This is the latest blurb that is published on the front of our weekly bulletin
Disaster and Disappointment
It is difficult to appreciate how hard it must be to have served in the defence forces in Afghanistan, or to be in their family, only to see the tragic fall to the Taliban this week.
Our soldiers sought to protect and defend a nation from a group of people who claim inspiration from the Koran to drive them to abuse women and use violence to persecute people of a different faith.
It is a sad reminder that life on earth will never deliver true joy and peace whilst sin continues to impact every part of life.
We must set our eyes on things above, focusing ourselves on the life that is to come as we await the return of Jesus.
Yet, in the meantime, it is right for us to defend those who suffer abuse at evil hands, and to take comfort that justice and judgement is coming one day.
For the members of our allied forces, is may feel that the last twenty years have been in vain, and yet in the process of seeking justice and protecting the innocent, there has been a demonstration of God’s just character.
However, we must be reminded afresh that life on earth will never be like heaven, and so we should continue to love and serve as we point people to the hope that is found only in Christ in his kingdom.
Earthly kingdoms will rise and fall, but the kingdom of God will not pass away.
The victory of King Jesus on the cross, shown with his powerful resurrection from the dead, is both the means of and the evidence for the power of God and our confidence in the life that is to come.
Let us pray for Afghanistan, and let us pray for the speedy return of Jesus, who will come to judge the living and the dead.
JODIE McNEILL
(Photo credit: Silvia Alessi via Flickr)
Our Unchanging God
People tend to have a love-hate relationship with change. Change can be marvellous, like taking a weekend away, trying different and exciting foods, or starting a new hobby!
But not being able to see family, having plans cancelled, and increasing screen time by over 400% can be really difficult changes, to say the least.
For sudden, uncomfortable changes we can often be left feeling dizzy, scared, and uncertain.
Changes like these can often reveal what we really value dearly in life, especially when the things you care for are turned upside down.
Psalm 102 shows us where to look when we are feeling like our life has been turned upside down.
The Psalmist begins by lamenting that their life is in ruin. They are distressed, withering, and lonely. But after their lament, there is a shift. The Psalmist turns their focus from the perilous situation at hand and onto the attributes of God.
One of those attributes is God’s unchanging nature:
“But you are always the same; you will live forever.” Psalm 102:27
Our God is unchanging in his personality, purposes, and promises.
What a great comfort that is for us all! When our life is in a storm of change, we can rely on our steadfast, unchanging rock.
In our changing world, there is nothing more secure than our unchanging God.
I would encourage us all, as I continue to remind myself, that we should focus on this precious attribute of God and plant our feet firmly on solid ground.
Day by day, moment by moment, turn your eyes to our marvellous saviour.
There is no place sweeter or more secure.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
JACOB MIERENDORFF
Creeping Comforts
I don’t know about you, but I find it really easy to sit on my phone during lockdown.
Everything can just seem to be down and out. Social media, Netflix, and YouTube are easily entertaining comforts that take me away from the stress and worry we all feel.
However, my temptation is that these comforts will creep in and consume all my time! They not only entertain me, but can also mislead me.
They can turn my focus away from God and the needs of others and twist it onto myself.
In Jude’s letter to the saints, he appeals for the believers to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered” to them. (Jude 3)
For at that time there were false teachers creeping in and perverting the marvellous grace of God. (Jude 4)
Our temptation in the grief and disconnection of lockdown can be that our comforts, like that of the false teachers, can creep in and mislead us.
They too can act as a concealed danger, a misleading guide, and a false hope.
Whilst these comforts can be amazing blessings, we need to be cautious, especially during the weariness of lockdown, when we let anything else other than the word of God permeate and resound as the consuming voice in our minds.
Jude’s antidote to the false teachers was that the believers would guard themselves in the love of God by building themselves up in the faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, and waiting for the mercy of Jesus which leads to eternal life. (Jude 20-21)
My prayer is that during this weary time we would all keep ourselves in the love of God, guarding ourselves by reading God’s word, praying in the Holy Spirit, and patiently waiting on our Lord.
Our greatest comfort is knowing that it is ultimately God who loves us so dearly that he will “keep you from stumbling and present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour,… be glory, dominion, and authority, now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25)
Praise be to our God who keeps us in his great love!
