The greatest gift you could ever receive!

We know the God of love. 

We know His peace. 

We know His love. 

We know His forgiveness. 

And we want you to know it too. 

The above video will only take 1.46 minutes of your time but those 1.46 minutes could give you an eternity in return. Whoever you are, whatever you believe in, we hope you'll take the time to watch it. 

If you have watched it, and you're curious or want to know more or want to ask us a question - please, please email us or fill out our contact form. We'd love nothing more than to chat with you about Jesus! 

If you want to share this video, you'll find share buttons on the bottom of this post, right under where it says Posted by Kristy etc. #goeverywhere 2015. 

    

   

The Ultimate Game Plan!

Hi my lovely ones! Today's post is actually coming to you today as a request by Jesse. 

You see, Wednesdays in Kristy-land are Mainly Music Days. No, that doesn't mean I spend my day mainly listening to music - Mainly Music is actually a children's program our church runs that I'm incredibly lucky to be apart of. 

Each and every Wednesday morning I spend a few hours with an incredible team made up of my fellow sisters in Christ and we get to spend that time with over twenty different Mums/Grandmas/Dads and Carers and up to thirty different kids. It's a ministry that is thriving and a ministry that I am so thankful I get to be apart of. 

When holidays roll around, we like to spoil our MM families because we are so thankful for them - for the friendships we've made, the laughs we've had and the fact that they keep on coming back week after week to join us. With Easter fast approaching, I came up with an idea for an Easter gift for our Mums and was responsible for putting together the gift along with a little note to explain what it all meant.

This little note is what Jesse wanted me to share with you. In fact, he wants me to call it The Easter Tactic - rather than a gospel tract, because he thinks it gives you a game plan for life. 

You see, when we think about Easter most people think about things like chocolate, traditions, cute little chicks and bunnies with fluffy cottontails - but what is Easter really about?

It's not about scratching your brain to remember which of your kids asked for which specific Easter egg - and it's not about scribbling down your shopping list to ensure that you're not left without that one vital ingredient on one of the few days a year the shops are closed.

In fact, all of that stuff is probably going to leave you feeling pretty flustered. This Easter, even if there's tears and tantrums and arguments and melted chocolate, I want you to remember one thing; 

As hard as we try, none of us will ever be perfect - but that's okay!

In fact, Easter celebrates the very reason why it's okay that we're not perfect. 

Easter celebrates that Jesus Christ came to earth for the purpose of paying the price for our sins, for substituting His perfect life for our imperfect ones.

The Bible tells us that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..... the wages of sin is death" Romans 3:23, 6:23

But we don't actually have to pay that price..

Jesus died a cruel death on a cross and rose from the grave. Why? Because, though He is God's sinless Son, He became human, took our place and paid the penalty for our sin - bridging the otherwise uncrossable separation between us and God. 

Jesus took our debts to God, nailed them to the cross and stamped them PAID IN FULL. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins. 

At Easter, we celebrate this; the greatest gift we've ever been given. It's not a giant chocolate Easter bunny or a cuddly plush toy and it's not even a massage voucher - this is a free gift that we all have the opportunity to accept; 

"God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us..... The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 5:8, 6:23 

Through Jesus, God provided the only way to be forgiven for ours sins and receive the gift of eternal life. We no longer need to be perfect or do XYZ in perfect order because Jesus already paid the bridged the gap between us and God. 

But how do we accept this gift?

To be forgiven by God and to receive His gift of eternal life we need to trust in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.

Jesus tells us; "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" John 14:6 

The Bible also tells us; "To all who did receive [Jesus], who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God..... for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" John 1:12, 3:16

This Easter, in the midst of all the holiday madness and the bursting sugar filled stomachs, I want you to take a moment to sit and think about the most incredible gift you've been offered. This free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord has been offered to you - are you going to accept it?

Jesus paid a debt we could never pay ourselves - how do we respond to that?

If you want to find out more, I encourage you to seek out a local church - or even just send me an email. I'm always more than happy to chat about anything - especially about Jesus! I know there's a few readers out there who live near us and see us around and if you'd like to join us at our incredible church, just send me an email and I'll let you know what our service times are - or even meet you for a coffee first so that you know at least one face! xx

But tell me, what does Easter mean to you?
And what's your favourite Easter memory?

SIL Sisters In Christ: From Tragedy to the Greatest Triumph

You may have realised that my Sisters in Christ posts have been missing the last couple of weeks - and there's a good reason for that. You see, we're up to one of my favourite parts of the gospel story and week after week, I've found myself in the middle of a busy week when it comes time to write these posts and I've realised one thing...

