these times, our mind has a cruel habit of misplacing its wisdom (when it’s most needed), and the outcome does not fulfill any purpose. This is when God does his best work… often through us, his divine grace and love impact a much wider group of people we’re blissfully unaware are being affected by our experience.

God presents us with challenges, opportunities and ‘moments’ every day – our challenge is to listen with the intent to understand his whispers and encouragement.

Pastor Greg Jones spoke about developing a different spirit on Sunday and, importantly, demonstrated to us all exactly what it looks like to live on the ‘second mile’.

Caleb (Numbers 14:24) demonstrated a different attitude than the others; he remained planted in God’s great vision. He had a different approach because he had a different heart; he didn’t whinge and moan about what he didn’t have; he didn’t focus on what was wrong with the situation. Rather, he made a choice. Caleb used the power we all have every day, the power to choose what we feel like on the inside.

Regardless of what’s going on around you, you always have a choice. Since nearly losing everything, my perspective on life’s choices is very different. I take the opportunity every day to ‘jump out of the box’, and live life with passion, purpose and not to just fall back into the landscape.

God is saying “let me out” Live on the second mile, let his light shine through you, and live every day like it’s a gift – which is exactly what it is!

Written by Nic Stephen

Energizer Youth on a Hero’s Journey

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The next generation of our church are very excited to see where we can take the church in the future. We are being inspired by the generations above and we are getting ready to bring celebrating and learning about Jesus to a whole new level. We are already starting by doing what we can to influence the people around us and bring them to Christ. We are all currently getting involved more and more within the church; lots of the youth are volunteering in various parts of the church and doing what they can to help make the church an even better place to be each and every week. We believe our time is now. As a youth team, we are learning about ‘the heroes journey’; we are learning about what Jesus did and how we can be more and more like him outside of church and how we can influence others to do so. Fifteen year old Energizer Youth, Danica Ellis says “school, dancing and work give me a chance to be able to talk to my friends and tell them my testimony and how God has impacted my life so much, it changed me for the better. If I didn’t give my life to Jesus, I wouldn’t be the same person in front of them.” She also explains that ”I can impact my friends, people at work or people I just met around my age, because I find it easiest to connect with this group of people.” This is something that’s very hard to do for most people, but as a youth ministry, we are all working towards being comfortable talking to anyone about Jesus and inviting people to church. We have been encouraged to read our bibles a lot more and Danica said one of her favourite verses is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” “It reminds me that God is always with me and that he gives me the strength to complete all of his tasks.” We have all learnt how to read the bible and get something we need to hear from it; it’s not always easy, but if we ask God for help, klhe will reveal himself. This is how the heroes’ journey brings us to connect, empower, serve and send. Youth is held on a Friday night from 7-9 in the church’s main building, our Hobart Campus, and is a great place for people of ages 13-18 to gather and learn about Jesus, and have a great time surrounded with amazing people. Also, if you’re above the age bracket you can become a youth leader and watch the youth grow and help them live a great life in Jesus’ name! Written by Jaymie Mullen, Energizer Youth

All You Need is Love, but Eggs are Good Too!

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It comes in many forms. A number of customs have shaped it, but it’s true meaning has been largely lost among the chicks and eggs we have come to expect. I’m talking about Easter, of course. The hard working bakers are busy ensuring the counter is jam packed full of hot cross buns. The fisherman are ensuring the punt is squirming with seafood ready for another year of record sales. The supermarket staff perfectly line up merchandise in an aisle devoted to hundreds of eggs. However, this time to take it easy, rejoice in chocolate and spend time with family has more than the superficial, commercial meaning which society at large has given it.

So many of us are missing a spiritual link to Easter. Our Easter narrative is sometimes devoid of even a mention of Jesus on a cross. What do the people telling me, “have a happy Easter” mean? Do Those we rub shoulders with in our every day lives have a good sense of this exciting holiday that means so much to us Christians? It makes me ponder whether our society has any connection to the festival other than appreciation of a long weekend, a BBQ and, of course, eggs. As a support worker for some of those vulnerable in our community, it’s interesting to get a glimpse into their stories about the Easter bunny and of course the upcoming zombie apocalypse where Batman saves the day. They seem to know more about the Easter bunny and bilby than I thought possible. They know all the great hiding spots for their egg hunt and can’t wait to make craft baskets stuffed with fake grass, little yellow chicks and of course filled to the brim with Angry Birds popping candy eggs!

Their joy and enthusiasm is fantastic to witness, but it does make it obvious that in some ways the commercialisation and Easter bunny have stolen the thunder of the true meaning.

The concept of Easter is so simple! Easter is a time when we remember what Jesus’ sacrifice means for humanity. It’s something I couldn’t consider doing, but I’m glad Jesus did. “The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them.”, John 15:13, CEV. Life is such a precious thing, and despite the terror we see more frequently in the news, we have the opportunity to live without fear, because the greatest act of love ever on earth happened at this time, Easter. In John 1:29 “The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.’” (John 1:29-30, MSG.) Instead of being separated from God through our imperfections and rebellion, we have a new, everlasting covenant where Jesus, our sacrificial lamb, laid down his life to pay for our sins. When He rose from the dead three days later, Jesus gave victory over eternal separation from God death to all who believe in Him. In a nutshell, the new covenant enables us an everlasting life spent with God through our faith in all that Jesus has done.

