Next Tuesday at Pyrmont

Making connections for life

This is a very very very rough (10 mins) cut (raw tape really) of a talk I gave yesterday at church called Making connections for life from Revelation 1.

It is the first in a series that I am hoping will be given a fair bit of airtime later in the year as the Jesus all about life campaign ramps up in Sydney.
One of the important things to do in association with the Jesus all about life campaign is to explain life as it is meant by the scriptures, rather than the allowing the community's (whether Christian or non Christian) knee jerk assumptions to stand.

We need to show people that the life that Jesus is all about about is new life, spiritual life, eternal life, a life lived in relationship with God and is to be contrasted with the absolute ongoing misery of eternal death.

I think one of the risks of the Jesus all about life campaign is that it could be heard to be saying that it is Jesus who will give us a better life now, and if that's all that people take away then they will have been misled with a false prosperity gospel.

However I think it is better to get involved and define Jesus and life correctly rather than to stand on the sidelines and let this great opportunity pass by.

This will require a degree of thinking. One could start in John's gospel. However because of familiarity with John, I decided to try the more roundabout route of Revelation. I was struck powerfully by Jesus words in Revelation 1:18: 'I am the living one, behold I was dead but now I am alive for ever and ever.'

Also, I think Revelation is a fantastic place to explain to post moderns (or post post moderns) the big picture of relationship with God from, as the writer paints the meta-narrative of life so spectacularly in such big impressionistic brush strokes.

We hope to have a better edited version up later in the week.

In the meantime here are the links: outline | video | audio

Where is God in the bushfires?

I am disturbed by the misrepresentation of Jesus by Victorian Pastor Danny Nalliah who has linked the Victorian bushfires to the liberalisation of that state's abortion laws. In this address I show from Luke 13, why Nalliah and Jesus disagree. Not that abortion is a good, far from it, it is a terrible attack on the most vulnerable in our society.

But we must not link the bushfires to a specific sin of Victorian parliamentarians as if that somehow makes them worse than other Australians. Jesus says No!

Handout | Audio |Video

Big Day In | Connect 09

In 2006 I and a number of others were invited along to a few meetings in St Andrews House where the Archbishop was calling for ideas on what could be done to motivate the entire Anglican Church in Sydney to better make Jesus known.

It was exciting to see this all kick off with a launch by Peter Jensen last weekend.

Our church joined 200+ churches linking up for a joint church meeting involving 50,000+ Christians all praying together that we could be used by God to Connect or Introduce our city to God.

We found it enormously encouraging to hear and see the work being done by other churches across the city and the way they are stretching for Christ.

The telecast was hosted at Kellyville and involved crosses to Engadine and Campsie.

The only disappointment was to hear during the week that some of the churches that I had assumed would be part of the telecast in fact weren't. I am praying that they are still planning to be part of the Connect 09 campaign.

Team Bootcamp

Here's the address I gave last Saturday at our Team Bootcamp.
outline | talk

Where is God in the bushfires - this Sunday at Annandale Community Church

The bushfires in Victoria have prompted us to make a last minute change to our teaching program at Annandale Community Church and Christians in the Media this Sunday.

Our scheduled series - Connections for Life - will be delayed a week and instead this Sunday (February 15, I  will address the difficult topic - Where is God in the bushfires?

A tragedy of this scale causes us to pause and think. It raises questions both for people of faith and of no faith. How could God let such a catastrophe happen? Does God care? Why would someone deliberately light fires? If there is no God and 'mother nature' neither knows nor cares, why do we cry in anguish over such meaningless deaths? Dominic will tackle these issues at City Bible Forum on Wednesday and Thursday lunchtimes and then offer you the opportunity to anonymously comments or questions.

We will also be encouraged as we rally together to help one another.  These meeting will include a special time of prayer prayer for all those affected as well opportunities to offer financial assistance.

Please think carefully about who you know has been impacted by the bushfires and invite them to join us this Sunday at church.

I will also be giving this address and we will be praying for victims at Sydney's City Bible Forum this week on Wednesday February 11 and Thursday February 12.  Wednesday lunchtimes 

The start of our next series will be delayed by one week.  On Sunday February 22, I will begin a series on 'Making Connections for Life,' from the first chapter of the book of Revelation.

Annandale Community Church, 9:30am and Christians in the Media 6:30pm

meeting during building renovations at Annandale Neighbourhood Center

79 Johnston Street

Annandale  NSW  2038

City Bible Forum

Wednesdays, 12:10-12:50pm or 1:10-1:50pm, lunch $7

Angel Place Conference Centre, 123 Pitt St

Thursdays, 1:10-1:50pm

Lunch from 1pm $7

Upper Chapter House, St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral, Corner George and Bathurst

Contacts: Peter Kaldor, Russ Matthews

Connect 09

Check out where two of the stained glass windows will go

As part of the building project we are moving seven stained glass windows. Two of them will go on the new west wall.

John and Eleni

I had the honour yesterday of officiating and speaking at the wedding of John and Eleni Holloway.