Category: From Nigel Fortescue

Dear friends,

This is the third piece in a series in which I want to explain why some Christian people are abandoning the authority of the Bible and why you shouldn’t.

How do you make decisions? Last week we looked at the way tradition, reason, experience and feelings impact the way the think and behave. We all make decisions based on a combination of those things with one of them usually dominating. But is that the best way? How should Christians make decisions? What authority should we lean on and submit to?

Were we to rely on tradition, reason, experience and feelings even in combination to make all the decisions we need to make, the chance we would get it right more often than not is pretty slim.

But with the Word of God, with the Bible, we have something better than all four when it comes down to deciding what to do and how to think. We have a revelation from God, who made the world and knows how it works at its best. We have a Word from God about how he has designed us and how we should respond to him and each other. So, for everyone, the Bible ought to be the first place we should go when it comes to working out stuff about God and life. In there God speaks!!

We should let the Bible have the final say on what we do and what we think even if that is different from what we’ve always done (tradition), even if it is different to what seems right to us (reason and logic); even if it is different to what I have seen work (experience) or doesn’t feel right (feelings).

What you will find is that the Bible corrects traditions, informs reason, and interprets experiences and feelings.

So when you need to work something out or know something, as Christian people today, we do as Christian people have always done and we turn to the Bible first to see what is the right thing to believe and do and we allow the Bible to have the final say about what to believe and how to behave even if tradition, reason, experience and our feelings would suggest otherwise.

As you read the Bible, you may not always be comfortable with what you find. But the problem is not with the Bible. The problem is with you (&me)!

Now you will note that I have made some pretty mighty assertions in this article and we’re going to move on to evaluate them. Can we really say the Bible is the authoritative Word of God and is it really still true? More on that next week!

In Christ,
Nigel

Dear friends,

Have you been sucked into the philosophy of the day that the only real and good authority is in the individual? This is the second piece in a series in which I want to explain why some Christian people are abandoning the authority of the Bible and why you shouldn’t.

There is always the temptation to whittle the authority of the Bible down and it is not just because of the philosophy of the day of course. It could just be that our sinful hearts are not that keen on what the Bible says, or not that keen on being different to the crowd or not that keen on doing life differently to what our families have always done.

You can tell where you stand on the authority of the Bible by thinking about the way you make decisions. Analysing your decision making will tell you what is really in authority over your life. There a variety of influences on our decision making, but they can be grouped into 4:

Traditions – You decide to think or behave in a certain way because people you know and trust have always done it that way or believed that thing. (E.

g. You put the Vegemite in the fridge because your parents did!)

Logic/Reason – You decide to think or behave in a certain way because you have used the brain God gave you to work it out by gathering information making a choice. You might consult someone but in the end, you will decide using the brain and evidence you have. (E.g. you look at Vegemite and you note it is a yeast extract and because your yeast is kept in the fridge Vegemite goes in the fridge!)

Experience – You decide to think or behave in a certain way because of the experiences you have had in life. The pathway to truth is through lived experiences and you do what works. (E.g. you went to a friends house and they pulled the Vegemite out of the fridge and you thought it tasted awesome and therefore it goes in the fridge!)

Feelings – You decide to think or behave in a certain way because it feels right and thinking or doing things in that way made you feel happy or at peace. (E.g. the cylindrical shape of Vegemite just felt right in the cupboard so it goes in the cupboard!)

Now I hope you can see that no one really operates in one way to the exclusion of all others – but for most people, one pathway tends to dominate all the others. Which is it for you?

I hope you can see that there are problems with relying on any one of those as ultimate authority.
Tradition tends to pass down mistakes of the past.
Reason relies on our finite and damaged minds.
Experiences are open to interpretation and changeable from person to person.
Feelings change all the time based on health, weather, sleep, relationships and even the consumption of cheese on pizza!

Is there a better way? Let’s see next week!

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends,

Theologians and philosophers alike have noted that our liberal western education system (that has dominated educational thinking since WW2) aims to produce independence in young people so they will define themselves independently of others, autonomously deal with themselves and assume authority over themselves. In short, the education we have built, supported and put our children into is intrinsically encouraging them not to sit under authority, but to assume authority.

The 19th Century philosopher John Stuart Mill is often labelled as the father of this thinking. He believed that power is only rightly exercised over someone to prevent harm to others and the individual is sovereign over their own body and mind.

The fruit of all this is two things:
1.  the moral progressive chant that “if it’s not hurting anyone it’s OK”; and
2.  the death of God.

It ought not be surprising to us that the authority of the Bible is so severely challenged and even dismissed out of hand in this age. We have taught our world that the individual is authority and no other authority is necessary or warranted. In the world, God is dead.

So, when the Bible speaks of homosexuality as a distortion of human sexuality, people will say
“You Christians should stop messing with other people’s lives. Their behaviour is not hurting you so don’t make a fuss!

And, when the Bible speaks of life as sacred and therefore abortion as a tragic mistake, people will say and chant, “Get your rosaries off my ovaries” and “No woman can call herself free if she does not control her own body”.

Real people, with real feelings and real emotions and real problems and real families make these statements so we ought not demonise or dismiss them. What we ought to do is speak to them gently and kindly of the good life that flows from the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

For to me, the resurrection is the proclamation that Jesus exists and we matter. If there is a God then of course there is a higher authority and it goes without saying that we ought to conform to his mind for he has made us and our world. he is the author of life and nature and we ought to conform to his will as he knows what is best, being the source of our life, and our creator.

And this brings us to the start of this newsletter series. For centuries, Christians have believed there is an authority over us and that this authority reveals himself and his love for us in the Bible – the inerrant, inspired Word of God. Christians have believed that what the Bible teaches, God teaches and that naturally this ought to have absolute authority over all of God’s creation…. including…. us.

But these beliefs are being challenged. The authority of the Bible is at the heart of fractures in the Anglican Church and at the heart of your eternal destiny. If we don’t get this right, we lose everything.

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends, 

One of the great joys in my week is meeting with some of our church members who are studying at Bible College. Some are getting further equipped for work and others are training in preparation for a lifetime of ministry. Spending time studying the Bible is a great joy and highly recommended – watch out for our next God’s Big Picture Course so you can get a taste. 

I met with one of our young guys this week who is studying OT1 at Youthworks College and we came to one of my favourite parts of the whole Bible. Genesis 11:4-5: 

“Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’ But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.” 

Don’t you love the picture being painted here? Human people, desperate to make a name for themselves, urgently build a tall tower that will wend its way to heaven. It’s hard to imagine what they thought might happen when they got there; moreover, it appears from the text that they were going to somehow overthrow God and stop his judgement of them. 

So what did God do. Well, their tower was so small, their efforts at reaching him so mediocre, their efforts at exalting themselves over God so pathetic that God has to come down to see their tower. They are trying to reach God, defeat God, compete with God but their efforts at replacing God and his authority over them are absolutely useless. They prove to be ridiculous in the extreme. 

There is something in this for us. We can think that we know better than God, or think we can arrange our lives better than God can or even exert power over our lives in a way that beats God’s power. But all our efforts are pathetic and useless. It is ridiculous to think that you can compete with God for power or authority or love or kindness in this world. You think you can replace God and his authority over you with yourself and run your own life? Think again. You’ll mess it up and make things worse. 

Thankfully, this descent from heaven prefigures another great descent. The moment when the Lord Jesus Christ humbles himself to become man. Paul speaks of it in this way in Philippians 2:6-7: 

“Jesus Christ, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” 

That amazes me every time. God came down to serve us. He came in Genesis to judge. He came in Jesus to serve and bring life eternal. He will come down again to do both. 

