Formed in Christ

Philippians 1:3-6  I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

As we start our SALA exhibition this week at church, I have enjoyed seeing all the pieces our artists have put into the display and reflected on the diversity of each piece and the artist behind them. Each work, whether a painting or a sculpture or piece of glass has started with very raw materials, and has been shaped and formed over many hours by the artist. The artist has in his or her mind what the final form will look like and adds beauty and shape, sometimes by addition of material and sometimes by cutting or removing bits.

It made me think of Paul’s words that each of us are created by God and are being shaped by his good work in us until we reach completion. Jesus through the Holy Spirit is seeking to shape us and bring out his unique beauty and gifts in us for his pleasure and for the blessing of others around us. Just as beauty in art brings joy and reflects something of the creator, so each of us as we are formed into our unique “image”, point people to God as we reflect his love and life in us.

However, sometimes as artists, we begin a piece and then stop part way through allowing it to gather dust and remain incomplete. I have a number of projects that I have begun but remain unfinished. In my case it is the creator’s problem,not the piece itself. But as works of God in Christ, sometimes God wants to keep forming us but we stop allowing him to do that for any number of reasons. It’s like the clay jumps off the potters wheel or gets dry and un-workable.

So if you visit our SALA exhibition this month, as you look at the pieces, maybe have a conversation with God about his desire to keep forming you. To keep making time to allow the Holy Spirit to add or take things from you or within you that will bring out the beauty and fruit of the Spirit. God is never done with us and if we allow him, his desire is to continue to shape us and mould us until we reach the day of completion in Jesus when we move from this life into eternity. Each of us are a unique workmanship of God, created to bring joy and be a blessing.

What ways could you allow God to continue to form you? Are there any things that are preventing the Holy Spirit from growing you and bringing out his desire for you? Is your heart soft to God or are there things that have made is hard for him to do what he wants to do in you as your loving creator, no matter what age you are or what stage of life you are in? Speak to him about that this week if you desire to become more open to his work moving forward. God is never done with us.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Fasting

Matthew 6:16-18a  "When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn't require attention-getting devices. (The Message)

Fasting is a practice that is found throughout the Bible, both in the OT and in Jesus teaching, and the teaching of the early church.  There have been some unhelpful practices and teaching around fasting over the centuries and some of you may have had similar experiences. Fasting is not depriving yourself of something you enjoy so as to elicit or force God to give you something as a reward for your self-deprivation. To put it simply, fasting is at its basic level, stopping an activity or routine so that you can focus more specifically on another task or person for a season. The point is not to deprive you of the task or activity, but rather to help keep your attention focused on something else.

When you start dating someone you may give up certain routines or activities so that you can devote more time to focus on the other person. It is not about reward for self-denial but rather a surrender of something which may distract your attention or time, to focus on something or someone of greater importance for a season.

We are the most distracted generation ever to live on planet earth. The accessibility and variety of distractions make it harder than ever to keep connected to Jesus. Work, food, sex, money, relationships, sport, phones - we each have our challenges in terms of distractions that can impact our life with God. We may need to step away from some of these for a season to focus more on our relationship with Jesus and prayer. Paul even tells married couples to abstain from physical intimacy at times so they can spend time with God in prayer

There may be some things God calls us to fast from for a season which are quite hard to do. However, fasting from certain things may actually work against the purpose of the fast which is to be more in tune with God. If you find fasting from food just makes you angry then it’s probably not going to help much in terms of connecting you with Jesus. But there may be something else you can fast from which could be challenging but is actually also life-giving and brings you some level of joy as you focus more on God. For me silence away from distraction as a form of fast for a few days on retreats really helps me focus on God and tune in to the HS.

If you are feeling distracted and unable to find time to spend with God or in prayer, maybe think about what you could fast from for a season. Whatever it is, the outcome is not about twisting God’s arm, but rather seeking his face and his will in your life or situation. God desires our company. What is keeping you away?

Grace and Peace - Garry

Jesus meets us where we are at

After the resurrection, we read numerous accounts of how Jesus encounters various disciples in very specific ways to help restore their faith in very personal ways. On reading these stories it is touching how personal and different Jesus is in his approach to each of them to help them understand their situation and have renewed faith in him.

Firstly, he appears to Mary Magdalene and encounters her in her deep grief and personal sorrow. He asks her a question, “why are you crying?” Her need is her grief and he responds to her grief and loss by calling her name.

Secondly, he appears to the two on the road to Emmaus, who are dealing with their personal issue of confusion and disorientation. We thought Jesus was the Messiah but now he is dead, and we don’t know what to make of it all. Jesus answer to them is to walk them through the scriptures to demonstrate that the Messiah did actually have to suffer and die. He then reveals himself through the breaking of bread.

Thirdly he interacts with Thomas who is plagued with doubt despite seeing a “form of Jesus” before his eyes. Jesus dispels Thomas’s doubt by telling him to put his hand into his side and to believe that he is real.

