A VERY BARE BEAR ESSENTIALS
11th - 17th January 2026
This week's Bear Essentials is a stripped back edition as I am currently writing from the sunny beaches of Goa (even with having to constantly chase after a 2-year-old, it is not lost on me how lucky we are!). But even if you haven't been quite as spoilt as us, I hope you have still had some gentleness in the start to your year as we begin our journey with the new theme & verse of the year. More details below 👇
WHAT'S ON
SUNDAY
Morning worship : Ascension : 12nn (prayer @ 11:15)
Evening service : Evelyn Community Centre : 6pm
(meal + worship, food prep @ 4pm) SIGN UP HERE
MONDAY
Bear cubs : Leander Centre : 9:30-11:30am
TUESDAY
Women's Bible Study : The Albany : 1:30pm
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
Bear cubs : outdoor play / Leander Centre : 10:00-11:30am / 1-3pm
FRIDAY
Bear cubs : Leander Centre : 9:30-11:30am
SATURDAY
THROUGH-OUT THE WEEK
Early morning prayer : zoom : 7am Mon-Fri
IN OUR COMMUNITY
From Bex
Setting a new theme to explore for 2026 doesn’t mean we nailed Sabbath in 2025. If anything, we ended the year realising just how difficult it is to practice.
Reflections on the Sabbath
One of the revelations was recognising that Sabbath was not given as a means to facilitate personal and private rest. Sabbath was given to the Israelites, a newly freed community liberated from slavery in Egypt, as one of the Ten Commandments. A rule of life, designed to safeguard freedom and form the foundations of a just and flourishing society.
Sabbath extended rest to everyone—servants, foreigners, even animals. As Walter Brueggemann put it, "Worship that does not lead to neighbourly compassion and justice, cannot be faithful worship of YHWH". Sabbath is not a weekly ritual to perform, but a rhythm of justice to embody.
That understanding has shaped where we’re heading this year.
What's ahead
Over the past year we’ve felt the weight of the headlines. Ongoing wars; rising Antisemitism, Islamophobia and far-right ideology becoming more normalised; fear shaped politics; increasing hostility towards migrants; protest was criminalised; contested understandings of gender and the dignity of life; and the ongoing environmental crisis.
So our theme for this year centres on peace, rooted in Jesus’ words from John 14:27.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
The world’s peace is often fragile. Dependent on power, political control and domination. The world’s peace can often be driven by fear and the need to protect land, borders, resources and sometimes human life (which becomes dispensable, necessary "collateral damage").
In contrast, Jesus' peace is the presence of God in the middle of trouble, not in the absence of trouble. It is a peace that endures political and religious division, uncertainty and even death itself because it’s grounded in God’s eternal purposes: love, presence, forgiveness, healing and hope.
This year, we’ll explore what it means to receive and live from the peace of Jesus—a peace that shapes how we live, how we disagree, how we respond to conflict, and how we live out God’s renewing work in the world.
ESSENTIAL RETURNS...
We shall resume our regular programming next week. See you then!