Are you ready for that moment? Or are you too busy building your own tower to realise that God is in charge around here? Don’t miss God’s gracious descent to earth. He’s called out to you to come and follow him. Are you? 

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends, 

What does it look like to triumph at life?

I walked past a three storey house on Sydney Harbour last Friday with a view to the harbour bridge and a Lamborghini in the garage. Are they triumphing at life?
I walked past a family a four swimming at the beach, enjoying the sun, laughing together and munching on some healthy sandwiches. Are they triumphing at life?
I walked past an old man, smiling as the sun rose over Bondi, enjoying his coffee, sitting alone. Is he triumphing at life?

What would triumphing in life look like for you?

Paul explains in Colossians 2 that Jesus triumphed at the cross!

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

For Jesus, triumph in life came through his submission to the will of God, his subsequent suffering on the cross for us and work of defeating the enemy of his friends through that same death.

Triumph came not through gaining what life has to offer but by providing life to the full to those who would trust in him. True triumph comes by knowing Jesus in this life and receiving from him life to the full.

Easter is a celebration of this triumph. That at the cross, Jesus bore our sins in his body that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; that we might give away the pursuit of earthly things in this life and look ahead to the things of the next life.

There is so much that can disappoint in this life. There is nothing that will disappoint about the next if you trust in Jesus. Moreover, triumphing without Jesus in this life excludes you from triumphing with Jesus in the next.

Easter is the best time of the year to invite friends to hear this message. Who are you praying might come to know Jesus and join our church? Would that person be ready for an invite?

There are three opportunities for you over the next two weeks.

1. “Jesus is not who you think he is…” – Tuesday 9th, 7.30pm at St Peter’s Church Hall
2. Mark Drama – Saturday 13th (7.30pm) and Sunday 14th (6.30pm) at St Peter’s Anglican Primary School
3. Easter Church Services – See Flyer on the back!

I will be praying for you to have courage to invite. Please pray for me.

Prayerfully,
Nigel

Dear Friends,

We have a new/old government in NSW! Hip, hip….!?

It has been fascinating to watch the wash up of the NSW State election. Many people are breathing a sign of relief and others, like my friend over lunch today, were shaking their head in disbelief; “how did Gladys do that?” Either way, it appeared to me throughout the week that although we carry a very healthy level of cynicism about government in this country, we also expect much of them. We place a lot of Hope in government. I want to declare that this hope is misplaced. If you think government is going to solve all the world’s issues you either misunderstand the world’s issues or are slightly crazy.

I read in Proverbs 11:7 this week:

Hopes placed in mortals die with them;
    all the promise of their power comes to nothing.

Daniel Migliore in his book “Faith Seeking Understanding”, writes that the Christian faith is an expectant or hope-filled faith. It eagerly awaits the completion of the creative and redemptive activity of God. In the language of Scripture and Apostles’ Creed, Christians hope and pray for the coming of God’s Kingdom (Matt 6:10), for the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, for a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1) and for the final triumph of God over death and mourning, crying and pain and all the forces of evil (Rev 21:1-4).

Can you see the difference between earthly hopes and heavenly ones? Christian hope is not limited to the fulfillment of the individual life. Christian hope is not limited to fulfillment in this life. Christian hope is not limited by suffering.

Christian hope insists that personal and communal fulfillment are inseparable and that life now prepares us for life eternal. Christians thus work and hope for the transformation of life in community. When by grace we rise above our own egocentricity, we realise that there can be no real life outside of relationships with others and that following Jesus must transform those relationships as much as it transforms ourselves.

From the cross flows love, forgiveness, reconciliation and partnership. These things do not terminate in the Christian person’s mind or heart. They must flow forth like a transforming stream that will impact everyone and everything around us. They must flow in such a way as to create an eternal impact as Jesus is shared with all those around us.

Additionally, as we live in this hope, there is no guarantee of quick or easy success. Christian hope remembers that Christ was crucified, that he suffered and that he did so willingly. It is in this sense that Christian hope takes a truly cruciform shape.

So who or what do you hope in? Are your hopes small, temporal and individual? Are they big, eternal and communal? Are they earthly or are they enduring forever?

In Partnership for God’s Glory

Nigel

Dear Friends,

We want to be a Growing Christian Community Devoted to Maturing in Jesus for the Glory of God. This vision guides our decision making as we continually shape our ministry. We have expanded our Growth Group program to provide more opportunities for spiritual growth and more effective pastoral care. We have started new ministries to reach parts of our community we have neglected. We are being creative in the area of mission with the Mark Drama coming up. But as I said on Vision Sunday, we need to provide some fresh focus in the area of children. Or should it be youth? Or should it be children and youth?

Mark Schroder became the Broughton Anglican College Chaplain at the end of 2015 and we have an exceptional team of people who lead our Youth and Children’s ministries – many of whom are home grown and have done or are doing some theological study! It is great to see. But even the best of volunteers need oversight and support to ensure that the ministry they are involved in continues to be effective and grow.

Over the last ten years there has been a lot of research around how churches keep growing. The four key strategy areas identified have been:

1. Recapture focus on growing transformed disciple making disciples
2. Strategic integration of newcomers into the church community
3. Addressing the transition, retention and relocation of Christians
4. Building effective children and youth ministries

As we analyse our church, we see that we have an effective integrated ministry for children and youth focussed on reaching and growing them in their faith and transitioning them to adult life. But we could be doing more to grow disciples.

For further insight into the way we think about Children’s and Youth Ministry you may wish to have a read of this paper that captures much of my thinking helpfully.

The youth minister who had the greatest influence on my ministry thinking often said, if you get your Creche and Kids Ministry right, you will have an awesome youth group and if you get youth group right you will have a growing church. The research and evidence indicate that he was right.

But what do you think?

We would love to hear feedback from church members about where you perceive our focus should be for our next staff member. Children? Youth? Children and youth? Something else. I’d love to hear your thoughts; please pass them on by clicking here.

Thanks for your partnership in Christ

Nigel

Dear friends,

The first election I ever voted in was for a Parish Council in an Anglican Church about a month after I turned 18 and it was super exciting. A friend who had just turned 22 was elected. Since then I have voted in all sorts of elections and I believe it is an important part of having my say on the use of our common resources and the direction of our organisations and country. I know some people take a contrary view and yet the beauty of Christian fellowship is that we can hold and discuss opposing views without assuming we hate each other. This is not often the case in the world! We need to model something different and knowing when to open your mouth and when to keep it closed is often the biggest challenge.

More than anything, the Scriptures urge us to pray regularly for those in power over us (1 Timothy 2:1-4). They need our prayers but we should also pray for ourselves and our responsibility for electing them. No one should ever tell you how you must vote, but I want to urge you to think carefully about how to vote.

We must recognise that each party has various standpoints on different issues and some proposed policies may make it more difficult to be Christian in the future or to hold to and teach a Christian worldview. Some policies may also adversely affect the vulnerable among us. So think carefully. Don’t assume that voting for a Christian party is best and don’t assume that voting for the party or person who will most advantage you is best. Don’t assume that voting for the party you voted for last time is best!

With this in mind, here are some issues to consider from a Christian perspective as you go to vote.