Fourthly he has an interaction with Peter on the shore, who knows Jesus has risen, but is still dealing with shame from his betrayal. Jesus comes to him and asks him 3 times if he loves him, gently restoring him and giving him a new task and affirming him as his chosen person to build his church. Jesus takes away his shame and restores his relationship.

These stories encourage us that Jesus knows each of our struggles, be that doubt, shame, fear, disorientation, or sorrow about loss. He comes to us personally and helps to deal with the thing that is holding us back from seeing his presence and who he is, and what he can do with our problems and brokenness. If there is something you are facing that is impacting you today, allow Jesus to meet you where you are at. Offer him whatever thing or feeling or burden you are struggling with. He knows your need and he wants to meet you as you are, not as you should be. In your mess, not in your tidy.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Who is this man?

Peter was a fisherman who lived in Capernaum and grew up fishing the shores of lake Galilee in Northern Israel. He would have been schooled as a Jewish boy in the Scriptures and been familiar with the hope and promises that one day God would come and save his people through the long-awaited Messiah. Peter would have attended the classes for boys at the synagogue until the age of 12 when he would have probably become fully apprenticed to the family business of fishing along with his brother Andrew. If he was anything like me he probably didn’t pay much attention in class and loved to be outside fishing or doing things with his hands. Certainly, based on what we read about him in the gospels as a man, it is likely he was one of those kids who couldn’t sit still and had “ants in his pants” so to speak.

In Luke 4 we read that after being rejected at Nazareth, Jesus went down to Capernaum which was about 65km away. He began to teach and drive out evil spirits, and after leaving the synagogue he went to the house of Peter Peter. Peter’s mum has a high fever and Jesus heals her, along with many others who have come to Peter’s house with various sicknesses and diseases. After a night like this we would assume that Peter has a pretty high view of Jesus and has seen his power firsthand in his own home. He has heard Jesus’ teaching and no doubt was impacted by that also. One day as Jesus is by the lake teaching the people, he gets into Peter’s boat. After teaching, Jesus tells Peter to put out into deep water and let down the nets. Peter objects, saying they had worked hard all night and caught nothing, and the middle of the day is not the time to catch fish, especially when they are not around anyway.

Peter isn’t keen but respectfully calls Jesus “Master” and is obedient, though very sceptical. This word Master was a generic word for someone above you, like an overseer or superintendent. As they let down the nets they catch and enormous load of fish, so much so that the boat begins to sink. When Peter sees what has happened, he falls to his knees and addresses Jesus differently. “Master” was a polite respectful way to address a rabbi or teacher, but now he calls Jesus “Lord”. This reflects a significant shift in how Peter now viewed Jesus. He is also acutely aware of his own sinfulness and pleads with Jesus to leave because of his holiness.

How do you view Jesus? Has there been a time in your life when there was a significant shift in your understanding of Jesus as the Lord of all things? When we get a right understanding of who Jesus is, we often get a sense of how sinful we are, and how pure God is. Yet Jesus does not leave Peter, rather he says don’t be afraid. Follow me and let’s do this work of my Father together. Jesus call on Peter is the same as his call on you and me today. This is who I am, trust me, follow me, lets work together in the work of our Father through the Holy Spirit.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Ordinary Saints

It has been said that there are no “accidental saints” – that is to say, that saints are formed over time with intention rather than instantly created like pot noodles. The idea of a “saint” has been unhelpfully muddled and manipulated by the church for centuries, such that we have lost what the early church and Paul meant when he wrote to ordinary followers of Jesus in the first century. When Paul wrote his letters to the churches, he often bookended his letter by calling them saints – all of them, not just the leaders or special holy people. If you were a follower of Jesus who had been filled with the Spirit, then Paul states you are now a saint. The word “saint” comes from the Greek word hagios, which means “consecrated to God, or “set apart for sacred purpose”. Everyone who accepts Jesus call to “follow me” in offering their life to God and everything they do  becomes a saint.  Sacred in the sense of living out the kingdom life of Jesus in the world; set apart for sacred use – a saint!

But when we look at the lives of those Paul is now calling saints, we don’t find holy people who never sin and who are perfect and have halos above their heads like we see in many historical church paintings of saints. Take the church in Corinth for example, Paul addresses them as saints: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:1-2)

However, we know from Pauls letters to the Corinthian church that they were struggling with factions, pride, sexual immorality, drunkenness at their communion services, abuse of spiritual gifts, and so the list goes on. Not exactly what you would call saints. And yet this is what Pauls calls them, ordinary saints who he is declaring are now set apart for sacred use by the Holy Spirit as people of the way of Jesus.