JACOB MIERENDORFF
Satan and the Olympics
Last Friday night’s Olympic opening ceremony was quite unlike any other in history, which is no surprise given that it was performed in front of a stadium crowd of less than a thousand people, all of whom were wearing masks.
It felt more like a funeral than a festival, with a greater focus on death and isolation than on life and community.
At the heart of the night was the singing of the atheist anthem, ‘Imagine’, where the ‘congregation’ was encouraged to conceive of a world without possessions, war, and religion.
Instead of enjoying a moment of unified and triumphant humanity, there was sober reflection upon the disappointment that Covid-19 has brought to the Olympic festival.
The world normally rejoices in the ‘higher, faster, stronger’ mantra of the Olympic spirit, but this year humanity was frail and weak in the face of the coronavirus.
If Satan’s aim in life is to distract people from the realities of life and death, then Covid-19 is the last thing in the world he’d want.
For as C. S. Lewis once noted, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
The global suffering of SARS-COV-2 is a much-needed wakeup call to a world that has been numb from prosperity and triumphalism.
The pain of Covid has rained on the parade of atheistic humanism and it has created fertile ground for speaking of Christ Jesus and the one-and-only way to find certainty for eternity.
As we pray for relief from Covid, let us also pray that this crisis might lead many people to know Christ Jesus, who is the greatest human of all time, whose victory over sin and death brought us peace with God.
JODIE McNEILL
(Credit: France Olympique via Flickr)
Australian Anglicans Ahead
On Monday night our church at Jamberoo was privileged to host a special online event for Gafcon Australia, at which the Chairman outlined the new way that Australian Anglican churches can be supported when they wish to keep to the faithful teaching of the Bible, even if their bishop wants otherwise.
This is not a problem that we face in our Sydney Diocese because we are blessed to have bishops and other leaders who love to listen to and obey what God says in his Bible about all matters of life.
The way that it will work is that Gafcon (Global Anglican Futures Conference) will provide what’s called an ‘Extra-provincial Diocese’, which is another way of saying that these churches and ministers will be able to be remain Anglican churches that will sit under the leadership and authority of a Bishop who is not formally part of the Anglican Church of Australia.
This is a significant, and most-likely costly step for any church to take, although it is one that would only be taken in extreme situations.
For, our prayer is that the dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia would be united in following the clear teaching of the Bible about how God wants his people in his church to live for his honour and glory.
Please pray for the board of Gafcon Australia as they work to provide the necessary infrastructure to support any new churches that will take advantage of this rescue plan.
Pray also that we might have unity in the truth of the gospel, so that together we might be able to proclaim Christ faithfully to the nations!
JODIE McNEILL
Are you willing to wait?
Are you the kind of person who is happy to wait for downloads, or couriers, or public transport, or phone calls?
In the instant-gratification world in which we live, we seek immediate results, and get frustrated when things don’t happen as fast as they can.
And when we’re impatient, it can easily lead us to act in a way that is unwise or ungodly.
In 1 Samuel 13, Saul chose not to wait for Samuel the prophet to perform a sacrifice, but instead he took matters into his own hands.
As God’s king, he was supposed to follow God rule, but as he faced the threat of war, he grew impatient, which resulted in him losing the kingdom to King David, the man after God’s own heart.
When God’s king, Jesus, was under great distress in the Garden of Gethsemene, he chose to patiently and obediently follow God’s rule, even though it would cost him dearly.
King Jesus patiently and obediently followed the Lord in his time of trial and distress… and in doing so, he went to the cross, where he died for our sin, and from where he rose to bring us the guarantee of eternal life.
As we get frustrated with waiting for answers to prayer, we can be tempted to take matters into our own hands, disobeying God’s word and acting independently of his rule.
But we must model ourselves on Jesus our Lord, who cried out to God, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Mark 14:36)
Praise God that Jesus was not impatient and that he was willing to follow his father’s command, even when to do so would bring him pain.
Praise God that his perseverance and obedience led to the glorious tragedy of the cross!
JODIE McNEILL
(Photo credit: Heiner Engbrocks via Flickr)
Surprise Lockdown?
