Unfailing Love Live DVD

Hi dear friends. 

Hoping that August is finding you well and not too cold (if you are in the Southern Hemisphere :) ).

It has been a busy little season for us with the opportunity to holiday in Indonesia to visit Daniel’s family. We were able to play at a few events there which was a lot of fun. We were able to replicate some DVD’s there and sell a bunch which was fantastic. It was a great joy and privilege to be able to minister even just a little over there. We also just had lots of fun with Jude’s first visit to a Safari Park amongst many other things. Daniel also had the chance to stay on an extra week and join our church mission team working with Compassion in Bandung to video the trip (and do a bit of rough translation on the side :) ). This was a great work to be involved in, and great to be revisiting some of our mission roots.

We landed back just in time to launch the new DVD with our church community. It was a wonderful night - There are some pics below. 

So the great new is the DVD is done! We are so extremely wrapped with how it has come together. Here it the title song for you to have a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdPXAWuz_E8

If you like the clip - we would love you to  ‘like’ it or share it with your friends on Facebook or Twitter. We would love to get a bit of a groundswell of interest in it.

We haven’t had the chance to put it on the website for sale yet, so if you would like a copy they are $15. Just reply to this email and we will work out a way to get it to you! 

Blessings from us

Daniel and Jess.

Live DVD Launch

Hi dear friends. 

It is with great excitement that we announce the release of our live DVD. In April we were blessed to be able to record 3 songs live with some close friends to help us sing along. We will be launching the release of the DVD on JULY 27th at One Community Church. We can't wait for the opportunity to celebrate the release with our church family. If you are in or around Melbourne we would love you come along, or just be there in spirit :). We will be releasing some clips on YouTube so stay tuned:

https://www.youtube.com/user/insideoutlife. 

We will let you know details of how to purchase the DVD once it is released, but come along if you can. We would LOVE to see you there.

Jess n Dan

Sunday 27th July  6pm

One Community Church

184 Surrey Rd Blackburn VIC

Hi Dear friends!

We pray that this beautiful season finds you well.

Firstly - A big THANKYOU again to those who voted for our song 'Novum' in the Praise Charts song competition. We didn't manage to win, but we were extremely happy with making the Top 12. Here is a link to the song where you can download it if you haven't had a chance to yet:

http://www.praisecharts.com/detail/arrangement/24744

Things keep rolling along here for us with a few little projects in the wings. The next one is coming up quickly. Next week in fact! We have decided to do something different for the recording of our next song 'Unfailing Love'. We are going to record and video it live in our church foyer. We still need some friends to come and help us sing, so if you are in Melbourne and are free thursday night - here are the details.

Unfailing Love Live Recording
Thursday 24th April 7.30pm
One Community Church

Here is a link to the song also so you will know it ahead of time :). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWbLQZhSrOQ

Easter Reflection

I (Jess) realise that we often end up writing at this time of year. I love the depth, the emotion and the significance for us as Christians. It causes one to stop and reflect, and amazingly this year I had a chance to do this at our staff retreat last week. This was what emerged for me and I thought it might be nice to share it if you have a bit of time to stop and reflect yourself.

Jesus. 

Age 33. 

So full of vision, passion, destiny. 

3 years of intense and exciting ministry. 

A sky rocketing following - healing, miracles, wonders.. 

Led only by a glimpse of the Father's dream, to see His kingdom come on earth. 

Everything was escalating. It seemed that surely there was more… even greater things on the horizon. 

What was God going to do next? A great outpouring? A move of His hand? The greatest work of healing yet?

The disciples would have been hanging out for it! Hanging off His every word. What was God going to do next? 

The anticipation would have been palpable. Such a heady time for them all. 

And then.

Something completely unexpected.

A betrayal and an arrest.

Beating... whipping... flogging.

An accusation... a trial, and a verdict.

Another beating... whipping... flogging. 

A long journey with a wooden cross.

A hammer and a nail.

A gut wrenching cry.

Jesus.

Age 33.

Dead.

All their hopes and dreams, dashed, shattered.

