So much of our Christmas traditions are designed for the northern hemisphere. Like Christmas lights that we have to keep the kids up way past their bedtime in order to actually see. Or Santa working out alternative entry points for the lack of chimney and wearing a big furry coat in the middle of summer (good thing most malls have air-conditioning). We’re forced to live with or translate these northern hemisphere traditions into our own culture.
The good thing about this process is it forces you to consider what’s really essential and what are just cultural trimmings.
You won’t be surprised to hear me say that Jesus, the Christ, is at the heart of Christmas. And it’s pretty hard to argue when it’s both a celebration of his birth, and it has his name in it. He’s come to bring peace to a messy world – peace with God by forgiveness of sins and then peace and restoration to the world which he’ll bring about on the last day. All across the world, Jesus offer of forgiveness and peace bursts out across cultures to everyone (even ones that don’t traditionally celebrate Christmas). Have you put your trust in Jesus, have you received his forgiveness and peace?
And then do your Christmas trimmings help you celebrate this peace and this Saviour Jesus, or are they just a messy distraction from it. Christmas trimmings are a great chance to celebrate Jesus and have fun. But don’t miss the heart of Christmas – don’t miss Jesus!
Category: newsletter (Page 10 of 12)
As we prepare for Christmas you’ll be madly shopping, wrapping, cooking, cleaning and much much more. But how will you prepare your heart for this wonderful season? Advent is a great time and Christmas is a wonderful celebration – but its easy to get distracted from the real meaning of Christmas – the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ who has come to bring peace with God through forgiveness of our sins. Perhaps you could pick up an advent reading plan and spend some time reading the Bible and praying each morning and/or evening to re-orient your heart and your life towards Jesus Christ.
There are lots of free resources to help us prepare our hearts for Christmas during Advent. Here are three that you can choose from (but there are many more out there):
- CEP Advent Bible readings printable – simplest and easiest to use: https://www.cepstore.com.au/
Content/Images/uploaded/Bible% 20Reading%20Plan_161116.pdf - Common Grace Advent Daily Email Devotional – ‘Being Present’: http://www.commongrace.org.
au/advent - Great to do with kids, this free printable Advent Calendar will take some work, and often refers to the Jesus Storybook Bible, which will be difficult if you don’t own a copy. But it’s great for engaging children:
http://www.faithgateway.com/jesus-storybook-bible-advent- calendar-printable/
We had the great joy and privilege of sharing this good news 
with Wilton Public School SRE students on Wednesday at our Christmas assembly. Our Scripture teachers have done such a great job all year and it was great to be able to finish off with a bang. Pray for a refreshing break from teaching and for the message to sink into the hearts of those who heard it.
Ben
Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!
You might be delaying the decorations and side-stepping the shops, or perhaps you’re Christmas tree has already been up for a month. Either way, at the heart of Christmas is the good news that ‘a Saviour has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord’.
Christmas is one of the best opportunities all year to share the great news that sins can be forgiven, hope found and eternal life secured by trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord. Please be praying for the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with your family, neighbours, friends and workmates. Then be brave and take those opportunities as they present themselves.
I just received 5,000 postcard invitations to our Christmas festivities. Starting this Sunday, will you help me pop them into letterboxes and into the hands of those who might join us to celebrate Christmas?
Yours in Christ,
Ben
The Passover was an event of such significance that the Israelite’s reset their lunar calendar and marked time by it (Exodus 12:2). God rescued his people and formed them into a nation and at the same time he showed the Egyptians and the world at large his power and might.
The Passover would continue to define God’s people as they lived in varying levels of trust and obedience to him for 1500 years. They were free to live as God’s people, under his rule and in his promised land – but at the same time they suffered from another kind of slavery. A slavery to their own sinful selfish natures. This required another kind of rescue – a rescue from sin that only Jesus Christ can bring. His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary superseded the Passover and again reset the calendar because of its enormous significance. Have you placed your trust in Jesus Christ to receive the rescue and freedom from sin that he offers?
It’s so encouraging to see how God is at work around this great nation and around the world. We’re going to have a great day this coming Sunday hearing about the 30+ years the Etherington’s have spent in the Northern Territory and I can’t wait!
Lately I’ve read two great Christian biographies, one about taking the gospel to remote cannibalistic tribes in Western Papua New Guinea (‘Peace Child’) and another we’ve been reading to the kids at bed time about Nepal (‘My Seventh Monsoon’).
These Christian biographies can be a great companion to our regular Bible reading and prayer to help us in living our lives for Jesus Christ. Maybe you’d like to borrow a book from me to read, I have plenty to lend and/or suggest.
These Christian biographies can be a great companion to our regular Bible reading and prayer to help us in living our lives for Jesus Christ. Maybe you’d like to borrow a book from me to read, I have plenty to lend and/or suggest.
One of the most encouraging things for me is that I see God at work outside of the pages of books or third party stories. I see God at work in your life. I see you maturing in your faith, I see you stepping up with trepidation to serve in new ways in Church, and I see you sharing your faith with others.
People are like lego blocks. Each person only has a limited number of connections that they can really 
sustain in their lives. A standard piece might have 6 close friendships in its life, but then there are those really long and skinny pieces that can maintain 10, or the short ones that only have space for 2.
Over time, our connections fill up and we simply don’t have room for any more friendships in our lives. When a new person joins our community they find a lot of friendly faces, but they might find it very difficult to make friends. It’s not our fault, all our connections are taken.
