Merredin Uniting Church

It has really been great to have Chris Walker to speak with us about being a relevant church this weekend. I trust that you have been inspired and invigorated about your part in the Bride of Christ. And I pray that we as a congregation of God’s people will become truly relevant in our community and within the wider communion of the Church. Thank you, Chris, and thank you also for the word which you will bring this morning on the faithfulness of God.

At the prayer meeting on Wednesday we were praying about yesterday’s Seminar and about revival in God’s church. During that time, I had a picture form in my mind about the present state of the Lord’s Church—undoubtedly inspired from Dr Paul Brand’s book, “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”. If we are theBride of Christ, how must we look to Him now—wounded, downtrodden, sidelined, unclean? Why would He still care about us? Well, the truth is that God is faithful to His promise (haven’t I been saying that for the past few weeks!) and He does still care, and He still has an expectation for us to continue to be who we are meant to be. And the Church being relevant in our time is about how we do this—we are still the Body of Christ, Jesus still has expectations of us and at the core of those expectations are that we love God with all our heart and soul and spirit and that we love others (including our enemies!) as Jesus has loved us. We serve a faithful God who honours His promises, as His Bride we must be faithful to Him.

Speaking of brides and husbands, George and Val Tengvall will be celebrating 60 years of marriage on Tuesday—that’s a really good innings! Well done both of you. In an age where faithfulness in relationships is taken far too lightly, you have set an example for all of us. Thank you for doing that. Your faithfulness toGod, to your family, to your friends and to each other has been amazing. I (and no doubt others) have been privileged to glimpse into your life through photographs and personal observation. Yes, life has no always been easy and as the years pass so we do tend to overlook the troubled times, but you havepressed on regardless through your unwavering faith in God and trust in His provision for you. May the Lord continue to bless you and your family. (Here’s a tip … never stop telling your stories to your family. Only now am I beginning to appreciate the wonderful stories which my grandfather shared with me when I was still a very young boy. And I am beginning to really appreciate my heritage.)

There are a couple of new and exciting events on the “What’s Up” page of the newsletter. First the Merredin congregation BBQ and Bonfire at the Higgins’ on Sunday evening September 12th. We do sometimes tend to forget that Christians can also have fun (and lots of it!). Love to see you there! Next is the Merredin Congregation Garage Sale on October 9th at the church. The men are going to be running the Garage Sale and the ladies will be doing …. Well, whatever it is that ladies do. I’m sure that whatever it is, it will be beautiful and tasty. Margie and I are really excited about Tegan and Quinten joining us. They will arrive on October 1st and spend some time in Merredin before Tegan starts her Midwifery Bridging Course in Perth. Quinten already has one temporary volunteer job lined up to rewire a car in Merredin. Anyone else needing autoelectric work? He’s was trained at Mercedes Benz so he should be OK(and, of course, he was allowed to marry our daughter!!!)

Love you
David

We are continuing this morning to look at aspects of “God with us”. As I prepare and pray through this concept it is becoming increasingly apparent to me that we cannot even begin to function as Christ Followers until we begin to realise that God is actually with us. We are not alone. In our journey through life; in every day, with every thought, God’s is there. He does not necessarily intrude but He is there nonetheless. Why? I believe that it is because He loves us so much (For God so loved the world that He sent His Son …) and He has an acute desire for companionship with us.

His Presence with us gives meaning to us and all of creation, it gives us purpose and direction, it determines our destiny. If God is not with us, then nothing has purpose, everything is just an accidental event. If God is not with us then the fact that the universe exists is a freak of nature, life is irrelevant and nothing actually matters.

The Bible makes it clear that God is not just out there somewhere— having made everything, and now just waiting to see what happens. No! He is intimately involved in His creation and especially with those made in His image—that, by the way, is you and me. There are those who don’t believe in God—for them everything is just an accident. There are those who do believe in God but think that He is just a creator God who, having made everything is not too interested in it anymore— for them, He is just the “guy upstairs”, the grand architect; He is significant but not actually interested in us. And then there are the believers—and what makes us different is our awareness of God’s Presence. We know that He is with us, we know that this makes us different, and we know that we have direction and purpose in Him.

To recap—we began with the account of Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail. We saw that the jailer was converted, not because they had been able to escape but because, they hadn’t escaped when the earthquake opened the doors. They were content to stay because God was with them in the jail and the jailers conversion came because He realised that God was with them. Last week we heard about Moses’ argument with God. Moses was not prepared to move on with God’s people unless the Lord went with them. Despite the sin of the people in worshipping the golden calf, Moses held God to His word of promise to Abraham. “God with us” changes other people’s hearts and our confidence in “God being with us” changes God’s heart.

