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Thursday 28 February 2013

“I shouldn’t be here”



“I shouldn’t be here, I should be in non-Scripture” a Year 5 boy in my SRE (scripture) class told me this morning. 
“That’s ok” I told him, “Scripture is for people who don’t believe in God too. It helps you understand about others and what they believe”. He nodded and packed up his things. 
“See you next week then?” 
I will have to wait a week to find out!
But really, “I shouldn’t be here”. There shouldn’t be the need for people to walk into our school and teach the Bible. God always intended for parents to raise their children in their love and knowledge of Him and His word. That’s what church is all about; encouraging us all to walk through life with God.

Yet sadly, for most children in the wider community, the only time they hear of Jesus is at school in SRE for half an hour a week. SRE is taught in our 6 local primary (K-Yr 6) schools and kicked off on Tuesday 26th February in Bangor, Tharrawal, Illawong, Menai, Alford’s point and Lucas Heights. 

This is the vital ministry of ‘Introducing Jesus’ to the generation of children who are growing up without God. The common cry of the child in my SRE classes is ‘I want to go to church but my parents won’t take me’. For these children the SRE class is their ‘church’. Here they can freely ask their questions, pray without hindrance or embarrassment, read God’s word and be taught from it. It is in the classrooms that children can express their faith (or lack of it) and can take steps towards knowing Jesus and growing in their relationship with him.

The SRE ministry is a joint effort with the other Protestant churches in the 2234 post code and the need is great because, sadly so many parents don’t know God and so can’t introduce their children to Him. And while we introduce the children to him, it is the church’s role to introduce their parents to God at work, over the back yard fence, at their child’s sporting events and over a beer or a latte.

So we continue to be where we “shouldn’t be”; introducing people to Jesus so they can have transformed lives. Why do we need transforming? Because we are a broken people, not living as God intended us to live.  We were born broken and far away from God from the moment we existed. The joy of introducing a child to Jesus means a life-long journey with Him; a life filled with purpose, love and forgiveness. There is no better way to live.

Despite what the media want us to think, Jesus is active and alive in Australia. He is active in the hearts and minds of his people and in the hearts and minds of children. It is Jesus who calls children “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”. (Luke 18:16) and it is Jesus who sends, we just need to be listening. 

You should be here! Don’t hinder your family or yourself for that matter in discovering God. Come and join us in church and be where you ‘should be’; with God’s people, under God’s headship and in His love, living as we were created to live. 
“See you next week then?” I will have to wait a week to find out!


Thursday 21 February 2013

Sermon Series – The Vision. Yet Again?

Well friends, at our services we've been taking a look at our vision for the next five years (“Again?” you ask!) 

At one point we really don’t even need to say it, because it’s what every church should be doing, and we already know it, but at another point we need to keep being reminded that that is what we are on about. It’s all too easy to get side-tracked. 

We’re on about introducing Jesus, not running an organisation. We want to focus on changing lives, not making people comfortable.  Focus loses its clarity, doesn’t it? Vision leaks! 



It really doesn’t get any simpler than “Introducing Jesus; Changing Lives.”  If you need a reminder on the whole vision check out http://www.menaianglican.org/information/vision/ on our website.

“Introducing Jesus” puts it well because it’s about a friendship, not a philosophy or a set of values.  We want people to find the peace,forgiveness, love,challenge and adventure that comes with walking through life with Jesus. We don’t want to win them to our cause, or adopt a philosophy.  It’s about a person.

And changing lives?  Walking with Jesus is all about change. It’s bringing people out of the darkness. It’s bringing lost people home to God. It’s helping people grow more to be the way He made us to be. It’s all about starting again. It’s about growing a big heart and a wise mind. It’sa bout broken people being put back together.

It’s not necessarily about becoming a TV evangelist or knocking on people’s doors. It’s about doing all we can do to  make introductions and help people make the next step. We can all do that. It’s often all about being a link in the chain, even one small link. 

So what are YOU PERSONALLY  doing to introduce Jesus and help Him change lives? Or how have you been helped to know Jesus or had your life changed. Let us know.  Add your comments here and tell us your stories.  It’d be a great encouragement.  I look forward to reading your comments. 


Wednesday 13 February 2013

What Do Sticky Nametags Have To Do With Love?

This week at  Saturday Night Church (SNC) we are introducing sticky-label nametags for everyone, and so I thought I would take this opportunity to explain some of the rationale behind this move. There are three broad ways in which nametags are going to make a positive difference to us all at SNC.



Firstly, they will help build community. It is common in big churches that cliques occur – people stick with a small group and don’t really talk to anyone outside that group. But we are a community in Christ – we are journeying together on the way of Christ and so it is helpful to know people beyond our smaller circles of intimate friends and not to fall into the clique situation. Currently we have over 400 people on our SNC members’ list, and we are seeing over 300 come each week. It is impossible to get to know everyone, but it is possible to know the majority of people’s names, and this helps build our sense of togetherness and community. I don’t know about you, but when I have met someone previously and then forget their name, I often feel too embarrassed to talk to them again because I feel bad that I have forgotten their name and so I avoid them! Thankfully, God is working on me and so I now tend to just say “look, I am sorry I have forgotten your name, can you remind me of it again?” But if we were all wearing nametags, this embarrassment would be avoided and we’d all be more likely to venture out of our comfort zones and get to know people we only sort-of know at the moment.
The second benefit of nametags relates to welcoming newcomers. When guests arrive, they will be directed to a table with blank nametags where a welcomer will personally welcome them, write their name on a nametag, and ask them to sign a guestbook. From this information, all newcomers will be followed up with a phonecall and letter in which they will be warmly invited to other church activities – and maybe even out to dinner with some people from church.
The third advantage of nametags is that they will help our pastoral care system. This is because the roll will be accurately marked each week based on the labels that are left on the sheet (people who don’t show up obviously won’t take their label). So the pastors, and the pastoral care team, will know who is and isn’t there every night. If a regular member has not attended in two or three weeks, they will receive a phone call from their growth group leader, or a pastor, or a member of the pastoral care team, just to check how they are going, and whether everything is OK. It is a way for people not to go unnoticed.
So basically, these nametags are all about LOVE! They are way to make help us to love one another and to love the outsiders who come into our midst just like Jesus did.
So, this Saturday night, don’t forget to grab your nametag 

Saturday 2 February 2013

Power walking...a life worth living




I have just recently been thinking about joining a gym (ask me if I have taken the plunge, when you see me!). It’s the same old story – a new year, a new resolve to get fit, lose a bit of weight, and so on. The problem is, we pay our membership fees, go for a few weeks and then stop going (or is it just me?). With all the best intentions, it’s so easy to start well, but then get distracted with the other stuff of life.

The Christian life can be like that. We start out with great joy, lots of enthusiasm and great energy for the gospel. But then stuff happens: disappointment in work or studies, disappointment in relationships, and hard stuff like sickness and death. Not to mention negative reactions from other people about biblical Christianity.

The Apostle Paul writes to some Christians who were facing pressures and distractions that could have so easily taken them away from an on-going walk in Christ.  He writes to encourage them:  

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (2:6-7)   

Paul’s letter to the Colossian Christians also enables us think rightly about who Jesus is, what we have in Christ and how to keep going, or as God’s Word says, “to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord” (1:10)

I’m looking forward to opening the Word of God with you all at Menai and thinking more about how we are to continue to “walk in him”, abounding in thanksgiving.  


Jenny is joining us for the Women's conference in 2 week's time and will be bringing more fantastic teaching from the Word in 2 keynote sessions and one of the workshop electives. Register by contacting Denise in the church office.