While most of Sydney spent New Year's Day recovering from the previous night's celebrations, over 1,500 Christians gathered at Katoomba to hear an American Baptist preacher proclaim the uniqueness of Jesus.

The annual Church Missionary Society's (CMS) Summer School is on this week and organisers are expecting around 12,000 people through the doors over the seven days. Held every January, Summer School focuses on the gospel work of CMS, and provides a chance to interact with missionaries from around the globe.

Miss Bernie Sarpong, who regularly attends Summer School, sees the week as a great way to start the year. "It's really encouraging to hear about what missionaries are doing " what God is doing around the world", she said. "It's also great to have such a wide age-range of people in one place. I'm encouraged by the zeal of older Christians".

Working his way through the book of Hebrews, this year's keynote speaker, Dr Mark Dever, Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC, wants those attending the conference to learn one key truth from the week, "Christ alone is the only way we can relate to God, he is the only one who can deal with the problem of our sin", he said, "In a pluralistic world that sees no positive distinction in Jesus, the Bible reminds us who Jesus is, that no-one else is".

Summer School continues until Friday.