1. Freedom of Religion – what are the party’s policies on what we can say, do, teach and uphold as Christians? This is particularly important when it comes to SRE in schools and choosing teachers in Christian schools. It’s worth asking your local members what they think.
2. Life, Death and Medicine – what are the party’s policies on euthanasia and abortion? Will medical professionals be able to conscientiously object to the state policy or will they be compelled to toe the line? What philosophy does each party uphold when thinking about freedom and life? It’s worth asking your local members what they think.
3. Environmental Theology – what are the party’s policies on the environment and what impact will their decisions have on us? It’s worth asking your local members what they think.
4. Vulnerable People – what are the party’s policies on caring for the weak and vulnerable in our community? Are they concerned about indigenous welfare and people with disabilities? It’s worth asking your local members what they think.

These are just four of the issues worth considering both in March and May this year. No doubt there will be others close to your heart. I encourage you to think, ask, pray and decide – not voting the way you feel you should or the way you’ve been told to, but in order to pursue what is good for our society.

In Christ
Nigel

Dear Friends,

The Annual General Meetings for our Church will be held this month.

St Andrew’s AGM – at 11.15am on Sunday 17th March at St Andrew’s.
St Peter’s AGM – at 12.30pm on Sunday 31st March at St Peter’s.
Combined AGM – no earlier than 1.30pm on Sunday 31st March at St Peter’s.

At the AGM we will elect people for the office of Parish Council (St Peter’s AGM), Warden (St Andrew’s & St Peter’s) and Nominators (Combined AGM).

Wardens are actively involved in ensuring the proper management of property and finances on at least a weekly basis. They also assist in managing ministry and staff. We will elect two wardens for St Peter’s and two for St Andrew’s. Nominations are open now and should be in writing via letter or email to me.

Parish Council make decisions on how money and property should be spent and used in light of the church strategic plan. They also assist the minister and staff in directing the ministry.  We will elect a Parish Council of 3, 6 or 9 people. Nominations are open now and should be in writing via letter or email to me.

Parish Nominators are the people who select a new Senior Minister for the Parish if the current one leaves. We will elect 5 Parish Nominators. Nominations are open now and should be in writing via letter or email to me.

I ask you to pray that God will continue to raise up Gospel hearted people to serve us.
But the most important thing we will do at this year’s AGM’s will be to continue our significant conversations about vision, finances and strategy.

This is more than a meeting; it is a shared opportunity to think, talk and pray. It is an opportunity for you to ask questions and become more involved in the decision making at church. Often, younger people skip these meetings thinking they are not relevant or not for them. I urge all of us to see that this is a meeting for us all.

I’m excited about all God is doing among us and hope you are too.

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends,

Last Friday night Nicky and I saw the Sydney Theatre Company production of Mary Stuart. Set in the English Reformation during the reign of Elizabeth, it is a story of family rivalry, power and sectarianism. Mary, a staunch Catholic and once queen of Scotland and France, seeks to return to Protestant England to reclaim the Scottish throne. She is arrested upon entry and jailed for 19 years without trial on accusations of treason. When finally, she is proclaimed guilty Elizabeth must decide whether she will chop off her head, or not.

The play is an adaptation so history buffs will no doubt be driven mad by it, but Elizabeth was labelled as the “Virgin Equivocator” – a woman who remained unmarried because she was unable to choose a husband and whose lack of decision making in matters of the throne led her into turmoil and strife. The play leaves you wondering, did she want to chop off Mary’s head or not (oops, spoilers!).

The ability to make decisions and stick with them is a critical life lesson we all must learn. Stopping to think through consequences, analyse situations and then stand by the determinations we make is a skill but enacting it speaks loud words about the character of a person. No one likes an equivocator and even less, one who changes their mind regularly to suit their mood or circumstances.

Much is said about the “youth of today” and their FOMO approach to decisions but I think they have learnt these equivocating skills from the rest of us. Too often we all sway like a tree in the wind, tossed back and forward by every thought of man.

Jesus speaks into this space particularly about the issue of becoming one of his disciples. He says, “‘And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ‘Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, “This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.” In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:27-30, 33)

Jesus calls his disciples to be fully in – people who make the decision to follow him and stick with him. John Chapman recalls being full of doubt at one point in his Christian life and he would wake up and say to himself, “What changed overnight John? Did Jesus now not rise from the dead? No! So get up and get on trusting Jesus!” He had made the decision based on evidence and stuck to it.

I have often found that those on the edge of discipleship end up in the sort of Elizabethan turmoil I saw in the play but those who are all in find joy, hope and peace in believing. Living life in two camps will destroy you in the end. Don’t be like the Virgin Equivocator. Choose Jesus and choose life to the full.

In Christ
Nigel

In his book What Makes the Church Grow? Missiologist Bob Jackson addresses the future of the Anglican Church:

“The absolute core Church activity is to worship God. But mission or evangelism leading to the growth of the Church is not a second order optional extra for enthusiasts. If we are overwhelmed by the love of God for the world then we overflow with the love of God to the world. That is why David Bosch said that “it is not the Church of God that has a mission to the world but the God of mission who has a Church in the world”. God’s mission of saving love to the whole of creation is at the heart of his being and agenda. It flows out of him both to and through the Church. The Church is not the only route by which God’s missional grace flows into the world, but he has chosen and appointed the Church for this purpose.” 

The biblical reality is this: the work of evangelising large numbers of people is not the plan of the church, it’s the plan of God who is on mission in the world through his church. 

With these things in mind, we are seeking to be a Growing Christian Community, devoted to maturing in Jesus for the Glory of God. This is not something the staff are doing, this is something we are and doing this is just getting on with WHO we are. 

There are five things we are committed to prayerfully, to help us achieve God’s vision for his glory:

Magnification – we are made to glorify God in our lives and when we gather together as a church. We seek therefore to have church services that inspire us to live for Jesus through great preaching and music.

Membership – we are designed to love each other and care for each other. We seek therefore to foster a strong sense of community and belonging for all our members where you get to know others and are known by others.

Maturity – Our goal is to grow in Christ-likeness and in the knowledge of God. We seek therefore to encourage people to grow in their relationship with God by engaging with his Word as individuals and in groups throughout the week.

Ministry – God has saved us to serve and use the gifts he has given us for the mutual benefit of the church. We seek therefore to find ministry opportunities for people where they can serve joyfully and inspire others to action.

Mission – God’s Mission is our Mission and we want to see many people in Campbelltown come to know Jesus and our church filled to 1000 people. We seek therefore to have an outward focus, equipping and training members to share the Gospel and invite others to church.

We love hearing stories of how you see the vision being achieved. Send them through by replying to this email and we will publish some each week.  

In Christ,
Nigel

    

Dear friends,

One of the responsibilities that our Parish Council has had for more than 30 years is electing persons to serve on the Campbelltown Anglican School Council. The Council has responsibility for running two schools – Broughton Anglican College and St Peter’s Anglican Primary School. The primary objects of the Council are to educate young people in ways consistent with the teaching of the Bible, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the doctrines of the Anglican Church in Australia, and to maintain and uphold the Christian faith in teaching and practice.

Members of Council work together to control, manage and conduct the business of the school through finances, policy and governance in accordance with various acts, regulations and rules. It is a complex but enjoyable responsibility and members work with men and women from a variety of churches both locally and around Sydney.

In December a new Campbelltown Anglican Schools Council Ordinance was created and the Parish Council now have the responsibility to elect one person each year to the School Council.

There is currently a vacancy on the Council and we are on the search for people interested in serving. Meetings are held in the evening of the 3rd Wednesday of the month and members must be Christian people who are active members of their church and who have a cleared WWCC. They need not attend our church but ought to attend a Christian church and must be able to sign the Apostles Creed as a declaration of their belief.

