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HAS GOD SPOKEN TO YOU? HOW?
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You may think that is a whacky question. If you do, you are not alone. I tend to ask lots of questions when people start quoting what God has allegedly said to people. It’s just that in my experience people like using this phrase to justify something they really want to do anyway- but using God as the one who told them makes it a bit hard to argue with them. “God told me to get such and such a job“… sounds very impressive. A lot of what we want guidance for in our individualistic, materialistic, selfish world, most people in our world have no choice in whatsoever.
But- hang on. How did God tell you? With an audible voice like humans? (Well I’m sure He can and has spoken like that, but there are lots of people who hear all sorts of voices for all sorts of reasons). It seems that even in the Bible the audible voice of God is reserved for BIG moments, you know like when he created the universe or said “Let there be light”, or when he announced Jesus as his own Son.
No. Audible voices from God are not to be taken as promised. They tend to be signs of something else happening in your brain at a chemical level. But how does God guide? With Dreams? By organising circumstances? By Writing on the wall? Through friend’s advice? In a clear sense of urgency? By visiting spiritual guides? Essentially God wants you to live in a way that acknowledges Him. But how?
This is a big topic. What makes it much bigger is just how wrong so much of what is said inside and outside the churches is. The next three weeks we will be tackling this issue and debunking false paths to guidance (and so making the path clear) on what God wants for you and for us.
Please feel very welcome to join us at church this Sunday 10 am and 6:30 pm
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SPEAK THE LANGUAGE?
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We all know what it’s like to feel like we don’t know what is happening around us.It can happen when we are surrounded by people who speak another language and who have a culture which we have not become accustomed to. I know when I travelled through Spain, I felt like an outsider (which I was) and awkward trying to engage with others. It didn’t help to feel that no one really cared about whether I was feeling welcome, accepted or comfortable.
I also remember feeling like an outsider (which I was) at a church event when I was a teenager. There were a certain number of things that people were doing at certain times like standing to sing songs that they all seemed to know, praying and saying things that I had no idea of what they meant. It was hard work. But nobody else seemed to notice. I felt a lack or connection and a distance. I felt this church had no relevance and no awareness of where I was- the people there seemed nice enough- but they were all in on a secret way of doing things at their special club that I just didn’t get. They may as well have been speaking another language.
That experience is not unique to me. It is one reason I don’t want to be leading a church that does not connect with people. We want to speak the language of people, but also show just how truly relevant to real everyday living trusting Jesus is. That’s what Rouse Hill Anglican Church is on about. So we are concerned to be authentic, relational understandable and open. We sing. We listen to talks. We pray- but we do everything with a keen desire to be appropriate to the culture in North western Sydney. Why? Because we want to speak the language. Come and tell us how we are doing!
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MANY CHURCHES WORKING AS ONE.
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Unity with Diversity
Why are there so many different Christian Churches in our community? (or any community for that matter). It’s a common question. We can sometimes be tempted to quickly assume that having many churches is by definition a bad thing. However, the different denominational groupings can actually aid our functional unity.
A naïve response to this diversity is to simply make the assertion there is a unity between the different gatherings of people meeting as “Christian churches”. This assertion can be made without actually stating what that unity is based on or how it is seen. The assertion may be true to a certain extent, in that those people gathering under one name and heritage may have a real unity in belief with others gathering under another name and heritage just around the corner, or in another region or country. That truth will hopefully motivate us to pray for other churches throughout our region, nation and world.
All those people who have come to place their trust in Jesus as the one who has acted on their behalf in dying on the cross instead of them bearing the punishment for their own sins are part of this one church. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead ensures that one day there will be a great heavenly gathering or Church. In theological jargon, this one church is the “universal” church. The one universal (or catholic in the original sense) Church has unity, not just in Rouse Hill or Kellyville, but world-wide across time and space. The unity of the one Christian Church is more fundamentally a unity forged by the core beliefs, identity and purpose of the people of God who are in Christ.
That unity need not be threatened by differing sub-cultures of church and times or patterns of gathering. There may be certain congregations that wish to express their unity by having combined gatherings. That is natural and appropriate, and will proceed well if all those congregations are adequately briefed on the purpose and can have real input into the gathering. But if that does not happen, any gathering promoted as a combined event will not actually be so.