Easter is a burst of new life! The great thing about the humble Easter egg is that it symbolises the empty tomb, a bird hatches to life from it and Jesus rose from the grave so that those who believe in Him will have life for-everlasting. Church is still a place many flock to over the Easter period. As active believers, we can connect to new people and inspire them to consider a journey with the living Jesus, showing them the love we know, and who it’s from. We all desire to be loved. The Beatles summed it up pretty well – “Love is all you need.” A baby can’t survive without love, their emotional and neurological pathways require love to function. Love keeps us adults healthy too. We’ve heard it plenty of times; love is kind, love is patient, never jealous boastful or proud. Love is always supportive, loyal and trusting. Love never fails! (See 1 Cor 13:4-8) Easter is about love, ultimate love for humanity when there was no other way. The only, hard and painful way was walked for us by Jesus, with the utmost highest supernatural love possible.

By Rob Wise

A Note From Dave: Sunday March 29th

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Hello Church,
One of the great bible heroes would have to be King David, the shepherd boy whose daring heroics felled the Giant who was holding a whole country to ransom.

He rocketed to fame and popularity, only to live the next season of his life as a fugitive. He spent a season hiding and taking refuge in a cave at Adullam. Archaeologists believe that the Cave of Adullam was not too far from the place where David defeated Goliath, in the hills of Judah.

From National hero to National fugitive; life must have felt like it was in a downward spiral.

The fact that David was hiding in a cave meant that he must have been feeling fear, but his life certainly wasn’t controlled by that feeling. Adullam means refuge, but the cave wasn’t David’s ultimate refuge. God wanted to be David’s refuge in this time of discouragement. He wanted to lead him through a season of fear and discouragement so he would rule as King and fear would not rule him.

We all have those cave seasons. In that time, more than ever, God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in times of need. As we press into Him in the cave experience, we will find ourselves ruling over our fears and living beyond containment.

As a team our role is to help move people another step from where they are to where God wants them to be. From the car park to kids church, we’re helping people take a step.

Fear has a way of holding people stationary. This Sunday I’m believing many people will take a step. Pray with me as we believe for fear to be broken and many people either to take that first step into relationship with Jesus or take another step towards their destiny in Jesus Christ.

See you in Church!

P.S. Pre-service prayer 9:30am Hobart and 3:30pm DV. Let’s keep making these powerful times that set the spiritual temperature for our service.

Blast From The Past

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grant
When I was in my twenties, I worked in a hairdressing salon in Frankston, Victoria. It was a very busy salon, with over fifteen hairdressers and half a dozen nail technicians. We were innovative, exclusive and more than that; we were GOOD, and we knew it! Egos reigned supreme in that salon. The salon was owned by a man named Barry Page and he was an incredible teacher and father to us all. He knew how to build a team and he knew how to manage all of our personalities with the skill of an orchestra conductor. Working for Barry was a complete joy, and we all fought for his attention and love. When he let us know that we were doing a great job that was when we knew we had made it. I liked to think that I was his favourite! I am sure we all did.

Hayley was a part time hairdresser, but man-o-man, what a bitch she could be! Don’t get me wrong, she was nice enough most of the time, but when she snapped, she drew blood. Hayley knew how to cut right to the quick and get into your heart, bypassing your head. She was a surgeon with words, and if she wasn’t so good looking and talented, I am sure we would have killed her as she was blow waving. Like I said, it was a salon of egos.

It was tough for us all when Barry told us that he had sold the salon. The toughest part was the new owners, Bill and Kate. Nobody liked them or respected them, but we all had to suck it up. We were a team, for better or worse. Even though I had been in the salon for a long time, and I had a huge clientele, there was still a fight over “Top Dog”. The fight normally erupted between the two biggest egos in the place: mine and Hayley’s.

After I was made salon manager, I made some pretty bad choices. I was ill-equipped, and immature. One of the early decisions was to let Hayley go. Long story. I ended up leaving the salon after another 8 months to pursue my dream job at L’Oreal. I barely saw my old team after that. Until Zuckerberg came along and invented Facebook.

Three months ago, Hayley contacted me via Facebook. I noticed that she looked happy and reasonably stable, so I accepted her friend request. She sat in the background of my news feed and I looked on as she added posts, and I guess she did the same for me. Two weeks ago, Hayley started making an effort to get back in touch over the phone. I told Gaynor about it, and we both started to remember the old days [we worked together] with Hayley and we wondered aloud why she might be getting back in touch.

