on 02/04/2018
What a privilege to share the love of Christ with a special presentation adapted from the stations of the cross on Good Friday and then in a relaxed worship celebration on Sunday. Thank you to all who helped present these gifts of Christ’s love to our church family and may God bless the visitors who shared with us. Easter 2018 gave us an opportunity to take a breath in our cultivating the culture of heaven journey so we could squarely focus on our motivation. We pray that you experienced more of Jesus this Easter. Perhaps even a fresh revelation of the Father’s love for YOU, His love for those you love and even His love for those you only vaguely connect with or don’t even know. Let us walk in the victory of the cross and in the knowledge of all that it cost so those that we come in contact with will be confronted by a love beyond imagining. IMPORTANT!!! Activity Update for THIS WEEK after Easter PLEASE be aware that Reception and the Ministry Ops Centre will be CLOSED until later in the week. ALSO, ‘The Prayer Group with Legs for HOPE’ has completed its partnership with the National 40 Days of Prayer Relay and as such will NOT BE ON THIS TUESDAY. It will recommence NEXT Tuesday 10th April at 5.30pm. STAY TUNED for announcements about new options for discussion and review of our journey along with some other equipping opportunities as HOPE College Term 2 Starts soon. Finally, for now, ‘COFFEE’s ON’ will take a break this week and will return NEXT Wednesday 11th April with some vision to be shared about its immediate future. Bon Voyage Dulce! We pray that Dulce experiences all of God’s favour, health, energy and peace/safety as she travels to Cordoba in Argentina on Friday to spend time with her daughter. God Speed dear friend. Our Brother and Partner Inducted We thank God for the official induction of Gordon Barr with his wife Helen as the minister with Port Kembla Baptist Church on Sunday. Gordon has been serving the church since November 2016 and at a special church meeting after the conclusion of his 12-month interim ministry, the church family unanimously affirmed Gordon’s call to a permanent ministry. The Easter Sunday commissioning celebration was scheduled quickly, to coincide with a visit from Gordon’s parents from down the south coast. This is a call to pray for Gordon, Helen and the Port Kembla church for the journey ahead and our continued partnership with them, but particularly because of what happened after the service on Sunday. As Graeme and Karen arrived to share in the celebration and bring greetings from our church family, they were greeted with the news that Gordon and Helen had just 10 minutes prior, driven off quickly to Sydney due to the sudden hospitalization of one of Helen’s twin boys, Ryan. He had suffered a case of ‘surgical emphysema’ which has nothing to do with smoking and has only a few possible causes which rarely impact people. Doctors are still trying to determine what brought this about (if in fact they can) but we are thankful to God that Ryan’s surgery on Sunday was successful. He will remain under close monitoring in ICU for a few days due to the severity of what occurred. We are also thankful to God for the decisive action of one of Ryan’s friends who ensured a better outcome. Please continue to pray for Ryan and his family during this challenging time. A Summary of this week’s message for Prayer, Reflection, Response & Action. The Series is ‘Cultivating the Culture of Heaven On Planet Earth’ For Easter Sunday, we explored what the Resurrection Sealed …. ‘The King of Kings Pardon, Produces or Anchors the Culture of Heaven’ Our FOCUS Scriptures for today are Luke 23 & 24, Matthew 27 and John 20 & 21 (always worth a PRE -read for this context). (Kingdom of the World – human kings) A pardon is a government decision to allow a person who has been convicted of a crime to be free and absolved of that conviction, as if they were never convicted. That’s the ideal but mostly NOT the reality – no conviction (Kingdom of God- King of Kings) Everyone who faithfully believes in it, is pardoned by Jesus’ work on the cross and all that God hopes for is that we respond gratefully, accept the gift and live our lives out of the freedom that establishes. The work is a GIFT available to ALL whether we accept it or not … The Culture of Forgiveness IS Justification by FAITH (Luke 23: 31-34) A context for this is verse 31 Jesus recognized the human condition and dealt with it once and for all ON THE CROSS AND THEN SEALED IT BY DEFEATING DEATH (Father Forgive Them is a representation of ultimate forgiveness, it was offered to all from the Cross, before the resurrection knowing that the resurrection sealed it. Faith is true faith BEFORE we see evidence. Grace deals with faith after the fact). I.e. If you have faith in what’s