This is the latest blurb that is published on the front of our weekly bulletin

Confirming Faith

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Confirmation is a special event in our church which gives people an opportunity to say as a grown up what was promised on their behalf as a baby.

Our church believes that the promises of God apply to whole households… which means that babies of Christian parents are also Christians.

My kids have been Christians since they were in Mandy’s womb, and we baptised them as babies as a way of showing our trust in God’s promises.

But there comes a time in our life when we need to grow up and take responsibility for our own decisions, and that’s what confirmation is all about.

It’s about offering people who were baptised as infants the opportunity to answer for themselves about their own belief in God.

So, if you were baptised as a baby, and are now old enough to answer for yourself and own your own faith, then you should get confirmed.

Normally it’s around Year 9 that this happens, although exceptions are possible for people a little younger, if appropriate.

So, if you’re keen to be confirmed then let me know, and we’ll sign you up for a short course in July, which will be followed by a special service with our bishop on Wednesday 18th August at 7pm.

Plus you should be aware that we’re not able to run this every year, so sign up this year or miss out for a few years.

One more thing… if you’re the age to be confirmed but you’ve never been baptised, then if you trust in Jesus we really should organise for you to get baptised soon.

It’s such a great thing to do, and we’d love to offer this great, Biblical way to show our trust in God’s wonderful promises to us.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo Credit: Jay Hsu via Flickr.com)

Know Domestic Abuse

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When a newspaper article this week ran with the headline, ‘Scripture used to justify violence’, it was a sad reminder that some Christians have distorted the meaning of the Bible to serve their own sin.

The Bible is very clear: we are to love one another, and that there is no place for any abuse of anyone, in any situation.

In the letter to the Galatians, there is a stark description of the results of the life that come from the sinful nature: 

“sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19b-21)

Furthermore, the clear word from God is that husbands are to love their wives as sacrificially as Jesus loved the church, which means:

“…husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.” (Ephesians 5:28-29)

It is only in this context that Christian wives are told to submit to their husbands (Ephesians 5:22) in recognition of the weight of the responsibility given to the man to sacrificially love and lead his wife and family.

And, again, it is vital that we hear God’s word clearly: the husband’s role is to love his wife sacrificially… which means there is no place, ever, for any abuse, whether physical, verbal, or otherwise.

I strongly encourage all of us to visit the website knowdomesticabuse.church which has been produced by our own Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney, and in particular, please have a read of the ‘Use and Misuse of Scripture’ booklet.

And if you, or anyone you know, is experiencing domestic abuse of any form, please act to bring safety immediately… seeking the help of a trusted Christian leader or friend.

JODIE McNEILL

(Credit: Nenad Stojkovic via Flickr.com)

Comforting Silence

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In most situations it’s distressing when we hear the sound of silence when we call out for help… or see if a loved one is OK after a major incident.

Rescuers at a recent tragedy reported hearing the sounds of mobile phones ringing in the pockets of unconscious victims… no doubt the calls of concerned and fearful friends and family.

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah waits to hear what the Lord will say about the sorry state of the kingdom of God… with great numbers of faithless followers, and enormous persecution.

Then, as he stands at Mount Sinai, the place where the Lord revealed his Ten Commandments to Moses, Elijah waits to hear a new word from the Lord about this difficult situation.

The Lord then sent a windstorm, an earthquake, and then a fire… but it was only in the silence that he ‘spoke’.

He didn’t give Elijah a new promise, because the old one was still living and active.

The great promises made to God’s people at the time of Abraham and the forefathers is still the same promise that applied to Elijah in that time of great trial.

For us, we sit on the other side of history, having seen the fulfilment of God’s great promises in the Lord Jesus… but we still endure times of pain and trials.

Yet, the fresh ‘word’ that the Lord gave to Elijah is the same ‘word’ he gives us today… silence… that points us to the living and active word of God that already speaks loudly to us and to our world.

He doesn’t need to give us new revelation, because we know all his promises, and we know what we’re waiting for when Jesus returns soon.

So, for us as followers of Christ, we must keep hearing the ‘old, old story’, and keep hoping and waiting for the return of Jesus, when he will bring justice to this world that rejects him, and display his full mercy to those of us who trust in Jesus, by faith.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: timlewisnm via Flickr.com)

Great Leadership

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What does the Bible tell us about leadership? 

In Luke chapter 7 we meet one of the great leaders of history.

He was a centurion, a well-paid, well-respected Roman officer who led a company of a hundred soldiers.

