God is powerfully at work among us!
It was so great at our Baptism Celebration service to witness our friends testifying to God’s work of salvation in their lives. What a powerful reminder of the work God has done and is doing in our own lives and to give thanks and continue to trust in him. It’s also a huge encouragement to be prayerful and confident about the work God will do in the lives of our friends and family who don’t know Jesus yet.
Our Archbishop, Kanishka, began his Synod address this year with the phrase, ‘I believe in conversion’. The God who made the universe and placed the stars in space, the God who in love sent his only son into the world, to live and to die on the cross and to conquer death and rise to life. This God can certainly call people from death to life as they turn from their sin to put their trust in Jesus Christ.
So join me in praying that many more of our friends and family will turn and trust in Jesus and be saved. Join me in praying that our next baptism service we will not just run out of chairs, but that God’s praises will ring out from among us in ever increasing measure!
In Christ,
Ben
Author: Ben (Page 4 of 43)
Everyone needs to know Jesus and receive life in his name. And God has a plan for how they will come to know him. Do you know what that plan is?
You.
You, God’s people, are God’s plan and method for sharing the good news of Jesus with the world. That’s why we’re launching our ‘Prayers for 2’ strategy.
Because God is the one who saves people, and because he does it through the efforts of his people in relationship, the best place to start is prayer.
Prayer calls upon God to be at work by his Holy Spirit in the lives of our friends, and a habit of prayer motivates us and mobilises us to depend on God, to be aware of our friends need for Jesus and seek opportunities to share the good news with them.
Our goal as a Church is to have at least 60 of us praying daily for 2 minutes for 2 of our friends who don’t yet know Jesus and have life in Christ.
So grab a ‘prayers for 2’ bookmark at Church (or convert it to a fridge magnet) and begin praying!
In Christ,
Ben
Pic: A really bad selfie from our Term 4 Prayer and Praise Night.
I’m not much of a political person, and I had never heard of Charlie Kirk before the shocking news of his death hit the headlines last week. I still don’t feel qualified to say much about it, but I was amazed by two statements made at his funeral:
Firstly, Charlie’s wife, Erika said:
““My husband, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life. That young man, that young man. On the cross, our Savior said: ‘Father, forgive them for they not know what they do.’ That man, that young man, I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did and it is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love, love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
The second statement that caught my attention was made in response by Donald Trump:
“He did not hate his opponents, he wanted the best for them, that’s where I differed from Charlie: I hate my opponents,”
Trump may have been speaking in jest, but these two statements make clear that we have a choice about how to respond to people who disagree with us, or harm us or simply hate us – and as Christians we are guided by the way Jesus Christ has treated us.
‘While were were still sinners… while we were his enemies… Christ died for us.’ (Rom 5:8-10)
Yours in Christ,
Ben
Yesterday I was given 10 minutes to share with the Sydney Anglican Synod* about how God is powerfully at work among and through his people at Picton and Wilton.
It was a great joy and privilege (but also a nerve-wracking experience). It’s remarkable to see the way he has transformed the lives of dozens of people to bring them to Life in Christ and into the fellowship of his people over the past few years. Its wonderful to be able to share about your financial generosity in helping us to become a sustainable 2 minister Church. Its amazing to be able to share about your warm hearted hospitality, care and love for one another as the family of God. It’s exciting and daunting to share about the incoming population and need for the gospel now and in the years to come.
So I encourage you to join me in praying for the 12,000 people currently living in Picton and Wilton, most of whom don’t know Jesus yet, and the 58,000 more who will move into our area in the next decades who also need to hear about Jesus Christ.
These numbers are all people: neighbours, brothers, sisters, workmates, etc… And most of these people are lost without Christ and destined for hell and judgement. We have the urgent and important task of proclaiming Life in Christ – nothing matters as much as this. It’s my great joy to boast to synod about your love for Christ and one another and its our great responsibility to take up this challenge for the years ahead.
Yours in Christ,
Ben
*Sydney Anglican Synod is the governing body of the Sydney Anglican Diocese, a 5 day meeting of 800 or so Senior Ministers and elected lay representatives (among others) from the Anglican Churches.
I thought I might take an opportunity to update you all on my MTS journey, as well as in my personal life.
Firstly, I am now into my final four months as your MTS apprentice. I cannot believe how fast the two years have gone, I feel like it has flown by! Some of the ministries I am currently working on is helping manage our bible study groups and support the leaders of those groups, giving a talk at the aged care services in October and researching my Genesis sermon, as well as doing my regular weekly ministries.
Secondly, my plan for next year has been to go to Moore College and last week I received my letter of acceptance so that will be going ahead. I am very excited to deep-dive into the bible and be taught by some very experienced lecturers. I am a little apprehensive about returning to full time study as it has been over 10 years since I last did formal education so your prayers for that would be greatly appreciated.
I am also planning on becoming a student minister at church but will need to fundraise my salary for that. If this is something you would be able to give towards I would greatly appreciate it and could you please let me know so I can plan for this.