Currently the Council is in need to people with financial acumen. The ability to read and analyse a balance sheet and understand accounting reports is a good start but a person who has incisive knowledge of accounting would be excellent. We are also seeking female nominees as the current gender balance on Council is poor. It should also be noted that if you have relatives working for either of the Schools you cannot be elected to the Board.

If you or a person you know are interested in serving on the Council, please encourage them to have a conversation with David Busutel (Council Chair) or myself for more information. If you or a person you know are keen to be nominated and considered by Parish Council for the vacancy on Council, speak to me or a member of Parish Council and we will give you a nomination form that you can fill in so Parish Council can know the credentials and qualities you would bring to the Council. Nominations are open but must be made by the first Wednesday of March.

Please pray for the Schools and Council and Parish Council as they seek to fill this vacancy.

Thanks,
Nigel

It is just 42 sleeps until our Church Weekendaway! We are all heading together on March 22-24 to Waterslea on the beautiful Shoalhaven River just west of Nowra for a weekend of community growth! 

I could not count how many church weekends I have been on but I do remember when they were called a “Houseparty”. The first one I remember as a child was neither at someone’s house nor did it feel like a party! But it was a chance to hang out with friends, meet new friends, learn from the Bible and take time out from the busyness of life in God’s creation.

And that is just what we hope our Church Weekendaway will be for you! 

Come away together to hang out with friends. We will eat meals together, do activities together and spend a whole weekend in the presence of people you know and love! There is plenty of time for fun and games and perhaps even a bit of cycling! 

Come away together to meet new friends. In a church with many services it is impossible to know everyone and it is not uncommon for people to discover that someone they know in a different context goes to the same church! People are often lamenting not knowing others and this is the perfect opportunity to fix that. Young and old growing community together. 

Come away together to learn from the Bible. Richard Chin, National Director of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students and Director at Wollongong University, is coming to speak to us. He is a dynamic and engaging speaker who delights in God’s Word and will encourage us to be increasingly devoted to maturing in Jesus. For me, Weekendaways have been some of the real momentum boosters for my faith as I have had time to listen to God, think and pray over his Word and really let it sink deeply into my mind and heart.

Come away together to take time out from the busyness of life in God’s creation. The views across the river as the sun comes up are second to none across weekendaway sites. For the later risers, the daytime views are not too shabby either! Life can be overwhelming in its busyness and taking a weekend to put normality behind you and rest a little is often more restorative than you expect. There will be plenty of time to sit with a cuppa and breathe deeply. 

Come away together on March 22-24. 

Registrations are open but closing soon.

www.campbelltownanglican.org/wea19 

Don’t miss this.

 

In Christ,
Nigel

 PS. On Sunday March 24 only 8am at St Peter’s, 9.30am at St Andrew’s and 10am Macarthur Indigenous Church will be on.

It’s Thursday morning and I am still buzzing from the Growth Group launch night last night. Masses of people from all our congregations gathered together to celebrate a new year, give thanks for the opportunity to be devoted to maturing in Jesus and to launch another year of Growth Groups. The message of the night was – get in a group and be part of the growth.

Growth Groups are in many ways the powerhouse of our church. They are small communities of people who meet together weekly to read the bible and grow in Christian maturity together. They usually meet in people’s homes in our local area and have between 8-14 people – some are bigger, some smaller.  I have been in a Growth Group since 1985 and I think there are few things better for regular and steady personal Christian growth than to meet up with other believers around God’s Word. Growth Groups complement the opportunities for growth we have on Sundays.

Simon Twist, our Maturity Pastor, has articulated four purposes for our Growth Groups.

Growth Groups are for…

1. Learning how to read the bible correctly
2. Discovering how to pray and develop an active dependence on God
3. Community, care and encouragement
4. Serving and Mission

Each group spends some time together reading through the bible passage that will be preached on in the following Sunday services. This helps to have a good look and think and pray about the bible passage along with good friends before arriving at church on Sunday. People tend to get more out of the Sunday message when they have already thought through the issues raised in the passage.

Throughout the group time there are a myriad of opportunities to pray – as you share together about your lives, in response to the passage you have read, and often at the end for broader concerns of the group and church. Growth Groups are able to actively model what it looks like to have an active dependence on God.

In a complicated church like ours with multiple congregations, finding a connection with people is important – we want you to feel at home and a part of what is going on. You will never know everyone in our church but being in a Growth Group gets you connected and gives you the opportunity to know people and to be known. It is great to walk into a big crowd at church and know there are a dozen or so people who are looking out for you each week.

Our Growth Groups are also our primary avenue for care and love throughout our church. We pray that relationships will be fostered in every group that will lead to people genuinely caring for one another, noticing when someone is missing, providing practical support for those in need and upholding one another in prayer. They are also great hubs into which you can invite unbelievers and from which you can launch each other into ministry.

It’s not too late to join a group for 2019 – in fact our groups are always open. Grab a flyer from the membership table, email the church office or ask the person sitting next to you in church. Chances are, they will be in a group already!

In Christ
Nigel

Dear Friends,

As we finish our series, considering life in a world filled with outrage, let us give the last word to Ed Stetzer:

We are living in an age of outrage. The world is not as it should be, and it is clear that we are in a unique season of antagonism toward the principles that make the gospel the “Good News”. Worse yet, we contribute to this outrage by sometimes responding poorly to the world around us. But all is not lost. In fact, there is incredible hope for the Christian. Jesus calls us to join our lives with him, follow his lead, repent of our failures, and respond to outrage with radical grace,winsome love, generous compassion, and prayerful hearts that break with the brokenness of the world.

And here is the gospel truth: We were once under God’s wrath. In fact, the only response from a perfect and holy God was outrage to our sin and sinfulness. But God did not leave us. He drew near to us. He engaged us and saved us by sending Jesus to become the very outrage we could not overcome. Jesus took the full and unmeasured wrath of God so that, through faith, we can now have the peace that passes all understanding. While we were still enemies of God, Jesus reconciled us to himself, offering peace and forgiveness. We are now not simply forgiven but welcomed back into God’s family. He adopts us as his children and gives us an inheritance with his obedient Son. As if that were not enough, we are now invited to join Jesus in his mission to bring others back to himself and to set everything right again. He gives us divine jobs as ambassadors of his reconciliation, and he sends his Spirit to empower us to live as missionaries of grace and neighbours who neighbour. And this is just the beginning!

This is the Good News that changes us from outraged spectators to grace-filled participants in God’s redemptive plan for the world. If we honestly and truthfully believe this, it changes everything.

In Christ,
Nigel

Dear friends,

We’re thinking about responding to outrage online and the need to find a way to graciously and humbly defend and proclaim the Gospel while loving those in outrage against our Lord and his people. Last week we finished with a few observations about the internet itself. Let us turn now more pointedly to the choices we can make as we start striking the keyboard.

Given that Jesus wants us to humbly and lovingly serve others in every human interaction, let us consider:

• whether we might be investors more than consumers. Is most of your time online spent craving mindless entertainment and soothing your FOMO or connecting in meaningful ways with people and investing in your walk and other’s potential walks with Christ?
• whether we remember that the person on the other side of the conversation is a person! When we scream correct doctrine at others across the internet are we really being loving? Have we just fallen foul to outrage and reduced the goal of all disagreement to winning, thereby preventing listening and understanding and thinking?
• whether we might have grace as our default mode of operation on the internet. Grace has a countercultural power to break through fury.
• whether we can resist the urge to fight every battle. Proverbs 26:4-5 teaches us that sometimes we speak and at other times we don’t. We need to ask if our interaction will be for the good for Christ and those watching on – really…!
• whether we can resist the urge to comment on everything that happens. Not everyone needs to be a thought leader but we all need to recognise that anyone who speaks can end up being a thought leader. Moreover, recognise that difficult conversations are best held in person and rarely bear fruit online.

