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Ephesians 4:7-16 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7

Someone you can turn to

Reflecting on my past there have been several people who have significantly helped, taught, shaped, mentored, comforted and counselled me. Many have been godly elders who have invested themselves in me.

Stephen was my pastor when Michele and I were not long married. He was an older man who I looked up to, with very strong pastoral gifts. He encouraged me ever so patiently to consider entering into the ministry. He as a man I felt I could turn to at any time.

We can help

Peter was my pastor when I studying theology. He spent a lot of time with me teaching me to project my voice, discussing at length theological doctrine, controversies and issues. He was both my pastor, my mentor and my friend.

Today we have David Niven, a pastoral giant with a wise head on his shoulders and Nick Prins our esteemed encourager who is our highly capable helper on sesion and CoM. The time has come for us to elect two more elders, young men who have shown godly character, leadership qualities and an ability to teach.

These young men will be embraced by us as a congregation as we train them theologically and pastorally. They will be discipled and mentored by your current elders. Each brings quality gifting. Dan like his Dad, steady, I’ve never seen him in a flap. He is a capable and logical thinker who has a heart for God’s people and their walk with Jesus. Ming has a growing interest in pastoral care/ biblical couselling. He has demonstrated proven potential as a preacher and leader of the music team.

May God bless us as we consider who we nominate, train and elect as elders. the Rev

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Ephesians 47-16 and 1 Peter 5:1-4

You are not alone

My overwhelming childhood memory is loneliness. I guess my parents where incredibly busy, both worked and they were pre-occupied with their disintegrating relationship. Love had cooled, drift created distance and distance led to resentment and hatred.

You are not alone

Now I have my church family here in the Gap. We have each other. Christ would touch each of you as you learn to encourage one another daily. Paul says that God has gifted you so that you can edify your brother and sisters in Christ. So what are your gifts?

Primarily your gift is Jesus Christ. He will teach and enable you to become selfless. He wants you to grow in your care for your church family. How? Listen more and you will know more. As you grow in your understanding, you will grow in your care. As you care you will grow in your desire to help, support and encourage.

A simple beginning would be to ask someone today what they would like you to pray for them. Then pray for them and later check up with them to see how they went or how they are. Whenever we meet together, text, email and Facebook each other lets pray for each other lets seek to say something encouraging.

My prayer is that we will grow in our confidence with each other, to share our burdens and our joys, whether shameful or victorious. Christ is with you, we are with you, so you are not alone. the Rev

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Matthew 6:19-24

Issue of the heart

The phrase “Getting to the heart of the issue” is used when we want to understand the reason reason for something. Today Rev Wesley Redgen explores that the real issue is our heart.

Your heart is where your treasure is

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Psalm 23

Real Help

Why doesn’t God help me the way I want? Work is hard, chores are boring, family is painful, future is scary and life is tiring. God is all powerful so why does the lawn still need to be mowed, why are there things to be fixed at home, why do the kids keep fighting and why do the bills out number my income?

Through the valley of death

Can’t God help? Or won’t God help? If a person has been diagnosed with cancer how will it help them if we raised money so that we could give them a care, send their kids off to rehabilitation so that they came back civilised, a new car, an easier and higher paying job. None of this would make sense since they have cancer, they are going to die. Wouldn’t be better if we could do something about their cancer so that they could live. Wouldn’t they be happy to return to their small imperfect home with fighting kids and a boring job?

So it is with God. We want what does not matter while ignoring our greatest need. We rush headlong through our lives missing and ignoring our need for God himself. We substitute him for that which in comparison is worthless. We are like sheep who have gone astray. We are lost in the wilderness and the howling of the wolfs has frozen our blood.

We need a shepherd who is going to care for, not just in terms of food and shelter. We need his care to heal our broken hearts, to heal the wounds that so scar us. We need him to refresh us and restore our very souls. Not with plasma TV’s but with a real experience of our Shepherds care within our daily lives, within the wreckage of our family, work and church

When we are sounded by the wolfs we want the Rod and Staff not only to protect us but to guide us into safety. We need the Shepherds comfort in the dark times of our lives. So often we stumble and fall. These are times when we doubt our salvation or our faith as being genuine. And yet our shepherd assures us that we will never be lost from him, that we will one day dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Why? Because he is going to make sure that we make it because he will care for us, he will comfort us and he will protect us, never to forsake us.