Today we are going to be looking at God’s desire to be with us. He gave the Israelites the Ark and the Tabernacle while he was with them in their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Once in the Promised Land, the Ark languored at Abinidab’s house through the era of the Judges. When David became king he wanted to move it to Jerusalem— it wasn’t as simple as he thought but it taught him a lot about God’s Presence. Later in the Book of Acts, the abode of the Ark in David’s Jerusalem becomes the sign of God’s desire to be with all people—Jew and Gentile. God does not want to inhabit just the “holy” places—He wants to make every place holy with His Presence.

I mentioned last week that Dr Chris Walker—National Consultant for Theology and Discipleship in the Uniting Church will be here to share with us over the weekend of August 27/28. The details of this are now to be found on the “What’s Up” page of this newsletter. He will also preach on the Sunday which is to be a special service of celebration to mark George & Val Tengvall’s 60th wedding anniversary.

If you are looking to step up your walk with Jesus, you might be interested in attending the next Walk to Emmaus weekends. The Men’s Walk takes place at Katanning over the first weekend of September and the Ladies Walk takes place the following weekend. The weekend runs from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon and is basically a series of talks and events which combine to create an incredible introduction into what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. The cost is $205 for the weekend. Both Steve and I will be on the leadership team for the Men’s weekend and Sal is on the team for the Ladies weekend. Speak to any of us for further details.

Blessings
David

I shared with the ladies at the Ladies Guild last Tuesday how I had intended to spend a significant part of my holiday praying and seeking the Lord’s direction for preaching His word after I finished up the series on Philippians. I came back still not having any direction but as the days moved on the words “God with us” began to direct my focus.

I used a concordance (digital is just so easy!) to look up the number of times in the Bible God says that He will be “with” someone—it was astounding. As I thought about this I came to realise that the most important thing that we need to know about God is that He is with us. And it is the most important thing that we can share with anyone full of questions about life and its meaning. Jeremiah was a prophet who was given a really hard job to do. God told him to tell the people that because of their sin they were going to be punished by God—specifically that they would be exiled in Babylon. The Lord also told him that the people would despise him and ignore him but that he was never to give up or be afraid because He (God) would always be with him and would rescue him. (Jer 1:8) Nonetheless Jeremiah did struggle with the constant rejection to his message and in Chapter 12 he complains bitterly to God about his situation. God says to him, “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?” I have always been inspired by that verse—if the little things get you down, how do you expect to cope with the big issues?

Jeremiah is a great example of perseverance in the face of great difficulty. When you’ve been in the same job, or house, or situation, or even marriage, for a long time it feels that your world is diminishing around you. Jeremiah could have felt like that but God’s reminder was that there were much greater issues at stake and that He would be with him through them all. And so Jeremiah carried on carrying on—he ran with God. If you find yourself facing insurmountable odds, remember, God is with you in the race!

Today our focus on this subject of God being with us, takes us to Mount Sinai. Moses had been up the mountain to meet with God and was about to come down with the Ten Commandments when God told him that He was furious with the people who had created a golden calf and were worshipping it while Moses was away. The Lord said that He was no longer going to lead the people; they were going to have to find their own way to the Promised Land.

Moses pleads (argues?) with God. He holds the Lord to His Word (that’s why it is important for us to become familiar with the Bible). He reminds God of His promises—this is your nation; these are your people; you said you would
lead us; how can you rescue us and then just dump us; what about your promises on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? And God relents—He undertakes to continue to lead the people and to be with them. This is the wonder
of God’s grace, this is why God will always be “with” us—He promised, and we need to hold on to that promise as much as Moses and Jeremiah did. A significant aspect of Moses’ reasoning with God is that it is the Presence of the Lord which distinguishes His people from all other people. This can not however be a source of pride for us, or make us haughty over others. N0, that the whole point of the Gospel—it is not God’s desire that any should perish but rather that everyone should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Having found the joy of salvation in Jesus Christ, we can know that God is now with us, and it is our task then to share that with others who do not yet know the Presence of God with them.

If you feel that you are struggling to know the Presence of God with you then ask one of the elders to pray with you after the service today, or come to see me in the week. I am at the church Monday to Wednesday morning. By the
way, its okay to feel like that. That exactly how Jeremiah felt and how Moses felt. So if you are feeling weary after running with men, then ask God to run with you.

Next Saturday is the Great Eastern Gathering at the Kalgoorlie/Boulder Church. It starts at 9.30am and will include a tour around Kalgoorlie and the Super-pit in the afternoon. Everyone is invited, see the details on the What’s Up page. Margie & I (and Sal) will be driving up early on Saturday morning and will be returning in the late afternoon if you would like to attend (and not stay over).