These are probing questions that warrant careful personal deliberation. You may just find that you can be someone who can soothe outrage and bring glory to Jesus on the internet. Why not try to cultivate a presence that is:

1. Encouraging and edifying – 1 Thessalonians 5:11
2. Loving and kind – John 13:34-35
3. Missional and engaging – John 20:21
4. Charitable and forbearing – Colossians 3:12-13
5. Challenging and humble – James 4:10

In the end, when we logon, we need to ask ourselves, who am I being discipled by and in what direction am I discipling others? Are you on the world’s bandwagon or on Christ’s? So few Christians have stopped to determinedly think about the influence the online world is having upon them. The answer is not to stop going online, but to craft and participate in community and reveal opinions in such a way as to exalt Jesus.

Is that your online goal?

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends,

Prior to Christmas I was in the midst of a series of articles about living in an age of outrage. I’d recommend you go back and start from Part 1 before reading on.

We had acknowledged that the art of dialogue and disagreement has been lost in our society and now we behave in a polarised fashion, taking sides and yelling abuse. In the face of this, even when we are the abused, Christians are neither commissioned to become abusers or to retreat into our buildings to form holy huddles and talk about the good old days. We live in a broken and fragmented world in need of the Gospel; and the God who did not spare his own Son for us has given us a mission focused on the outraged.

Outraging against outrage and retreating from outrage are not Gospel options. Proclaiming the Gospel is what is needed – and we have been thinking about how to do this.

In these last few articles I want us to think about bringing the Gospel to the various spheres in which we live and relate – firstly, our online communities.

It has been said that we are a society in which everything is permitted and nothing is forgiven. Our world constantly preaches that you can do or be anything you want until it is offended at what you are doing or what you are. At that very moment, a switch flips, a mob forms and pitchforks are unleashed. Autonomy and rage spill forth and it is at that very moment that Christians must be “people of the towel rather than people of the pitchfork (John 13:1-17)”. Ed Stetzer continues “People of the towel grasp that Jesus wants us to humbly and lovingly serve others in every human interaction.”

There are several ways I have seen Christians NOT do that:

• classic hashtag activism (which is really slacktivism) that confuses joining a cause with doing something about a problem;
• anonymous trolling rather than open, humble, gracious, direct speech; and
• refusing to say anything critical despite the defaming of the Gospel through false teaching.

We need to find a way to graciously and humbly defend and proclaim the Gospel while loving those in outrage against our Lord and his people. Let us therefore consider the following:

• the internet is just neither good nor bad, it is a tool that God has given that can be used for good or evil. Let us continually ask ourselves if we are using it for the good God desires!
• our presence on the internet is public. People watch the way we interact online and hold our efforts up against our claims to follow Jesus. Ed Stetzer writes that this also explains “why our never ending rants might be the reason our neighbours are reticent to grab a coffee; why complaining about someone’s theology might be the reason our friends won’t come to church with us; why our passive-aggressive comments about others might be the reason people don’t open up to us.” 

There is more to say here but I will leave that for next week!

In Christ,
Nigel

When we put our minds to the idea of Jesus being one hundred percent God and simultaneously one hundred percent man, we naturally feel overwhelmed. But the Incarnation is compelling, beautiful, biblically sensible, and necessary. Why? Well, five reasons.

1. Jesus reveals God in all his glory (John 1:14b, 14:7) – if less than God he cannot truly reveal God and we are still in a mystery as to what God is like. We become agnostic. We are left to grapple in the dark rather than magnify his glory. Without Jesus, we have no true knowledge of God.

2. Jesus shows us how to be godly – (John 15:12-14, Hebrews 12:1b-3) – he lives the truly human life honouring God with every footstep and word. Demonstrating what it is to life for God and love God despite the circumstance of life.

3. Jesus sympathises with our weakness (Hebrews 4:14-16) – strength and grace to push on when we fail. God knows we are not perfect and we do not need to fear him or his fury or his perfection for Jesus understands what our life is like and yet strengthens us to live it well. It is such a sad thing when religions breed fear of God.

4. Jesus mediates with the Father – (Hebrews 7:23-25) being less than God he cannot dwell with God and take to God the human concerns, thus we are left on our own pleadings. Pleading with a God who is absent.

5. Atones for our sin (Hebrews 2:17) – being less than God and imperfect he can no longer reconcile us to God but must atone for his own sin. If not God incarnate he is irrelevant to our relationship with God. If only God and not man, then he cannot take the sins of man in his own body and bear them away to death even death on a cross. Atonement for human sin would be meaningless. The incarnation of Jesus does not save by itself, but it is an essential link in God’s plan of redemption. The Word became flesh to save us from our sin and to free us to marvel at and enjoy the unique union of divinity and humanity in his one spectacular person.

Therefore, Do not be timid, or intimidated concerning the combination of Godness & humanness of Christ – without it there would be NO Christmas, NO real joy, NO peace with God, much less peace among men – NO Good News, NO Good Will toward Men.

The incarnation displays the greatness of God. Our God is the eternal God who was born in a stable, not a distant, withdrawn God; our God is a humble, giving God, not a selfish, grabbing God; our God is a purposeful, planning God, not a random, reactionary God; our God is a God who is far above us and whose ways are not our ways, not a God we can put in a box and control; and our God is a God who redeems us by his blood, not a God who leaves us in our sin. Our God is great indeed!

The incarnation may in the end be utterly impossible to understand fully. But that’s okay. In the end, the incarnation is not for analysis but it allows worship.

In Christ,
Nigel

Dear Friends,

For about a month now, my inbox has been filled with emails offering me the opportunity to buy gifts online. Of particular interest to me are the offers of discount Gift vouchers at Christmas – perhaps even my computer knows I can be a lazy last minute present buyer! But the concept is brilliant for two reasons – the gift receiver gets to choose their gift, and gift cards point us to what God has done for us in Jesus!

Redeeming is gaining or regaining possession of something via an exchange or payment.
And that is just God’s intention in the Birth of Jesus.
Jesus was born to be payment for you – that God may regain relationship with his treasured possession, his treasured creation – his image bearers – with you.

Too often we treat God like we treat Santa and expect of God what we expect of Santa. When it is absolutely necessary we pay him some attention but apart from that we don’t give him a thought and live life doing our own thing in our own way in our own time. We hope he won’t see how naughty we are and he’ll turn around at just the right time to give us every good thing we could possibly imagine. It doesn’t really matter if you’re naughty or nice, Santa will still deliver. Same with God right? Wrong.

You see, the Bible teaches us that nothing so small, so flimsy, so ordinary and so faulty as us, could possibly stand in the presence of God’s immensity, potency, extra ordinariness and holiness. God can’t ignore the way we have treated him.

And yet, here is the Christmas miracle…
You can’t win God’s favour back, but in Jesus, he is willing to give it to you. Read that again – he is willing to GIVE it to you.

There is a pretty popular belief out there that we actually need to earn God’s favour.
So, if we do enough good things to counter the bad things we’ve done, we will earn God’s favour and be able to enter heaven.
Maybe even if we are a bit religious from time to time we will earn God’s favour.