If you are seeking to follow Jesus and order your life around his call and teaching, then you are a saint, no matter if you still struggle with sin or addictions or pride or whatever it might be. But Paul would say that becoming a saint is a progression whereby over a lifetime we are shaped more and more in the likeness of Jesus. People who are transformed into sons and daughters of God, imperfect yes, but growing in our formation through intentional and faithful walking with Jesus. I want to become and live more and more as an ordinary saint. To reflect Jesus and to keep being shaped into the person he has made me to be as a new creation in him. To allow the Holy Spirit to use my ordinary life for sacred use – every part of it. Because as a saint there is no separation between ordinary and sacred; everything is sacred in its ordinariness and can be used by and for God.

But becoming and living as a saint doesn’t just happen, it takes intention, it takes reflection, it takes time, and it requires us to keep coming back to Jesus and seeking the Holy Spirit to do that work of change in us, and at times despite us. I know many saints who inspire me to live the kind of life they have lived, and our church at Parkside is full of living saints. May we spur one another on in 2025 to live as Spirit filled ordinary saints in the grace of Jesus, leading to peace and wholeness in our community and flowing out to all the places we carry Jesus Monday to Saturday. I pray fellow saint you will join me on the journey.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Clean hands and a pure heart

Psalm 51 - Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 24 - Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up their soul to an idol or swear by what is false.

The state of our heart is what matters most to God; not how good we are, how many deeds we have done, what finance or time we have given to the church or community, or the image we project when we come to church. Scripture tells us that man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart. Jesus was far more interested in the state of people’s hearts rather than their outward appearance, behaviour, or how much scripture they could quote.

I believe getting our hearts right individually and within community is the most powerful thing in terms of God’s presence coming more among us and the work of the Holy Spirit in us, and with us as a church. I truly believe that if we seek to get our hearts right above all else, both with God and with those in our church and community, then God’s Spirit will begin to move in ways that we are yet to see.

David was a “man after God’s own heart” even though he committed sexual assault and murder. There were consequences for his actions, but his heart was quick to be repentant and honest and humble when his actions were exposed. He wrote these beautiful words of prayer and confession in Psalm 51 which I want to make a regular part of my life and prayer. God, create in me a clean heart! Renew a right spirit in me, and please don’t take your Holy Spirit from me! I need you like I need oxygen and water, and without you I will thirst and be separated from your living water.

This Advent, make your prayer the prayer of David; both personally, but also each time you enter church. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything and anyone that you have issue with which may be hardening your heart or bringing grief to God. This is a prayer God loves to answer, and which I have found particularly freeing for me personally over recent months.  God loves you and he wants your heart – all of it. It is the greatest give you can bring to the new born King this Christmas.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Hope in an uncertain world

Isaiah was an OT prophet who lived some 700 years before the coming of Jesus. He lived in a time of global upheaval and uncertainty, with superpowers of the day the Assyrians and the Babylonians wreaking havoc. Within this time of conflict and uncertainty, his own nation, the people of Israel were about to be taken into exile and Jerusalem plundered for their rebellion against God. Isaiah had warnings for the people and various prophetic messages for the other nations that showed God was still in control and working despite the chaos and conflict.

Yet within the messages about and judgement, there are many profound messages of hope that spoke of the coming promised Messiah who would bring peace and justice and God’s kingdom, not just to Isreal, but for all nations. Many of Isaiahs prophesies are so specific that when they are fulfilled in the coming of Jesus, the exact details are astonishing. As we approach advent, we want to see how Jesus fulfilled the message of promise God gave to Isaiah, and to draw strength from that as we now await Jesus second coming many centuries after he promised he would return.

Like Isaiah, we too live in an uncertain world where global superpowers continue to build their own kingdoms. Yet we believe that just as in Isaiah’s time, now too God is still in control and working out his purposes and plans. Jesus will come again, in just the right time and way as he did at his first coming. The final chapter of peace and restoration for all humanity will be realised as God comes to dwell fully with humanity in the new heavens and earth. Death and evil and suffering will be dealt with once and for all. The encouragement is to live in the light of that hope and reality as followers of Jesus, just as Isaiah called his hearers to live in the promise of the coming of the Messiah 700 years before Jesus turned up. We don’t know the exact timing of events, but we do know Jesus will return and we are called to be witnesses to the reality of his kingdom life in the “now but not yet”.

Isaiah 11:1-10  A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD, and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Who are we platforming

Throughout history, many people have aspired to elevate themselves to power, fame, riches, and the adulation of others. However, with the advent of the smart phone and social media, the whole landscape of platforming yourself in some way to others has been amplified to extremely unhealthy and distorted levels. This has negatively impacted leaders, politicians, artists, extremists and sadly the church. When we make ourselves or our success (however you measure that) the focus of our actions, presentation, or presence; we fall quickly into the age old trap of idolatry. That is, we place ourselves or our actions and success and profile above the purpose and task for which we exist, in either a role, a relationship, or as an image bearer of God.

