Most of the Imagine Network Weekend survivors of 2012

Book in by clicking here

The amazing, wonderful, exhilarating, unmissable Imagine Network Weekender is coming!!!

Come and join our network of students and young adults who are passionate about mission and discipleship.  Whether you’re an Imagine Network regular, an occiasional visitor, or you just know someone who’s mum works with someone who’s next-door neighbour heard about the Imagine Network in a cafe…. you are very welcome to come along.

Probably the best weekend of the year (unless Geelong win the Grand Final…) – this is a perfect way to take some time out with God at the end of another year.

There’ll be great food, great worship, great teaching, great people, a great beach, great friends, great fun, great board games, great milo, great bush walks, great swimming, great friends, a great bush chapel, great space to chill and reflect on the year that was and the year that will be.  Did we mention, it will be great!

This year we’ll have a great guest, Di Hooley from Perth, WA

Introducing Di

Hi, I’m Di Hooley, from Perth, WA. I was born and raised in the UK but have been here since August 2007. I was a senior school German teacher for 8 years but now have the joy of teaching primary school kids about Jesus. This is a part-time role while I complete my Grad. Dip. in Divinity. I am passionate about Jesus, discipleship, the prophetic and living a naturally supernatural lifestyle. I enjoy being encouraged and encouraging others to live in the fullness of life that Jesus has promised us, I know that there is so much more grace, love, joy and freedom in the Kingdom of God than I can possibly fathom and I’m up for more of it…I can only give away what I’ve received. Work and study have made Di a dull girl this year (still working on that rhythm of life thing) but, when I do have spare time I enjoy being with friends, having a good laugh, deep conversations, going to the movies, bush walking, cooking, knitting, the odd lounge room boogie and sing ( so good for the soul) and travel (I’m writing this watching the sun rise over Manhattan as I celebrate special birthday with friends in NYC)

I’ve been told I have my feet on the ground but my head in the clouds…and that’s the way I like it.

Can’t wait to meet you all in November!!!

Rego…

What?  I have to decide in advance whether I’m coming or not!?

Well, you can always turn up at the last minute, but if you want to be nice to us and help us  make sure we buy enough cornflakes, then please do book in and let us know you’re coming.

Click here to register

… and money

The price is $55 – which includes accommodation, food and a contribution towards our lovely speaker’s plane ticket   However, if you really want to come, but can’t manage the full amount, just chat to Andy and pay what you can.  Equally, if you can afford to pay more, that will help us cover a few cheaper places for people who need them!!

If you have any other questions, just get in touch and we’ll see what we can do!

And finally…. help us get the word out by sharing the Facebook event.

Don’t forget, you can watch all the talks online, which is well worth doing, especially if you missed a couple or you’d like to watch them again.  One of the great things with Alpha is that you can run it anywhere, at anytime.  So feel free to get a few mates round and watch it together.

We’re back to the fortnightly pattern for Imagine Gatherings for the rest of the year.

Dates for the rest of the year are:

Wed 25 Sep

Wed 9 Oct

Wed 23 Oct

Wed 6 Nov

And then, last but by no means least, the amazing, wonderful, exhilerating, unmissable Imagine Network Weekender - Fri 15 – Sun 17 November 2013.

See you next Wednesday, 6.30pm at Barney’s.

If you missed it, check out the talk here:

See you again this Wednesday, 6.30pm at Barney’s.

Alpha Week 2 is this week. Come along to Barney’s at 6.30pm on Wednesday!

We’re running the Alpha Course – for students, young adults and any other of our mates who want to come along…..

Find out more

I’m not really going to make much comment on the show itself, or the way it was edited. There is a really interesting conversation on the ABC facebook page and a great interview with Kim which both do a great job of that. They are well worth reading if you haven’t done so yet (and great job those of you who have commented on there already!).

What I do want to do, is reflect a little bit and ask what we can learn through this experience of Holy Switch – of living out our faith in the public sphere and of sharing and explaining what we believe to people who believe very different things? What is Jesus teaching us? And how can we respond?