All his hopes and dreams, seemingly forsaken.

A darkness beyond all others.

Who would have thought?

Who could have foreseen this coming?

It didn't end the way they expected... the way everyone expected…except perhaps Him.

Can you imagine the heartbreak... the disillusionment.?

Who was this man they had put all their hope in? What in heaven or earth had the last 3 years been about? 

A complete waste of time? Another madman messiah who had led them astray? 

And what about this dream.. this bogus dream that they had invested everything in?

Shattered...a complete waste of time...

And yet why?

Why was there still this glimmer of hope hidden underneath the layers of grief? 

A glimmer of hope that just would not go away... would not be silenced.

Why?

A night... a day... another night

The tomb… empty… the stone… rolled away!

Angel… encounter…

Miracle

A hope, new hope! 

The dream… revived

A new thing.

The start of a completely New Thing.

Let us hang onto that hope this Easter! 

Hope to see some of you next Thursday!

Daniel, Jess and Jude

Praise Charts Christian Song Competition

So.. wow it is now 2014 - Jude is nearly 15months old and we are starting to feel slightly normal again (whatever that means).

2013 has been a really interesting year. One of extremes: Joy, wonder, beauty and at times complete frustration and perplexity as we undertook the parenting journey. Nothing is more character building than the refining fire of a screaming baby lol!! And yet in the midst of it all there is this amazing miracle! The miracle of new life, a completely clean slate, and the wonder of watching this little person start to figure out what this new world is all about.

In terms of our music, It has also been a really interesting year. One of waiting, hoping, often losing hope, longing and creating. We had the great privilege of finishing our song 'Novum' to introduce to our church community as we embarked on a new season as a church. We hoped and believed for new things, and as a little family we hoped and believed and still hope and believe for God's new things.

There were moments for me - If I am honest (Jess), though, were I really wanted to give up hope. To give up on the dreams that God had placed on our hearts. There were times of great discouragement. But God did not let us give up. He placed great friends in our lives to keep spurring us on and speaking words of life and encouragement just at the right time.

Towards the end of the year in November, we were alerted to a song competition through Praise Charts, which is a great online resource for churches across the world. We decided to enter 'Novum'. To our surprise we received an email in January saying that we had made Top 25! Which was very exciting. Hard to believe as we had entered other competitions like this before, but to no avail. We were then encouraged to invite our friends and supporters to vote for the song in order to make top 10. Which we did (as you amy have been a part of ) over the last few weeks. AND - we made Top 10! We are so delighted. The Top 10 became Top 12 as there were so many strong entries.

The competition continues and we invite you to stay with us on the journey. The winner will be decided over the next month and your 'likes' on Facebook and google and your 'tweets' all still contribute to this. But seriously we are very excited about the exposure just being in the Top 12 will give us. A CD is being complied of the top 12 songs which will be made available and we will posting a song story video so stay tuned for all of that. Here is a link to the competition:

www.praisecharts.com/csc-top12. 

So for those that helped in the journey so far - THANKYOU. We are feeling a sense that God is perhaps starting to move us towards his new things and we are excited for what this year will bring.

'In him we live and move and have our being ' Acts 1:28

Daniel and Jess

Readiness

Hi friends.

It has been a huge year - We are pleased to announce the arrival of Jude Jeffery  to us on Nov 16th. Thankyou for your prayers. There were some initial complications but God is faithful and we are on the other side and thoroughly enjoying him! 

This year has been an interesting one as we have sensed God preparing us for something new. Daniel has had some great opportunities to develop his video and multimedia skills with some projects for One Community, which he is loving. Jess has completed her extra study with Stirling college (Churches of Christ college) and will look to be endorsed for ministry early next year.
We are excited  to see what the New Year brings for us a family and for Insideout. We continue to seek God's guidance and opportunities  as we move forward with this ministry. We will be looking to start playing and touring again in 2013. Let us know if there are any events or ministry opportunities that you would like to have us involved in. We would love to talk further.

In the mean time:  Here are some Christmas thoughts from Jess.