On August 27/28 we will be privileged to have Rev Dr Chris Walker share with us (and surrounding churches) in a seminar. He is the National Consultant for Theology and Discipleship in the Uniting Church and is the author of
five books on spirituality and discipleship for today’s generation. We have specifically asked him to speak on one of his books, “Seeking relevant churches for the 21st century”. You don’t want to miss this!

Grace & Peace
David

Greetings!

Margie and I are really looking forward to our visit back to South Africa and the opportunity to visit with our family and friends. We depart at midnight on Monday and after an 11 hour flight, arrive in Johannesburg at 5.25am their time. Our daughters will fetch us at the airport and we will spend a couple of days with them. On Friday the whole family (including our son Garth from Howick) will drive down to Manaba Beach on the Natal South Coast where we own a timeshare unit right on the beach. It’s the best place to be in the South African winter – the sea is warm and the sun is hot. We will return to Johannesburg via Howick where we will be staying with friends and visiting our former parishioners. I must also finalise my South African tax returns and wind up my financial affairs in South Africa. And then its back home to Merredin on July 20^th!

Some good news is that the processing of our children’s emigration has stepped up a pace. After being given wrong advice about their nursing assessments, they are now back on stream. Tegan has applied for a midwifery bridging course in August at King Edward Hospital in Perth and will initially come across on a student visa to be converted into a permanent residence visa once the course is completed. Linda will follow the same route but will make the move a bit later because she still needs to make arrangements regarding her midwifery practice in Johannesburg. Garth’s situation has been complicated by a change in the Australian Skills List which now excludes anything to do with computers –  apparently there is now no shortage in Australia. However he is pursuing a rural option (where these skills are still needed) and is looking around for job vacancies. He may come to visit with his wife Roxanne in time for my 60^th birthday in October.

By the time we get back, we will have been here for one year. It has truly been a blessed year. The radical change of a new country, new church and new people has been the best thing ever. I have had cause to rethink my worldview as well as my understanding of God and the Church. There is nothing like looking at things from a fresh perspective to give you new insight into that which you begin to take for granted. It is so easy to get into a rut, and, as someone once said, “the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth of the hole.” From the    pressures of a leading large church, trying to deal with a cycle of poverty in a community, and the politics of separation at government level, I have found a new lease of life during the past year. Much of this has come from more time spent in God’s Word and in prayer. This has challenged my perspectives and enriched my understanding of God’s intention with us. We are not just passing through time – we are on a radical journey into a deep relationship with our Maker. On this journey He is constantly with us, to lead and to guide. On this journey we travel with others – we are to learn to love them, because in loving them, we will begin to understand how we are loved by our Father and how we are to love Him.

Thank you for your part in my journey and may God bless us as we continue this journey together.

Greetings!

This morning our focus is on “standing firm in the Lord” and particularly on how we are to do that. Our text sets out three simple rules – Be care-full of our relationships with each other, with the Lord and with ourselves. First, we must watch our relationships with each other – in the dispute between Euodia and Syntyche Paul pleads with them to make peace, and calls the community to help them. Disagreements, disunity, unnecessary remarks and unforgiveness can weaken the church and destroy our faith. The striving for good    relationships is a vital secret to standing firm in the Lord. Second, we must watch our relationship with the Lord – Paul gives us three tips for doing this: We must enjoy the Lord (rejoice in Him); we must expect the Lord (be gentle with each other for the Lord is near) and we must entreat the Lord (do not be anxious but pray). And then third, we must watch the things that fill our mind – we must think true, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy thoughts. Someone once said, “A man is not what he thinks he is, but what he thinks – he is!”

As I prepared this sermon, it seemed to me that this focus on “standing firm in the Lord” could be pivotal in directing the future course of our ministry in the Wheatbelt. We need to set the foundation on which we stand as early as possible in our life and so we need to work really hard at creating a good, viable and fulfilling ministry to the children and young people. We need to set within ourselves a foundation of prayer and personal devotion to God. We need to develop good   approaches to reading and understanding Scripture and we need to build good relationships with each other and the community. My mind has already been filled with thoughts which I will share with the elders so that we can begin to develop the ideas. I also plan to devote a lot of time to “thinking on these things” while we are on leave in South Africa.

You might already have heard the news that Brett Guthrie, the Chaplain at the High School, is not well at the moment. He was flown to Perth last week and at the time of writing, the diagnosis was still not clear. Please pray for him, his wife Lyn, and their son, Jonathan. Pray also for the school community which he serves.

Another important item of news is that Rev Paul Cannon from the Anglican Church has been called to the Parish of Bridgetown/Boyup Brook with effect from the beginning of August. He and his wife have played a significant role in the community and they will be missed. A farewell service will be held at All Saints at 10am on July 18^th. Please pray for them as they prepare to enter into a new phase of ministry and pray also for the Anglican Parish as they face a time of uncertainty as they await the appointment of a new minister.