But the Bible, that God has written and given to us, appears to tell us a completely different story.
God’s plan is to redeem us. To take us back.

In the birth of Jesus God comes and offers… and offers… and offers… and offers us redemption, reconciliation and peace. Forgiveness and hope. God does this tenderly, gently, kindly. This is God’s graciousness. This is Christmas hope. May you know it or find it afresh this Christmas.

In Christ,
Nigel

Dear friends,

Last week I noted that Christianity in a broken and rebellious world is going to be offensive – however, we are not supposed to be. The Gospel and the love of God is the salve for this world’s pain, brokenness and anger. Ed Stetzer writes:

Christians are called to demonstrate this profoundly attractive love in a way that testifies to the Gospel and counters the lies, brokenness and violence of sin. The way we interact with others will dramatically affect whether the world is drawn to Christ’s love. 

I have been pondering this over the last week and particularly trying to analyse my interactions with unbelievers. Am I through my demeanour, attitude or words actually driving people away from Gospel salve? I hope not; but I am convinced of this – I need to cultivate curiosity, empathy and humility in equal part and insert them into my interactions in this age of outrage.

Curiosity because the age of outrage encourages a lack of listening and understanding but true communication of the Gospel happens when we actually understand how other people think. At dad’s funeral last Monday one of the wise sages I have often drawn on said to me, the problem with Christians today is that we assume what people think and so preach the gospel irrelevantly into the lives of our friends. I take it what he means is that we don’t know what individual people’s objections to Jesus are because we have stopped being curious with our friends and just go on the attack like everyone else with wild assumptions. Do you actually know why your friends are not believers? Cultivate curiosity.

Empathy because everyone’s belief system is a product of what they have heard and experienced. Empathetic love seeks to understand and relate to the experiences of others and can be powerfully winsome as it draws people in. That is not to say that we sacrifice our revulsion of sin or philosophical clap-trap; rather we approach people knowing the corrosive power of sin and the freedom and relief that comes from know Jesus. Showing mercy and grace towards people and their views at the start will give the gospel a hearing in the end. Cultivate empathy.

Humility because Jesus was humble, willing to engage with sinners in a way that lifted them up without parading himself. Have you ever noticed that Jesus never told anyone to worship him but they did as he demonstrated humble loving service? Humility is not weakness or cowardliness. Humility is being willing to lower yourself in love to listening and understand the culture, worldview and background of those you engage with. This opens the door for communicating the gospel because it reveals you are interested in winning the person instead of the debate. Cultivate humility.

Winsome love moves away from outrage, arrogance and assumption. Especially online. More about that next week.

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends,

You may have heard the story of White Magazine – a popular Australian wedding magazine that was thriving in a tough international market; thriving until the outrage agenda struck. Their explanation for closing the magazine is telling:

“We have been asked repeatedly why our magazine had not yet featured all couples … Recently we’ve experienced a flood of judgement … Instead of allowing us the space to work through our thoughts and feelings, or being willing to engage in brave conversations to really hear each other’s stories, some have just blindly demanded that we pick a side … The result has been that a number of advertisers withdrew their sponsorship out of fear of being judged, or in protest. We have had to recognise the reality that White magazine is no longer economically viable.”

The outrage agenda claimed another scalp. How do we respond?

I don’t think criticising the outraged, their philosophy or their ironic embrace of the Love is Love agenda is the answer. I know they are all for Love is Love and I know that their actions towards the Burrell Family and their magazine is outrageous! But if all we do is call people out and point out their ironic hypocrisy and contradictory thinking, then we just join the parade of the vicious and vocal outraged.

There must be a better way of engaging with our society as it drifts rudderless – and I want to suggest that the Beatles had the answer many moons ago – Love is all you need.

Ed Stetzer writes challengingly:

If we do not actually love the lost around us, we demonstrate that we have missed the point of the gospel itself. No wonder our witness is so anaemic! We don’t appear to understand that what we preach applies to ourselves first and foremost! We disqualify our right to bring a message of love by being unloving in the very way we live and proclaim the Gospel, and so deny the compelling power of the Good News. We cannot reach people and hate people at the same time. 

The community we live in does not understand love despite their assertions and arguments. John instructs us with these simple words: “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

Christianity in a broken and rebellious world is going to be offensive. But we are not supposed to be. The Gospel and the love of God is the salve for this world’s pain, brokenness and anger. Again Ed Stetzer writes:

Christians are called to demonstrate this profoundly attractive love in a way that testifies to the Gospel and counters the lies, brokenness and violence of sin. The way we interact with others will dramatically affect whether the world is drawn to Christ’s love. 

So consider your responses to the world’s hypocrisy Have you joined the choir of the outraged and become polarised to you own corner? Or are you choosing the most excellent way? What might that way of love look like? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’ll share mine next week.

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends,

I have been arguing over the past few weeks that we live in an age of outrage and we Christians need to respond without succumbing to such relational methodology or shrinking like violets. A good response starts by consciously working on your worldview – knowing God better; knowing Christ’s salvation better; knowing the power of the Holy Spirit more. But if that is all you do, you run the risk of becoming “monkish” – retreating to think without being of benefit to the world.

God has not called us to hide in the upper room but to go as ambassadors for Christ, representing him in this outraged world.  We are representatives with a mission – not to assimilate into the world but to engage with the world, calling them out to know God and be known by God; to be reconciled with him (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). This is our privilege as servants of the King!

Ed Stetzer helpfully writes:

Behind every expression of outrage in our age is real need, brokenness and destruction that our message of reconciliation through Jesus is meant to address. The age of outrage may be defined by its anger and polarisation but beneath these self-defence mechanisms are real and valid underlying questions as people try to understand their origins, identity, purpose and path in life. People have never been more engaged, busy and connected in this cultural moment; yet this flurry of activity is a thinly veiled attempt to cover a crisis of identity, purpose and belonging. 

Friends, we offer a better way of doing life – the right way to do life. That way is to know and be known, to serve and be served, by Christ.

Our message as ambassadors is the Gospel. The news that Christ died for sinners like us. But here is the kicker – if we take our eyes off our own identity in Christ, we will find ourselves in the same sort of crisis.

I wonder if that is where you find yourself now? If you have no heart for the unbelievers among you the answer may be yes.

An ambivalence to sharing the Gospel or an apathy to ambassadorship cannot be our Christian lot. We must come again to the cross ourselves and find there our identity, purpose and place of belonging. We must regain or continue to cultivate a sense of compassion for the lost by remembering that we were once lost. Remembering our own salvation will spark the compassion that shapes us, changes us and sends us on mission.

As you took communion on Sunday, did you remember God’s work for you? Please also remember that this work of Christ is for your community too. When Jesus prayed for workers for the harvest, he was praying for you. We need to remember that we have soul satisfying news at our disposal and that as ambassadors, we ought to be in the business of carefully and compassionately sharing it.

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends,

We thought last week about living in an age of outrage – the art of dialogue and disagreement has been lost in our society and we behave in a polarised fashion now, taking sides and yelling abuse. In the face of this, even when we are the abused, Christians are not commissioned to retreat into our buildings to form holy huddles and talk about the good old days. We live in a broken and fragmented world in need of the Gospel; and the God who did not spare his own Son for us has given us a mission focused on the outraged.

Outraging against outrage and retreating from outrage are not Gospel options. Proclaiming the Gospel is what is needed. But how do we do this?