After some to-ing and fro-ing, Hayley and I managed to touch base. It was great! We reminisced together, apologised to one another and caught up on family, where we live now and work. It was a happy conversation, and fairly superficial. You know, it was “nice”. Then Hayley dropped the bombshell… she mentioned to me that she had noticed that I had become more “spiritual” of late and she wondered about that.

Now I am wary of these conversations, as I have had some “interventions” from old friends who think I have joined a cult and I have lost friends and family and even been abused by some old workmates. I decided in this instance to be bold, and I shared my entire testimony with Hayley. Lock…stock and two smoking barrels later, and after the tears had subsided [hers and mine] she said to me “I wish I could have that”. What happened next was amazing. I explained to Hayley how she COULD have this and what it meant. I told her that all of that pain, sorrow and shame that she felt from her past would be torn up in an instant by Jesus and forgotten about for all eternity. I told her that the book of her life would still have its cover, but the pages would now be perfect. The pages would be the same pages that Jesus has in His book. Her life would be without blemish and that she could be completely forgiven. I explain what Grace is, and how loved, how worthy and how wonderfully made she is. I asked her if she wanted all of that and when she said “yes”, I told her that all she had to do was to accept that Jesus died for her, and ask for forgiveness, and then we would pray together.

It’s a strange feeling leading someone in the sinner’s prayer over the phone, especially when you know that The Holy Spirit is the one calling the shots. It’s a strange feeling to know that God is using you in the middle of an ordinary day, but what a privilege to have Him use us like this. Hayley went to church the next Sunday, where (get this!) Barry [our old boss] was preaching AND she invited an old work colleague to church with her, Brooke, who re-committed her heart as well. God is always, has always and will always be walking and working with us, through us and in us.

Speak. He is listening.

Written by Grant Mullen

It’s Not About Beating His Own Drum For Caleb

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Caleb Perry has only been attending Energizer Church for about four weeks, but already he has caught the culture and fits right in. Caleb has an intense love of jazz, needs at least three coffees a morning to be a functioning human, and really just enjoys a good time. When he’s not studying, or delivering pizzas, he’s usually practising drums, and that’s one of the reasons why Caleb is vital! Since he arrived at Energizer Church, Caleb has put himself forward and has started serving God on the Creative Team. As well as being incredibly talented, Caleb has a heart for serving God and his people, and that’s reflected in his everyday life.

As Caleb is new to our Church, he’s a fresh face on the Creative Team. Every Wednesday, Caleb turns up to band practice regardless of being rostered on for that week. His talent on the drums led him to be an important part of the Creative Team, and giving others on the hardworking team a chance to take a break, and potentially serve God in other areas of Church. He is such a positive person to have around, and more than happy to sit down and have a coffee and a chat to any one.

It’s certainly not just about a love of music for Caleb though; ‘[with my role at church] I am able to utilise my talents and lead people into giving worship and glory to God’. Caleb fully recognises the importance of his role and how he can use it to connect people with God.

Serving has definite benefits for God’s Kingdom, but also in Caleb’s everyday life, ‘It allows me to use my passion for music and drumming. It has taught me to always stay humble, and to realise that I am on stage to lead people into the presence of God and not to boost my own ego. He is the one who entrusted me with this talent and so I will give him all the honour and praise for what he has given me!’

‘If you’re wanting to serve, my advice would be to first off make sure you are wanting to get involved for the right reasons, as you are serving God and not yourself,’ Caleb says. ‘Figure out what gifts God has given you and find a way to utilise them for his Kingdom.’ Caleb believes that serving God is a vital part of his experience as a Christian, and he has sought out God, asking Him what He wants to do with Caleb’s specific talents.

At Energizer Church, we believe that everyone is vital and want to see each and every person empowered to contribute to the kingdom in a way that gets them excited. Chat to a connector on Sunday to help find your fit!

By Leeya Maingay

A Note From Dave: Sunday March 15th

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Hi Church,

It was a huge encouragement to Alix and I as we heard great reports from Church last week while we were away. Well done!

There is a big difference between just going off and doing something because you want to or you hope it might work, and being sent. Being sent has some authority about it; whether it was as simple as being sent to your room or sent to the shop as a child. Whilst memories of those experiences may be connected with quite different emotions, we were acting on the authority of our parents.

Captain Cook, who discovered and mapped the eastern seaboard of Australia, was sent. He was commissioned by the “The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge” and King George III, who financed a scientific expedition.

As you know, I recently decided to go and ride in one of Australia’s toughest bike riding events; no cover on my costs, I had to pay to suffer because I wasn’t sent or commissioned I just chose to go.

As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side.
They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.
then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
(John 20:20-22NLT)

Jesus was himself sent,
Everything he did was done with the authority of his Father.
Just as when Captain cook discovered the east-coast of Australia, he did it with the authority and the resource of King George III
We are sent by Jesus with his full authority, knowing its all paid for and resourced, because he died for us to pay for our short comings, and and our father owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
We can go with complete confidence because we don’t just go we have been sent!

See you in Church.
Ps. Dave

P.S. Pre-Service prayer side of stage at Hobart 9:30am.