Ministers Desk 27th April

At this time of year our thoughts dwell on the resurrection of Jesus.  The cry echoes that Jesus is no longer in the tomb, but he has risen.  The gospels give us accounts of women and men encountering the risen Jesus and sharing in conversations with him.  We are told of meals of bread and fish that he shares with his disciples.  The early church believed that Jesus had returned to life.  Their belief was not that Jesus was still dead and that they saw only some spiritual, ghostly apparition.  Nor did they believe that Jesus had only passed out and appeared dead, and now had woken up.  The testimony of the gospels is that Jesus who was dead has now come back to life. 

The result of this amazing historical event causes the eye witnesses to run and tell others.  The gospels record Jesus giving instructions to his disciples to go and tell others “don’t be afraid. Go and tell my brothers that I am going into Galilee. They will see me there” (Matt 28:10).  They also record disciples telling each other, “Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, ‘I’ve seen the Lord.’ Then she told them what he said to her” (John 20:18).  Whilst the resurrection of Jesus is an amazing occurrence, the reality and meaning of it need to be communicated.

The first disciples set that pattern of behaviour for us latter disciples.  Having had an encounter with the risen Christ, through believing rather than seeing, we are then sent out to lead others into an encounter with the risen Christ.  This pattern, of disciples making disciples, completes the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.

At the beginning of the gospels he calls people to follow him.  They follow and are taught about new life in Jesus.  As they follow they grow in their understanding of Jesus as lord and master and commit themselves to him.  They are empowered and equipped for ministry and are sent out in the name and the authority of Jesus Christ.  The good news of the transformation that Jesus makes in this world is too good to be kept to ourselves.  It is news of joy and peace, comfort and courage.  It is news that transforms our present reality and gives us hope for the future that is yet to come.

As growing disciples who Exalt, Explore, Embody, Engage we commit ourselves to a journey of life in which we call others to discipleship in Jesus Christ.  To accept Jesus as lord and saviour means that we surrender our whole life to him, not just those parts that we find easy or comfortable, for many of us telling others about Jesus fits into the harder parts of growing as a disciple.  But it is only as we surrender our lives to Jesus that we really start to experience the full wonder of our resurrection faith.

Who is your Brian (your pre-Christian friend who you are deliberately engaging with, seeking to draw them deeper into a life of faith)?  Are you constantly praying for them?  What is the next step that you need to take in sharing your faith with them?

MInisters Desk 20th April 2014

Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen indeed!

This is the traditional cry of Easter morning that echoes down throughout the ages.  It reminds us that whilst Christ died, death could not hold him.  Each of the gospels provides an account of that first Easter morning.  These differ from each other in some significant and insignificant ways.  But they all have a strong insistence on the fact that Jesus’ body was not there and that they were told that he had risen.  To reinforce the point that the gospel writers are making, they provide names of the witnesses, names of people who were probably known to their communities and therefore had great credibility.

The belief that Jesus was alive caused a profound change in the nature of the early church.  They continued the work of Jesus; they acted on his teachings; they parted from their ancient beliefs and established a new pattern of relating to God; and they acted with greater courage.  In short the resurrection of Jesus changed their very lives and it changed the world in which they lived.

The fact of Jesus’ resurrection changes the world in which we live in today.  Jesus is called the first fruits of creation.  1 Cor. 15:20 says, “but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. He’s the first crop of the harvest of those who have died.”  Since he is the first fruits, we will follow.  The early church understood that Jesus’ resurrection is the promise and guarantee of their, and our, future resurrection.

For the early church though, resurrection did not mean going to heaven or living in some other-worldly, out of body existence.  They understood it as a return to bodily life in this world.  This new life will be a life animated by the Spirit of God.  This is the life that we are living here and now.

We are people of the resurrection.  Christ’s resurrection has changed the nature of this world and our lives.  We share with Jesus in his defeat over sin and death and the new reality that he has brought about in this present world.  Yet there is still a further stage of resurrection, when Christ will return and we will see him in all his glory.  Until then we live in the reality of the hope that we have for the future.  The life we live now, and the world we live it in, is not heaven’s waiting room, it is heaven being revealed on earth.  We are therefore called and equipped to express the kingdom of God here on earth.  We do this as we live and grow as disciples in all aspects of our lives, both personal and public.  In the way we work as employees and conduct business.  In the expectations we have of government and our participation in the political process.  We express the kingdom of God through our participation in the mission of God’s church and our own personal holiness.  We do all this through the power of the Holy Spirit who is God’s ongoing presence in our lives.

Ministers Desk 13th April 2014

On Sunday 30 March we commissioned those people who had been elected as Elders to serve on Church Council.  On the back page of this notice sheet you will see the names of the members of the Church Council and the Ministry Coordination Team.

