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CrossLife - what's in a name?
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 30th Mar, 2012
Changing the name of a church was an emotionally charged decision. And once you announce it its not over!! There was some discussion on our new church name "CrossLife - a baptist church" on another FB page this week, and one poster asked "What's the background to your new church name?" I thought I'd include my answer here for others to consider.... Continue Reading »
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By this all men will know
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 29th Apr, 2011
This is blog 8 in a series on the new multi-site Baptist church on the northern Gold Coast. My previous blogs have been, mostly, about “us” as church and the impact the multi-site structure might have on those in the church. However, in our particular example, although acutely aware of the impact the multi-site model will have on the church, our reason for proceeding has been more about “out there” than “in here”! We have consistently reminded both churches that proceeding down this line is about positioning ourselves under God’s leadership and direction to be in the best place to plant more churches around the northern Gold Coast.... Continue Reading »
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Let's get to the end ... together
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 14th Apr, 2011
This is the seventh in a series of blogs on our thoughts for the new multi-site church HBC and Southport Baptist Church are going to form on the northern Gold Coast later in 2011, including a new church plant at Highland Reserve. You might note my more certain language about this – that’s because last Sunday both churches affirmed this as God’s direction for us at our respective Church Meetings. My last blog talked about how the multi-site church might provide a greater diversity of vocational ministry opportunities, and so a greater spread gift mix in vocational pastors in their right place of serving. Although important, there is perhaps an even deeper need in the Australian church, that the multi-site structure could meet, if followed in a humble, Lord Jesus honouring above all, way.... Continue Reading »
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A new multi-site Baptist church for the northern Gold Coast
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 10th Apr, 2011
Well, church planting on the northern Gold Coast and its northern growth corridoor got a big impetus today: both Helensvale Baptist Chuch (HBC) and Southport Baptist Church (SBC) agreed to join together and form the new multi-site Baptist church in respective individual church meetings this morning. Included in this was starting a new campus work at Highland Reserve, Upper Coomera (HR), by a planting team headed up by Matt Hunt, HBC Ministry Team Leader. This, we hope, is the first of a number of church plants from this new multi-site church over the next decade or so in this growing region of Australia.... Continue Reading »
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A pastor's career path??
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 8th Apr, 2011
This is the sixth of a series of blogs on the multi-site church which is a decision before HBC and Southport Baps this Sunday. This one is a continued refleciton on the opportunity for leadership development in the multi-stie church. I have regularly heard over the years of churches that regularly see themselves as “sending bases”: they raise up youth and young adults to follow the Lord Jesus and serve him in ministries in the church. Some of these young adults then sense God’s touch to go to Bible College and prepare for vocational ministry. Upon completion, or during study, they leave their home church to serve at another church somewhere. It is celebrated as a “sending out”, and in one sense it certainly is. However, as it seems more the 'norm' of church practise of leadership development than the exception, perhaps one of the unsaid reasons for this is also that the finance is not there for the home church to support the new vocational worker.... Continue Reading »
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Leader, leaders, leaders
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 7th Apr, 2011
This is the fifthof a series of blogs on the new multi-site church the HBC and Southport Baps are considering to form: decision pending this Sunday. The previous blogs were more reflections on the Bible and how we hope the multi-site church would refelct the principles of the Lord Jesus revealed in God's Word. The next group of blogs are more practical in flavour. Our understanding of the multi-site church here on the northern Gold Coast is that it won’t happen without the ongoing development of new leaders. Indeed some multi-site church proponents describe the multi-site church as an incubator for leaders: leadership development is fundamental to the ongoing effectiveness of a multi-site church.... Continue Reading »
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Have the same mindset as Jesus ...
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 6th Apr, 2011
I finished yesterday quoting Philippians 2:1-4, and saying it cannot be read, or practised, without reference to verse 5, “5In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus …”. This passage, alongside others are key passages and biblical principles for God’s church. The multi-site church structure seeks to put these principles into practise. Once again I’m not saying a single site church would not do this – you can find a heart for unity and Christ-centred behaviour in any church community. Rather the multi-site church structure grabs these priorities of unity and oneness in the body of Christ to a deeper and more “in your face” level as the traditional walls and boundaries of division in the Aussie church are brought down in the light of them.... Continue Reading »
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We really do need each other
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 5th Apr, 2011
This is the third in a series of blogs on the multi-site church. If you haven't read the first two i would encourage you to do so before you read this one. I have a friend of mine at HBC who is well known for quoting Reuben Welch, “We really do need each other”. And he is right. If there is anything the experience of church life tells us, let alone the Bible itself, it’s that we can’t do this whole church thing alone. Of course we are quick to admit that on an individual level. But it is just as applicable at a "church communal" level.... Continue Reading »
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"To the church at ..."
