1st Oct 2025

NVBC
Oct 1
5 min read

1st Oct 2025

A Call to Gather

from Travis

There is something so incredibly significant and powerful when we set time aside as a church to meet together for an extended shared time with God and with one another. The friendships that get made, the faith that gets activated, the freedom testimonies that get experienced... this is what The Gathering Conference weekend is all about!

The Gathering Conference is the chance for us to connect, to continue deepening our community, to experience the highs of encountering God together, to be built up in our faith, to be practically equipped for everyday living, to pursue Jesus together and to share in the same experience that will propel us into next year.

Who is The Gathering Conference for?

It is for each of us, all of us, and all of us together.

If you already feel connected and are serving at NVBC, Conference is for you. If you're feeling a little disconnect or struggling to find your place, Conference is for you. If you are feeling fired up in your faith and hungry for more, Conference is for you. If you are finding your faith tank running on empty, Conference is for you. Whether you've been part of NVBC for as long as you can remember of whether you are just starting to dip your toes into NVBC life and working out if it is for you, Conference is for you. It is for each of us, all of us, and all of us together.

This year we have an incredible line up of godly, faith-building, practically equipping guests coming to impart into our community. From our workshop presenters: Kaylene Harry (from Relationships Australia), Meredith Harmer (from Coast Community Church), Scott Morrison (from Georges River Life Church), Louise Bartlett (from the Baptist Association), Neil Harris (from NVBC + Neil Harris Counselling), Jon Gould (from Valley Counselling), Jodie Sharpe (from NVBC + Peacewise), and Matt Gelding (from Soul Survivor). Through to our (updated) keynote guest Daniel Pappas (from Meridan Community Church) and our Saturday night time of worship and prayer with the Soul Survivor band. What a line up!!

To whet your appetite for some of ministry experience, vision and impact Daniel has up in QLD and is looking to impart into us, you can check out their 2024 church recap below.

We are also so looking forward to running an amazing Conference program for our kids that runs from 9:30am-3:30pm on Sat, and includes Bible Stories, Crafts, Giant games, Inflatable slide, Lego and Roundabout Circus. There will also be prayer stations running Fri night for years 4-6, a move night on Sat for kids who like to stay up late and our full Kingdom Kids program on Sunday morning.

Click above for all details and to REGO now!

Boolarng

We are putting together a team to run a kids holiday camp with our friends at Purfleet Aboriginal Community Church (near Taree) from 3rd to 9th January. ‘Boolarng’ means ‘together’ in the Gathang language, and our two churches have been partnering together in this ministry for over 30 years.

If you would like to know more about Boolarng, and how you might help to bless the kids of Purfleet, come along to the info session - Sunday, 26th October at 11:30am. We're looking for team members to help run games and activities for the week.

And if you already know you want to come along, let Nathan & Kirrili Wood know as soon as you can - it's only 3 months away!

Embracing Faith-Based Risk

Over the school holidays we are speaking into and exploring one of our church values of being a "Pioneering People: embracing faith-based risk". Travis kicked off the series on Sunday by asking us each "what are we doing right now that requires faith?". We cannot become so wedded to our comfort zone, to only what's familiar and within our current experience and gifting that we aren't prepared to follow God's leading beyond them. God calls, he speaks, he leads... we follow, we trust, we depend on him and we grow!

Over the next two Sundays we have invited two guests from beyond NVBC who embody this value to help inspire us with their story and learnings of what it means to courageously step into God's calling.

Dave O'Connor (pictured left with his wife Amity) will join us this Sunday AM. Together with Amity they co-pastor NewHope Baptist Church (over three locations) and Hawkesbury Baptist Church, even as Dave works for the Baptist Association in empowering church planting in his "spare time". Suffice to say that Dave is a high capacity visionary, who has a history of pioneering new works and taking faith-based risks as God leads.

Phil Evans (pictured right with his wife Casey) will join us the following Sunday at both services. Phil has an incredible to story of coming to faith, being called to ministry and in pioneering ministry work in high schools and in prisons. He is a man with an incredible heart for the broken and for introducing people to Jesus.

The Kind of Church We are

We love being the kind of church where we put the call out for help, and people happily gather to practically serve together. Over the last two Saturday mornings a fabulous team came together to tackle some mulching, hedging and some other spring gardening tasks. The grounds are looking great and a big thank you to all who have helped over the last two Saturdays. We believe that our physical environment speaks value and welcome to all who come onsite. We appreciate it so much!

Another good news story from last week was the chance to host a worship and prayer night for the leadership team of State Youth Camp. We love the heart of our worship team to joyfully serve and bless others from outside NVBC by facilitating spaces like this. And we to continue to be grateful for our buildings that are used as a place of prayer, worship and encounter with God!!

This Sunday

This Sunday AM guest preacher Dave O'Conner will share on embracing faith-based risk. Our kingdom kids will have a supervised video in the hall during the service.

This Sunday PM we will host a worship and prayer evening. Make the most of a long weekend by coming to spend time with God before heading into your public holiday Monday.

OCC boxes and instruction pamphlets can be and returned at the info desk.

Next Week

Please be in prayer for next week's Cru-Coast Day Camp (Tues-Fri) as we look to share community, fun and Jesus with our campers and their families. For last minute rego's: https://crudaycamps.com.au/cru-coast

Next Sunday we look forward to hosting Phil Evans as a guest preacher at both services.