The hard fact is that for our Church to grow, newcomers need to make friends, not just find people ‘friendly’. This might require the multiplying of congregations or bible study groups, or even the easing of long-held friendships, to open up our connections to others. This is a painful but necessary process if we are truly intent on sharing the great gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and growing his Kingdom.
You might not have made a new friend for a while, so this might be a little scary, but start simple and invite them over for lunch – find out what interests them and see where it goes.
Most of all, think about how you can place Jesus at the centre, we’re not a social club – we’re God’s people. Why not offer to pray at the end of an evening meal discussion? Or read the Bible when you meet to catch up? Let’s not limit ourselves to being ‘friendly’, let’s be friends!
Being a welcoming Church is not just about who’s on the roster at the door – it’s about setting a culture of welcoming newcomers, seeking to build them up in Christ and incorporate them into our family. It’s our responsibility – all of us.
Have you ever thought about the impact it makes when someone deliberately makes a decision to come and sit next to you?
Perhaps you can recall that time at the high school dance, where that special someone boldly strode across from the boys (or girls) side of the room to sit with you! Or perhaps you remember the friend who came to sit with you for the bus ride on the way to school. Sitting next to someone is more than just an act of physical proximity.
Where you sit at Church is also very important. Not just for a good view, or to feel comfortable about being in the same spot each week, but for the sake of others. Sitting next to someone lets them know you want to spend time with them and that they are important. It speaks volumes to both a newcomer and a regular at Church when somebody deliberately makes a choice to sit with them. Those of us who come to Church on our own will be especially helped by someone joining us, but at the same time we shouldn’t assume that a family grouping wants their ‘space’ more than our company.
When you arrive at Church each week, why not pray on the way in about who you might be able to sit next to and encourage or welcome. Share with them how you’ve been encouraged by God and his word and ask them how they are going. Of course there are plenty of opportunities to welcome and encourage one another after Church, but who you sit next to is an important decision. Sit with love.
Being a welcoming Church is not just about who’s on the roster at the door – it’s about setting a culture of welcoming newcomers, seeking to build them up in Christ and incorporate them into our family. It’s our responsibility – all of us.
‘Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’ – Heb 10:25
part 2 of 3
The meerkat is everyone’s favourite at the zoo. After busily foraging around for food (haven’t they noticed that the food mysteriously appears every day at 9am) they stand to attention bolt upright and check this way and that to see that there is no danger at hand. They’re looking out for one another, because they’re a team, because they’re family.
I want to suggest that might be a good habit for us to be in at Church. Not in order to notice any danger, but to notice anyone in danger: anyone who is standing by themselves; anyone looking lost or lonely; or anyone who has come to Church for the first time and will leave again promptly if nobody comes to speak with them.
I completely understand that there is always a friend at Church who you’re itching to catch up with, or to gloat about how you’re team beat their team in the football. But that conversation can wait. When the service finishes, just put that conversation on hold for a second and mimic a meerkat.
I also understand that talking to strangers is scary. Why not be a pair of meerkats? Try it with a friend, say ‘Hey, have you ever seen that person at Church before? Why don’t we go and say hello?’
Mimic a meerkat, and you just might find an opportunity to welcome somebody to our Church, listen to their story, show them around, describe how our ‘King’s Kids’ Sunday school or youth ministries or bible studies work, or even explain the good news of Jesus!
Being a welcoming Church is not just about who’s on the roster at the door – it’s about setting a culture of welcoming newcomers, seeking to build them up in Christ and incorporate them into our family. It’s our responsibility – all of us –and so over the next few weeks in this space, I want to explore this issue.
part 1 of 3…
Fathers Day is a great opportunity to celebrate the important role Fathers have in the life of the family. Being a Dad isn’t easy – I can certainly attest to that. It requires patience and love, endurance and self-control, gentleness and strength. None of us are perfect in the role, but if we do our best to provide stability, love and godly leadership to our wives and our children then we are making an enormous contribution to the well-being of the family and to the health of our Church and society.
When God made humanity he made us male and female to complement each other. Both equal and in God’s image, but each different and unique. A man who rules over his family, who demands obedience or who uses strength or violence to get his way is not following Christ’s example. Each Christian man is to strive to emulate the sacrificial love of Christ Jesus in laying aside his own needs to care for the needs of others. In using his strength to love and serve with gentleness.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” – Ephesians 5:25.
Judgement (this weeks sermon topic) isn’t a very popular notion these days. But it is actually very important in the right place by the right people in order to establish justice and in order to show love.
Imagine the child who grows up thinking they are a wonderful singer, but can’t actually hold a tune. Encouraged by parents and peers, they have no idea how much they are embarrassing themselves, but no-one wants to ‘judge’ so the farce continues.
One of the dramatic shifts in our culture over the last decade or so has been the rise of ‘tolerance’. Tolerance is the new queen of virtues, taking the place of love. The problem with tolerance is it doesn’t care enough to intervene. Love, on the other hand, doesn’t just tolerate, but seeks what’s best for the other person, even when it might involve disagreeing or even rebuking another person. Very often we aren’t in a position to judge, since we only see things from our own limited perspective.
Ultimately God is judge, and he will set to right all the injustices of our world on the day when Jesus Christ returns in glory. The problem for us is that from God’s perspective (the true perspective) we will all be found wanting on that judgement day – every single one of us (Romans 3:10-12). Thanks be to God that Jesus Christ has provided a way for us to find forgiveness and escape God’s righteous judgement – and we’ll see more on this next week!