Politicians should be there to serve and govern the people with justice and equity, yet now they platform themselves and put more time into their image and sound bites than their civic duty. Institutions and companies should be there to provide fair and honest services, yet now they focus heavily on brand and marketing and image rather than on substance and trust. Schools and universities also seek to “platform” and position themselves against others and are heavily invested in their image and brand. So what about churches, pastors, and even us as individual followers of Jesus? Churches sadly have similarly become at times, more concerned about their image the giving people a good “experience”. Pastors of large churches can become celebrities and worship can be more about performance and showmanship than worship of Jesus.

As a church we should be focused each week on platforming Jesus not people or image; giving the Spirit room to lead our gatherings rather than being polished and produced. Being a conduit to the Father rather than a concert or homage to our buildings or brand. Similarly our lives should “platform Jesus” in a way that reflects his teaching and kingdom life. People may not agree or like us as followers of Jesus, but that should never be because we live in a way that does not truly reflect Jesus. More than ever as followers of Jesus we will be judged for any hypocrisy or inconsistency in the way we live out our faith. If people come to Parkside and don’t encounter Jesus, but only encounter people and performance, then we are not being the body of Christ.

As we start this new sermon series on 1 Corinthians, there are lessons for us to learn from a church that had lost its way and was focused more on celebrities, charisma, and platforming people than it was on about serving and worshipping Jesus. Although it is a very specific letter to a local church in a cultural time, there are many things for us to consider and reflect on which can help us mature as followers of Jesus in 2024. May we have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to us individually and as a community in the coming weeks.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Make your home (abide) in me

I have continued to reflect throughout our Holy Spirit series on Jesus’ declaration that we are to remain (or abide, or more specifically “make our home”) in him as he lives in us by the Holy Spirit. Jesus regularly took time out to get away (abide with) his Father. He intentionally sought solitude to hear his Fathers voice and the leading of the Spirit. Similarly for us the purpose of time with God is so that we can tune into, and engage with this very real and living person of the Holy Spirit – “another one of me” as Jesus said; whom Jesus has given each and every believer.

Pictures are helpful, and in Jesus teaching and explaining to the clueless disciples before his death, he uses the image of a branch and a vine to try and capture what he is talking about in terms of the presence of, relationship with, the Holy Spirit. This text is full of the word Meno, translated remain or “make your home in”.

John 15:1-8  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain (meinate) in me, and I will remain (meinate) in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain (menē) in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain (menēte) in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains (menōn) in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain (menē) in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain (meinēte) in me and my words remain (meinē) in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Jesus is saying that through the Holy Spirit we will make our home in him and he will make his home in us. This is not abstract language and imagery. It is earthy, comforting, familiar, at ease, relational, and safe language. This is living room language not monastery language. This word Meno is used by two of the disciples early on when they are wanting to hang out with Jesus and be relaxed in spending some one-on-one time with him in the privacy of his own home. Can you picture the two disciples lounging with Jesus in the comfort of his home, having a relaxed but no doubt very interesting and enjoyable and life forming conversation – that is the idea of Meno, abiding.

So as we talk about the Holy Spirit abiding in us and us in him, I want you to have in your mind this idea of hanging out in your living room or around your table with someone whose company you enjoy and with whom you can be yourself and completely at ease. To be at home with the Holy Spirit as our true selves as we spend time with Jesus. That is what I am wanting to experience as we talk about what it means to be with Jesus through the presence of the Holy Spirit. There is still a need for respect and reverence, but Jesus says that he now calls us his friends. Friends hang out and talk, friends living together see all of you; not just your Sunday best or your good side.

Jesus says that if we make our home with him in this daily and personal way – the good the bad and the ugly as you would experience in any of our homes if you stayed with another person or family for a week; then in time we will produce fruit. Fruit that will last. God desires us to speak to Him as we would a friend, so make some space to meno this week.

Grace and Peace - Garry

The Crown and the Curse

This Easter we are going to be reflecting on Jesus being crowned as “king of the Jews” with a crown of thorns. His coronation was enacted, not on a throne with a gold crown, but on a cross with a crown of thorns. This crowning of him as “king” was done in mockery by the Roman empire, but also by the Jewish leaders and religious authorities who rejected him as Messiah and Son of God. However, there was far more going on with that crown of thorns than either the Romans or the Jewish leaders understood.

To understand what was really taking place, and its significance for them and us today, we need to go back to Genesis. The separation of humanity from God because of our pride and disobedience to our creator. However we understand the narrative of Genesis, we see that part of the fallout and consequence of our rejection of God was the cursing of the land, as well as spiritual death and suffering. This is the account we read in Scripture.