I am convinced that the first thing you need to do is actually know what you believe. I am concerned that what many Christians may believe is neither biblical nor Christian. Ed Stetzer writes that while many people claim to have a certain worldview, their habits and reactions paint a different story. Philip Ryken says,

The way people respond reveals their worldview… Even ordinary interactions reflect our commitments and convictions about the basic issues of art and science, work and play, family and society, life and death. Whenever we bump into the world, our worldview has a way of spilling out. It comes out in what we think and love, say and do, praise and choose.

In 2014 James Anderson released a book called “What’s your worldview?” It’s an interactive journey of discovery aimed at helping you understand and evaluate the option when it comes to identifying your worldview. It would be a fascinating read to help you analyse just how far you have drifted from the crucified Saviour.

But rather than work out what you believe, I want you to work on what you believe.

Most people reading this trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, therefore you want to have your worldview shaped by his Gospel. So please, make that happen. How do you do that? Get back to the ancient disciplines.

Regular Bible reading provides a daily reorientation of your life and helps you form a gospel shaped identity.

Regular praying enables us to cast our concerns on God and to trust him with our insecurities. The discipline of prayer prevents us from venting, flaming or savaging others, either in person or online.

Regular pursuit of godliness enables us to keep in step with the Spirit who is guiding us in the way of truth and love for all people.

(And did you know that those who meet weekly in small groups with other Christians find it easier to pursue the ancient disciplines? Yes, that was a sneaky plug for Growth Groups!)

As followers of Jesus, we have to decide how to live in light of the truth. We believe he is the true King of the world. He offers the right way to live in our world. Whether or not most Christians follow that path, we must. It’s time to live as people shaped by a gospel centred worldview.

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends, 

An Anglican School ethos firestorm swept its way across Sydney during the last week creating confusion, chaos and crankiness. To be clear, the issue at stake is freedom – the freedom any organisation should have to act according to its principles. But Christians, Christianity, Jesus and the church have all become victims of the outrage.

Now before you throw your hands in the air, shout “typical” and become outraged at the outrage, keep in mind that Christians are not the only ones who become victims of outrage and note the irony in outraging against outrage. There must be a better way of responding! 

In the midst of such a firestorm we usually either return serve or retreat. I want to suggest another way. 

Ed Stetzer, an American writer and researcher helped me see John 20 as a great paradigm for our response. John is describing the days after the crucifixion when the disciples feared the world. Were they to be next to be hung on a cross? Would they be a laughing stock? The world was outraged, they were terrified. Jesus turns up and says, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21) 

Jesus didn’t go sit in the locked room with the disciples to make them feel better. He went in to get them out, to get them on mission, to send them into the chaos and anger from which they had locked themselves away. 

But he does not send them to shout in outrage, he sends them to proclaim the Gospel. In the same way, the outraged world does not need us to argue with them. The outraged world needs us to evangelise them. They need to know Jesus and our task in the present is to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day with our Christian life in a constant state of worship and mission.

 Spurgeon said that Christians who do not engage the world with the Gospel are like those who have a treasure but hold onto it. “The world is starving and they hoard the bread of life.” Hearts that do not bring Christ to the world prove they do not actually love Christ. “If they love Christ they must love sinners; if they love Jesus they must seek to extend his Kingdom!” 

We are not commissioned to retreat into our buildings to form holy huddles and talk about the good old days. We live in a broken and fragmented world in need of the Gospel; and the God who did not spare his own Son for us has given us a mission focused on the outraged.

Outraging against outrage and retreating from outrage are not Gospel options. Proclaiming the Gospel is what is needed. We’ll think about how to do that over the next few weeks. 

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends, 

As we come to the end of our series on work, we must ask one final question: is Gospel work, actually telling people the Gospel and helping people grow as Christians, the best and most important work in the world? 

All Christians are committed to the spread of the gospel. The Holy Spirit has however gifted some with special responsibility to preach and teach the word of God and shepherd God’s flock (Ephesians 4:11). The significance of this responsibility may be judged by such things as, the prayer of Jesus that such people will be provided (Matthew 9:37-38), the special arrangements made for their support (1 Corinthians 9, 1 Timothy 5), and by the eternal consequences of their work. 

We describe church activity as “the work of ministry”, but it must not be concluded that it is work in exactly the same sense as any other. It is unfortunate that in the modern world this ministry should be thought of as a profession or career. The historically basic rate of financial support for those in ministry is intended to signal that we are dealing with “work” of a different order. Indeed it is a responsibility which cannot easily be pursued, unless others work to provide for their needs, as is also the case with the young and the elderly. 

Indeed, we expect that the work of the kingdom will demand that people will need to give up their ordinary occupations so that the work of ministry may be done effectively and will therefore need to be supported by others. Experience shows, furthermore, that the work of ministry is not always attractive in human terms – and thus it is not surprising that the need for workers is made a special subject of prayer by Jesus, who says, “the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37-38).

Nonetheless, it is essential that those who do “the work of ministry” should do so with three things in mind:
(1) Their task is not a “job” or profession, but the exercise of a service. It is not defined in terms of whether it is part-time or full-time, paid or unpaid.
(2) Where the ministry of God’s word is able to be conducted “full-time”, it is only possible because others are working and providing. The minister can give up “all” for the kingdom precisely because others do not!
(3) Attention needs to be paid in teaching to the lives of people as ones created and redeemed, to the work which people do, how they are to conduct it, what the dangers are, what their motives should be, how the standards of the Christian life are to be displayed in the work-place, how they are to treat others, how they are to use their surplus money. 

I am so thankful for all those you support to do the work of ministry in Campbelltown. Praise God for your work that supports their work which is His work. 

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends,

In our previous article on work we noticed that it has become our defining feature and an end in itself rather than a way of glorifying God. Indeed, work has become a mode for self-gratification rather than a reflection of God’s nature and part of our purpose. It consumes us, defines us and breaks us – but we cannot let it go.

We asked, is there anyone or anything that can help us redeem work and find life?

Indeed there is!

With the coming into the world of Jesus Christ, we have the arrival of the one through whom, by whom and for whom the created order has been made; he is “the heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2). This whole world in which we work is his and made for him. He is the only one, given our corruption by sin, who is able to work and rule over this world. Moreover, he is this world’s king!

This changes the way we ought to see work. Our work and (almost) all work, by its very nature of bringing order and life to the world, gives glory to Jesus. There is of course “work” that promotes godlessness and embraces sin that brings disorder and chaos – such things ought not be the domain of Christians and as such we should strive to eradicate them. Examples might be slavery, prostitution or work promoting injustice. We may not feel it, but recognising the arrival of the King changes the value of our work – you don’t just work for the man; you work for the Son of Man! (Colossians 2:23-24)

And yet, there is a greater work we must do! Our greatest and yet most basic work is exercised in our obedience to God’s word, and our doing of those “good works” which he has prepared for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:8-10). This shapes the work we do in the world, giving it clarity and emphasising the manner in which we work and the priority of what matters. It helps us see people as of greater importance than wealth making or creation protecting.

The vanity and foolishness of human existence in this world is set to pass away, including all those who attach themselves to the things of this world that they fail to look for things eternal. For this reason it is most important to challenge any idolisation of human professional life in the name of the gospel, whether the problem is one of greed or a more subtle form of worldliness. But work in itself is not to be despised; our whole approach to it is transformed. What matters most is not what the work is, but the way the work is done and whose glory is pursued through it. Work is one of the chief arenas in which we exhibit our obedience to Christ.