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 3rd Apr, 2011
There is no ONE model of church government or church structure in the NT. Just get a Baptist, a Presbyterian and an Anglican together to read and share their conclusions on Acts 15 and you will see that! The banks of the river called “NT church structure” are perhaps further apart than sometimes we presume! But is the multi-site church structure contained in that river? We see some descriptions of the church in the NT that can reflect a multi-site church structure in this formative time of the church in its history.... Continue Reading »
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Its all (possibly) about to change!!
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 1st Apr, 2011
On Sunday 10th April, Helensvale & District Baptist Church (HBC ) will make some profound and rare decisions regarding the future direction of myself and my family in vocational ministry, itself as a church, and, potentially under the Lord Jesus, the kingdom of God on the northern Gold Coast. These decisions are centred on forming a new multi- site church on the Gold Coast, including starting a new campus (church) work in Highland Reserve, Upper Coomera. Alongside these resolutions, HBC and Southport Baptist Church (SBC) will also be deciding before God whether SBC should join HBC in forming this new multi-site church.... Continue Reading »
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Jesus: Above All
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 9th Mar, 2011
What is your occupation? We all jump to answer that question with “My job is …” but that is not the heart of the word “occupation”. What is your occupation, asks what is your focus? What occupies your mind the most? Here’s a hint to find your answer: whatever you are occupied with comes out of your mouth. It’s what you talk about all the time. Jesus put it this way, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45) Hmmmm. What do I talk about the most? Sport? The weather? My country? My problems? Me? The heart of living life the best way is that the Creator of life lies at the centre of your life. That He is my “occupation”. He is what I speak of and imitate. The truth of the Christian faith is that it is only Jesus Christ who satisfies a dissatisfied heart, body and soul. The greatest of pleasures, the pinnacle of achievements, the purest passion, is Him.... Continue Reading »
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Lausanne Congress Update
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 18th Feb, 2011
Late last year I said I would blog on some matters relating to the multi-site church. These matters would include responding to some of the questions and issues we have examined as we’ve looked at this model of the local church. But, before I start those blogs, I want to do an update on my blogs on the Lausanne III Congress and the Cape Town Commitment – the document that was to come out of the Congress as a summary of what God was saying to the global evangelical church through it.... Continue Reading »
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Pondering Christmas
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 24th Dec, 2010
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) I’m sort of using this verse as the basis of a few Christmas messages this year. It’s a great comment not only on the impact of the Lord Jesus and his birth on his mother, but also about how we, like Mary, should respond to Jesus’ birth, what we call today Christmas (She didn’t of course, “Christmas” as a Christian celebration wasn’t introduced until about the 4th century). Despite how familiar the story is, we should treasure and ponder the coming of the Lord Jesus.... Continue Reading »
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Are multi-site churches bibilcally legitimate?
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 22nd Dec, 2010
I've been doing a bit of research and surfing on multi-site church today, and I thought I'd put up this great, brief 12 minute video of a debate between James McDonald, Mark Driscoll and Mark Dever on the whole multi-site thing (Dever has a church of one site, the other two have multi-site). It is humorous, engaging and informative.... Continue Reading »
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How much have we been sucked in again ... again!
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 13th Dec, 2010
Been a while since I’ve blogged, but the reason for that is that I have fallen for one of the very things I want to blog about as I reflect on a final three things that Christians in the west may have been sucked in by our godless western culture.... Continue Reading »
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How much have we been sucked in ... again?
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 19th Nov, 2010
A few days back I blogged about how we in the western church, (and perhaps particularly on the Gold Coast!) can be sucked in by our western culture. I shared three points we must be vigilant to stand against, and to see as marked differences between ourselves and those around us who are yet to follow the Lord Jesus.... Continue Reading »
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How much are we being sucked in?
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 17th Nov, 2010
I’ve been reflecting more and more on the godless influence of western culture on the western church in recent weeks. I’ve pondered on a number of different ways the vibrancy of the lives of Christian people in the west, and the effectiveness of their witness, both individually and corporately, has been dulled by the subtle but never ending wearing down of Christian distinctive in our lives.... Continue Reading »
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Lord you are like Wow!
