I found this insightful and challenging. I hope you do too:

God’s eternal purpose “concerns the church, the creating of a new and reconciled humanity in union with Jesus Christ”. p127

“The good news of the unsearchable riches of Christ which Paul preached is that he died and rose again not only to save sinners like me (though he did), but also to create a single new humanity; not only to redeem us from sin but also to adopt us into God’s family; not only to reconcile us to God but also to reconcile us to one another”. p129

“If the church is central to God’s purpose, it must also be central to our lives. How can we take lightly what God takes so seriously? How dare we push to the circumference what God has placed at the centre? No, we shall seek to become responsible church members, active in some local manifestation of the universal church…. we must keep before us the vision of God’s new society as his family, his dwelling place and his instrument in the world… – be ready to pray, to work and if necessary to suffer in order to turn the vision into a reality”. p129,130

Quotes by John R.W.Stott, “The Message of Ephesians: The Bible Speaks Today” 1989.

My hope is that we, as God’s gathered people, grow in a rich love and dependence upon the word of God – because through his word, empowered by his Spirit, God does his work even now.

So I hope grow to encourage each other constantly in reading and hearing God’s word together. That we become a community where reading the bible together when we meet, is just a natural thing we do. The bible is always open, not just for the down hearted, or the new Christian, but in our everyday dealings with each other. Husband and wives; parents and children; friends; the old and the young, are all reading the word of God and growing in their relationship with God together. I picture, within our church, a growing chaotic web of personal relationships of prayer and Bible reading – more of a movement than a program.

It’s an exciting thought!

But like forming many good habits, at first we need to decide and be deliberate.

That is why we are doing the Spring Challenge. Our hope is that we can make reading the bible with each other as easy and accessible as possible.

Last year there were many stories of people taking the opportunity to read the bible together. Why don’t you take it up this year, or find someone you haven’t read the bible with yet.

The Challenge is simple.

Find someone you haven’t yet read the bible with.

Choose to meet together 6 times for ½ hr through Spring.

If you are unsure what you would read or how you would read the bible with someone for ½ hr., we are going to go through it on Sunday 17th August at 3pm.

We all know there are great things God is doing in our church family: People are coming to Jesus, and faith is growing in in so many lives. Confirmation is one expression of these good things. In November our Bishop, Gary Koo will be coming to our church to confirm those who are ready that declare their faith.

Confirmation is an opportunity for those who were baptised as children to publicly confirm the commitment to the Christian faith that was made on their behalf by their parents and godparents. This is a special opportunity for some to publicity show that they themselves stand with the risen Christ.

I think even more profoundly, it is a time of celebration. We come together as God’s people to recognise God’s work in lives of those around us! Our Father is preparing many for full life through Jesus, and as we see the faith of some we marvel at God’s goodness and kindness. No one is a Christian through there own effort or even their ability to make a better choice. We are so thankful for God’s grace in many lives!

Confirmation is something we rejoice in and take seriously. Those that seek confirmation will receive some training, think through what the Christian faith is and reflect on what it is to declare publicly that Jesus is the risen king.

Come and chat to me if you think you want to be confirmed and even if you just want to know more. If you’re not sure if this is for you come and chat to me anyway, I’d love to hear your story. You might be a teenager, a young adult or someone that was baptized long ago as a child and this is a helpful next step.

Amongst all the things happening at the end of the year, confirmation will be one of the best.

There are so many things to be thankful to God for; Day Camp was greatly encouraging! Over 50 kids and 25 leaders came together to look at who Jesus is, and to enjoy time in the bush together. Here are 3 things that stood out to me.

Firstly, our team’s unity and shared purpose. Day camp for many is a time when our church family comes together in particular partnership for this special week. It was a joy for me to see leaders united in this week of mission. Love and care for others was on show during the week.

It was important to us as a team that we articulated our purpose clearly: to present children with the gospel clearly, to connect kids into other St John’s ministries and to train young leaders. I think these goals drove our mission and bonded us as a team. It was a delight of mine to chat to leaders as they were thinking through how to connect with kids and how to help connect them with the gospel of our Lord.

Another thing that stood out was the desire of kids to engage with our camp. Besides all the exciting things of fires, marshmallows, and hot chocolate, by the third day just about every kid could tell you Mark 1:15 verbatim. The vibe of the camp was warm, engagement with our teaching was high, and parents were excited about what was happening.

Finally, in this limited space I can’t express with much depth how kind God was to us. The weather was excellent, injuries and sickness were not big features, and no major problems arose. But God’s kindness was seen in all the wonderful ways I outlined above. We saw kids challenged with the gospel and we saw many expressions of faith. I spoke on Sunday before Day Camp that God is building his kingdom. I think we served in confidence of God building his kingdom as we sowed his word. I’m excited for what is next.

I’m excited about Friday nights; I’m excited about Youth Church! I am confident that as we teach God’s word and seek to live out the life we are called to in Christ, our youth will flourish. I am confident that as we bring greater shape to what we are building in partnership with our youth there will be even more stories to tell of God’s great work amongst us.

As we have moved toward a community on Friday nights that gathers for the purpose of hearing God’s word and living out the Christian faith as servants of Jesus, I have been encouraged by the fruit of our youth. I think of one person who is super keen for their atheist friend to come to Fridays. She wants her friend to know Jesus, and she knows we are called to partner together to see God bring transformation. I think of a youth who is regularly talking to leaders and other youth about the issues he discusses with his friends. He wants to be better equipped to answer his friend’s questions. I think of stories I hear of youth taking a stand for Jesus even when it’s awkward around friends.

Our parish has a rich history of ministry and mission to youth, and I am keen for what is next. We want to call our teens to know Christ deeply, serve others and be driven by the mission of Jesus. And we are doing this. I am looking forward to seeing our youth thrive in Youth Church and hearing their many stories of living for Jesus because they know “now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation.”