I needed to give this post the time it deserved.

I needed to share this incredible story of how tragedy became triumph and how we can deal with our very own tragedies in

And that couldn't be rushed.

There was one lesson in particular that I knew in my heart that I needed to share with you, but I couldn't quite put it into words.... until now.

I prayed and I came to realise that not posting during those busy weeks was a far better idea than posting - because what I would have pressed publish on wasn't what my heart wanted to share. So now that I have the time, let's look at John 20 and look at these incredible moments together - shall we?

SIL Sisters in Christ: Reversing the Biggest Fail

Well hey, lovely sisters of mine! We've come to a part of the Gospel of John which is more gruesome and hurtful than others - but it's this horrible moment in time that actually brought the greatest victory of all. It's this horrible time which gave us a relationship with our Heavenly Father - and it's these very moments that gave us the option for new life.

It was God in the person of Jesus Christ who amazed the people of His day with His miracles and teachings. It was God in the person of Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life and then allowed Himself to be put to death on the cross for our sins. It was God who three days after He died broke the bonds of death and came out of the tomb alive. It is God who still lives today... who walks by our side, who knows our paths, who is greater than every storm and challenge we face. 

This week we're looking at John 19 (and please do click that link or grab your Bible and read through it first!) and here we find Jesus beaten, sentenced, crucified and dead all within one rather short chapter.

There is never anything pleasant or attractive about an execution, however, in Jesus's days, execution was designed to be public and painful. I don't know about you, but the story of Jesus's crucifixion always makes me cringe. Not because it's poorly written, but because I imagine my Lord, my saviour, my God up there on the cross - helpless, weak, in pain - dying - and I remember that He did just that for our sins. 

You might be like me whenever I watch or read Romeo and Juliet (I always yell at Romeo when he comes in and finds Juliet "dead") and read this passage and think NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Jesus! You're innocent! You don't have to die!

But Jesus's death wasn't a cruel mistake. 

Jesus's life was not taken from Him.

Jesus laid down His life willingly. It was all a part of His plan - a plan that included you and me. 

Jesus took to the cross with a crown of thorns on His head - but that crown is actually quite symbolic. Let's go back riggggggght to the very start - where we first learn about thorns and thistles.

When God is telling Adam and Eve about the punishment of mankind He says; 

"It will produce thorns and thistles for you" Genesis 3:18

It being the ground (the earth) and you being mankind as a whole. Thorns and thistles came up as a result of sin - and Jesus bore the sins of the world. Here we see God reversing the work of the Fall of Mankind through Jesus.

The crown of thorns and the cross of death met their match in Jesus - and Jesus tells us; 

"Come to me, all you who are weary and 

burdened and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart 

and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light"

Matthew 11:28-30

So I want you to remember something as you read through John 19. Like all good stories, this one has a happy ending. Jesus's death on the cross wasn't a mistake, in fact, it was a gift for us. 

Here Jesus gives us the greatest gift of all; true life in Him.

God didn't just reverse the very first fail (Adam & Eve taking that apple in the Garden of Eden) - he gave us the choice to reverse all of our fails - regardless of how big or how small. That's definitely something to be thankful for!

SIL Sisters in Christ: The Lessons We Can Learn

Hey lovely ladies! Today we're up to John 18 in our Jesus 101 series and we're nearing the end of the book of John. 

Today we read about Jesus's arrest - and as you probably already know, this is the beginning of the end of Jesus's time on earth. Jesus has been betrayed by one of His very own disciples, Judas, and soldiers and officials have arrived to arrest Jesus. 

But he was innocent. 

SIL Sisters in Christ: Standing United

Hello sweet ones! It's a cold and dreary day outside here in Sydney, however, I am so ready to get stuck into God's word with you. This week we're up to John 17 in our Jesus 101 series and this is perhaps one of my favourite glimpses into Jesus's life as he reveals to us the importance of prayer. 

You see, Jesus knew He had but hours to live - but instead of moping or rebelling or crying Himself to sleep, he took the time out to pray with His disciples. 

When you think about it, when we know death it tends to bring our priorities into focus. All of a sudden we figure out what's really important in life and who really means the most. 

Jesus knew He was facing death and He used those final moments to pray - and that prayer can be broken down into three very succinct sections; 

• Jesus prayed for Himself (John 17:1-5)
• Jesus prayed for His Disciples (John 17:6-19) 
• Jesus prayed for us (John 17:20-26) 

But today, I want to focus on one very thing that Jesus prayed for us - unity.