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 15th Nov, 2010
Each Monday morning our HBC Staff meets together for prayer and worship. This morning Stef led our time of worship and after reading Psalm 98, encouraged us to focus on God’s work and in response write our own psalm of thanks and worship. This was mine and it reflected where I am at even now after a busy, but fruitful, weekend, month, year, and indeed 8 years of serving at HBC ...... Continue Reading »
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Effective Christian Partnerships
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 12th Nov, 2010
I am being struck more and more since I’ve come back from Lausanne, and perhaps because of it, of the importance of Christ-centred partnership within God’s people. The whole bounded empire building, even unintended empire building that the western church gets involved in must break God’s heart.... Continue Reading »
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What I learnt at Lausanne III
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 5th Nov, 2010
This is my final blog on the Cape Town 2010 Lausanne III Congress. Today I am going to share what I learnt at Cape Town 2010. There are many things I could outline here, but here is the top of the list!... Continue Reading »
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What I missed at Lausanne III
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 4th Nov, 2010
This is my second last blog on the Cape Town 2010 Lausanne III Congress. Today I am going to share what I missed at Cape Town, and tomorrow, to finish on a positive note, what I learnt at Cape Town 2010.... Continue Reading »
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Reflections from Lausanne Congress (Part 2)
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 1st Nov, 2010
As I said last week, getting 4500 in the room together, and evangelical Christians at that, is a recipe for not pleasing all the people all the time! So, with great grace and respect to the organisers, what did I struggle with at Lausanne III?... Continue Reading »
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Reflections from the Lausanne Congress (Part 1)
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 29th Oct, 2010
It was a great blessing to be part of the historical event that was the Lausanne III Congress on World Evangelisation in Cape Town in 2010. I still pinch myself to think when Bible College students read about Lausanne III in years to come, as I did with Lausanne I and II, I can say I was there!!... Continue Reading »
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And now from Botswana....
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 28th Oct, 2010
Before I spend a few days sharing some general thoughts about Lausanne, I want to blog some reflections on Botswana as I am staying here with Trevor and Maria McMahon. Botswana is unlike other places of Africa on a number of fronts. First, it is rich country in comparison to other African countries, even South Africa. It has a trade surplus with the rest of the world, rather than a trade deficit. Why? Well the Okovango Delta in the north helps – it is one of the main tourist destinations for game viewing in the whole of Africa. But tourism is the second highest grossing industry in Botswana. The first is diamonds. Botswana produces most of the diamonds of the world and gets nicely paid for it!... Continue Reading »
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The last day at Lausanne III was a big day...
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 27th Oct, 2010
The last day at Lausanne III was a big day with a massive communion service at the end of the day. And after that I went out with a few Aussies to celebrate, and so there was no blog for the 24th October! I will do a few blogs of reflection over the next few days, considering what I appreciated about Lausanne III, what I struggled with (could they ever please every person of the 4500 who were present?) and what I missed. But in this blog, let me outline a little of what happened on Sunday and my responses to it.... Continue Reading »
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Lausanne Update #8!!
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 24th Oct, 2010
Today was a good day at Lausanne. Although I was unwell and missed some of it, what I saw in the morning plenary sessions was great. Today was focused on Integrity and the behaviours and practises of the church. Calisto Odede spoke on Ephesians 4:17-6:9, opening with “In Kenya we are very good at Marathons – are you ready!!” And in plenary 2 Chris Wright called us to practise integrity, humilty and simplicity, instead of the idolatry of power, success and influence. Another African leader also brought a clear corrective to the prosperity teaching that abounds, not just in Africa, but all around the world as a false gospel. Suffice to say there was much discussion over lunch all over the Cape Town International Convenation Centre. I sat with two South African church leaders, and learnt a lot!... Continue Reading »
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Lausanne Update
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 23rd Oct, 2010
Another day at Lausanne III and much has happened. We looked at Ephesians 4:1-16 and heard about the priorities of unreached and unengaged people groups around the world – all 639 of them! I have come back to my room with five DVD’s, a flash drive with documents and lots of paper!!... Continue Reading »
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Well today was a day off at Lausanne III in Cape Town.