But sadly, one of his slaves was about to die, and so he sent some religious leaders to go and get Jesus to come and heal his slave.

But as Jesus approached, the centurion sent a message to tell him, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honour.” (Luke 7:6)

Why would the Roman centurion call for Jesus and then turn him away?

It was because he recognised that he was in the presence of a truly great leader, for he said, “I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.” (Luke 7:7)

The centurion recognised the greatness of Jesus, and he knew how unworthy he was in comparison.

But he also knew that when a commander makes a command, then it happens.

This impressed Jesus greatly, for, “when Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” (Luke 7:9)

The Roman officer recognised that Jesus was Lord of the universe, and he also knew that he would use his power to perform an act of great mercy and kindness.

And the trust in Jesus paid off, for, “when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.” (Luke 7:10)

The centurion knew the true leader, and he trusted the true leader… and his trust in Jesus paid off.

Great leaders submit to greater leaders… and the greatest leader is Jesus.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: Hans Splinter via Flickr.com)

Loving Mercy

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What does it mean to live a life that responds properly to God’s grace?

This is a question that was asked of the prophet Micah when God’s people recognised that they were not living in a way that reflected the grace of God.

Their natural response was to perform religious acts, offering all sorts of sacrifices that they thought might please God by their commitment.

But this was God’s response through the prophet Micah: 

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

There were three things that they were to do to respond properly to God’s love and grace.

Firstly, they were to act justly, making sure that people were treated in a fair way, and that those who mistreated others would stop sinning.

Secondly, they were to love mercy, having a heart-felt desire for God’s steadfast, covenantal love to be known and experienced by all.

And thirdly, they were to walk humbly, or rightly, with their God, obeying his ways, and following his good commands.

God didn’t want their wealth, he wanted their worship… but not a worship that involved ritual, but a worship that involved genuine commitment to living God’s way.

It is not a recipe for how to become friends with God, but rather a way to show genuine thankfulness to God for the love he showed us when we were unlovable… enemies he saved when our hearts were far away.

When we understand God’s mercy shown to us, we will be people who love to lavish that mercy on others, especially when that mercy is not deserved.

For when we are prepared to love those who don’t deserve it, we will then show that we know what it means to know God’s grace.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: kerenzayuen via Flickr.com)

Spiritual Evangelism

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When we think of the work of the Holy Spirit, we usually consider his work in the life of followers of Jesus.

However, when Jesus tells his disciples that after his death he will be sending the Holy Spirit, he says that the Spirit will have a special ministry to people who do not yet follow Jesus.

In John 16 verse 8, he says that when the Spirit comes, “he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.”

There are three things that the Holy Spirit says to unbelievers.

The first is that they are in sin because they refuse to believe in Jesus (verse 9), and that if they keep refusing him then they’re in big trouble.

The second is that, “righteousness is available” (verse 10), because Jesus went to the cross, and that they can have this sin dealt with by Jesus and his death for them.

The third thing he says is that, “judgement will come” (verse 11), which is the reason that we need to consider the gracious offer of Jesus as soon as possible.

All of these things are spoken by the Holy Spirit to the world, and they give a clear message about what needs to happen to avoid judgement and enjoy peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is why we can be so thankful that the Spirit works in the lives of the world as well as in Christians, and we can take comfort that when we tell people about the great news of Jesus, then we’re not alone… for he is speaking with us!

Let us pray that the Lord would give us many opportunities to use the power of the Holy Spirit to chat to people about Jesus… and the wonderful certainty for eternity we have when we come to him.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: Kenneth Reitz via Flickr)

Introducing Kanishka

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Kanishka Raffel is the Archbishop-elect of our Diocese of Sydney, who was unanimously elected after a three-night selection process involving nearly 800 representatives of our Anglican churches and organisations.

He is currently the Dean of Sydney, namely the senior minister of St Andrew’s Cathedral, where he has served for six years, having previously led a large church in Perth for 16 years, having studied at Moore and served in Sydney and Canberra.

Kanishka is married to Cailey, has two adult daughters, and is aged 56.

Born to Sri Lankan parents in London, he and his family emigrated to Australia from Canada in 1972, where as an adult, he converted to Christ from Buddhism.

I have had the privilege of working closely with Kanishka as I serve as a member of the Gafcon Australasia 2021 Conference committee which he chairs, and I have witnessed first-hand his passion to proclaim Christ faithfully.

As a speaker, he has shown himself to clearly teach the Bible and to lead people to know Jesus better, as he stretches the minds and warms the hearts of the listeners, in obedience to the powerful word of God.

