What Matters

The Exclamation Mark of Christmas

Christmas is a time we celebrate Presence.  Yes, that’s right – Presence, not presents!  More particularly, we celebrate the Presence of God come near to us in the form of a baby born in humble circumstances in an obscure backwater of the then mighty Roman Empire.  Decades later the Apostle John would poetically write of his birth, ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14).

The first Christmas Day is an exclamation mark that shouts the love of God.  The birth of Jesus is incontrovertible evidence that God has not abandoned our broken world; rather he has embraced it.  But there is a problem with Christmas – and I don’t just mean the over spending, eating and drinking associated with this time of the year.  Christmas too easily gets wrapped up in saccharine-sweet, jingle-bells sentimentality that robs it of its ultimate meaning and power.   Disconnected from the rest of the story of Jesus – his life, teaching, death and resurrection – Christmas is no more than a nice, barely-believable story.  Rick Warren, author of the multi-million selling ‘Purpose Driven Life’ says it this way, ‘Christmas without the Cross is nothing. It is Christ's death, not his birth that saves us.’  At the front of our church, as in most churches, is a cross.  It reminds us that God embraces us and our world with nail pierced hands that willingly entered into our suffering, and through his resurrection power, overcomes it, offering us the hope of the same.  Tullian Tchividjian puts it beautifully, ‘It is this crying baby that will wipe away every tear; this defenceless infant that will end all war.’  My prayer for you and your family this Christmas and New Year is that you will experience the life-transforming Presence of God.

The Promise: Esther

The Story of Redemption is the Big Story into which all other stories in the Bible fit, including the remarkable story of Esther.  Listen in: Download The Promise _ Wk 3 _ Esther

Gracious Hand of God

Over the past year or so, the gracious hand of God has rested on our church in particular ways, including in the ways we have received a remarkable amount of external-sourced donations.  Last week we received a semi trailer load as well as two shipping containers full of donated construction materials, including, but not limited to, light poles, electrical cable, conduit, speed bumps, kerbing, LED car park lights, electrical fittings, electronic white boards and scaffolding.  The value of this one donation is in excess of $50,000.  We even get to keep the shipping containers! 

Other external donations over the last year include a $20,000 cash grant for Newlife Care’s Christmas Hamper program, the permanent loan of a $15,000 Coffee Cart tp our 12two community, a $60,000 grant for a Newlife Care bus and grants for playground shade sails and office computers of approximately $10,000.   We are also the beneficiary of the incredible generosity of Jubilee school who allow us to use their facilities ‘rent free’ for Newlife – Pac Pines, a saving of at least $30,000.  Crossroads funding has revamped our hall kitchen and provided a new cool room, as well as contributing significantly to the hall annexe.  In its first year of operation under our management, the Isle of Capri Learning Centre will contribute more than $40,000 to the wider mission of the church over and above its costs.  All in all, Newlife has benefited from at least $300,000 in externally sourced funding in quite unique and remarkable ways over the last year.  In the current economic climate, we can say ‘Only God!’ and ‘To God be the glory!’

The Promise: Moses

The promise of the gospel is right through bible, but culminates in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  This week we explore the striking parallels between the life of Moses an the life of Jesus: Download The Promise _ Wk 2 _ Moses

The Promise: Abraham

Our Advent series focuses on the promise of redemption that bleeds through every page of the bible and culminates in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Pastor Melissa Lipsett reflects on the the life of Abraham; a life of God fulfilled promise: Download The Promise _ Wk 1 _ Abraham

Anticpating the End of the World

There are only 13 days left – 13 more days until the end of the world.  At least that is the case to those who attempt to interpret ancient Mayan prophecy.  According to them, on December 21, 2012 this world as we know it will come to an end.  All those Christmas preparations will be for nothing!

Since time immemorial humankind has been predicting, worrying and arguing about when the earth and all it contains will pass away.  It is worth reminding ourselves during this Advent season that there are a number of fundamental biblical truths – not speculation - about the future of our world.

• One day Jesus will return a second time. (Acts 1:11)
• Jesus will judge the living and the dead. (1 Peter 4:5)
• No one knows the day, nor the hour of Jesus’ return, and to speculate about dates and times is to waste our time and miss the point. (Mark 13:32)
• The lat days will be marked by trials and tribulation, especially for those who hold fast to the faith. (Revelation)
• God will make all things new – heaven and earth will be brought together in glorious harmony (Revelation 20)
• Creation – all that God has made – groans with longing expectation for that Day when its sin-scarred life will be renewed (Romans 8:20-22).  So should we.
• While we wait for Jesus to come again, we should, like the 10 virgins, be alert and ready for the Bridegroom’s return.  (Matthew 25)

As a Christian, I do not look forward, nor am I anxious about this world ending.  Instead I eagerly await the Day when Jesus returns in glory.  Every day between now and then I will live with joy-filled expectation that everything I do and say in His name is not wasted, but in fact prepares the way for His return.

Advent Patience

I don’t like to wait. I don’t like queues, traffic jams, crowded airports, slow mail, long engagements, crawling Internet speed, hold music, lengthy sermons (only kidding!) and long delays. You could say patience is a virtue that still has some growing to do in me. But patience is more than a virtue; it is an attribute of the Fruit of the Spirit.  And Advent, this season leading up to Christmas, is all about patience - active waiting.

Six hundred years before Jesus was born, Israel’s longing for a liberating Messiah became a desperate ache as it struggled under Babylonian, and then Persian exile. By the time of Caesar Augustus expectation was higher still. Which makes it all the more ironic and sad that most did not recognize, and in fact rejected, the long awaited Messiah when he did come. Waiting can sharpen, or it can distort, our expectations.

Since Jesus ascended to heaven (Acts 2) we have been have been waiting for his return. The second Advent precedes the Second Coming. In this time of waiting we who follow Jesus are called to do as John the Baptist did 2000 years ago; prepare the way for his coming. Every act of service, word of encouragement, testimony of faith and prayer offered in the name of Jesus, in some way witnesses to our belief not only that Jesus is alive, but that one day he will come again to judge the living and the dead, make all things new and unite heaven and earth. So while we wait, we wait with joy-filled expectation and urgency with the prayer ever on our lips, ‘Come Lord Jesus!’