 Readiness 

I didn't believe them!   I didn't believe them when they said how wonderful it would be. I believed them when they said with a knowing laugh ' oh life will never be the same' or 'enjoy your sleep while you can'. I believed those Mum's when they said, 'no-one ever told me how hard it would be' , but I didn't believe the ones  that said .. 'It's the best thing you'll ever do'. Who knew there could be such joy in this life changing event.

It was as I sat awake at 3am in hospital 2 days after giving birth, being sooo grateful just for a second cuddle with my baby boy who had been taken to another hospital, that I got to thinking about the Christmas story - particularly Mary. And the idea of readiness came to mind.

I never thought ever that I would be ready to be a mum … ever! In fact I'm still not convinced that I am ready- lol. Here I was a 32 Year old wondering how on earth she would ever get used to this new little addition to life even after 9 months of preparation…. And then here was Mary: A 16 year old girl having this immense life change thrust upon her.. A beautiful, innocent 16 year old girl - Having her world turned upside down by the invitation of God. 

The Birth of Jesus Foretold - Luke 1: 26-38

 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

Readiness  - I don't know that Mary was all that ready to receive this gift, and yet her response was total obedience.. blessed acceptance and obedience - 'May it be according to your word'.  Me, on the other hand - even though we were intentionally trying, I still cried when I found out I was pregnant. But man oh man what a wonderful, life changing gift!! But was I ready?? I didn't think so. Am I any readier now? Probably not. :) 

But this is not just about having babies. Mary's readiness and willingness to say yes to God represents so much more !!! It represents to us a readiness to say Yes to the things of God, a readiness to receive the King of Kings into our worlds. A readiness to have our worlds transformed - turned upside down in a beautiful , incredible, life changing way - How ready are u this Christmas? Where in your life do you need to be ready to receive the King of Kings and all he wants to do in your heart? For me saying yes to having a baby was an act of obedience, as it was for Mary, but for Mary it was not just having a baby.. But making a way for the saviour of the world. What an incredible responsibility and gift. But what about you- what is it this Christmas that God calling you to be obedient to? Is it a call to greater devotion, or a commitment to spiritual disciplines? Is it a call to respond to the needs of a hurting world? Is it a call to step out and do something risky for the sake of the Kingdom or to follow a dream God has place on your heart? Is it maybe to say Yes to getting to know God personally for the first time?

Readiness

This Christmas - are you ready to make way for the King of Kings  to come into your life and potentially turn everything upside down. I can assure you It will be the best thing you'll ever do.

Newsy News

Hi Dear Friends.

Well it has been a considerably long time since an update so we thought we should let you know how all is with us and Insideout.

Things have been rolling along nicely. We have had a few great opportunities this year to minister in some wonderful churches and contexts. To be honest however we are happy to have a bit of a slower season as we prepare for our next phase in life. For those who may not have heard, there is a little Hammond on the way, due in Nov so we are just getting our heads around this new change and what God may have in store for us a little family.

We have been putting time and energy into writing for a new album and fostering our creativity with some art projects. Daniel has been developing his skills in media and video with a short documentary course, and has been working on some video projects for our church which has been great. Jess graduated from her Bachelor of Theology earlier in the year and is still finishing off some studies with Churches of Christ, and enjoying a bit more time in her schedule (especially on those days when morning sickness becomes all day sickness :) ).

The Worship Ministry at our church One Community continues to grow and move forward. It is still very rewarding for both of us to be a part of.

As we mentioned in our last update, we still anticipate that God is wanting to do something new with us and Insideout, so we just continue to wait and be patient as He opens the right doors and connects us with the right people. In the mean time, here is a great prayer that we stumbled across the other day by St Augustine.

God of our life, 
There are days when the burdens we carry 
chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; 
when the road seems dreary and endless, 
the skies grey and threatening; 
when our lives have no music in them, 
and our hearts are lonely, 
and our souls have lost their courage. 