In his speech of thanks to the Synod, he showed his servant heart:

You have elected a weak servant, and you too, are but weak servants.  But we have a mighty Saviour – full of grace, sovereign, sufficient, supreme; having the supremacy in all things so that through him God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself  by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. If I can make a pledge it is this – to stand at the foot of the cross, weak, dependent and forgiven, and from there to seek to serve, as he enables.

Please pray for Kanishka as he prepares for the Inauguration on the 28th May, when he will commence this new ministry to us and with us as our Archbishop.

JODIE McNEILL

Our New Operations Minister

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After a process of advertising and interviewing, the Rector and Wardens are pleased to announce that Jacob Mierendorff has accepted our invitation to serve in the all-new position of ‘Operations Minister’.

Jacob’s focus will be to help everyone in our church work together in the best possible way, so that we can keep focusing on the ministry of word and prayer as we proclaim Christ to the people of our village, valley and beyond.

Following on from the ministry of Kiarnay, Jacob will look after all the ‘machinery’ of our church, from our Elvanto system (with rosters and runsheets), right through to the livestream and social media.

He will also focus on growing our small-group ministry, as well as helping newcomers feel at home in their new church.

Overall, he plans to minister to us all as he seeks to streamline our operations, so that everyone is connected and encouraged in the best way possible.

He will also be looking after the running of the weekend services, as well as serving us through occasional preaching and other word ministries in various contexts.

We’re praying that this will help equip us with the ministry tools and support required to manage our fast-growing church, for the glory of God.

Beginning on the 12th May, Jacob will initially work four days per week, but we are praying that our giving in church will increase enough to enable us to employ him full time as soon as possible.

Please pray for Jacob, and Jemimah, as together they adapt to the life of gospel work, and ask the Lord that Jacob’s ministry might see our church grow stronger as we seek to make disciples of all nations, for the glory of God.

JODIE McNEILL

Give and Live

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Over the past twelve months it’s been a joy to meet most mornings with a few of you for a brief, online, service of Morning Prayer.

Each day I launch zoom.jamberooanglican.com and, with those who gather, we hear a psalm, then read a passage each from the Old and New Testaments.

We pray together, bringing to the Lord our prayers and requests about things global through to local… and particularly pray for the matters of our congregation and village.

Each day there’s a prayer called the ‘Morning Collect’ that we pray, which is a short and powerful request to God for our service of him in the day ahead:

Eternal God and Father, by whose power we are created and by whose love we are redeemed: guide and strengthen us by your Spirit, that we may give ourselves to your service, and live this day in love to one another and to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Like so many of the historical prayers our church has written and handed down to us, it begins speaking of our heavenly Father’s character… his power that created us, and his love that redeemed us.

On that firm foundation, the prayer asks for guidance and strength by God’s Spirit, as we launch into the new day that he has given us.

But the purpose of this guidance and strength is two-fold: it’s to give and to live.

We pray that we might give ourselves to God’s service—that we’d be committed to serving him in every way during the day—and that we might live in love for each other and for God, our Father.

In God’s power and love we pray that we’d give and live.

As you start each day in this coming week, why not pray this ‘Morning Collect’… and if you’re up for it, join me online at 7:30am!

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: Don Christner via Flickr.com)

Getting the Cross Right

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Even though some experts doubt whether he really rose from the dead, almost all, credible historians agree that Jesus of Nazareth was executed on a Roman Cross in Jerusalem, around 30 AD.

Yet, not all Christians agree about why he died.

Some say that he was killed by the religious rulers because his example and teaching of love were a threat to their system.

Others say that he died because he wanted to prove how much he really loves us, as the ultimate gift to humanity.

But in the end, we don’t need someone to tell us how to love, or someone to show us how to love, or even someone to prove his love for us.

Our big problem is that we’re all born as natural enemies of God, and unless someone deals with God’s anger for us, then we’re headed to Hell.

That’s why Jesus died for us: to take upon himself the anger that God had for us, so that we might now be forgiven by him and made his friends, if we trust in him as our loving ruler.

It’s pretty full on… but that’s the heart of Easter!

And by rising from the dead, Jesus proved he really did what his Father in heaven sent him to do.

As we read in Romans chapter 5:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:6-8)

That’s why Good Friday is ‘good’… and why we can truly wish each other a ‘Happy Easter!’

JODIE McNEILL

(Credit: Claudio Ungari via Flickr)