God doesn’t help me the way I want because he is concerned about giving me real help. the Rev

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Luke 12:22-34

Not what they expected

Homework... Whaaa?

the Rev was very excited to accept an invitation to speak at the Chapel service at Northside Christian College. 1,000 students in a Pentecostal school combined with the Rev makes for a fun, confounding, annoying and challenging time. Being told that God is boring and that the evidence of the Holy Spirit in their lives is them doing their home work is not quite what they were hoping for. 

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Psalm 131 and Mark 4:35-41

Beyond distraction

Being a father of four kids I’ve learnt to work and study with all manner of household noise. But I do have my limits, particularly when the kids have gone mad with silliness and I’m on the phone. That’s when I politely tell the person to hang on and then ROAR for QUIET!!!!.

A guide to a calm soul

How many voices yell for your attention throughout the day. I’m talking about the voices of your desire. Things like wishing you could get married, wishing you weren’t married, wishing your kids would turn out right, wishing you had just a bit more money, wishing you could have a restful holiday, wishing work or school wasn’t so hard.

We live in a noisy world because our hearts are noisy. The Bible calls this noise and these wishes “the lust of the flesh.” A lust is a normal desire gone mad. For example you may want your kids to grow up right to be a good person who loves God. That is a normal desire given by God. However it can easily go mad and be transformed into a lust, something that you must have, something that you can’t do without

When your child is naughty do you go way over the top, are you like a KGB agent always on their case, exposing their every flaw, correcting their every wrong. Do you yell and rage at your child because they continue to disobey you? That is not God given, it is Lust.

Lust is deceptively common and we often expect God to fulfill it for us. We want health, a good job, to be popular, to be happy and not sad, to be able to retire, to have good friends. But all of these are voices which can yell at you for their attention, that poor anxiety into your life, that fill your heart with noise.

Today’s Psalm is about calming our hearts so that we are quiet on the inside. Not so much by ignoring the noise but by learning to hear one clear and true voice that comes from Christ’s lips. When we tune in to him then we will have peace.  the Rev

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Psalm 119:161-168

Mouse Trap

So much of what we are committed to in our lives is in reality cheese on a mouse trap. No matter how careful we are the trap is sooner or later going to spring. In an arguement people are either committed to being aggresive; they fight back or they are committed to withdrawing; going silent. We are committed to things that give us pleasure, what we really love. Let me encourage you to change your commitment. To invest in living according to God's revealed wisdom so that you will know real peace and you may never need to stumble.  the Rev

Bad commitment

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Psalm 119:25-32

Crying out to God

Much of how you relate to God is developed as a child by the way you have related to your parents. If your father was distant, emotionless, unapproachable then you may think of God in the same way. Let me assure you that God cares for you, he hears and answers those who cry out to him in need. The purpose of todays message is to encourage to cry out to God in your need, to ask God for help and finally to commit yourself to living God’s way.  the Rev

Cry out to God

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Psalm 119:65-72

What is Good?

I ask in my sermon what is good. Chocolate, family, friends, parents, fresh air, a good movie, sleep and an engrossing book were some of the answers given. But can good things be bad? The surprising answer is yes. Sometimes we want something that is good in a bad way and the way we try and get what is good is also bad. Psalm 119 gives clarity for those willing to be honest to not only discover what is good but to live and enjoy it.  the Rev

Relationships are good but not all the time?

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Psalm 119:137-144

Real Connection

Ever felt God is far away. Ever read the Bible and the words are just words. Ever wondered how you can connect with God despite feeling small, unworthy or harrased by trouble? Psalm 119 will help you intimately connect with God in a very personal way. the Rev

God I feel small

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Psalm 62

Be a real hero in 2010

Every good story has a hero. But to be a good hero you need the right quest which usually involves some crises, challenge, enemy or monster that needs to be overcome. To do that you need the right weapon or skill. Psalm 62 is like a manual on how you can face 2010 with more than an attitude of survival. You will be guided as to which quest to undertake, what challenges you will face and how you can face those challenges in such a way that you will come out the other end a real hero. the Rev

Slowing down

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Psalm 63

What you can do

Thinking about 2009 can be both good and bad depending on how you remember the year. So much of our lives is inter connected, work affects home and home  has a bearing on work. Mostly we strive to be accepted and not rejected in all the different parts of our lives. This Psalm is about David’s painful experience of being betrayed by family, and yet he finds more than just comfort in God. The key to life is not how much you get but how much you give. the Rev

Refresh your soul

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Luke 22:14-15, Matthew 26:26-29, John 13:31-35

Eager Care

Speaking as a married man I sometimes think that wives can lose sight of the many expressions of love their husbands give them every single day. They go to work even though there are times when they hate it. They mow the lawn even though it is hard, hot and sweaty work. They allow themselves to be dragged through the shops instead of sitting down to their favourite sports program. Translated into ‘woman’ these activities a like the giving of flowers and chocolates, or the writing of a romantic note.

