You probably associate meetings with boredom and tedium. But meetings are important. Good meetings bring together the wisdom and diverse input of a team to make good decisions which lead to great outcomes.

Our Annual General Meeting is next Sunday 3rd March, 11:30am at Wilton Church, and if you care about our Church and its vision of helping people find ‘Life in Christ’, let me encourage you to be there.

At this meeting we hope to review how God has been at work among us over the past year and dream about the possibilities for the year ahead. It’s an opportunity for transparency with questions and discussion about our strategy and purpose. And its an opportunity to elect wardens, parish councillors and parish nominators to ensure the good governance of our Church and its properties and finances.

The 10am Wilton congregation have been thinking a lot in terms of the ‘Trellis and the Vine’. The Vine describes the growth of the gospel and it is the goal of our Church. But the vine will only grow healthy and strong when its supported by a solid trellis. The trellis is the logistics, governance and management of healthy systems and processes at Church which enable the gospel work to grow and thrive. This means that meetings are important, it might even mean that meetings are exciting – imagine the gospel vine (growth) that might be facilitated by the decisions we make at our AGM (trellis)!

Yours in Christ,

Ben Boardman

Today (Ash Wednesday) begins the season of Lent.
Lent is the season of 40 days (not including Sundays) leading up to Easter and is often associated with fasting, repentance and acknowledging our need for God’s grace.
Traditionally, at an Ash Wednesday service you go forward to have the sign of the cross written on your forehead in ash.  As we prepare for Easter, it is confronting and humbling to recognise that Jesus died upon the cross at Calvary – he suffered in my place for my sins so that I might be forgiven and reconciled to God.
Fasting is a practice of self-denial in order to focus or discipline oneself.  Many people choose to refrain from using Facebook, or from eating chocolate or coffee, or from watching TV.  And while there is value in self-deprivation in developing self-control and discipline – I think its important that fasting directs us towards a positive cause, not just a negation.  For example, you could refrain from using Facebook or watching TV, and then use the time you would have been scrolling Facebook, to read your Bible and pray instead.  Or you could stop eating chocolate or paying for coffee and instead give the money saved to a charity or gospel cause.
However you choose to celebrate Lent, I pray that it helps you to appreciate and give thanks for Christ’s work of salvation through his death and resurrection so that we might have life in Him.
Yours in Christ,
Ben Boardman

This term as we study the book of Genesis in Church, we are bound to raise some controversy and there are likely to be many questions.

For example: Where did Cain’s wife come from? Did Methuselah really live 969 years? Where did the serpent come from? How did Noah convince all the animals to get on the ark, and how did they not eat each other?

I’d love to hear your questions or comments, either in response to the sermons, or just things that have been simmering away in your head from the book of Genesis. We will attempt to address some of these questions / comments in Church, and they will also help us to understand where to focus our preaching. You can write your question down and put it in the Giving Box up the back of Church, or you can fill out a question form online at the link below.

And don’t forget that joining a Bible study group, or arranging a meetup with friends can be a great way to explore and discuss the Bible and encourage each other. Most of our Bible study groups will be starting up this week ahead, and I’d love to connect you with a group.

Yours in Christ,

Ben Boardman

Click the link to submit questions / comments: https://forms.gle/kevB6k7jZ6Qt9aPF8

This week (Monday – Wednesday) Jake and I have been attending the MTS G8 Conference.  It’s a national gathering to support and encourage people undertaking ministry apprenticeships (Jake), along with their trainers (me).  Across Australia there are approximately 250 people at Churches and University Campuses undertaking a ministry apprenticeship – isn’t that so exciting.
In Matthew 9 Jesus says: ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’  Even in our little patch (Picton and Wilton), we anticipate at least 50,000 people moving into our area over the next few decades, on top of those already living here who need to hear about Jesus Christ. 
We need to be praying that God will raise up workers for this massive harvest field, and we need to be identifying and training these workers in answer to our own prayers.  It’s important for all of us to ask, ‘How can I be involved in this task?’.  Will you be praying?  Will you be putting your hand up to serve?  Will you be giving money to support Jake in his apprenticeship?  There is nothing more important than helping people find life in Christ!
Yours in Christ,
Ben Boardman

In our most recent National Church Life Survey, 75% of you (our Church members) indicated that you spend time in prayer, Bible reading, meditation at least a few times a week.

