This Easter we’re going to be reading John 11 about the remarkable day when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead!
Lazarus is Jesus’ friend, and the brother of Mary and Martha. When confronted by his friends death Jesus is deeply moved in Spirit and troubled (v33). His initial response isn’t to problem solve, but to weep. So we read the shortest verse in the Bible: ‘Jesus wept’ (v35).
Death for Christians is not to be trivialised or skimmed over as if it doesn’t matter. Death is the great enemy to life and joy and hope. Death is the great breaker of relationships and the loss of a loved one alters us in significant and often permanent ways.
However, Jesus goes further than to simply mourn – he is the powerful God of the universe and he calls Lazarus from the grave as easily as you and I rouse a drowsy friend from sleep.
Come along this Easter as we stare death in the face and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection power.
You are what you eat. So what have you been chewing on?
I’ve been reflecting this week on the fact that we all consume a great deal of content, from YouTube, Netflix, podcasts, music playlists, social media etc… How are you going at focusing your attention on what is good for you? And how do you know what is good for you? Or do you rely on the ‘algorithm’ for your diet?
I’m hoping that we can do better at recommending good content for each other to build one another up in Christ. Maybe you have been encouraged by some good content that you’d like to recommend?
Of course the most essential part of our diet is the Word of God – let me recommend to you the ‘Redeeming Time App’ (https://redeemingtime.app/) to help you make use of your idle time feasting on God’s Word. Also, below are links to Spotify playlists for the Picton 9am and Wilton 10am congregations (Wilton 5pm to come). What do you recommend?
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)
How are you going at praying daily for your friends to find life in Christ? I have forgotten some days, but I’ve found it a helpful discipline to call out to God for those friends and also to remind me to connect with them and look for opportunities in conversation with them. We began in February identifying 3 friends to pray for daily and provided training in ‘Growing Conversations About Jesus’. In March our focus is on conversations with those friends to deepen friendships and perhaps share with them something of our faith in Jesus. Now as we head towards April we focus our attention on invitations. Will you be inviting friends to the Women’s ‘Paint and Sip‘ event, or the Men’s ‘Jesus, Beer and Pizza’ event, the Hope for the Illawarra events, or perhaps our Easter services? Last Sunday I was reflecting in conversation about the way God has saved several people in the last few months as they’ve been drawn to come to Church and drawn to put their faith in Jesus and find life in him through forgiveness of their sins. Reflecting on the way God has worked in these people gives me confidence in my prayers that God can work in my friends too. Blessings, Ben
**This interview is a part of a series to commemorate 175 years of St. Mark’s Anglican Church.**
When did you start attending church at St. Mark’s, and what are some of your early memories of the church?
I started coming to St. Mark’s in about 1966. My mother and father, who lived in Redbank, in Upper Picton, got a housing commission down on Menangle Street. We moved from the Methodist church in Redbank to start attending St. Mark’s. I don’t have many memories of St. Mark’s at that stage because of being so young, but as time went on I went to Sunday School. There were no actual rooms for Sunday School: in one part of the church you’d have the first class, in another part you’d have the second class, in another part you’d have kindergarten…right up to the sixth class and high school. The members of the congregation in the morning would go outside and sit on stools and they would listen to the Rector give a sermon, while the children would have their Sunday Schools classes in the church building. In the mid-eighties there was a cottage set up (outside the church building). A friend of mine, Barry, and his wife, Denise, became the youth pastors, and they ran and based an outreach in the cottage, with their young family. The cottage is gone now but from that, about 10 or more young people became strong Christians and went off into ministry, as missionaries overseas with YWAM, and some also attended bible college. The best thing was, everybody that came to St. Mark’s was accepted for who they were. There was no groups of friends and such. Everybody was accepted, everybody was loved. What attracts people to church is, I believe, a strong group of Christians who are open to sharing and caring and accepting people.
What are some ways that the church engaged with the congregation and community during this time?
St. Mark’s in that time used to have missionary conventions. These were held in Victoria Park on Menangle Street, in the agricultural hall. It would run for one week, starting on a Saturday and finishing the following Saturday. Basically, every night they would have movies or a speaker from a different mission from around the world who would come and talk about a variety of things. Many people were saved because the Rector (of St. Marks) would give altar calls, where people could come and receive Jesus. The convention went on for about 20 years, from around 1956 to about 1976. There were thousands of people visiting over the twenty years and many peoples’ lives were changed.