Recognising the Differences
That is just the way it is. It is not bringing disunity to our churches to note this fact. Noting the differences actually clarifies the basis of the real unity we do have. Other groups often do have the same core beliefs and understandings despite real yet peripheral differences. The truth lying just below the surface is that there are different conceptions of what the core beliefs actually are. If there is difference here, there can still be helpful cooperation at organizations like the Ministers Association meetings. We can still relate warmly, smile at each other and shake hands. We can and should have cooperative unity. However it is doubtful that any gathering promoted as The Church would be able to be an honest presentation of those differences.
People who meet as a congregation or church under one name or denominational heritage can understand and appreciate the differences they have with those who meet at another location. They can also know the unity they have in the essentials of their faith. Alternatively they can appreciate the fact that although they meet within the same heritage as another congregation, there may be no significant unity in belief.
For example, two congregations meeting in the Anglican organization may or may not have unity in their direction on the essentials of Christianity. Or a certain Baptist congregation may have more unity with a Presbyterian congregation than another Baptist congregation. In the end, the unity we as churches have and express depends on the relationships between us, and in particular the relationships between the leaders.
The Gospel as the basis of Unity
This conception of unity is based on the premise that despite the many different church labels, cultures, structures and ways of doing things, the different organizations claiming to be serving the Christian Church only have real unity on the basis of one Faith. If that premise is true, then our basis of unity must always be the Gospel. As Ephesians 4:3-4 admonishes Christians “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Churches and their leaders are not meant to be promoting different gospels. (See the extremely harsh warning of Galatians 1:8 “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned”). The difficulty comes when there are vastly different interpretations on what the “Gospel” actually is. This is not a difficulty if we don’t pretend we all believe the same thing. That means when other groups or Church leaders define the gospel message in a way that we feel undermines the Biblical Faith, we can and should be willing to graciously point that out. If we don’t, the unity we claim is a farce and the unity we display to the community will be no better than the Emperor’s new clothes.
Unity for effective witness
Yes, we are to seek to express any unity we have. That is a noble and thoroughly Biblical aim. We are to do that with love and charity. But we must never just sweep differences under the carpet. Jesus prays for oneness in those people the Father has given him (John 17:9) He asks “that they may be one”. This is not a prayer for one big gathering, but a prayer for unity of purpose and character in all true Christians.
Jesus goes on to give his reason for praying for this oneness in 17:21; “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
Jesus prays for the oneness of Christians so that those who are not Christian would come to believe the truth about Jesus loving them and coming to save them. That is, it is focused on the message of Christ. The oneness Jesus prays for is a oneness of belief that is expressed in a oneness in relationships.
To assert we have unity if there are actually massive differences is not an answer to Jesus’ prayer. There is another reason why one cannot interpret this unity which Christ prays for as some sort of single organizational structure. It is impossible this side of heaven to unite all Christian gatherings. Until then, maybe we can meditate on a helpful motto coined by those seeking to maintain a cooperative unity: In non-essentials- flexibility, in essentials- clarity, in all things- charity.
Now there is nothing wrong with colour or energy. They can and should be encouraged in our gatherings, and I suspect a common desire is for more interest in our church meetings. However having colourful and energetic and even interesting meetings is no guarantee that we have had a truly edifying gathering.
Doctrine Divides as well as Unifies
When there is a push for unity which is hesitant about defining that unity on the basis of core belief, there is also a push to downplay Biblical teaching and doctrinal discussion. Why? Because it is said “doctrine divides”. Yes. It does, and that can be destructive. Church leaders, like all Christians, can get involved in “fruitless arguments and pointless controversies” that the scriptures warn us against (Titus 3:9).
Doctrine can also clearly define and establish a unity which is relevant and powerful and faithful to the Word of God. The Churches in Rouse Hill who can work out a central thrust can have unity, and work together for the same purpose. For me, speaking as an Evangelical that purpose would be that more and more people in our area of North West Sydney will be presented with a simple, unadorned Gospel presentation so they can become Christians and grow in their Christian maturity, including their understanding of true Christian Unity.