Genesis 3:16-19  To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

The scourge and curse of sin and pride and putting self over God our creator, led to broken relationship between us and God, between humanity itself (men and women), and to the ground becoming a place of toil and hard work and thorns. Christians often roll all of this up into the phrase “the curse”, which altered all God had created that was good, and in harmony, and perfect relationship. However we try to cleverly discuss the problem of evil and suffering, we can never quite make it neat and tidy. Someone once said trying to explain evil and suffering is like trying to hold three big watermelons in two hands. We might not have neat answers, but we know its reality and we live under the shadow of the “curse” and the presence of evil and suffering, and thorns (physical and metaphorical).

Jesus mandate was to come and free humanity and all of creation from the effects of this curse and to reverse the power and rule of evil and destruction and entropy. He came to reveal God to us, but also to carry upon himself the curse, and in doing so break its power. So as he hung on that cross he bore on his head, not a crown of gold, but a crown of thorns – the king of kings bearing the weight of the curse represented in a crown of thorns. Paul writing to the Galatians sums it up.

Galatians 3:13  Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the Cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse.

Having broken the power of the curse and grave, Jesus rose victorious and is crowned in glory having redeemed all of creation and freed us from death, decay, and the thorns of bondage. Praise be to Jesus our saviour. The head that once was crowned with thorns, is crowned in glory now and lifts us up to glory with him.

Grace and Peace - Garry

First Things

There are many things that occupy our minds, perhaps more now than ever. As our world increases in complexity we have to deal with technology, and we have the ability to know what is happening in every corner of the world rather than just our own geographic area, which isn’t always helpful. In Jesus day they worried about things too, maybe just different things related to food security, health, and occupying forces. But they like us had to pay taxes, deal with family complexities, and clean their houses (without vacuum cleaners!). But Jesus encouraged his followers to narrow their focus as they sought to live in the “kingdom of God”. That phrase was not about a distant vision of rainbows and unicorns, but in Jesus words – a reality that is now among you; God here now time has come. So live in the reality of that in the way you order your life and thinking. This was a challenge, because life was still hard, the Romans still occupied their land, and they still had to deal with the uncertainties of life. And yet Jesus spoke these words.

Matthew 6:31-34 (NIV) Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the ungodly run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase/translation of this passage in The Message helpfully picks up on Jesus intent.

Matthew 6:31-34  What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

I like the way he puts flesh on “the kingdom of God” by using the phrase “steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative”. That seems to capture better the essence of what Jesus was declaring. God is now among you, so put on his glasses and see the true reality around you. That will help you not to worry about things you can’t control and which don’t really matter that much. C.S. Lewis picks up on Jesus call when he said “Put first things first and second things are thrown in. Put second things first and you lose both first and second things.” When we loosen our grip on being preoccupied with getting, and start to respond more to God’s giving and focus on what he is doing right now, then other less important things will find their place. That takes trust and faith, but Jesus is always good for what he promises. He has never failed, and his words are a firm foundation on which we can build our lives as we keep first things first.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Leaving your Mark

I was frustrated and a bit angry when I turned up to church two weeks ago on the Sunday morning to see the front had been heavily graffitied overnight with spray paint. I was also curious what “zone 3” meant and why we were in zone 3, and who had decided to leave their mark on our building. People have been writing their names into stone and on trees and other places for centuries, so it is not a new phenomenon. I reflected on who the people might have been who defaced the church, and their reasoning for wanting to leave their “mark” for all to see. I also had to acknowledge that in my teens I also had a  personal “tag” and was responsible for some “marks” left around Urrbrae High School and on more than a few school desks.

Why do we as humans often feel the need to make our mark, or to create something that others will see that somehow makes us feel better about ourselves, or gives us some sense of meaning or importance? It may not be as inconsiderate or jarring as graffiti, but many people want to make a mark somehow so that they are remembered or feel like they have built something or created something significant that forms some kind of legacy. The reality, however, is that few of us will have buildings or grandstands named after us, or have our names mentioned in reverent tones long after we are dead.

Many great world leaders from centuries past have places that mark their time and achievements, such as a grave or an artifact or written documents or decrees. You can visit sites or see things like Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus and get a sense of their impact and power. As I have been reflecting on Advent again, it struck me that with Jesus, there is nothing physical or monumental about any aspect of his life that you can touch or go and see. We don’t know really where he was buried, we don’t have anything he wrote, we don’t know exactly where he was born or have a house that he grew up or lived in. We don’t know exactly where he died, and there are no actual relics that can be proved to be directly connected to his life. I think God intentionally ensured that this would be the case, because as humans we tend to then go and worship those things.

The ”mark” Jesus left from his extraordinary life as the Son of God, was his impact on people and their changed lives. He didn’t raise an army or build a church or establish an orphanage or a homeless shelter. He just impacted people and changed them in radical ways that then in turn lead to them changing the world. Jesus life I would argue changed the world more than anyone else who has lived, yet he left behind nothing to show for it apart from the changed people he intersected with. So for you and I, the question is how are we impacting those around us and are we being people of positive change? Will the impact of our lives on the lives of those around us extend beyond our time on earth in ways that are life giving and reflecting the love and presence of the Holy Spirit? Jesus came to us and gave himself, and the greatest gift perhaps we can give to others is also ourselves and what we bring to their lives. Who has impacted your life and how can you live to be a positive Jesus shaped impact on someone in your life?

