Bro. Matt has been faithfully serving the Lord as a Teacher in Sherwood Hills Christian School. Please pray for Bro. Matt & his family as they start a new life serving the Lord in the ministry.

Below is Bro. Matt’s Testimony to Surrender

We praise the Lord for the goodness, kindness and grace He has bestowed upon us throughout 2011. It was indeed a wonderful year where we saw the Lord move through and work with His people. To name a few blessings:

- Bro. Graham Thomas & his family have surrendered to move to Midland, Western Australia to take over the work of International Baptist Church, mission work of Bible Baptist Church, Mount Helena.
- Bro. Mattthew van Dijk has surrendered to work as Assistant Pastor in Sherwood Hills Baptist Church.
- Pastor Ernesto Yambao Jr. has surrendered to take up the mission work of Gateway Baptist Church, West Wyalong. Please pray for the processing of their visa.

We look forward to 2012 and the blessings that the Lord has instore.

Our church theme for 2012 is “Be Strong in the Grace that is in Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:1

We will be meeting at the church at 9:00am. We will be going to Ultimate Paintball in Camden -http://www.ultimatepaintball.com.au/

Participants are still welcome to join.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact the church office on (02) 4625 6448.

Right off the bat, NBCA put Pastor Stewart to work at their annual Car Wash. The Annual NBCA Car Wash is a two day event to raise money for the school learning facilities. Pastor Stewart was placed in charge of the BBQ stall which suited Pastor just fine with his love of meat.

After the Car Wash, the group travelled three hours north by bus to Barotu Village to visit Pastor Nikola and his family. Pastor Nikola is pastor of Barotu Baptist Church, a mission work of Nausori Baptist Church. Pastor Nikola and his family welcomed the group with open arms and warm hearts. They showed us the beauty of their home and village, but more importantly, we were moved by their faithfulnesses to the Lord, standing strong and firm in the faith that was passed on to them. Pastor Nikola and his family are shining lights in Barotu Village. Please pray that the Lord sustains and keeps them.

The Nausori Baptist Church Missions Conference was held from Tuesday to Thursday, November 15-17 and Sunday November 20. Pastor Stewart began by presenting the challenge “Are you willing?.” Through the week, he shared lessons from the Book of Nehemiah. On Tuesday night, he introduced Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, who lived a comfortable life in the palace and how he heard of the plight of the displaced Jews. On Wednesday night, Pastor Stewart shared how Nehemiah left the palace to go to Jerusalem to build the wall because he cared. On Thursday night, he showed that everyone must do their part to complete the wall.

We were not only blessed by spiritual food, but also food provided and prepared by different members of the church every night.

Sherwood Hills Baptist Church would like to express our gratitutde to Nausori Baptist Church of their hospitality. It has been a blessings to be with you encouraging one another in missions and in the Lord. We look forward to meeting again for the Baptist Fellowship Meetings in 2012 hosted by Nausori Baptist Church.

Please enjoy the photos from the Missions Trip

THERE IS NO WAY TO EXERCISE CHURCH DISCIPLINE UNLESS THERE IS A MEMBERSHIP

Mat. 18:7 instructs the church to consider an unrepentant brother as a “heathen man and a publican.” How would this be done? Certainly not by denying him access to the meetings! We would most assuredly want heathen people to attend our services and hear the preaching of God’s Word. 1 Cor. 14:23-25 shows the importance of this. Neither could it mean to stop speaking to the person. Christians should definitely speak to heathen people; how else could we win them to Christ? But, a church could not permit a heathen to be elected as one of its officers, or preach, or teach, or vote on church matters, or partake of the Lord’s Supper. Therefore, to say that only certain people are eligible to hold office, etc., is to designate a membership.”[1]

 Often people today have a lack of understanding of church membership. We have people attend who are not members and therefore not ready or qualified to serve. This weakens a church because now they have many people attend who stand aloof, not yet ready to be a part of the assembly, to be an active member. May I remind you that Jesus died for the church, he gave himself for it? It was that same spirit and commitment that caused many to suffer a martyrs death. May God gives us people that with that type of commitment today.

 Thanks for asking,

Pastor Stewart

 [1] Way o f Life Literature

Good for Nothing

A group of children were comparing home situations. The banker’s son said proudly. ‘My father gives me a dollar each week for being good.”

The lawyer’s son said he received fifty cents. The Widow’s son complained that he only got twenty cents.

Then the preacher’s son spoke up. “My father is a preacher, so I am good for nothing.”

If you would like more information, please click the link provided. http://www.biblebaptist.com.au/index.php?id=11

Please enjoy a few videos from the night.

Sometimes we wait – Choir from shbc on Vimeo.

Follow Me – Stephen De Leon from shbc on Vimeo.

No one ever cared for me – Mark and Jeremy from shbc on Vimeo.

Redeemer – Youth Ensemble from shbc on Vimeo.

From July 20 – July 24, Sherwood Hills Baptist Church hosted its annual Missions Conference. We were joined by Pastor Kory Mears of Nausori Baptist Church, Fiji as our Guest Speaker. The Manessis Family of Calvary Baptist Church, Australind WA and Mark & Jeremy Buster of Eua Bible Baptist Church, Tonga also joined as special gustes for our Missions Conference. This year, our theme was “Rescue the Perishing.” The Church Auditorium was decorated as a Hospital Theatre to emphasise that saving souls was just as important as saving lives if not greater.

We thank the Lord for the blessings He has poured out during the Missions Conference.
1) Missions Conference was a great success
2) The Lord moving the hearts of His People
3) Men and families surrendering to the Lord
4) Missionary Guests – Pastor Kory Mears(Fiji), Pastor Manessis and family (Australind) and Mark & Jeremy Buster (Tonga)
5) Increased Participation and Increase Total for Faith Promise Commitment Giving
6) Friends were able to join the services through Live Streaming.

To Rescue a Sinner Like Me 20.07.11(CVBS) from shbc on Vimeo.

More videos from the Missions Conference are available on the MISSIONS>Missions Conference page. The Messages will also be uploaded onto the RESOURCES>MESSAGES page.

Please enjoy the photos of the Missions Conference.

Thank you to all teams for participating, to all volunteers for making the day a success and to all marshals who worked hard to bring the Car Rally to life. It is only by our Lord’s grace that we were able to have such a wonderful day.

LOOKING FORWARD to the next one.

Please enjoy the photos.