NEWS

Hello LifeWay,

Advent has started and Christmas is not too far away! 2022 has been another big year across all our sites and we continue to be thankful for our Pastors and staff for their dedication throughout the year.

As we have done in previous years, we would like to encourage LifeWay members to offer a special thanks to our staff by contributing to an end-of-year/Christmas gift for our Pastors and staff

There are a number of ways to do this:

- Online via Redde (click the blue button on this page). Select the option “Staff Christmas Gift” from the menu and enter in your offering amount.

- Direct offering onsite; please hand your offering to Shane Albances at Epping, Sabina Pichler at Newcastle, Martin Rowney or Karen Rowney at Wollongong.

This call for offerings will be opened from Fri 2nd Dec until Sunday 18th Dec and then gifts distributed prior to Christmas. Thank you again for your consideration and offerings in advance.

Regards Shane Albances

The newest edition of your favourite devotion book series Time Out makes a great gift or a treat for yourself this season!

[ORDER HERE](https://www.shopacr.com.au/P702309/Time-Out-In-Christ%27s-Hands/pd.php)

A selection of short meditations for each day of the year, from pastors, pastor's wives, Church planters, and other servants of the church. The writers thoughts are life-related, and then connect you back to Jesus. Included is the bible reading for the day, their featured verse, a faith-talk question, and a prayer. Perfect for individuals, families or groups.

May you be blessed as you reflect each day with Christ's hands holding you.

Hampers, Toys, and Gift Cards is happening again with Salvos Christmas Cheer 2022. This is a great way for us to bless others this Christmas as part of our involvement in the Together for Ryde network. The hampers will go to families in our community who have been struggling this year and bring a touch of hope to struggling lives.

Can you bless a family in need this Christmas through the gift of a Christmas Gift Box?

All the instructions are provided to help make it easy to pack your gift box and spread hope and joy this Christmas.

[CLICK HERE FOR HAMPER INSTRUCTIONS](https://mcusercontent.com/03de953239718819ee47d2e27/files/f497849f-1533-c033-f7c9-7642bfac1e83/2022_Christmas_Hamper_Instructions.pdf)

The 2022 ACR Christmas Catalogue is here!

[Browse online](https://issuu.com/australianchristianresources/docs/christmas_2022_catalogue-final) for all your faith inspired gift ideas.

“Less stuff…more stories – give enriching experiences this Christmas.” So says an advert on a well-known website where you can purchase experiences to create shared memories. We love to immerse ourselves in experiences. But having an experience is more than just knowing about something, it’s immersing and involving ourselves in the heart of what the experience is. This year God invites you to really Experience Christmas. To immerse yourself and involve yourself like never before. To experience Christmas is to experience Jesus; to immerse yourself, involve yourself fully, totally in Jesus. Experience him as the Spirit of God unveils Jesus through his written Word. Experience all that Jesus is through a genuine encounter with the child in the manger who became the man upon the cross. Experience the wonder and the joy. Experience the hope and the fulfilment of all God’s promises. Experience Jesus and you will experience Christmas.

This year the Cambodia Christmas Appeal has two projects you can support:

PROJECT 1: Salary for Pastor Vibol and his family - $12,000

We are looking for 10 people who are willing to make a $100 monthly donation to support Pastor Vibol’s salary as he ministers to and builds a Gospel community.

PROJECT 2: LifeWay Cambodia Ministry costs - $10,000

Help support LifeWay Cambodia as we serve the community and reach them with the Gospel.

- Renting a premises on the main road that the school is

- on to run computer classes, English Classes and other events for young people.

- Run Gospel presentation events in primary, middle and high schools (we partner with Lutheran Hour Ministries in Cambodia)

- Support school students with stationary packs at beginning of each semester. (last year gave out 890 school packs)

- Run education and gospel presentations to husband and wives in villages to help grow their marriage but also to help them see the value of education for their children.

- Support elderly people in the community whose children have left the rural areas and moved to the city.

- Run education programs to improve sanitation and hygiene that especially affects adolescent girls.

- Purchase of 5 more computers for the computer program

- Give scholarships to young people in villages who for young people with difficult family circumstances to stay in school and get the chance to graduate from high school or university, positioning them for bright futures.

- Develop some agriculture projects as an income raising means for long term sustainability of LifeWay Cambodia.

Your acts of generosity, no matter the size, can have an eternal impact.

For donation details and to read stories download the flyer on this page

Or simply click the Give button above.

We have great news, the Church Central app update is now live in the App stores (iOS and android).

Before you update, please note the following:

IMPORTANT USER DATA CHANGES

The new Church Central app has consolidated the 'My Favourites' and 'Sermon Notes' features into the users' login (My Profile).

Previously it was located in the side menu and available to users that were not logged in, however users' must be logged in to access these features. If you have saved favourites and sermon notes in the side menu (without being logged in), you will need to copy any content and save it outside of the app to avoid losing this information.

Then log into your app store and upgrade to continue to enjoy all the great content provided to grow in your faith.

[DOWNLOAD ON THE APP STORE](https://vertogroup.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5b5508a9eafa54995a18ef073&id=39015365ff&e=b35af43f47)

[GET IT ON GOOLGE PLAY](https://vertogroup.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5b5508a9eafa54995a18ef073&id=777f1b847c&e=b35af43f47)

NORTH EPPING CAROLS : Volunteers Required

With less than a month to go before the Carols, it’s important to keep the day free and to decide how you can help this year.

We need lots of helpers for the set-up on Friday December 9th.

At the Carols we need traffic marshals, popcorn sellers, snow cone sellers , drinks sellers. Plus we need lots of people to stay and help with the breakdown and bump-out after the fireworks. If you are able to help, put your name on a list at the church or online via the link below. Contact Ian Bittner on [email protected] if you'd like more information or to notify when you are available and what you would like to do. Indications are that the crowds will back in force for the live event this year.

[SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER HERE](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1l2cvLsWe9FB0LE-O9wf_TBjQQKICRhENFbQ42_xsrEY/edit#gid=0)