Finally, the end of the year will look a tiny bit different as Ineke is expecting to give birth in November! We are very excited to be welcoming a baby boy to our family and look forward to becoming parents for the first time.
Thank you for all your prayers for both myself and Ineke, we are truly grateful for the support we have experienced as we have stepped into full time ministry.
Yours in Christ,
Jake
Wasn’t it great to meet together all in one place!
Just over 180 of us met together for Celebration Sunday at Wollondilly Anglican College last week to share, pray, sing and hear from God’s Word. From the Connect card feedback it was clear that everyone loved gathering all together as one, hearing some interviews to get to know a few people and particularly having Ajax the puppet help with the sermon. We hope to continue Celebration Sunday as an annual event.
It was certainly strange for me to have Sunday evening free!
The sermon from Colossians 1:28 encouraged us to be part of God’s great plan to save the world through Christ. It challenged us to consider how we are growing and how we can encourage others to take the next step of growing and maturing in Christ.
He is the one we proclaim!
How are you going? How are you growing?
Yours in Christ,
Ben
What is it that unites us as a Church?
If you came along to St Mark’s at 9am on a Sunday morning you’d hear the traditional sound of the pipe organ, you’d take your seat on a pew and you’d recite with us the wonderful prayers and truths that have sustained God’s people for centuries. If you come along to Wilton at 10am you’d bustle in among the prams and playing children, sing along with the guitar, hear the Word of God preached and share in coffee and conversation afterwards. If you come along to Wilton at 5pm you’d find a seat behind a gaggle of teenagers and struggle to see the words on the screen over their heads. You’d sing along with the band, hear the Bible taught and look forward to our monthly pot luck dinner afterwards.
We are all things to all people but we are deeply united. Not just by a common minister, but by our union with Christ and the wonderful reality of Colossians 1:24-29.
The wonderful truth that was kept hidden for ages and generations, but has now been disclosed to us, the Lords people. The wonderful truth of Christ in you – the hope of glory. This Sunday we’ll gather as one – the Lord’s people in Picton and Wilton to celebrate and declare the wonderful news of Christ in you – the hope of glory. I can’t wait to see you there – 10am at Wollondilly Anglican College – don’t miss it!
Yours in Christ,
Ben
On a rainy day, when your plans are cancelled: a good book, or podcast or movie might be just what you need.
Our current sermon series on ‘Relationships’ might be raising questions for you? That’s fantastic! Let’s be serious about God’s Word and keep encouraging each other to think theologically. Grab a friend, buy a book and dig a little deeper into some of these important topics. This link (https://pwac.org.au/resources/) will take you to a list of recommended books on these important topics, or you might have one you’ve read that you want to recommend to others – let us know by reply email.
If books overwhelm you, maybe you’d enjoy a podcast, here are some good ones:
SALT podcast is a series of wonderful testimonies (https://omny.fm/shows/salt-conversations-with-jenny/playlists/podcast).
The Deep Dish is an American podcast inviting women into deep conversations about the deep truths of God (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/deep-dish/)
Holy Ghost Stories retells Old Testament Stories – really easy to listen to (https://www.holyghoststories.org/).
With All Due Respect is a podcast engaging with big issues from different perspectives (https://undeceptions.com/wadr/).
Or maybe a Christian movie or series might be what you’re after:
The Chosen is a great series depicting Jesus life (https://www.thechosen.tv/en-us).
Unsung Hero is a great encouraging Christian movie about the upbringing of Christian artists For King and Country (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23638614/).
What will you be reading/listening/watching on this rainy day? – reply to send me your recommendations.
Yours in Christ,
Ben
Do you turn to Christ?
This is the first question our confirmation candidates will be asked this Sunday evening as they stand up publicly to confirm the promises made on their behalf at their baptism.
They’ll be asked whether, by God’s grace, they will strive to live as a disciple of Christ, loving God with their whole heart, and their neighbour as themselves, until their life’s end?
We will have a chance to support them in this public commitment to follow Christ and be encouraged in our own life in Christ. So please come and support our confirmees this Sunday evening 5pm at Wilton and be encouraged to stand for Christ in your life!
Peter Hayward, our regional Bishop, will be preaching at all 3 services, but the confirmation service will only be happening at Wilton 5pm.
Yours in Christ,
Ben
*Photos of last few years confirmees.
Greetings from Tanzania!
My work is almost finished for this visit. On Friday, I will stay with Helen Hoskins overnight then Saturday travel the rest of the way to Mwanza for my journey home.
It is with mixed emotions when I leave. So much we can do here.
A small percentage of the population are Christian and the harvest is huge.
The parishes are so welcoming and hospitable. It is hard to accept their food and gifts because of their poverty but I would not offend them. It is their culture.
The training went very well. Over 120 in attendance each day. We have reached 80 villages so the expected impact is exciting. My work now is to monitor success and direct help where needed.
The parishes know I could not do this work without support of others. They thank you and praise God for all at PWAC.
Ann Shephard (W10 member and President of Community Development Projects)
