Church Prayer Meeting on pause

Our weekly Church prayer meeting is on pause over the school holidays. We will begin meeting again at 5pm in the upper meeting room on Sunday 22nd July.

Forgiveness in the Community

Check out Gorden Cheng's article on forgiveness that was published in the Daily Telegraph.

Rector's Spot this Sunday (1st July)

This Sunday I will be raising an important question for our church in my Rector's Spot. It will involve taking the first step in thinking about an issue that will help us...

1. to be a church which welcomes a broad age range of people from many different ethnic backgrounds
2. to be a church that is able to welcome people in their 30s, including those with children. (Night Church 20s)
3. to gather together in what is almost a church plant!

The glass is half full

As the pastor of our congregation I have been invited a number of times to the local citizenship ceremony. I was able to accept the invitation to the one that happened today (Thursday 28th June). The Mayor of Ashfield, Ted Cassidy, asked if I wanted to make a speech - of course I did!

As I sat there working out what to say, the oath caught my eye. I says, "From this time forward, under God, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people... ". So I gave a short speech on how our nation will not survive if it is built on selfish individuals, but on people committed to the good of others, with all our lives dependent upon God. I acknowledged the diversity of religious beliefs and welcomed people at citizens to a nation that has had incredible religious freedoms. Then I sat down.

But only half the people swore this oath. The other half made an affirmation of allegiance which is identical to the oath but removes the phrase 'under God'. Was it disappointing that half the people took this option, first made available in 1966? I think not.

Most of the people at the ceremony came from countries which would be described as non-Christian, many of them from mainland China. It thought it was great that half of them had deliberately chosen to take the oath and see themselves as citizens of Australia 'under God'. I would say the glass if half full.

We now need to make connections with them and find opportunities to share the good news of what God has done for them in Jesus Christ.

Changes in the Australian Oath of Citizenship.

Clr Ted Cassidy, the local Mayor

83, on the web and praying

I just got an email from an 83 year old lady who used to be a member of our church and now lives interstate. She is praying for us every day and has been able to see what has been going on at church via the web. How cool is that!

Getting off a negative spiral

A young couple visited our church a few weeks back. They were Christians and had moved into the area and were looking for a church to be part of. They are exactly the kind of people it would be great to have as part of our new Night Church. One of the first things they asked is "where are all the people their age?". My answer: "they are are not with us yet".

As people look at finding a church they want to find people like them, people who they think they can be friends with. There is almost a critical mass of people that enables others to feel as though they can join. That's not us. At least for most groups of people. Our church has been on a negative spiral for a number of decades when it comes to young people. We want to get of that spiral.

We really want to be able to reach people in their 20s who live in our area, but we need to have a few mission minded people in their 20s who can be the first to join us. As our Night Church seed group meets we are looking for people to take up this challenge. It won't be for everyone but we need some!

"faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17

Suli to play on Sunday

I had lunch with Suli on Thursday and he shared with me a song he wrote. It was pretty cool sitting on Carlton Cres in the warm sun singing about Jesus. I took a photo which didn't turn out, but he's going to play the song for us in church this Sunday (24 June).

Whose fault is it?

For our day off, Beth and I drove up to Newcastle to see the stranded ship the 'Pasha Bulker'. It was staggering to see such a huge vessel just a few hundred metres from the beach. But whose fault is it?

If there was no storm there would be no shipwreck. However, we all know that storms happen and that the captain of the ship should have taken greater care.

It made me think of Paul's word's to Timothy about those who ignore his instruction: "Some have rejected these [instructions] and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme." (1 Timothy 1:19-20)

Whose fault is the shipwreck? It is no 'accident', but by ignoring sound doctrine they have made a shipwreck of their faith. The Pasha Bulker is a good reminder that we need to take responsibility for our Christian walk.

I had some fun taking photos of the tanker, particularly with the waves crashing on the side. As you can see there was quite a crowd even on a dull Tuesday afternoon. Click on the photo for a larger version.

Men not thinking

It is easy for economics to be the sole rationale for our decision making, but this is not good enough. In Ruth chapter 1, Elimelech decides to leave Bethlehem because of the famine in the land. His decision to move to Moab was one that affected his whole family, not only economically but spiritually. He left in order to gain economic advantage, but the move to Moab was disobedience to God (the Lord has instructed his people not to associate with the Moabites - read about it in Deuteronomy 23:3-6), the move meant his sons were not in a position to marry Hebrew wives (see Deuteronomy 7:3), and the move took them away from worship of the LORD to a people who worshipped Chemosh.