God’s greatest gift to us was the gift of his presence.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Teach us to pray

Jesus the Rabbi called his apprentices to follow him, to be with him, and to live in close proximity with him day in and day out. As they did, they began to observe his practices of prayer, going away to be with the Father and then coming back to engage in the crowds and teaching and healing. They saw a connection between his prayer life and his daily life – and it was attractive. So even though these Jewish men would have known off by heart many of the Jewish prayers they were taught as boys growing up, they still made this odd request of Jesus. Teach us to pray. They already knew how to pray, so what were they asking? Maybe it was something more like – “teach us to pray in the way we see you praying”, because it is different to what we know or grew up being taught. I’m kind of with the disciples more and more – God teach me to pray, because I am not sure I have fully experienced all you meant prayer to be. Do you know “how to pray”? Do you feel you would like to learn from Jesus more about prayer, the kind of prayer he engaged with the Father?

Tyler Staton in his book “Praying like monks, living like fools” (Hodder and Stoughton 2022) says that prayer is first and foremost about “presence” than it is about anything else. Prayer, like with Jesus, is a free and deliberate choice to spend time with the Father – to prefer his company. The foundation of prayer does not start with outcomes or lists, because if it does we will end up disappointed with God. Prayer must start with presence. Our challenge is that we are born into, swim in, and are bombarded with messages that tell us life is about the “market place”; about transactions, about getting stuff or getting “experiences”. The economy and social status and how much we have or don’t have is what drives so much of our society. For me now, every phone call from someone I don’t know, every business I engage with, even interactions I have with other Christian leaders feels like some kind of transaction – they or I want something. There are very few spaces or relationships that are just about presence. No wonder my and our prayer life can feel like a market place; a transactional deal making extension of the economy. Just like if I work hard my life will improve, if I pray right or be a good Christian then God will “bless me”. But how often am I present to the Father, simply to just be with him?

The time Jesus got most upset and angry was when he cleared the temple and flipped tables and walked around with a whip in his hand driving the merchants out. They, like many of us, had turned his Fathers house of “prayer” into a transactional market place – an economy, far from presence with the Father. Jesus angry cry was “stop turning my Fathers house into a market!” Stop turning prayer into a transaction. The Father wants us just to come regularly and be with him, just like a dad wants his little child to hang on the couch with him for a bit each day. Our prayers need to start there, just enjoying God, sitting in his love. And when after some time we do want to ask him about some things, knowing he isn’t grading our prayers like some essay or deciding how to answer them based on how good they are or if we deserve them. Learning to just be with the Father takes time, and for some of us we carry deep wounds about prayer and deep disappointments from past experiences. But relational healing does not happen with silence and distance – so come to the Father. Prayer is more about being than receiving, more about thanking than asking, more about love than transaction. So as an apprentice to Jesus, may we like the first disciples ask – teach me to pray.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Sanctified - say what?

1Peter 1:1-2  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Sanctification – now that is a Big old word; one I as a kid heard a lot but never really understood. Maybe to be “sanctified” was to become like Mrs Watts, who was about 100 years old and attend our church at 88 Lockwood Road Burnside every Sunday and prayed a lot about sanctification. I thought it meant to become something like her and I didn’t want to really become like her. But the problem with big words is that they lose their very simple and transformative meaning by having too many letters – like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

According to Baker's Dictionary of Biblical Theology, the generic meaning of sanctification is "the state of proper functioning." To sanctify someone or something is to set that person or thing apart for the use intended by its designer. A pen is "sanctified" when used to write. Eyeglasses are "sanctified" when used to improve sight. In the theological sense, things are sanctified when they are used for the purpose God intends. A human being is sanctified, therefore, when he or she lives according to God's design and purpose. When an item or object is used for a purpose other than which it was intended, then it is described as “profane” – another seemingly complicated word. But again, when we get to the meaning behind it, we understand it.

Profane - verb: to treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt : to desecrate or cheapen. Many things including human beings are used for things they were never intended. Playdough was invented in the 1930s and was intended to be the best wallpaper cleaner around. This didn't happen, of course, and 20 years later the inventor's son remarketed the product for kindergartners. Now we can’t get it out of carpets and off walls! Playdough has been profaned! But even though outside of life with God, people cheapen or desecrate their humanity and others, this does not change their worth or value in God’s sight. A $100 note being used to wipe your butt is still a $100 note with the same value – it is just being profaned rather than sanctified.

