As we woke to hear of the passing of the Queen, we were reminded afresh that our greatly-loved, longest-serving monarch was mortal.

Most of us have only ever handled coins that were graced with her image, and her longevity has brought us unparalleled stability.

But now she has departed this life, and her crown will be worn by King Charles III.

Throughout her reign, she made it known that she gladly submitted to the gracious rule of King Jesus.

Unlike most monarchs, she heeded the word of the Lord, who warned all the rulers of the earth to serve him with reverent fear and to rejoice with trembling (Psalm 2:10-11.)

For, though she ruled great nations, she submitted to God’s royal son (verse 12a.)

And because of her wisdom, she now truly knows the joy that is for all who take refuge in King Jesus (verse 12b.)

We know of her faith because she chose to publicly share her personal trust in Jesus when the opportunity arose.

In her final Christmas broadcast last year, she said that Jesus was, “a man whose teachings have been handed down from generation to generation, and have been the bedrock of my faith.”

And in her life, she demonstrated that even the most powerful woman in the Commonwealth understood the heart of true leadership.

For, as she shared in her 2012 Christmas broadcast:

“God sent his only son ‘to serve, not to be served’. He restored love and service to the centre of our lives in the person of Jesus Christ. It is my prayer… that his example and teaching will continue to bring people together to give the best of themselves in the service of others.”

Our Queen gladly served the King of the Universe, and though she has now breathed her last breath, she is with Christ Jesus, the one who gave his life for her, so that she might have the eternal life she now enjoys.

JODIE McNEILL 

At the last census, the number of Australians who said they associated with Christianity was over 11 million people… that’s 44% of Aussies.

Now the big news was that it was a million less than five years before, with the largest decrease in your age bracket… the 18 to 25 year olds.

But even though there are many religious people around, we’re still pretty shy about revealing our faith.

Just before Covid hit, there was a survey of 54,000 people by the ABC.

They surveyed all sorts of different things, but one of them was their attitude to religion.

Journalist Annabel Crabb analysed the results and said that 60 per cent of Australians would prefer that people keep their religious views to themselves.

What’s more, almost half of all religious people, “agreed that religion should be a hush-hush affair.”

But not only was religion something that people wanted to keep quiet.

It also didn’t seem to have any real impact on peoples’ lives.

That same journalist went on to say that, “when given a list of eight attributes and asked which was most central to the respondent’s sense of self and identity, Australians placed religion stone-cold, motherless last.”

And what’s more, Crabb said that, “only 15 percent of respondents thought the country would be better off if more people were religious”.

And to top it off, she observed that, “one of the survey’s most striking findings is the poor esteem in which religious leaders are held.”

Even though four out of ten people identified with a Christian religion, most Aussies don’t think that religion matters.

And that’s not really surprising, is it?

But that’s our challenge, because we are amongst the 15 percent who think that our country would be better off if more people knew Jesus.

And that’s why we’re praying that each person in our village, valley, and region would know how to follow Jesus and why it matters.

Will you join me in that prayer?

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: Gafcon)

It’s surprising to read how many times the Bible speaks of the need for God’s people to be united, together, as one.

Perhaps the most vivid expression of this is seen in the prayer by Jesus to the father on the night before he died.

In John chapter 17, Jesus says:

Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. (verse 11)

As good as it is to strive for unity, we must remember that our unity is a gift from God in response to the prayers of Jesus to the father.

What’s more, the unity that Christians enjoy must be true to who God is, which means that it must be based on his true word.

Yet the closer we stand to God’s word, the further we’ll be from the world.

For Jesus then says to the father:

I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. (verse 14)

So, the more we’re united with Jesus, the less we’ll be united with the world.

This means that when people try and change the church to be like the world, they’ve completely missed the point… and may well have missed the truth.

I give thanks to God for the unity we enjoy as a church as we are united together in Christ.

May his Spirit continue to lead us to obey his wonderful word, so that we might boldly tell our village, valley and region how to follow Jesus and why it matters… even when people find it hard to follow Christ.

JODIE McNEILL