Welcome to Citywide

Below you will find some links to useful information as well as the sermon notes for this week.

TODAYS MESSAGE:

Before we BLESS

The world we live in is desperate for hope

The prevalence of mental ill-health in young people (aged 16–24) has increased by 50% since 2007, rising from 26% to 39% in 2022.

The "sense of belonging" in Australia has fallen to its lowest level since 2007, with a 27% drop over the last 15 years.

40% of Australians experienced loneliness at least some of the time in April 2025. For young people aged 18-24, 41% reported long-term loneliness

Roughly half of Australians (47%) believe that Australian society is "broken" or "in decline".

41% of Australians in 2024 described themselves as "poor or struggling to pay bills," which is linked to lower levels of trust and happiness.

The number of people worried about becoming a victim of crime increased, with the proportion of women feeling safe walking alone at night declining from 54% in 2022 to 46% in 2024.

Christianity is objectively a source of hope

Weekly churchgoers in Australia have a 3% risk of divorce, compared to 9% for those who never attend. Regular church attendance is considered a leading predictor of marital stability and happiness.

Regular religious practice is instrumental in helping individuals, especially young people in inner-city environments, escape poverty.

Consistent religious practice is linked to lower rates of suicide, drug abuse, and out-of-wedlock births

Frequent church attendance is one of the three strongest predictors of high volunteering levels. One study found that people involved in religious volunteering are 3.6 times more likely to volunteer for non-religious causes.

Attending services at least once a week is associated with a 26% to 33% lower risk of all-cause mortality.

Active religious participation is linked to a 68% lower risk of "deaths from despair" (suicide, drugs, or alcohol) and lower rates of depression and anxiety.

The presence of religious congregations, specifically Mainline Protestant and Catholic ones, is associated with lower local crime rates, especially in areas with high income inequality or socioeconomic disadvantage.

Church attendance among youth is inversely related to drug use, fighting, and both violent and non-violent crime.

The four assumptions behind this verse:

Jesus is meant to be the most important thing in your life

The hope that produces should be visible in the way Christians behave

We will have relationships with people outside the church

We need to be able to explain that hope in a way that makes sense to people outside the church


How do you think we are doing?

We will spend this year seeking to understand what it would take to be people whose lives produce questions about the source of their hope.

The Bible says there are three things actively working to stop this from happening:

World - The system that wants to tell you what you need in order to be “ok”
Flesh - The human drive to minimise pain and maximise pleasure
Devil - The father of lies, seeking to distort the truth.

These three things are conspiring to force you into a pattern of life that doesn't give hope... we are called to resist.

When the church is what it is meant to be, it is helping you:

Make Jesus the center of your whole life (Worship)

Live differently to the rest of the world (Community)

Connect with people outside the church (Mission)

Know how to share Hope with people outside the church (Worship, Community + Mission)

What does it mean to live the kind of life where your trust in Jesus produces hope for people around you?

Ongoing and conscious choosing to make Jesus the most important thing in your life, and repenting when you find other things have taken over. WORSHIP

Ongoing conscious choosing to be part of a community of Jesus followers who will remind you of what matters COMMUNITY

Ongoing conscious choosing to bring the hope of Jesus to the world MISSION

We have reviewed the practises at the heart of each focus and will be introducing new banners this year:

Fasting Prayer
Openness
Listening Prayer
Learn the Bible
Offer Yourself
Willingness to Follow

Speak the Truth in Love
Hold Space
Actively Listen.
Reflect Grace
Encourage

Begin in Prayer
Listen and Learn
Eat Together
Serve Needs
Share Hope

Each of these things is a training practise to enable us to FOLLOW, BLESS and SHARE.

FOLLOW names the practices through which our lives are slowly re-formed around Jesus. These practices shape our imagination before they shape our behaviour. They are not about intensity, but attentiveness.

SHARE names the practices through which the church moves from being a service to being a family. These practises bind us together as the people of God across our differences

BLESS names the practices through which a Jesus-formed life is lived publicly. These practices shape us as people who live hope in a way that other people are impacted by it.

This year, we are particularly going to be focusing on what it means to BLESS.

Dates for 2026


AGM March 15
Budget Meeting Nov 22

Working Bee Feb 14, Oct 24

Church Camp @ Spring Beach Youth Camp (Orford) 20-22 March

Table top sales
Feb 21
May 23
Aug 22
Nov 21

Anzac Day in the Park - Sat 25th April

Week of Prayer and Fasting 14- 20 June

Shoebox Sunday 18 October

Global Leadership Summit @ Citywide 19 October

State Assembly May 16 and November 7

Dinner Together
Feb 27
March 27
May 29
JUne 26
July 31
Aug 28
Sep 25
Oct 30

Dinner All Together 27 Nov

Carols in the Paddock 19 Dec
Carols Service 20 Dec

Small Group Questions:

1)The sermon named how desperate our world is for hope.
When you look at your own life honestly, where do you feel that same pressure or weariness most strongly — and how do you usually try to manage it?

2) Christianity was described as an objective source of hope — not just a belief, but a way of life that actually changes outcomes.
What do you think people around you would say Christianity is doing (or not doing) for your life right now?

3) 1 Peter 3:15 assumes that hope should be visible enough to provoke questions.
What parts of your current pattern of life do point to Jesus — and what parts might be muting that hope rather than revealing it?

4) The sermon named three forces that work against hope: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Which of these do you most easily recognise shaping your habits, decisions, or imagination at the moment — and how does it show up practically?

5) We heard that under pressure we don’t fall back on our intentions, but on what we’ve practiced.
What practices are actually forming you right now — whether you chose them or not?

6)As we focus on BLESS this year, the call is not to try harder but to train differently. Which one practice do you sense God inviting you to rehearse this week — and what would make it sustainable rather than idealistic?