Remember Christ

Christ told his disciples he was really keen to celebrate the passover with them before he suffered Lk 22:14-15. Now Christ was not keen to suffer and die, just like I’m not keen to mow the lawn, or go to the shops. But Christ had a care for his disciples which was eager. He strongly desired to save them from their sin despite having to bear the punishment of hell upon himself.

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Psalm 100

Lifting the burden of Christmas

Christ’s birth was heralded with Angels saying

14    “Glory to God in the highest,

    And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Be as free as a humming bird

The reason why Christ came in the first place is that we struggle to find and keep peace and goodwill toward all people. Christmas can be especially hard for us. It can remind us of our fractured families, of loved ones who have died or can’t be with us. Of love that turned to bitterness. Our lives are broken, lived in the context of a broken world.

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Matthew 6:5-13

Connecting with God

Would you like to have a greater sense of God’s closeness to you? How about some genuine help with how you pray? Do you fall asleep when you pray and then feel incredibly guilty? Do you start well but find that your mind has wandered off somewhere far from God?

God’s children are like Chefs that can’t boil an egg to save themselves. You would expect that we would be people of prayer. After all we are known to the living creator God, we have been adopted into his family, we have been promised that whatever we ask in Christ’s name we will have.

Pray Aloud

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Proverbs 3

Wisdom Teeth?

Why do we call some of our teeth wise, especially since many of us get them taken out very soon after they come up? I guess it’s because our wisdom teeth don’t arrive when we are kids but when we are much older. The implication is that getting older makes you wise. But I’ve met some pretty stupid old people, particularly when I remember some of the things I’ve done and struggle with. 

How often have you been confused, perplexed and at your wits end? These are the times when you wish you knew just what to do; that’s wisdom. It is better than money, it is better than anything in this world. If you would like to find out why wisdom is so valuable and how to get it then listen or watch this sermon. the Rev

We need more than wise teeth

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Psalm 145

Seeing the invisible God

People have become genuinely confused about God. I’ve been asked why God doesn’t reveal himself more clearly. Christians whom I counsel struggle to find God within their crises or addiction. God has revealed himself as the invisible God. Is that fair? How are we supposed to know him?

To begin with God has been revealing himself right from the beginning. Originally he walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden. It was their sin which got them kicked out of God’s presence. But God has not abandoned his children nor this world.

God makes every daisy every time

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Psalm 139

Real Intimacy

There is no question everyone longs for friendship. There is nothing more frightening than being rejected and feeling alone. And yet lonely is how many of us do feel. Even though we might be with friends, even though we smile on the outside it can so often just be a mask that hides our sense of isolation. God understands; he is close, he is faithful, he is able to care for you, he is thoughtful and he is protective. Be refreshed and renewed by God’s love for you. the Rev

Refresh your soul

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Mark 10:17-31

Lost in the Clutter

We are presently painting the inside of our house. Call us crazy, I know. The more we paint the more I agree with that assessment. It is amazing how much has to be done before a drop of paint actually hits the wall. One pre-painting challenge is to move furniture and in some cases that means unloading bookcases or packing up crockery etc from cabinets so that they can be moved. One thing that we have said to each other on a couple of occasions is “We have too much stuff!” But, we are reluctant to throw some of it out because it has sentimental value, like the ceramic dragon that Nana made, and which sits in the bottom of the buffet. We seem to have a lot of clutter.

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Mark 10:35-45

True Greatness

Late last week I googled the internet for “great Australians” and found a site called whitehat.com.au that listed 200 significant Australians. They chose not to find great Australians “because there are some people who have had a strong influence on Australia who are not necessarily great. Ned Kelly was a murderer but was quickly elevated to legend status.” They also discarded famous, successful and popular.