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 22nd Oct, 2010
Well today was a day off at Lausanne III in Cape Town. I had tours booked to go up Table Mountain and visit Robbern Island where Nelson Mandela was held in prison for 18 of his 27 years. Unfortunately the Cape Town weather intervened and both tours were cancelled due to windy conditions and big waves!! They tell me I can get refunds tomorrow – I’ll let you know!... Continue Reading »
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“For Christ’s sake we Christians care about all suffering now, especially eternal suffering”
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 21st Oct, 2010
Oh boy I am emotionally exhausted today!! And its only lunchtime!! This morning, built on last night’s focus on the Middle East and the challenge of HIV/AIDS, has been one challenge after another. I was in tears most of the morning. John Piper spoke this morning from Ephesians 3 and was fantastic as expected (the Lord Jesus is better!). He challenged the Congress on the issue of eternal suffering as much as the temporal suffering we had heard about yesterday. He put this sentence before us, “For Christ’s sake we Christians care about all suffering now, especially eternal suffering”... Continue Reading »
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Today I am going to blog a little differently.
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 20th Oct, 2010
Today I am going to blog a little differently. Yesterday I outlined what was said and by whom and gave a little commentary. Today I want to add more commentary. It has been a challenging day focused on reconciliation. Much discussion has centred on that just naturally. I had lunch with Katharina, a 20 year old SU worker from Germany and we ended up talking about how we in Australia are responding to the aborigines in our land, amongst other things.... Continue Reading »
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I have never been part of a five minute standing ovation
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 19th Oct, 2010
I have never been part of a five minute standing ovation, but I was tonight. By far the highlight of this first full day of Lausanne III was a young 18 year old North Korean girl who shared her testimony of how her parents and her family came to Christ, and her heart to return to North Korea to help the people of North Korea find the Lord Jesus.... Continue Reading »
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“I welcome you in the name of the only King I know, Jesus of Nazareth”
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 18th Oct, 2010
Well Lausanne III at Cape Town has begun!! Today we had two sessions, a quiet beginning in our tables before dinner, and then the inspiring opening session tonight! This afternoon we met in our table groups. After a few short words of introduction, the table group leaders took over and helped the group get to know each other and begin forming the culture of the small group.... Continue Reading »
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Second day in Cape Town at Lausanne III is about to begin.
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 18th Oct, 2010
Second day in Cape Town at Lausanne III is about to begin. My body is slowly adjusting to the new time zone – I only woke up at 400 this morning and dozed from then, yesterday it was 230am!!... Continue Reading »
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What am I looking forward to the most about going to the third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation?
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 15th Oct, 2010
What am I looking forward to the most about going to the third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation? Is it worshipping with 4000 other Christians from so many different peoples, languages and cultures? Is it listening in person to teachers and speakers you normally read or catch on the web? Is it the fantastic topics and spread of issues we will cover? Is it the enormous privilege that arises from being invited to participate in such a historic event?... Continue Reading »
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I was struck with something this morning.
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 13th Oct, 2010
I was struck with something this morning. This morning my son James and I went to Gloria Jeans together for a drink before school and to read together. We are reading “Epic” by John Eldredge – I chose the book because James uses the word “epic” a lot in his language!! Anyway as we were reading I was struck with a truth that, although I have known for years, it's impact in apologetics, hit me in way I hadn’t seen before.... Continue Reading »
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I wondered how this week would go...
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 12th Oct, 2010
I always wondered how this week would go: full of anticipation of travelling to Cape Town for the Lausanne Congress, and yet also a little empty with Robyn, my wife, having left for a visit to projects in Bangladesh last Friday. In all the excitement and anticipation of her leaving, would it have had me “peak to high” in my readiness to leave?... Continue Reading »
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First Post
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 8th Oct, 2010
There is something about us humans. We always seek to bring about change in things – in both our own lives, and in our communities local, national or international - in the wrong way!... Continue Reading »
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The Divine scheme of things and self-sufficiency
Filed Under: Matt's Blog — 8th Oct, 2010
What is it that we western believers need to repent over? What are the "Assyrias" in which we trust?... Continue Reading »
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News & Announcements
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21/05/2012
The next "Shed Night" is scheduled for Monday May 21st...... Continue Reading »
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22/04/2011
The CrossLife - Helensvale Family regularly donate non-perishable foodstuffs into our "Emergency Relief" cupboard. Helensvale Campus is then able to offer assistance by way of an "Emergency Food Parcel" to those in our community who find themselves unable to provide a meal on the table. Often some "creativity" is required by the recipients but the food is always gratefully received...... Continue Reading »