We also held our first congregational meeting for the year.  During the meeting we spent time sharing in an activity to complete the annual report for 2013.  The ministry of the congregation is not something that is done for us, it is something that we do together, so we compiled our recollections of the ministry of our church in the previous year.  If you didn’t receive a copy of this part of the report last year, there are copies on the information desk and on the church’s website.  Attendees at the congregational meeting answered three questions.

 

· Who is the person or people that you want to appreciate?  Here we named individuals for the contributions they made in 2013.

· What do you want to celebrate?  We named specific highlights of the church’s ministry in 2013.

· What are your wishes for the future ministry of Emmanuel?

 

The budget for 2014 was adopted.  Our budget for 2014 is comfortable.  Our income levels are sufficient to meet our ongoing expenditures.  This is as a result of the generous response that we make to the grace of God through our tithes and offerings.  More people are taking advantage of direct debit for their offerings.  Since we changed banks this has become a simpler process.  Direct debits provide a greater certainty in the church’s income; it also reduces the workload for offering counters, the people who do the banking and the Treasurer.  Please speak to Barry Jardine (3353 4551) to know more about Direct Debiting.

 

Our income is not sufficient to fund some necessary and significant major property expenses.  Carpets, pews, painting all need to be done.  As an early indication we have received quotes of between $15, 000 and $20, 000 to either replace the pews with individual padded chairs or recover the existing pews.  Significant expenditure is needed on our building in the next couple of years so that we can continue to use it as a tool for our ministry, the money for that needs to come from somewhere.

 

Our Roma partnership was discussed.  Anne Maloney, Sandra Stanton and Maureen Witheyman will help us in building relationships with the people of the church in Roma.  They will do this in conjunction with representatives of the Roma church.

The role of Transport Coordinator has been vacant for a number of years.  Please contact Bronwyn Kelly (3354 4961) if you who would like to volunteer for this role.  To assist people to attend worship who have transport issues the first and best thing we can do is for us to be aware of those who might need transport assistance and to offer help.  Those who need assistance are encouraged to make contact with either Bronwyn Kelly (3354 4961) or Harlee Cooper (3355 2162) and they will seek to make transport arrangements.

 

Grace and peace

David Fender

 

Ministers Desk 6th April 2014

 

 

 

 

Last Sunday we held our first congregational meeting for the year.  The whole morning, worship, meeting and lunch was a great time of community demonstrating our unity in Jesus Christ.

 

At the meeting we spent time sharing in an activity to complete the annual report for 2013.  The bible, the Basis of Union and our practices as a church tell us that each one of us combine together to be the church.  The ministry of the congregation is not something that is done for us, it is something that we do together.  Included with this notice sheet are the responses that attendees to the congregational meeting made to three questions.

 

· Who is the person or people that you want to appreciate?  Here we named individuals for the contributions they made in 2013.

· What do you want to celebrate?  We named specific highlights of the church’s ministry in 2013.

· What are your wishes for the future ministry of Emmanuel?

 

The budget for 2014 was adopted.  Our budget for 2014 is comfortable.  Our income levels are sufficient to meet our ongoing expenditures.  This is as a result of the generous response that we make to the grace of God through our tithes and offerings.  More people are taking advantage of direct debit for their offerings.  Since we changed banks this has become a simpler process.  Direct debits provide a greater certainty in the church’s income; it also reduces the workload for offering counters, the people who do the banking and the Treasurer.  Please speak to Barry Jardine (3353 4551) if you would like to know more about Direct Debiting your tithe or offerings.

 

However, our income is not sufficient to fund some significant major property expenses we have this year.  Carpets, pews, painting all need to be done.  As an early indication we have received quotes of between $15, 000 and $20, 000 to either replace the pews with individual padded chairs or recover the existing pews.  There is significant expenditure needed on our building in the next couple of years so that we can continue to use it as a tool for our ministry, the money for that needs to come from somewhere.

 

Our Roma partnership was discussed.  Anne Maloney, Sandra Stanton and Maureen Witheyman will help us in building relationships with the people of the church in Roma.  They will do this in conjunction with representatives of the Roma church.

 

It was advised that the role of Transport Coordinator has been vacant for a number of years.  Bronwyn Kelly (3354 4961) would be delighted to hear from anyone who would like to volunteer for this role.  To assist people to attend worship who have transport issues the first and best thing we can do is for us to be aware of those who might need transport assistance and to offer help.  Those who need assistance are encouraged to make contact with either Bronwyn Kelly (3354 4961) or Harlee Cooper (3355 2162) and they will seek to make transport arrangements.

 

Grace and peace

 

David Fender