So because you have been chosen by God through the work of Jesus and received freedom from “profanity” and death through the sprinkling of his blood (Old Testament image of sacrifice ritual when blood was sprinkled on people and items to cleanse them – only ever temporary), you can now live for the purpose we were created for by our creator God. You are “sanctified” by being returned to your proper state of functioning! Jesus says; I know you and love you and you have value and worth in my eyes – come apprentice to me and re-discover your life. No shame, no guilt, no pretending, no cultural Christian rubbish. Just you and me – born again, free to be.

So am I sanctified? Now that I understand it I can say I am; but it is an ongoing process thanks be to God. My prayer is that you are too.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Listening to the Shepherd

We are currently in a series looking at God, and specifically Jesus, as shepherd of us his sheep. In the time the Bible was written, shepherds had very close relationships with their sheep and they knew them by name and the sheep knew and would follow the voice of the shepherd. This ability of sheep to be trained in this way and to actually be led around by a shepherd without fences and in modern times even across busy roads with cars and traffic, shows that sheep are not stupid. Jesus says in John 10:3-4 that the sheep know his voice and will follow him.

John 10:3-4  The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Would you say that you know and listen to the “voice of Jesus” in your life, or do you feel that God is distant or silent or non-communicative? We need to be honest in this space, but also trust that it is possible to get to know the voice of God more clearly, and to trust that God actually wants to communicate to us and lead us through life. So if your desire is to hear the voice of Jesus more, then how can you help that to happen? If God is desiring to speak, how can we tune in and learn to hear his voice?

I think the answer to this question is both simple and complex all at the same time, much like any other human relationship you have with another person. If we think about God speaking more like we would approach our relationship with a person, then I believe we will find him more accessible and less distant. So practically, imagine having coffee with a friend. Firstly you have to show up, and this might mean making time for God, going to church, making time in your day to actually focus on him. Secondly you need to sharpen your listening and cut our other voices. If you are in a coffee shop where there is lots of noise, you need to look at and focus on the person across from you and tune out the person on the table next to you. So with God, we need to reduce the distractions, create some space and silence so we can hear his voice better. Turn off your phone, find a space conducive to connecting with God (garden, beach, lounge chair with a coffee or tea).

Before we meet with a friend we probably have been in communication with them, so reading God’s communication to us (the Bible) is also really important in hearing his voice because he has spoken in lots of ways already. God is not on “speed dial” or a hot line; we have to be willing to engage with what he has already communicated to us. As we get to know God through scripture, through being more intentional in making space for him, in tuning out other voices and distractions, then we begin to tune in to his voice more clearly. But this takes time and practice. Part of prayer is about coming in an attitude of listening, not just “worrying in God’s general direction” with a list, and then hurrying off and complaining God never speaks.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would be our guide and would lead us into all truth, so as we do these practices, offer yourself and your ears to the voice of the Spirit and be expectant that God will begin to reveal his whisper and voice over time. Value “wasting time with God” and over a few weeks and months I believe you will notice a shift and be able to tune in more easily to the voice of the Shepherd of your soul.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Be with, become like, live like

There are different streams in the Christian faith tradition that at times are unhelpfully pitted against each other. For example the charismatic stream may be emphasized in one church whereas a social justice stream may be what is valued most in another church, and so it goes. These divisions are unhelpful when compared to each other, or valued over and against one another. Every healthy church should be charismatic (spirit led and empowered), Word focused (grounded in Scripture), justice oriented (care for the poor and the marginalized), contemplative and prayerful (creating space to be still and hear from God), holy (seeking to live lives that reflect God’s character), and incarnational in the presence of Christ through sacrament and daily living.

Similarly, there can be an emphasis on personal faith vs community gathering (church) or mission to the world around us. Again, when we put these against each other or value and uphold one above another, and judge people accordingly we miss the beauty of the whole. Having said that I think there is an order that can be helpful in keeping us on track which is unrelated to importance or hierarchy. Jesus call to us and the thrust of much of Paul’s letters to the early church is for us to be followers of Jesus such that by being with him, we become like him and then live like him. It is hard to become like someone if you never spend any time with them. Similarly without being with someone and becoming like them you can’t really live like them. This process of formation, or transformation, that Jesus calls us to as followers is one of humility and emptying ourselves.

The image we find helpful in the New Testament is that of metamorphosis, where by a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly through the miracle of re-formation and transformation. As we spend time with Jesus with an openness and desire for the Holy Spirit to change us, we become more like him in our nature and character, and in doing so become more like the Father. As we become more like Jesus, it is much easier to live like him, freely and lightly, rather than following a bunch of rules or morals. If we try to live in Christian community without first being with and becoming like Jesus, we will find it hard to forgive, to serve, to have compassion and grace. Similarly if we try to do mission or work in the world without first being with and becoming like Jesus, then it can quickly become about our efforts and just doing good deeds.

