Cornerstone North Christmas Day Service

The Birth of Jesus Christ

18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,because he will save his people from their sins."

22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

Matthew 1:18-23

Cornerstone Combined Service 21st Dec. 2008

A day when the Concord Congregation visited North for a combined service to worship Jesus, the Lord and Savior of our lives.

Over 240 people gathered and sang joyful
choruses, uniting as one in the Lord!

Members of both congregations, overflowing the Hall.

Adults & children alike, enjoyed the service.

Children's Talk: The essence of Christmas is not about Christmas trees, glittering lights or about presents, but instead, Christmas is all about Jesus' humble birth, and the reason he became a man. He was born, to die for you and me!

The service was followed by a scrumptious morning tea and warm conversations, with members of each congregation catching up with the other. What a wonderful day of fellowship and celebration of the birth of Jesus, as one in Christ.

Snap shots of our Mission trip to Wagga/Cherry Farm (8th-11th December 2008)

A group of us, including members from Cornerstone@concord and Cornerstone@north took 20 International students to the country town of Wagga for an Aussie experience of their life time!















We visited a country church at Oura for a Christmas service. We outnumbered the locals!





We sang many Christmas carols together and heard passages of scripture being read.
At the end of the service, the ladies from the church, laid a tremendous spread of delicious cakes and sandwiches for us!! We were very much overwhelmed by their love and hospitality.







We were very privileged to have had the opportunity to visit Wagga and fellowship with the Christians there. They also shared that our visit gave them much excitement and refreshment, spiritually.
Max, a Christian farmer was more than happy to show us his stock farm and did a sheep shearing demonstration for our benefit.








We were also invited to his house for afternoon tea, and his wife Helen and their neighbour laid out a huge spread for us!


Another example of the overwhelming hospitality of Christians in the country!!









Andrew's wife, Anne shared her love for horses with us, by taking many of us on horse-drawn carriage rides!

Anne is a lovely, gracious, friendly, hospitable and warm hearted person.She and Andrew extended their hospitality to us, beyond our expectations and we are extremely grateful to them!







We were continually blown away by the country hospitality that was extended to us (everywhere we went), in more ways than we can express our gratitude for!


We were very much encouraged by the Christian famers, their humility, generosity of spirit and their dependance on God.







We also met a man called Pat Alexander, who wrote the song "I'd love to have a beer with Duncan"
His song was made famous by Slim Dusty. Pat shared sang for us and shared his testimony with us.
Andrew also shared from God's word and challenged the students to respond to the gospel message of Jesus.















We had an Aussie barbeque and a taste of a "fair dinkum" Aussie bush band who played for us and taught us how to bush dance.
The local Christians also joined us, and we had a blast!! It was a wonderful night of community that broke down all barriers of tongue and race!! Praise God!





Many of the students expressed their deep gratitude for the activities they experienced, and most of all, for the love of the Christians that they encountered at Wagga. We pray so much that God's love touched many of their hearts and they will continue to fellowship with us and seek God, till they find their rest in Him, and His salvation plan for them, through his son, Jesus.




Please continue to pray that the seeds sown in these lives will bear fruit in God's sovereign will and time.



We are also deeply grateful to Andrew for working so hard for us, rounding us up each day, for his patience with us, for being our tour guide and for "shepherding" us. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts Andrew!

Thank you too, for those who provided transport and others who came to spend time and befriend the students over the four days...thank you guys! You are wonderful!

This has been the best week in 2008 for many of us. The people we met, and the things we did, will stay in our hearts and memories for a long time to come.

THANK YOU....TILL WE MEET AGAIN!