If you are spending any time in reflection or making resolutions this new year, let me encourage you to include a spiritual assessment. How are you going at depending on Christ? Do you seek to honour him in your everyday decisions? Are you continuing to grow in Christian character and the fruit of the Spirit? Are you encouraging others in their walk with Christ or to consider Christ? How are you serving God and his Church in this year ahead?

Regular Bible reading and prayer are the engine room of spiritual growth – improving your habits in this one area will have an enormous impact on your whole life. What goals might you set for 2024? If you’re not a reader, consider listening to a podcast or listening to the bible read – many Bible apps will read the Bible aloud to you.

Check out these articles for some Bible reading plan ideas:

https://www.ligonier.org/posts/bible-reading-plans

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/walk-park-bible-plans/

Blessings,

Ben

We hope you can join us for one of our Christmas services!

Christmas is a time of great expectations – is Christmas lunch all that you hoped for? Did you pick the right presents to give to the nieces and nephews? Is your career as successful as your brothers? Have you done enough to please the mother-in-law? And so much more…

And with Christmas expectations comes Christmas disappointments. Whether we admit it or not, we often don’t measure up to our own expectations for ourselves, let alone others. But the heart of Christmas is not expectations – the heart of Christmas is the undeserved love and grace of God in Jesus Christ. He comes to give us love and acceptance despite the fact that we can’t live up to expectations.

This Christmas, whatever your expectations or disappointments, please know that you are loved by God and that Jesus has come so that you might know him and find full and eternal life in his name. This Christmas, come to Jesus and find hope, peace and purpose in Him.

Blessings,

Ben

What is your favourite Christmas Carol?

Are you sick of Maria Carey on repeat in the shops by the time Christmas comes around? Or do you wish you could sing carols right into January and beyond?

I love the carols rejoicing at our Saviours birth and marvelling at God’s love and the joy of Christmas. But I particularly love the Carols that acknowledge the difficulties of Christmas too… Lines like, ‘a weary world rejoices’ resonate with me as Christmas approaches – and ‘O Come O Come Emmanuel’ calling for rescue for God’s captive people, Israel.

Christmas is a time for joy – not the shallow joy of presents, or of Christmas lunch, that leaves us feeling bloated afterwards; but the lasting joy of knowing that our God is not far off and ignorant of our troubles, but has come near to dwell among us. A joy that fills us with comfort and hope on the good days and the bad, all year long.

I’m praying that this Christmas – with intermingled good and hard moments, you will be filled with the joy and comfort of knowing that God has come near. In love, he has sent his only Son, Jesus Christ into the world to redeem and rescue you.

Blessings,

Ben

As you read this (if you read it today, Wednesday), National Training Event is wrapping up and University Students are preparing to go on mission for a week to Churches like ours.  The National Training Event (NTE) is an annual conference held in Canberra, bringing thousands of students and graduates together from across Australia and the world to be transformed by the gospel, trained in the gospel, and sent with the gospel.
In fact, 9 of them from the Sunshine Coast University are coming to join us this afternoon for a week of proclaiming life in Christ!
They’ll be sharing in our Bible study groups, helping run our Playtime, Kids Club and Youth Group, partnering with us at Wilton Carols, and sharing in our Church services on Sunday.  Please take the opportunity to meet and get to know them, and to encourage them as they encourage you.
This is just another reminder that we are part of Christ’s Church, which extends far beyond the boundaries of Picton and Wilton.  It’s also a great encouragement that God is raising up the next generation of leaders for his Church and he is powerfully at work in the lives of young people!
Blessings,
Ben