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THE FINAL BREATH OF DEATH
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Many Australians are happy about Easter for the simple reason that it means another day off. But the actual event behind the celebration is anything but a day off. The Easter celebrations begin with Good Friday. On a Friday around 33AD, (give or take a few years) the sky went dark as the one they called “Christ” died while on a wooden cross. It was not surprising he died. It was the result of a well designed system of Roman military justice. Everyone who was crucified died. Thousands of people died in this way while Rome ruled the world. What makes Jesus’ death significant is the expectation he had of it.
Jesus did not try to escape this death. He spoke of it as an integral part of his mission to his friends and followers. As he traveled up to Jerusalem for the last time he took his twelve disciples aside and said about himself:. “They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.” But that isn’t where he left it- in the same conversation Jesus said this; “On the third day he will be raised to life”. It seems that those he told this to didn’t fully comprehend his resurrection until after they had seen him raised.
Jesus’ death and resurrection were seen by Jesus as necessary. Why? Because of the way it would fulfill the expectations of God’s promises in the Old Testament. The people of God in Israel had celebrated the grace God showed them in rescuing them from slavery. They did this annually by killing a lamb and eating it; the “Passover lamb”. It was called the Passover lamb as it was first eaten by God’s people the night that God’s judgment passed over all those who had poured its blood over their door-ways. The Passover lamb had to die in order for people to live. They lived, but also had sustenance from the lamb. They also ate bread which was quickly prepared, without yeast so it didn’t rise. This was because they had to be in a hurry- as they left Egypt to follow God to their new land.
On the night he was handed over to those who wanted him dead, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his friends- but with some significant differences. He took the bread and said to “take and eat, this is my body”. He then took a cup and said “Drink from it all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink from the fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom”.(Matthew 26:27) So as he had Passover he was saying that somehow his body, his blood, his death is like what happened at the original Passover. God’s anger and punishment passes over us and fall on Jesus. His blood saves us. We get life from him. And he will see his followers again in the Kingdom of God. “Behold the Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the World” is what John the Baptist says to the crowds when he announces Jesus.
This Easter, why don’t you place your trust in Jesus. His life, death, resurrection and coming again. Let’s help others see how in Jesus we too have God’s right anger pass over us. Good Friday : 9am Easter Sunday : 10 am and 6:30 pm.
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THE 10 COMMANDMENTS sentence us all to DEATH… and they can help us to LIVE.
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The ten commandments should scare us. As God gives the 10 Commandments at Mt Sinai, the people of Israel are a bit nervous about approaching God. They stay off at a distance, and Moses acts as a mediator for them. He receives the ten commandments, but “ they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen, but do not have God speak to us or we will die’ (Exodus 20:19).
They had been saved by God from Egypt, but they were aware of how powerful he was and how Holy. They also correctly recognised that they were not naturally like God. They went away from his character. This is shown really clearly even as they get the ten commandments, they are worshipping a statue rather than the true God.
God was aware of His people’s natures and so he establishes the sacrificial system where they can make atonement (become at one with God again) through the death of animals in recognition of their sin.
God gave the law because he wanted to make it clear what kinds of lives would be appropriate to live as God’s people. He gave it because he already had a relationship with His people and wanted them to know how to express that relationship faithfully. He was saying “I Love you, I have redeemed you, I have called you my people– so this is how to live as loved, redeemed and called people.”
The ten commandments form the heart of this covenant, but God goes on to show his people Israel how they apply for their specific context– this gives us a lot of the laws about foods and ceremonial cleanness and other interesting texts that are hard to apply today, as we are not the nation of Israel. We do not have a sacrificial system or ritual clean and unclean anymore.
That is because Jesus Christ actually fulfils the sacrificial system and all it was pointing to. He becomes our perfect and all-sufficient sacrifice to make atonement (or make us at one with god). We still see the 10 commandments upheld by the New Testament, as they still express God’s Holy character.
It is still wrong to follow other Gods or worship idols or blaspheme or murder or lie or… the laws are all still are important for us. They highlight our sin and need for God to make us right in Jesus, but they also help educate us in the right way of living faithfully; as people who love the Lord God, and our neighbours as ourselves.
But it isn’t a basis for our relationship– it is an outworking of an existing relationship we already have in Jesus redeeming us and calling us His People. He makes us Holy, now we are called to live Holy Lives.
We are urged to “live lives worthy of the calling we have received”. This means relying on God’s Grace in Jesus to work at being Godly, which happens through the Holy Spirit bringing us to comprehend and apply Gods Word.