In the early seventies, the Rector, JB Schofield, bought a double decker bus, which the church paid for and looked after. That bus was used from about 1972, right up until JB retired in 2000. It was used for many different things: we went on Outback safaris to Coopers Creek and Cameron’s Corner; we went to South Australia and the Flinders Ranges and to Coonabarabran and the Warrenbungles. St. Mark’s was always a place that was exciting – there was always something happening. We were always doing something adventurous. The bus would collect kids from the high school, from year 7 to year 9. They would come down for 2 hours first thing in the morning to have a seminar in the church, where they would black the windows out to make it look like a picture theatre. The children weren’t “churched” at all, so, there was one time, I remember, when the lights came on, and one of the ushers – we had to have ushers to make sure the kids were under control – found a young couple having a pash! The church would be packed. Upstairs, downstairs… the Rector would sometimes show a movie and the kids loved it – it was getting out of school, it was something different, it was an excursion. That was held once a month on a Thursday. The bus and the fellowship and the friendship of people is what made St. Mark’s what it was, along with good bible teaching, prayer and leadership. Church has changed and people change; at the moment it is a different demographic, but who knows what’s going to happen in the next 10 years? It could all change again.
It’s amazing where St. Mark’s is today. Who knows what the next adventure is.
Learn how to make a wood fired pizza from scratch while taste testing three different beers (and eating your pizza)! We will also be hearing about how Jesus has worked in the life of some of the men at Wilton Anglican.
5-8pm on Saturday 12th April at Wilton Anglican Church. $20 per person. *Dietary options available. **Boys welcome under the supervision of their dads (but will not be drinking beer).
At Picton and Wilton Anglican Churches, we are committed to the physical, emotional and spiritual welfare and safety of all people, particularly within our own community. As a church we take the teaching and leadership of children and young people seriously and we do all we can to provide an environment that is safe from any form of harm.
Ministry to children and young people is vibrant and exciting work, and also greatly significant to the life of the church. It is a service to the children and youth, the church family, and to God himself that offers great opportunities, but also carries significant responsibilities for the wellbeing of the children and young people in our care. there are two aspects of this coming up that I want to draw your attention to: 1. If you are a parent / carer of (a) child(ren) in our programs, please complete our annual comprehensive permission note this year, if you haven’t already – due end of March. 2. We’d also love you to participate in our Safe Ministry Training so that you are equipped to work with children and young people in our Church (this isn’t the only requirement, but it is the most time consuming one). You could participate in the Face-to-Face Safe Ministry Training in Mittagong on 29th March. Or we will be helping both adults and junior leaders complete the online Safe Ministry Training on 30th March at Wilton Church. If you wish to participate please email safeministry@pwac.org.au to let us know. For more info about our approach to Safe Ministry please check out our website here: https://pwac.org.au/safe-ministry/ Yours in Christ, Ben
When I was 6 years old, I asked Jesus into my heart, with the assurance that I would go to heaven to be with Jesus when I died. That was the way my Sunday School teachers explained it to me. As years went on, I wondered if somehow that childhood understanding was inadequate. As more years have passed, and I’ve also understood myself a little better, I can see that God, who made me a person who experiences the world primarily through my feelings and my future-oriented thoughts, was reaching out to me to draw me to himself, in a way I could grasp – or take to heart. Recently, I have been listening to an audiobook by Sam Alberry ‘One with My Lord: The Life-Changing Reality of Being in Christ‘ (it’s only 4h 16min). He writes about how he has come to see the many times the Scriptures speak of our union with Christ. That when we become a Christian, we are not only declared righteous through Christ’s death in our place, but we are made one with him! I’ve had the words of the song ‘Christ is Mine Forevermore‘ going around in my head recently. A song about walking with the Lord, composed with a gentle walking rythym. Is Christ mine? As I listened to this book, and read the Scriptures with the lenses that Sam Alberry says he can’t now help but wear, I see time after time mention of the Lord as ours – ours in a relationship like, but so much richer than earthly marriage. A union that cannot be broken! Some words from the song that touched my heart: ‘And mine are keys to Zion city Where beside the King I’ll walk For there my heart has found its treasure Christ is mine forevermore’ Yours in Christ, Sharon
We had a great weekend away last weekend. Rick Lewers reminded us of the security and assurance we have in Christ as he spoke to us from Romans 8 about our Adoptive Father, Atoning Son, and Awakening Holy Spirit. It was a great time of fellowship, with meals together, games, activities and the Amazing Race.
This week we are preparing to relaunch our Bible Study Groups and hoping you will sign up to join one. It’s always a tricky process and we’re bound to make mistakes, so don’t get offended, just let us know and we’ll sort things out. We’ve had a go at putting groups together, based on the survey we did and now we hope people can either confirm what we’ve suggested for them, or cross their name out and sign up to a different group on the paper forms at Church on Sunday. If you’re name isn’t on a list, its just because you didn’t complete the survey earlier, you can still sign up to a group.
Our goal is to have as many people as possible benefitting from the bible teaching, fellowship and encouragement that a Bible Study Group can offer. Of course, we realise that not everyone can or will be part of one, and that’s OK.
Most groups will start meeting in the first week of March.