happening right now on the cross and in the one who sent Jesus – you will be forgiven, just as if you haven’t sinned. So, as you cultivate this culture ON earth, you can forgive others BECAUSE IT NO LONGER DEPENDS ON PUNISHMENT, DUTY, OBLIGATION, ATTITUDES, WHETHER THERE IS COMPELLING EVIDENCE OR NOT, THE WEATHER ….. (NB: Remember our discoveries about The Lord’s Prayer & the lifestyle of forgiveness=Kingdom) The Culture of True Giving is Beyond Comparison (Luke 23: 35-43) A context for this is verse 34- the culture of true forgiveness – no comparative measure Jesus responds to the thief because the thief’s heart was transparent. He had no expectation due to the lateness of the hour, only respect, reverence, self-awareness, hope, penitence and faith. A gift is a gift. If it’s been paid for by the King of Kings – that’s the final word; however we feel about the recipient. The Culture of Equal Access Ignores Status/Circumstances (Mat. 27: 45-54) A context for this is verse 46 Even Jesus needed the Father’s key to access the throne … Because of this moment, even beyond the anguish of the garden, there is now NO PLACE that you and I can go that Jesus hasn’t been. The resurrection built a NEW temple, established a NEW order where even a Centurion who was cut to the heart could have direct access to God’s throne. (vs 51) the curtain/veil was torn in two and (vs 52-53) God proved He has the power over death that Jesus was trusting in (the faithful could see–Lazarus, the Holy dead raised to life BEFORE Jesus Resurrection) The Culture of Discipleship – founded on constant Communion, Mutual Accountability i.e. integrity (Lk 24: 13-17; 25-27; 30-34; vs 36->Jn 20: 26-29; 21:17-23) The context verses I will highlight as follows – Luke 23:48 might indicate some conviction amongst witnesses like the Centurion who may have responded to Jesus. Then from Ch 24 one of the clearest indications that Jesus’ death & resurrection were part of the discipleship journey; part of the “Follow Me & I will make you fishers of people” strategy. In Luke 24 we learn of the 2 on the Emmaus Road. They sought clarity and in verse 25, Jesus challenges AND encourages their hearts. Faith is required for the whole journey, because the cross represents the whole of Jesus’ life ON earth, NOT JUST THE END OF IT. From vs 30 we learn that as they ate together, Jesus breaking bread, (like when we do now), reminds us that constant communion with Him keeps what’s important clear and guards our hearts whilst emboldening us for His primary purpose. NB: Like Baptism, the picture Jesus created by instigating Communion was simply about an INTIMATE & CONSTANT relationship between people & God. Then the Emmaus Road witnesses head to the other disciples and so we utilize John’s testimony to bring this home. Firstly, (from John 20) Jesus deals with Thomas and once again emphasizes FAITH in the whole of Jesus’ life and ministry. Like Thomas, you and I believe because of the clarity of hindsight, based on the Resurrection and YET, Jesus was looking for faith on the earth right from the beginning of His earthly engagement, NOT JUST because of the powerful and miraculous truth of the Resurrection. Jesus then visits the fishermen & reminds them of the task in the first verses of John 21 as he walks on the shore of the Lake and shows them where the fish (the harvest) are/is. From verse 15, Jesus is seeking a task motivating constant communion. One which DEMONSTRATES integrity and not just espoused theory. John summarizes his gospel with this truth. The pardon of the King of Kings produces followers of Jesus who GET IT, who realize as Peter did that being human is not to be avoided, it is to be embraced. Jesus wants Peter to acknowledge in his responses that he is 100% human and needs ALL or 100% of heaven to achieve the task to which he’s been called. The whole journey Peter’s had with Jesus is the resource, not just the dramatic parts. We need to operate in the Resurrection victory that testifies to a RELATIONSHIP, A SUBMISSIVE PARTNERSHIP between the 100% human and the 100% divine – any other way is human centric, it is phony and our families, friends, neighbours and connections will see right through it. He is Risen confirms; He is Sent from Heaven to show us what that should look like ON Earth … Let’s Talk Here’s the Link to What’s Happening at the HUB this week http://corrimalcommunitychurch.com.au/blog/9-uncategorised/7-click-here Here’s the Link to this week’s Prayer Diary for The HOPE Project http://corrimalcommunitychurch.com.au/blog/9-uncategorised/9-click-here Here’s the Link to HOPE College, Student information & Application Process http://corrimalcommunitychurch.com.au/blog/9-uncategorised/10-click-here Here’s the Link to Graeme’s Available Weekly Calendar Times https://graeme2.youcanbook.me/
He is RISEN!!!!
