3rd Dec 2025

Advent: A Season of Hope

from Travis

This week I found myself hoping for the best. I had chosen to take a longer, in-land, less direct but hopefully more beautiful route up to my Arrow Leadership Residential in QLD. It would be a single lane road that had experienced flood damage earlier in the year with questionable phone reception. As I sat in my mid-way stop before tackling this alternate route, I admit I was hoping for the best - "I hope the traffic is light.  hope the road conditions are okay. I hope I don't get a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere. I hope I don't get stuck behind a caravan the whole way. I hope I don't take the wrong turn if my GPS drops out. I hope the extra travel time is worth it and I get there on time."

Our Christian hope is vastly different from such wishful thinking. It isn’t about crossing our fingers or trying to hold onto vague optimism. Our hope is certain, trustworthy, and unfailing as it is found in the God who is true, trustworthy and unchanging.

As we engage with a season of Advent, we are reminded to take hold of our Advent hope afresh. The hope that is built upon the confident assurance that the same God who came to us in Jesus Christ is still at work in the world today.

Celebrating the arrival of our Messiah, John opens his Gospel with these words about Jesus "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it!" (John 1:4-5)

May this Advent season turn our eyes toward the promises of God, renew our confidence in Christ’s coming, and fill our hearts with a hope that sustains, strengthens, and sends us out to shine His light.

Come, Lord Jesus. Our hope is in You.

Ministry Highlight: Playgroup

from Rachel

Narara Valley Playgroup is a great time each week with families from the church and the community. It was wonderful to see the children come and enjoy themselves each week. We do lots of different craft and activities each week, such as messy and creative play, tie-dye and cupcake decorating. The children come and play while the adults are able to sit and chat with each other. We are so grateful for our helpers that come and cut the fruit up for morning tea and provide morning tea for the adults each week. Playgroup is a wonderful opportunity to have community while raising children, to ask those question or just to come when the day is tough and you just need to get out of the house. We are so grateful for the grandparents and parents that bring their children week to week. Below are some photos of things we have done this past term.

Christmas Appeal

from the Intermission Team

This December we are hoping to raise money for two projects: Insight High School Ministries and Purfleet Community Church.

Insight High School Ministries

Three Christian Youth Workers are employed for one day per week at 3 local high schools, where they look for opportunities to share the love of Jesus. They seek to build relationships with students, building trust and encouraging conversations around life’s big questions, endeavouring to support the students through life's challenges. As each worker adapts to the individual needs of the school, requests for support are varied and unique.

Dylan, at Lisarow High is seeking book resources, including Bibles for regular group study. Kerry, at Narara Valley High, would like to provide the Shine program, a practical and inspirational approach for girls, and to provide a breakfast program to the students who regularly drop by her office before school. Emmanuel, at Henry Kendall High, would like to use Sources of Strength, a suicide prevention and mental health promotion program, addressing violence and bullying.

The funding goal for Insight is $1990.

Purfleet Community Church

Once the Insight Project is funded, we would like to also raise as much money as we can to gift to Purfleet Community Church (the church we partner with each year for Boolarng). The roof on their church building has a number of leaks, and needs replacing (as well as some related interior repairs due to the resulting water damage). NVBC will not be their only source of funds, but we would like to be able to give them some help if we are able.

Please give generously to our Christmas Appeal here, so that we can raise funds for both of these important projects.

What to Expect: Carols@NVBC

Christmas is coming! Our Christmas festivities kick off on Sunday night with our annual NVBC Carols by Candlelight.

Please invite all your friends and neighbours along! There will be a sausage sizzle, giant slide, Christmas craft and more, starting at 5pm. Then, at 6pm, we'll head into the auditorium to sing Christmas Carols together.

This event is a great opportunity to bless our wider community. Please come along and be a friendly, welcoming presence to all our visitors. If you are able, please leave on-site parking for visitors.

N.B. There is another Carols event, Carols in the Stadium, on 20th December. If you'd like to help with welcoming or giving temporary tattoos, let us know!

This Sunday

This Sunday AM we welcome Nathan Reid (from Baptist Mission Australia), who will continue our Numbers series in the AM (Numbers 27).

This Sunday PM is our neighbourhood Carols by Candlelight! Bring your friends, neighbours and family to a night of joyful celebration. We begin with a BBQ and outdoor games at 5pm before moving inside for the Carols.

Coming Up

Focus Meeting - after the morning service next Sunday (14th). All welcome as we set our 2026 budget.

Carols in the Stadium (Sat Dec 20) - this is going to be huge! Grab your tickets here.

Kingdom Kids Christmas Service (Sun Dec 21, AM) - our annual joy-filled service where our Kingdom Kids lead us through the Christmas story.

Blue Christmas Service (Sun Dec 21, PM) - our annual safe and sacred space, where we can bring our hurts, disappointments and griefs before a loving God at Christmas time.

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