SIL Sisters in Christ: Dealing with Opposition & Ridicule as a Christian

Hey sweet ones! Wednesday has rolled around once again and that means it's SIL Sisters in Christ Day! Today we're looking at John 16 as part of our Jesus 101 study, looking at the Gospel of John.

John 16 is the third out of a total of four chapters where Jesus is teaching His disciples after the last supper - and it's here that Jesus talks of the struggles His followers will face. These struggles are still the same which we suffer today as Christians - but Jesus tells us exactly how we can deal with them and how we can turn our sorrow into joy!

SIL Sisters in Christ: Jesus chose YOU!

Hey sweet friends! It's Wednesday once again and it's time to throw ourselves back into God's word as we continue on with our Jesus 101 series. We're still going through the Gospel of John and today we're looking at John 15.

Whilst this chapter (like all) is full of goodness, there's one particular thing I want to focus on that I think is pretty profound; 

Jesus says to us;
"You did not choose me, 

but I chose you and appointed you
that you should go and bear fruit"
John 15:16

Jesus chose us. 

SIL Sisters in Christ: Ask for ANYTHING and You Will Receive?!

Hey sweet sisters! I took a little break last week with our Sisters in Christ post as we've been so busy and I haven't had enough time to dedicate to writing the kind of post I want to share with you all. 

You see, we shouldn't look at Bible Studies as a "get it over with" kind of thing. It shouldn't be a task we just want to tick off - it should be something we want to do, because it's an incredible privileged. We are so lucky that we have a God who gives us His word to follow - He doesn't just leave us on our own to figure things out for ourselves, He guides us through the Bible and speaks through His word and into our hearts. 

Today, we're continuing our Jesus 101 study on the Gospel of John, today looking at John 14 - and it's here in this chapter that Jesus really comforts His disciples with a few very important promised - but we're going to take a look at what those promises mean for us. 

The Joy of Christmas

Christmas Day is tomorrow and I've noticed everyone has a different answer when you ask "What does Christmas mean to you?"

For some it's all about family - Aunties and Uncles and Cousins and Siblings filling up the home with chatter and food, wine glasses clinking and presents being frantically torn apart by children who have been waiting forever for that one special gift.

For others it's about tradition - going to that same church you go every year at the same time because that's just what you do or hosting your famous Christmas party and baking up your favourite festive treats.

And then there's those who find Christmas to be a sad, depressing time - those who have lost loved ones or have bad Christmas memories from years gone by or perhaps they don't even have the money to celebrate Christmas the way they feel they should.

But what is the real meaning of Christmas? It's not about Santa or gifts or Christmas trees or even dinner tables stuffed to the brim with food. It's about Christ. 

The real meaning of Christmas is one of true joy; God showing His incredible love for us. Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ - the world's savior. In His love, God sent Jesus into the world to be born so that he could save us all.  Jesus came to save us from eternal death - and he came as a tiny, precious, newborn baby. 

Jesus was born so that He could pay the price for all the things we have done wrong. The Bible tells us that we have all sinned - that we can't help but sin because it's apart of our nature. We all do things that don't please God - and we need to be right with God to have eternal life. 

The Bible tells us that the only way to have eternal life and a relationship with God is through Jesus. We fall time and time again and we are so far from perfect - but Jesus was perfect and He picks us up time and time again. 

Jesus came into this world so that He could die on the cross - His death for our death and for all of our sins. If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, we can ask Him to come into our hearts and forgive us. He makes us clean and whole, stamping our debts paid and allowing us to have the relationship with God we were always supposed to have. 

We can all be joyful at Christmas, regardless of our circumstances, because we're celebrating the greatest gift of all.

The true meaning of Christmas is LOVE. God loved us and provided a way, the only way, for us to spend eternity with Him. He gave his only Son to take the punishment for our sins. Jesus paid the price in full, saving us from our sins and condemnation when we accept that free gift of love. 

It's the greatest gift any of us could ever ask for. So let's celebrate it!

SIL Sisters in Christ: LOVE One Another

Well hey, sisters! This week's reading really couldn't have come at a better time. In fact, I am actually glad that I didn't get a chance to post last week as this is so fitting for what has gone on in Sydney this week.

This week, we're looking at John 13 where we learn about what happened on the night before Jesus's crucifixion - but whilst there are so many things that happen in this chapter (which I really encourage you to read through as a whole), there is one command Jesus gives that I want to focus on. 

Love one another.