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AND BIBLE-BASED IS WHAT EXACTLY ?
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At our recent newcomers Supper, we invited newer members to come and hear what we are on about as a church. The reason we want to do this is that it is really important to realise that Rouse Hill Anglican is committed to reaching our area with the good news of Jesus. Bible-based, Christ focussed.
That can only be done if we are telling the truth of Gods Word the Bible, and living it out in our lives. Another way of saying that is that we are Bible Based. We want to base our teaching, and practice on reading and comprehending the Bible well.
There are other alternatives to Bible-Based. For example, some churches place more emphasis on tradition- their church culture is strongly influenced by the historical ways of doing church in the past. There is nothing wrong with some tradition. And we all follow and develop traditions. However when a tradition does not help us connect with our people, or creates a barrier- we are happy to stop it.
That’s why we are not a “traditional” anglican Church. We believe that the Bible calls us to do whatever we can to include as many as possible in meaningful church life. We are not against tradition- but tradition for tradition’s sake.
We are not experience based either. Our gatherings don’t want to hamper helpful experiences, or be a bad experience. Indeed, one of the reasons we have church gatherings is to feel encouraged, challenged, comforted or even rebuked if need be. But that experience is ideally a response to God’s Word- not other things that can move or manipulate our emotions with little or no basis in God’s Word. (And there is no shortage of those).
Neither are we reason-based or rationalistic. We accept that God can and does work in ways that we normally would consider “supernatural” or “miraculous” – Sure we use reason, but when the Bible makes a clear statement that we normally would see as unusual, we believe the Bible: For example, the resurrection of Jesus, or the activity of The Holy Spirit to bring new birth and Holy living. Both are things we only know are true because of the Bible. So, are you willing to give Bible-based a shot?
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Infinity Update – A great start to the year
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Well what a start to the year it has been!
It’s hard to believe that this time last year we only had about 11 teenagers coming along to Infinity. This year has seen our numbers swell to almost 30 each week. This is a wonderful blessing, and a tremendous answer to prayer.
Each week we meet together to play games, eat food and learn together from God’s word. We’ve started this year with a 6 week study in Luke’s gospel. In term 2, we plan on doing a complete overview of the Bible, which most people are keen about – even if it is a bit intimidating!!
It has been a privilege getting to know these guys this year. Please continue to pray for the people who are coming along. Pray that they would understand just how much God loves them, pray that they would have the courage to live for Jesus at school and in their social networks, and pray that God would raise up more leaders for youth.
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CONNECT 09 LAUNCHED. NOW LET’S START
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PRAY CONNECT EXPECT… it has a nice ring to it. These three active words have been the buy-line for a Sydney wide campaign The real danger is that we leave it there. (As a nice line) At Rouse Hill Anglican, we want to be praying, connecting and expecting God to act life-changing ways, whether that be in the spectacular or the less obvious.
This week, on Sunday 8th Feb we launched the connect 09 campaign. We are serious about making real connections with everyone in Rouse Hill and around. We want everyone who needs one to get a copy of a Gospel of Luke “The Essential Jesus”. We expect God to create and open up opportunities to do this. All our ministries will have a Connect level to them. Why? We are convinced that Jesus wants more dedicated followers who realise that life is about connecting with God through Him.
Check out the connect 09 website to find out more of this campaign.
Check us out at Rouse Hill Anglican to be a part of connecting in this area.
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JESUS WANTS DISCIPLES, NOT…
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As you read through the Gospels, particularly the book of Luke, it is striking to see the way Jesus calls for commitment. He isn’t calling for vague interest, or wanting the sort of attention political leaders are after. No. He is far more radical. He wants people to pin their hopes on him and follow him. We see a few people do that… quite literally dropping everything to become a follower.
The awesome reality is that Jesus still calls on people to commit themselves to him as their King. That may not mean leaving our jobs. We certainly can’t physically follow Jesus walking around Israel and Palestine… but we can follow him as King.
The next few weeks we will be exploring that at Church- both 10 am and 6:30 pm
FEBRUARY 8th SPECIAL CONNECT 09 LAUNCH at 10 am followed by Lunch together $5 per family or $2 each for chicken and salad. www.connect’09.com
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