The news this week of political turmoil in Syria with the government in turmoil and the president fleeing the country is nothing new. But when this sort of event happens on the other side of the world, generally, we barely register the destructiveness and chaos so far away. It’s hard to not view such things as a world away from us. Yet we would be naïve to think that the brokenness in some far distant land is immune from our nation, community and households because the corrosiveness of sin infects all human hearts. Regardless of scale, we all know the pain of conflict and brokenness.

It was into this very world that Jesus, the fullness of God, took on flesh. This week we consider the angel's declaration of Jesus' birth to lowly shepherds. praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

(Luke 2:14)

Jesus came that we might have peace. Yes, peace with each other, but more foundationally peace with God. Jesus came that we might have renewed relationships with God and each other. And this peace we have today even as we wait for the fullness of it to come.

The conflict we see on the screen and experience ourselves will come to an end because The Christ has come. The baby wrapped in clothes lying in a manger died and rose that we might have peace in his new created order. So, as we look at events abroad or circumstances we are stuck in the middle of, we remember that by grace, by undeserved favour, we are a part of something new because Jesus has come.

Alex

The first Sunday back after the school holidays we are having what we call, ‘Mental Health Sunday’.   There are lots of reasons we do this every year, but here are 3 that are significant.

1. Mental ‘ill health’ is common.  

The statistics: at any one time, 1 in 5 people in Australia experience a diagnosable mental health condition; during our lifetime, nearly 1 in 2 of us will experience a diagnosable mental health condition.

2. The Gospel of Jesus speaks into all areas of life with grace, love and hope.

3. As a church we want to be a Community that care for those battling with mental health, and support those who care for them.

Understanding mental health and ill health, helps us love better.

This year we are looking at how our trust in Jesus helps us with our anxious thoughts.

We will be hearing stories, praying, uncovering good resources, and hearing how faith in Jesus, gives us a new perspective on our battles.

Mental Health Sunday will be a helpful time for our church, but it will also be a great Sunday to invite friends and family who may be interested in hearing a faith perspective on Anxiety.

We minister together knowing St Johns is God’s church. It is complete in Christ. God grows his church in Christ as we wait for his return.  

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

We are simply called to prayerfully preach Christ to each other and the world, but it is God who grows his church.  And so word and prayer is the simple work of the church.  The church is like a field where we do the work of scattering seed and God grows.

However, Paul then changes the metaphor of the church from ‘seed’ to ‘building’.  In describing the work of building, he now puts a new emphasis how we minister in God’s church.  It seems we can build the church, even on the foundations of Christ, is such way that will have little impact for the glory of God, in fact our works will be judged.  This is not a salvation issue, it is by Christ we are saved, as Paul makes clear.  However we will be saved as one escaping through the flames.

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

As we seek to serve our God at church, we need to be wise builders, building on the foundations of Christ.  We need to consider our mission field here in the Hawkesbury and how we might be ‘salt and light’ to our area.  We need to make sure that we are a church that is continually growing deep disciples in ever-increasing numbers.

And as we do, knowing God brings the growth, we need to be prayerfully dependant on God as we proclaim the name of Jesus.

Please pray as we consider how we might build God’s church in 2025 and beyond.

Things have been changing over the last little while with communication in church with both our members and the wider community. You may have seen our posts on Facebook and Instagram. You may have noticed the changes to the newsletter. You may be wondering why.

We want our communication to be intentional and with purpose. We want it to reach the people it needs to and we want to engage those people. Things will continue to change as we work through this.

The purpose and intent of our weekly newsletter is to engage both those people at our church and the wider community with what is happening in our church. It often, but not always, includes a few paragraphs at the start about our purpose or vision in an area of our church. It also includes notices, they are usually events, but also includes relevant information, such as the recent survey about funding for palliative care. Lastly, there are resources listed at the end, either for our church or those that we partner with.

We have also included prayer points, but this is now changing. As we seek for our church newsletter to be something to share with our wider community, we want to keep our prayer points for our church family.

Moving forward, as a community member, you can receive the church newsletter. If you are a regular member of our church at Wilberforce, you will receive prayer points as a separate email.

As we seek to be a growing church for the Hawkesbury, I encourage you to follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram. You will see things that are happening in our church that you can like and share with others on social media. This engagement helps others to see what is happening at St John’s Wilberforce.

Yours in Christ, Alicia

Worth 6 months of Church in 1 Weekend

I heard someone state as fact, a weekend away on a church camp is worth 6 months of Sundays.  There is more opportunity to meet other people, focus in on the bible, talk at a deeper level, just have fun together.  While we are not going away, surely it is worth 4 months of church to set aside the weekend together at home.  I hope you can set aside the weekend so we can use this time to encourage each other as we look forward to the year together.

Sign up this weekend, either through Elvanto or the sign up sheet at the back of the Church Hall.