Being visible Christians can be tough
First up, we can all be really encouraged that we were willing to take part in this in the first place. It takes real courage to be known as a follower of Jesus – it’s not cool or popular, and by doing so we put our faith into action. It would have been easy to hide away during that week, but we didn’t. That is awesome. Each time we stand up and let people know we are followers of Jesus, it is easier to do so again. So well done! And keep at it!!

Paul writes:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17

Show love and respect for others
Secondly, I know for sure that we did an awesome job of showing love, respect and hospitality to Aakash during the week he stayed in Launceston. We gave huge amounts of time, physical and emotional energy to help him enjoy his time with us. As his own comments on the facebook page show, this made a real impression on him. It also made a strong impression on the camera crew who followed Aakash for the week – we know this from conversations with them since the show went to air (they were also pretty unhappy with the editing of the show and felt it was an unfair representation of Aakash’s experience during the week).

As followers of Jesus we are definitely called to show love, respect and hospitality to all people – specifically including people from other nations and ethnic groups. We did well with this during that week – and it made a real impact on Aakash. Let’s recognise this, and keep on looking for ways to show love, respect and hospitality to people from other ethnic groups and religious backgrounds. In Launceston we have plenty of opportunity to do this and lots of us regularly do show love to others in this way.

Jesus said:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me…  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matt 25:35-36, 40

Be wise
Thirdly, there are definitely some lessons to learn here in terms of living our faith out in the public sphere. Lots of us are called to do that more and more into the future – and if we’re clever we will learn some big lessons from this experience.

Media outlets have one agenda which overrides all others – they need to get as many viewers / readers as they can. Their funding streams (government funding / advertising etc) depend on it – they are out of a job if they don’t. We have seen again with the Holy Switch experience that the media never lets the truth get in the way of a good story. If they can twist something and take it out of context in order to serve their own agenda they will.

We need Jesus’ help to be able to speak wisely and live faithfully for him in full view of the rest of society / the media. This includes considering carefully how our words and actions could be twisted and taken out of context. Let’s ask God to give us his wisdom again and again and again as we continue to stand up and be known as followers of Jesus.

Jesus said:

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Be on your guard;” Matt 10:16-17

Always be prepared…
And last but by no means least – we did do a really good job throughout that whole week at giving answers to tough questions about the hope that we have. The fact that the editor could only find a couple of mumbled, incomplete sentences to back up their story that Christians are judgmental and intolerant shows just how loving, respectful and gentle we were through that week. Again great job!

Most of us at one time or another during that week realised that we could be better prepared to give answers about our faith and hope in Jesus. Let’s make this most of this opportunity to read more widely and chat together about what kinds of questions we might be faced with in our lives, what kind of answers we could give and how we are called to give them. (Here are a couple of great websites to get started with: http://publicchristianity.org/ and http://theocca.org/)

Peter writes:

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 1 Peter 3:14-16

But seriously, you guys are awesome. I love being friends with you guys and doing life together.

We have an exciting and growing network and community of people who are passionate about mission and discipleship, and who love showing God’s love to other people.

We’re also creating a culture where we are consistently asking the questions: “What is God saying?” and “How can we respond to what God is saying?”

What has God said to you during the last few days? How are you going to respond?

Write a comment below and let’s be disciples (i.e. learners) who learn as much as we can!!

Inspired by the Moravian church of the 18th century, we’re aiming (!) to pray non-stop for a week. Why not sign-up for a one hour slot, any time you like day or night (!) and commit to spending that hour in the prayer room.

Pray!?
Pray!? Why bother? Well, Christians are in the amazing position of having a relationship with God, who made the whole world. We get to talk to him, and we get to listen to him. Of course, it’s not always easy to hear someone speaking when there’s lots of noise around us – so stepping aside and taking some time out just to pray can be a really great experience.

And not just a really great experience for an hour – lots of Christians have had their lives totally transformed by getting into the habit of regularly carving out chunks of time to sit in God’s presence. Whether you’re already in that habit or not, it is exciting, and life-changing.

As people who are in a relationship with God, we get to bring our requests, needs, ideas, worries, thoughts, concerns and passions before God when we pray. God, please heal my sister. God, what is going on with our government? Jesus, what should I do with my life? Lord God, please will you comfort my friend because they’re really sad at the moment. Jesus, can I do anything to help make the world a fairer place?