And yet one question remains, is Gospel work, actually telling people the Gospel and helping people grow as Christians, therefore the best and most important work in the world?

Find out next week!

In Christ
Nigel

 

Dear friends,

I don’t see a lot of movies and I don’t really have a favourite movie but I do have a movie character I would like to play. I would love to play an EWOK. If you have never heard of Ewok’s they appeared in Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi and they are teddy bear looking creatures that live on the forest moon of Endor. They sling stones, live in tree houses, are slightly uncoordinated and generally dance around having a great time.

And they are small. About the size of a five-year-old with the same weak strength. So when they fight the mighty metallic ferocious Imperial Forces you get the feeling it is going to end badly.

But their size and behaviour belies reality. For when they work together, they are powerful and strong and bring down the Imperial Force allowing the Rebels to… well I won’t give the storyline away but a small army of teddy bears with a few other oddbods defeat a platoon of bad guys and then hold a massive party.

When you look at an Ewok, you cannot see how powerful it is.

Similarly, when you look at the church, you cannot see how powerful it is. And that is because the church (and I am talking about us) has at its core the God of the universe, the one who holds the universe in his hands. Our power does not come from us, our power comes from God who has all authority both in the world, in the church and over you. The church, the gathered people of God, looks very odd, and at times very weak, but it is very powerful.

I have often pondered the reality that God chooses to work in the world through a weak, careless, thoughtless, disorganised and ramshackle group of people just like you and me.  And yet the story of the church is a story of triumph, because Jesus sits at the centre of the church.

We are living in a time when it appears that the “church” is under threat. We must hear these words correctly. The institutions that support churches and some people who run churches are under threat for the way they have done evil, dealt with people badly and not put the call of God as their first priority. The freedom of the church is under threat because of the way society wants to limit the rights of voices who disagree with the liberal progressive agenda. But the church is not under threat.

The church is God’s people who listen to Christ, trust Christ, live for Christ, speak of Christ and call others to follow Christ. And we can never be defeated for Christ is our King and he reigns from heaven awaiting the moment he will be called to come again and judge the world. There is no power who can defeat him and therefore there is no power that can defeat us as his people.

The only real threat to the church is us. Will we, as those who are the church, continue to listen to Christ, trust Christ, live for Christ, speak of Christ and call others to follow Christ.

I pray we will.

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends,

In this second examination of our Work, we build on the reality that God has been at the work from the beginning. Incredibly, one of work efforts was to create workers – us!

“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” Genesis 1:28
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15

What we see here is that despite our daily predisposition to complain and moan about it, work is not something to be despised or avoided. Not only are God’s creative deeds called “work” (Genesis 2:2), but human labour is instituted before the fall as something that is “good”. As those who are made in the image of God, and therefore share God’s task of ruling the world, man, male and female, is told to get to work! Sometimes this is called a “creation ordinance”, just meaning that we were designed from the beginning to be workers.

As you can see from the command “to work the ground”, human labour is originally thought of in very basic terms. There are no computers to turn on, projects to manage, employees to pay or work reviews to complete. The earth and its animals must be cared for, food, clothing, shelter and other necessities must be provided, and we must reproduce. But the Bible provides no criticism for the specialisation of work that soon appears. Human gifts and skills find legitimate and creative expression in an extraordinary variety of occupations. Throughout the Bible all manner of our heroes appear to have all manner of jobs as society changes.

There are limitations and conditions to all this though.

(a)  The very young and the very old do not “work”, and their needs are provided for by others. One of the motives for work is that our surplus may provide for the needs of others, especially those in our own families (Ephesians 4:28; 1 Timothy 5:8).

(b)  Life in this world is utterly dependent upon work, but it may not be our own work which makes the direct provision. Work flows from our joint responsibility for the creation, and may be paid or unpaid, and directly or indirectly productive of basic necessities. We may not all, “work” but none of us can survive without work.

There is, therefore, no doubt about the value and importance of our work in this world, because it arises from the original work of God and hence from the purposes of God for man and the creation. The human race carries out its work because he has commanded us to do so as the ones who bear his image.

All this doesn’t mean you have to enjoy your job no matter what. But it ought to change the way you think about the nature and purpose of work and perhaps change your attitude towards the necessity of work. Is work not a moment of obedience to God in which we ought to seek to glorify Christ?

In Christ
Nigel

Dear friends, 

Work consumes an enormous amount of your time, thought and energy every year. If you are working full-time, you will spend about 1/3 of the year asleep and 1/3 of the year working, leaving only 1/3 for family, rest, holidays, transport, shopping, household cleaning, life admin and waiting in queues.

The reality for most people is that from age 5 to retirement you will spend more of your time with school and work colleagues than you will with your family. The other reality is that many people complain about having to work, the type of work they are doing, their workplace and their work colleagues. So goes the saying, “Here’s to another day of outward smiles and inward screams!” 

So why do we do it? Is work good? Should we work more or less? How should we think about work? Is it just a means to an end? 

Over the next few weeks I want to explore with you a theology of work. The Bible has lots to say about our work and what our attitude to it should be. The Proverbs are littered with advice… 

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! Proverbs 6:6

 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. Proverbs 6:10-11 

But the story actually starts in Genesis and work is given a wonderfully high dignity because we find God at work. God is busy creating and calling into being all that is and all that will be, through Jesus Christ. He works consistently and creatively for 6 days, bringing into being everything that is required that we might live and breathe and have our being on his earth. God works generously and provides for his creation everything that it needs.

Then he rests. Genesis 2:2 says “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” 

There are several conclusions we can make from this. First, work is not inherently bad or evil – God does it! Second, work is not the substance of life. You don’t have to always be at work. There is a balance to it, called rest. Perhaps we can say that as the program of the Bible plays out, we see in God’s pattern of 6-1 that we ought to be working more than we are resting. But more of that later. 

For now, we can see from the beginning that work itself is good, has inherent dignity and yet not be all consuming. 

We will continue our journey into work next week, but if you have specific questions you want to ask, feel free to send them through! 

In Christ,
Nigel

For many people, holidays are about to begin for 2 weeks and there will be a bit more spare time. As I have thought about time, I wanted to float an idea that could be little more than a lead balloon.

Time. We never have enough. We grumble when we use too much, when it passes to quickly or when we have wasted it. It is a precious commodity.

So when someone does something for us, we will often say, “Thanks for giving up your time”. Now I think such a statement is nonsense.

I understand the sentiment. People have literally “given their time for us” and we want to thank people for doing so. But what exactly are we saying through the words “giving up your time”? What I hear is, “I know this has been an inconvenience because you have a 1000 things you could be doing to benefit you in whatever way you want rather than helping us”.

But is our time really ours? Can we choose to do whatever we desire? As a Christian, we must answer NO to this. God has given us time, but it is not entirely up to us to choose how to use it.

God tells us in Romans 13:11 that we must understand the present time. “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed”. In our passage this week in Ephesians we hear that we must “Make the most of every opportunity”. Time is short and must be used profitably.

Paul also instructs us to put aside the deeds of darkness and clothe ourselves with Christ. I take it that means, live like Christ has called us to and therefore use every moment of your time to show others how great Jesus is and to serve his people.

So your time is not yours to give away, it is yours to use in God’s service. You will live for the number of days God has predetermined for you and the question is, will you use each one of those days for his benefit and glory.

So next time someone comes and helps you out, don’t thank them for “giving up their time” because their time is not theirs to give up. Thank and encourage them for “using their time well by serving you and glorifying God”.

What do you think?

In Christ,
Nigel