Instead of bringing about economic security, the end result of the move to Moab was economic uncertainty. Three widows were left, with no men and no children. The spiritual welfare of his family did not feature in Elimelech's thinking.

It is easy to boil decisions down to the almighty dollar, but there are more important things. Meeting with God's people, providing a Christian environment for your family, providing the example of counting the cost of following Christ. Jesus teaches us clearly that you cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). Men need to lead their families and their communities so that they put God first in all the areas of their lives for their own sake and for those they lead.

BBQ after church on 24th June

Straight after church on the 24th June we will be sharing a BBQ lunch in the front yard of the Rectory. Bring a gold coin (per person) to cover costs. These times together are really important for knowing each other and welcoming new people to our church. Even if you are visiting on this day please join us for lunch.

Church Abuse

I met a man this evening who had so much hatred and bitterness towards the church that I found it difficult to understand. He directed all his abuse at me. He was angry that the slate roof of the hall had been replaced by tin, angry that our trees hadn't been cleared up (the mulching machine had got bogged down at Castle Hill), angry that I didn't have permission to work on the trees (I did), and finally angry that he had to put up with wedding music on Saturday afternoons. I hadn't met anyone so bitter and twisted for no good reason. Who ever heard of someone angry about weddings?

I explained that the church was the small group of people that gathered on Sundays and that the hall was lucky to have a roof on it at all (we don't get money from the Federal, State or Local Governments, and we don't get money from pokies or raffles!) In the end I apologized that he was so upset and walked away from him as he yelled abuse at me.

I met him because he had just parked in front of a huge load of cut up trees the arborist had made. I asked if he could park around the corner so the mulching machine could come in the morning and remove the timber. He refused and the abuse started. The car is parked there at the moment. I don't think it will move, despite the fact it is parked in a bus zone.

When I got home I did two things, I prayed for him that the reason for his anger would be lifted and I made up the following apology and put it in the letterboxes of about 100 flats nearby to the church.

"You can't grow an Anglican Church there"

These were the words of an older Christian man as I spoke about our church. It made me a little frustrated since we don't know what God has in store for people. As we broadcast the word we don't see the hidden work of God's Holy Spirit as he enables people to welcome the message.

His comments also made be think about our church culture and the culture(s) we are trying to reach. At this point I think he was right - we can't grow an Anglican Church where we are if it means clinging to Anglican traditions.

What we do in church needs to be evaluated by its ability to share the word with both Christians and those finding out. Our prayer is that by being flexible, people from all sorts of backgrounds would hear the gospel message and be rescued from their sin by the the forgiveness Jesus brings.

Friday Nights for Senior High

We've kicked off a discussion group for Senior High people (Years 11-12) that meets on Friday nights. We are meeting at the Church Hall at 8pm and hanging out and then coming back to the Rectory where we are discussing an issue and seeing what the Bible has to say about it.

The discussion group is for people who are Christians and those who want to find out more. This week we are looking at "Grief". See you then.

The photo was taken a week ago at our first meeting.

Why would you change your name?

On Sunday we start our series on the book of Ruth and I was struck by the pain Naomi went through in the loss of her husband and her two sons. Her name, Naomi, means 'delightful', but that is not how she felt. When she returned home she wanted people to call her 'Mara' which means 'bitter'. She had been so hurt by the circumstances of life that she couldn't even bear to hear her name.

The reality is that people carry around so much hurt in their lives. Healing from the wounds of life often takes time and is one of the most significant experiences that makes up who we are. In the end the book of Ruth is not about Naomi or her daughter-in-law Ruth, but of a God whose plans are purposes are bigger than we can first see. Trust him and praise him!

Trees to get a hair cut

Over the next few weeks the trees on our property are going to get a haircut. Most of them will have some work done on them with these four being removed because they are infected at the base, are splitting apart and have a dangerous lean. When I take this picture again we might be able to see the church!

History of St Andrew's

Listen to Stuart Braga, my dad, as he addresses the quarterly meeting of the Anglican Historical Society on the history of St Andrew's. The first section of the talk wasn't recorded until I threw my mobile phone in front of the speaker so we could record the event! Either play it below or the mp3 is here.