This second lockdown has taken many of us by surprise, especially after the optimistic steps in the past few months towards a return to some sort of normal.
But now with as the press conferences from Gladys and Dr. Chant grow in intensity, it is clear that we’ll be needing to work out how to manage the pandemic for a whole lot longer.
Whilst there is no doubt that our reduced freedoms and changed plans are causing us frustration and heartache, we must never forget that our Lord God remains fully in control of every small and large thing in the universe.
God has known about Covid-19 since the creation of the world, and that is why we can be thankful to him for both the good bits and the bad bits of this global pandemic.
There will be some people who will look back on this year and recognise that the crisis has led them to Christ, and that the trials and traumas of this pandemic have been the very things that have shaken their outlook and drawn them to become reconciled with Jesus as their loving ruler.
This also makes prayer seem all the more powerful, knowing that the one we humbly bring our prayers to is the same person who rules the universe: he listens to us because he loves us.
For this reason, we must keep praying to our Lord, asking that his will would be done, and that his kingdom would come.
What are you praying to the Lord during this latest lockdown? What are you asking your sovereign and gracious Lord in this time of trial?
In these troubling times, let us never lose sight of our saviour, as we fix our eyes “not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)
JODIE McNEILL
(Re)considering Christianity
This week on holidays I read a short book called ‘Seven reasons to (re)consider Christianity’ by musician, minister and author, Ben Shaw.
As I read it, I was struck again by how much sense it makes to be a Christian and to follow Jesus.
For his seven chapter titles, he says that people should (re)consider Christianity because:
- it’s worth thinking through what life is really all about;
- Christianity is a lot more intellectually credible than you might have assumed;
- Christianity is about life to the full;
- Christianity gives a compelling answer to the question, “What’s wrong with the world?”;
- Jesus is arguably the most influential person in history’;
- the death of Jesus is surprisingly very good news for you, and;
- if Jesus really did rise from the dead, then it would confirm everything.
Each of the chapters give a simple and powerful explanation of why those facts are true, and in particular, why the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation for everything we believe.
Yet, whilst I think his arguments powerfully defend Christianity, the words of the epilogue bring a real, human dimension to his passioned plea to follow Jesus:
“Having death on my very own doorstep has forced me to do a serious reassessment of my faith, including everything I’ve said in this book. […] Yet in the end, far from having been shaken, I can honestly tell you that having this life-threatening illness has actually sharpened and increased my faith. As I stare at the possibility of an early death, I am, in fact, more confident than ever in these things.”
Last week Mandy and I watched the livestream of his funeral, as Ben passed away aged 52, having died from cancer of the jawbone.
Now he is with Christ, which is better by far, and his faith has now been turned to sight.
And the book he leaves us is a wonderful legacy that we pray will lead others to know the hope that has led him to paradise with his saviour, Jesus.
JODIE McNEILL
Growth Groups
Even though we are blessed at our church with great gatherings around God’s word each Saturday night and Sunday morning, there are still many excellent reasons to be a part of a small ‘growth’ group.
Most obviously, a weekly or fortnightly group offers the ability to sit down with a few other people to carefully examine God’s word, looking deeply into the scriptures and sitting under his loving leadership by his Spirit.
But another, important reason to join a small, midweek group is that as our church grows in size, it becomes harder to know everyone really well.
And so being a part of a growth group means that you can get to know a small number of people a lot better… and be known and loved by them, too.
It’s a hub in which you can listen to others and pray for them, as you also show genuine care and community, and a group you can be a part of, even at the other times of the week when it’s not actually meeting.
It’s also a terrific ‘front door’ for people who are interested in finding out more about Jesus but perhaps don’t feel ready to come to a main service on the weekend.
The groups are also places where we can all show practical, genuine care for each other’s needs, as we hear from each other as we gather in Christ’s name.
These groups are great for growing personally in our knowledge and love of God, and growing together as a community around his word… and all this happens as our church and our small groups grow bigger in number.
These ‘growth groups’ are great connections for both believers and unbelievers alike to grow in their understanding of God and to prayerfully encourage each other in glorifying God through our humble service of him.
And as our church grows, may our growth groups help us grow in many small communities, as our larger community keeps growing together.
JODIE McNEILL