You name it, God is interested. And he promise to listen and respond to our prayers.

Ok! But an HOUR?
Chances are you don’t spend hours of time praying. Most of us don’t. So what on earth am I supposed to do with an HOUR? Just repeat the Lord’s prayer one hundred times?

Well, no-one ever said the only way to pray is to sit still, with our eyes closed and our hands together… Well, maybe our parents did, but it’s not quite true!! We can pray standing up, sitting down, lying down, walking around. We can pray with our eyes open or closed – same with our mouths… and our hands.

We can pray by speaking, or listening; or writing down prayers, or painting on the wall. We can sing songs of worship or listen to them. We can pray alone, or with a few friends. We can ask God to speak and then get stuck into a good book about following Jesus… or Gandalf, or Aslan!!! We can read pages of the bible, or chew over one verse for ages.

So what do I pray?
We can pray for our family, our friends, our neighbours, or people we’ve never met on the other side of the world; people who are sick, people we care about, people who are suffering and people who don’t know Jesus.

We can pray for the nations, the world’s leaders and the leaders of our own country and state. We can pray for powerful people, and people with no power at all.

We can pray for our city, for the churches, for unity between God’s people. We can listen to God’s will for our churches, and our city. We can pray for families, and children, for schools and hospitals. We can pray for the elderly and for our young people.

And suddenly, our hour’s up…. And we want to sign up for another!

Who can come!
If you can read these words, you can come!! You don’t have to be part of Barney’s or The Imagine Network. We are only a small group of people, but God has a funny habit of doing amazing, unimaginable things through small, seemingly insignificant groups of people.

We really hope Christians from all kinds of backgrounds and networks will join in. And you’re welcome even if you don’t know whether you’re a Christian or not. Just come and have a look, read a few prayers on the wall and just take some time out.

Well, ok then…
Brilliant. You’re up for giving it a go! The easiest thing to do is to click here and sign-up online. Choose a spot that no-one has signed up for yet and fill in your name. Done! No all you need to do is turn up to pray at your time. (Click here if you’re not sure where Barney’s is!).

If it’s easier for you, you can also just give us a call on 6311 1786 and leave a message saying your name, phone number, and when you’d like to pray. We’ll get back to you and confirm!

And if you’ve got any questions or comments, just get in touch!

Click here to sign-up to pray!

About 24-7 Prayer
24-7 prayer is a world-wide movement of Christians praying 24-7. We’re joining in for a week. To find out more about 24-7 prayer visit their website and check out these videos:

What is 24-7 prayer?

Change the world: pray!

Why pray?

The Imagine Network is a network of Christian young people in Launceston, who are passionate about mission and discipleship. We believe God has got great plans and purposes for us, for our university, and for our city. The main deal in all of this, is that each one of us live lives the way Jesus calls us to live them. That doesn’t happen by accident – we have to choose to live that way – we have to choose to be disciples. (See the previous post for more)

But we don’t have to go it alone. Infact, Jesus calls us to do it together – to journey together on this adventure of discovering and living the lives he made us to live.

Within the Imagine Network are a number of small groups of students and young professionals who are all up for being disciples and supporting and challenging each other to stay focussed on living UP, IN and OUT.

Imagine Groups meet at different times and places through the week – on campus, in people’s houses, in coffee shops etc. – and each group forms around a shared vision for OUT. Who are we called to bless and serve? Which group of people do we want to make a difference to?

For example, one group might focus on blessing and serving other students in their faculty at UTAS, another might focus on connecting with people they play futsol with, while another might aim to bless and to serve their neighbours in the street where they live, or students who have arrived from overseas.

As well as having a clear focus on OUT, each of our Imagine Groups also takes time each week to do UP and IN together. Some eat a meal together and pray for each other, some read the bible together and pray for their friends, some go out for coffee and encourage each other and chat about how each of them is going.

Who are you called to bless and serve this year? Who else do you know who is called to bless and serve the same people?

Pray, chat with other people and then JUST DO IT!!