Flood the path with light, 
turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; 
tune our hearts to brave music; 
give us the sense of comradeship
with heroes and saints of every age; 

and so quicken our spirits 
that we may be able to encourage 
the souls of all who journey with us
on the road of life, 
to your honour and glory. 
 

Let my Soul take refuge

amen

Blessings 

Daniel and Jess

http://www.oursanctuary.net/augustine.html

Merry Christmas

O Come O Come Emmanuel ….

Well what a year it has been. As I sit here (Jess) thinking about something poignant and reflective to say about Christmas, I cannot help but be incredibly thankful for this year.

As Insideout, we have had some of the best opportunities to minister that we ever had. We have learnt some of the best lessons we ever have (well me anyways - ask me sometime for the full story :), and we are feeling more and more at home and connected in with our church community than we ever have..

To name a few of the great opportunities:

One2One Ballarat.

Daniel and I gave some input on our first ever music and media retreat weekend for a wonderful Church of Christ in Ballarat. It was a wonderful privilege for us to be able to step into the journey of this church and bring some teaching and lead some worship and also to present 'Abide' again at the evening service. As inadequate as we felt, it was a great stretching time for us. Daniel was able to revisit some of his YWAM training and lead a workshop on how to use multimedia which was a great delight. It was so fun to have some of our regular crew from One Community with us also.

To top things off, we were asked back later in the year to come and lead some services again, so it was all the more special to connect again with some wonderful people and a wonderful worshipping community.

Thanks for the privilege guys!!

National Youth Ministry Convention (NYMC)

On a different scale, we were asked by one of our colleagues at One to lead 4 nights of worship for NYMC in October. This was such a great opportunity to minister to around 500 leaders of Youth and Young Adult ministries in this nation. It was such an amazing time, being able to lead worship and minister with some of the best speakers (in my opinion) such as Danielle Strickland and Tony Campolo.. and most of all to meet one of our heroes - Mike Pilavachi from Soul Survivor. As always Victoria's great song 'Psalm' (on the Abide CD) was a hit as were some of the other originals we could introduce. The hardest bit of it all was that we had to stay in this really nice hotel in Tweed Heeds and have a bit of a holiday at the same time :).

But seriously.. this conference was a bit of a dream come true for us and really helped enlarge the picture of where we would love to see Insideout go.

As did the:

Global Leadership Summit

The following month help in store another great but very different conference hosted at our home church One Community in Blackburn. Again, Daniel and I and a few other different bods from One were able to provide the music and lead people in worship. This was an enormous privilege as we were leading over 500 leaders from all different churches in Melbourne. Leading leaders in worship is definitely something that spoils you :). Boy could they sing.

We also had the chance to use a lot of our multimedia and play some of our own songs with a beautiful but screen brought in for the event.

This was such a beautiful time of ministering within our own community and seeing our team at One really come to life.

Here are some pics:

So it has been a really awesome year -

And yet we also feel like we on the brink of something new… Who knows at this stage what it is.. but we have the great sense of anticipation that God is stirring and brewing something for us.

I will leave you with a word from Fr Richard Rohr

In the divine economy it is not a matter of if, but only when. There will be a “when” and from an unexpected place! Just wait.... (Richard Rohr)

Imagine what it was for the Israelites to be in this season of waiting and hoping. Waiting for the promised One. Waiting for the one who would deliver them. Imagine what it was like to wait for all those hundreds of years, never knowing when the hand of God would move. It is easy to get impatient, especially in this instantaneous age. I take great comfort in this advent theme of waiting, because we are on the other end of the deal. We now know what it was they were waiting for…. and wasn't it INCREDIBLE - far more than the Israelites could ever have hoped for or dreamed of…

And isn't this our God also. For those of you who are in a season of waiting.. waiting on a promise… waiting in hope - Take heart. He is able to do immeasurably more than you could ever ask or imagine.

Merry Christmas from us! We so value your support, love and care of us.

Heaps of Love

Jess and Daniel Hammond

P.S - Oh yea, if you didn't pick it… Daniel cut his hair!

* For Fr Richards entire reflection click here ; http://conta.cc/t3jLcq