Southlakes Christadelphian Ecclesia

Southlakes Christadelphian Ecclesia meet at Bonnells Bay Primary School, NSW, Lake Macquarie, Australia. Currently we have approximately 20 members and a further 35 children and friends attending. Christadelphian means "Brethren in Christ" and Ecclesia means "a group of invited or called ones". These are scriptural terms used to describe the believers in the New Testament times.

We meet together each Sunday at 11:00 am for what we call the Memorial Meeting in remembrance of Christ. We listen to an exhortation which is a talk given before we share bread and wine together. The talk is intended to help us in a process of self examination so we can take personal steps to improve our character. The bread and wine are symbols that represent Jesus' body and blood. These show the sacrifice he made to form a basis for the forgiveness of our sins and the hope of salvation.

We hold a Sunday School at 9:00 am which has classes catering for children and adults. On most Sunday evenings we hold a Bible Learning Session where we invite friends along to learn about the message of the Bible and its relevance to us today. Together with our children, we all learn what the Bible teaches us about salvation, and about its principles for living and improving our character. On Wednesday at 7:30 pm we hold a Bible Study Class.

All of these activities combine to help us in preparing for the Lord Jesus Christ's return to the Earth and the setting up of God's kingdom as has been promised by the prophets. We warmly invite you to come along to any of these events, or to contact us for more information.

The Christadelphians are a religious group who base our beliefs wholly on the Bible, regarding it as fully inspired by God, and hence believe it is error free. The name "Christadelphian" was first used in the mid-1800s, but we believe that there have been people who share our beliefs throughout history. We are confidently waiting for Christ to return to earth when he will set up the Kingdom of God.

The fundamental Christadelphian beliefs are:

1. The Bible is God's word and the only message from him. It is without error, except for copying and translation errors.
2. There is only one God - the Father. The Holy Spirit is God's power.
3. Jesus is the Son of God, and a human being, through his mother Mary.
4. Man is mortal, having no existence when dead.
5. By living a sinless life, ending with his sacrificial death by crucifixion, Jesus has opened the way of salvation from death.
6. Belief and baptism are essential steps to salvation.
7. God raised Jesus from death. Jesus is currently in Heaven, on God's right hand. He will one day return.
8. When Jesus returns, he will raise his "sleeping" followers from death and grant immortality to the faithful who have tried to live by God's precepts.
9. His followers will help him to rule, bringing justice, righteousness and peace to the whole world - the Kingdom of God.