SIL Sisters in Christ: The Real Light of Christmas

Well hey, sweet sister! I know your life is probably getting more hectic like the minute with Christmas fast approaching and your to-do list probably feels like it never ends - but I want you to remember one very important thing about this time of year.

All that busy-ness, all that preparation, all of the celebration is because Jesus was born. Jesus, our King and the Lord of Lords was born in a manger as a tiny, precious human baby. Our God was born here on earth, in human flesh as a tiny fragile newborn. 

Our Lord that came to die for our sins so that we could be forgiven - so that we could be pure and blameless in God's sight. Jesus gave us the most incredible gift - so let's take a little time out to spend with Him. 

This week we're looking at John 12, continuing on with our Jesus 101 series as we explore the Gospel of John

SIL Sisters in Christ: Jesus Raises the Dead

I'm currently writing this on my phone as I've tried all day to write a post on the computer with no luck - so let's hope there's no awkward autocorrect mistakes as I am desperate to talk to you about this week's Sisters in Christ reading!! You'll have to excuse the lack of pictures and prettiness but luckily the gospel doesn't need any sparkles or graphics because it is SO incredible as is!

This week we're looking at John 11. In this chapter, we read another "stand out" story of the Bible. What do I mean by that? Well, whilst the entire bible is incredible in itself, there are certain stories and teachings that people tend to remember - and one of those stories we read here, when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. 

I saw it in my youth group kids a couple of weeks ago. We were acting out this very scene from John 11 - but the kids already knew exactly what was going to happen next as they'd remembered the story after being told it months before. Now, they're bright kids but really, kids tend to remember more about boogers and celebrity gossip than Bible stories - but this one stood out to them. Sure they can mumble off the fruit of the spirit and give you a cliff notes version of the gospel, but this was one of the few stories they could really remember. 

Why? Because it's pretty remarkable! Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was dead for four days and Jesus says to him; "Lazarus, come out!". The dead man walks from the tomb with his hands and feet still wrapped in sheets of linen and the cloth still covering his face. He was a man waiting to be buried - but Jesus gave him life! 

But there's more to the story than that! You might remember that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead - but have you taken the time to really take in the entire story and think about what it means? 

SIL Sisters in Christ: The Shepherd and His Sheep

I'm someone who has always learnt through experiences - and also someone who learnt best through stories and illustrations. If I was going to remember a math equation, I needed some visualisation or story to remember it. 

That's why I love how Jesus taught. Jesus was incredible at using simple, everyday objects or stories to share spiritual truths. He taught through parables; the farmer scattering seed, the vine sustaining the branches - and in John 10, we are told yet another parable about the shepherd and his sheep. If you ask me, this parable is one of the most incredible visualisations of our salvation and security in Christ found in the Bible. 

In this parable, Jesus explains that "I am the gate for the sheep" (John 10:7) - we, God's people, are the sheep - entering a safe place (the sheep pen) which represents our salvation. 

The sheep enter safety through the gate. 

We enter Salvation through Jesus.

God gave us a good shepherd. Jesus explains; "the sheep follow the shepherd because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger's voice" (John 10:4-5). 

God's people hear the voice of Jesus and they recognise it - whilst they steer clear from other voices. 

Why? Because Jesus has the voice of salvation. Jesus has the message of grace from the God who loves us - the other voices don't have this. 

Jesus says that we need a radical change - and that regardless of how hard we work, it will our efforts will never be effective. He tells us that we cannot save ourselves, however, He can save us because God himself came into our world, suffered the pain of our corruption, lived the perfect live in our place - and paid the ultimate penalty.

It's not about being a do-gooder - because Jesus has done all the work for us. He's stamped our dues paid and is just waiting for us to follow Him. He's waiting with arms wide open, waiting for us to take those steps to salvation.

The gate is open. 

The safety is waiting. 

We have the key to salvation.

Jesus says, "come into my sheep pen, where the burden is light and there is no condemnation" (see here in Matthew 11:30 and Romans 8:1). 

But whilst Jesus offers us safety and salvation - there are always those who will try to steal it away from us. 

There is only one way to salvation. Others may try and get to the sheep pen in other ways than Christ - but they will fail. They may mean well, but their ways fall far short of what Jesus offers: a full and unconditional pardon for our sins. 

Jesus tells us - "I am the good shepherd"

"The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away" John 10:11-12

All of those other voices will fall away and let us down - it is only Jesus who laid down His life for us on the cross. 

Only Jesus died and rose for us so that we could have salvation.