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God is good, even when life is hard
God is good, even when life is hard As I considered what to share in the blog this week, the song ‘God You’re So Good’ was playing in the background. The lyrics of the chorus are: “God, you’re so good. You’re so good to me.” God is good, but sometimes life isn’t. From tragic health diagnoses to losing your keys, life certainly isn’t always ‘good’. On Tuesday a dear friend of mine came to the end of her earthly life. This friend was a part of our church family and has, in the last twelve months, experienced more tragic health news than one person should experience in their lifetime. Only a year ago she led a full and busy life. She volunteered at church, she had recently retired to
Reflections from My Childhood
Reflections from My Childhood I mentioned on Sunday that I feel blessed to have grown up in a Christian family, surrounded by rich, Jesus-focused influence. In light of this, I thought I would share some of the things my parents did which stand out for me—not as a guide to Christian parenting but just as some reflections from my own experience. Well-grounded family time: Some of my most treasured memories involve sitting in the loungeroom listening to Dad or Mum read a story—and the content of those stories has stuck. Some were specifically Christian (‘The Pilgrims Progress’), some broadly Christian (‘Tales of the Beggar King’, or ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’). Some had only loosely Christian themes, (‘The Hobbit’). But all of these stories and their themes are imprinted in
We Want to Hear from You
We Want to Hear from You If you were around at the time, you might remember back in 2016 we conducted a churchwide survey. The goal of the survey was to provide an avenue for feedback, to gauge effectiveness, and to identify areas of opportunity. It was an extremely worthwhile and helpful exercise, giving insight into what we were doing well and where we could improve. It also led to the implementation of certain practices that have been lifegiving for our church in the last few years, including the launch of Connect Sunday’s, the reinvigoration of men’s and women’s ministries, and a deepening commitment to Christ and to his mission. The time has come to do it again. This is an important time in the life of our church,
Build Them Up: Father’s Day 2019
Build Them Up: Father’s Day 2019 Father’s Day always provokes plenty of discussion about Dads and the role they play in the family and in society. There’s also plenty of ‘inspirational quotes’, ‘words of wisdom’, and ‘ancient proverbs’. The quotes tend to be a mixture of the astute, the nostalgic, and the just-plain-funny. Here’s a few I couldn’t go past: “By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” – Charles Wadsworth “A father carries pictures where his money used to be.” – Steve Martin “A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow.” – Unknown “Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, story-tellers, and singers of song.”
Story Behind the Song: ‘King of Kings’
Story Behind the Song: ‘King of Kings’ There are some songs you hear and instantly love. It might be the catchy tune or perhaps the lyrics resonate with you. Often it is a combination of both. This recently happened to me when I heard the song, ‘King of Kings’. I loved it as soon as I heard it. I love it both for its beautiful melody and its rich, Christ-centred lyrics. We have been singing it at church for the last month or so and the feedback is unanimous; the song is well loved. The writers of the song were excited that the melody lent itself to pack a lot of words into each verse. With this in view one of the writers said they aimed to “...teach something,
As We Forgive Our Debtors
As We Forgive Our Debtors Have you heard the saying, “To err is human; to forgive, divine”? It was first penned by English poet Alexander Pope in 1711. Pope was making the point that we are flawed and sinful, and in the face of this reality we should aspire to do as God does, that is, show mercy and forgive when we are sinned against. This is indeed a common command in the Bible; to forgive as we have been forgiven (e.g., Matt. 6:12; 18:21-22; Mark 11:25; Eph. 4:31-32). In fact, a couple of weeks ago we explored the words of 1 Peter 1:22 and the instruction to “…love one another deeply, from the heart”. As we saw, this deep love will necessarily involve the need for forgiveness. But
I Say Mission, You Say?
I Say Mission, You Say? I was telling someone recently about my conviction that churches need to prioritise mission. Little did I realise how the word ‘mission’ actually came across. My friend asked me to clarify what I meant because all their mind was filled with was people walking around in sandals handing out tracts. I don’t know what comes into your mind when you hear the word ‘mission’, but that certainly wasn’t what I was thinking. I was actually thinking of something much larger than that. I was thinking about what God is up to in the world. In fact, the entire story of the Bible is really a story about God’s initiative (or mission) to restore our relationship with him. God intended to dwell among us
Our Glorious Hope
Our Glorious Hope This term at Youth we are discussing ‘Our Hope’ – the hope that we have as Christians because of Jesus’ return. It has led me to reflect on the question, what will happen exactly when Jesus’ returns? You might think this is a somewhat irrelevant or unimportant topic, but the Bible actually talks often about what will happen when Jesus returns. While some of the imagery can be difficult to interpret, some key things stand out clearly: Jesus’ return will be unmissable When Jesus came to earth the first time, 2,000 years ago, it was in the most inconspicuous way imaginable: as a baby, laid in an animal trough, who grew up to love the outcast and died without putting up a fight. But when he