But as we spend time with Jesus through prayer, solitude, scripture reading, fasting, reflection on nature, practicing gratitude; we will find it easier to love in community and to serve on mission. In fact as we are changed these things no longer become tasks to do in order to be a “good Christian”; rather they become our lived practice flowing out of our essence as people shaped into the image of our creator God – true image bearers. So if you are finding Christian community hard, or living out your faith difficult and discouraging; can I encourage you to step back and take a break and spend some regular time with Jesus each week. These practices done with openness are what it means to abide in the vine and allow the Holy Spirit to begin to do that transformation that we can’t do ourselves. In doing so we will learn to live into Jesus invitation to come away with him and learn to live freely and lightly. To learn the unforced rhythmus of grace.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Letting God Speak

You probably have been at events or parties where you find yourself in a conversation with a few people and it is hard to get a word in, so you don’t say much. I have certainly found myself sitting with people at times, wanting to say a bit more or be more involved in a conversation, but there is just no space to speak. Some would say you just have to jump in and “force” your way into the conversation. However, that is not my style and if you have to do that, the other person or persons obviously aren’t that interested in what you have to say anyway. We are not always good at listening and often prefer the sound of our own voice, or to be disseminating information rather than creating space for others to share.

People sometimes say they wish that God would speak to them or that they would be able to hear his voice more. I wonder if half the problem at times is that we don’t give the Spirit space to speak; God is like the person hanging around who gets ignored or is never asked what they think. There are different ways we can create more space for God to speak to us, including things like solitude and silence, engaging more in prayer and reflection, being in nature and focusing on his beauty and creativity. However, one of the primary ways God speaks to us is through his Word, or his story if you like in the Bible. Regularly reading God’s Word has been for me one of the primary ways that I have learned to hear God’s voice, and gain discernment and wisdom about how he wants me to live my life and follow him.

We are only a few days into our January reading of Matthew’s gospel, but I have already been struck by how God has “spoken” to me and reminded me of things by just engaging in listening/reading, and then asking the three simple questions. Where is God in this reading? What is God saying to me personally through this reading? How can I apply that in my life today? It seems that when we give God space and time, and a medium to speak, and we ask the right questions, then he actually has a bit to say. We can tune in to a deeper truth that helps us make sense of our world, and gives us wisdom and some practical things about God’s very real call on us as followers of Jesus. This practice can be helpful on your own, but there is also a real benefit in reading Scripture with another person and asking the same simple questions together. Recently I have begun catching up with two other guys once a week to read scripture for about half an hour after work, and asking those same simple questions together. I have been amazed how helpful it has been. Can I encourage you, if you would like to experiment with that, to find another person or two and just start this simple practice. God wants to be heard, and he has already spoken so much if we are willing to give him the time to listen.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Hidden and Revealed

God in the coming of Jesus, revealed something that people had been waiting for and longing for, for centuries. In the advent stories recorded in the gospels, some amazing events took place with angels appearing to people, miraculous births to old people and a virgin, a star appearing in the east leading sages to come find a king, two old people in the temple seeing the baby Messiah God had promised he would reveal. However, despite all these huge revelations and powerful events, a lot of the story was hidden and unseen. Much of it went by unnoticed by the vast majority of people, including those who should have been looking and known better – namely the religious leaders.

But it seems over history that this is often the way of God. He reveals himself in unexpected places, to unexpected people, and often on the margins to those whose hearts are right but who may not be highly regarded in society. Mary is chosen by God to carry his Son, but she is nothing special and comes from an out of the way country town way up in Galilee. In the coming of the long awaited Messiah who will change the world, there is a hiddenness in the way he arrives. Mary is young, insignificant in many ways. She lives a long way from the centre of power in Jerusalem. She is poor, which we know because they could only afford two young pigeons when Jesus is presented at the temple, as opposed to a lamb which more well off people were supposed to bring. Yet Gabriel visits her and says she is highly esteemed, and that she has been chosen by God to carry the long awaited Messiah.

The wise men had the revelation of the star and made a long journey in search of a great king based on what they had seen, even though they were foreigners. The religious leaders of Israel however, knew the answer about where the Messiah would be born, but didn’t even bother going the short distance with the wise men from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to see if actually what they were saying had merit. They knew better and of course God would not reveal something to foreigners that he hadn’t revealed to them! They were the religious leaders of the people after all. So it was hidden from them but revealed to those who had eyes to see and faith to follow.

The shepherds were also fairly humble folk, certainly not priests, and were out in the fields tending sheep when God chose to reveal to them the amazing news that the Christ child had been born. Like the wise men they responded and sought him out to worship him, but only a few of them saw the angels and received the message. It was an amazing revelation yet at the same time very hidden from the majority of people. As with all these things, it seems that is the way God works. On the margins, to the least, revealing himself to those whose hearts are open and responsive to him. God is still working around us in our world today, but in places that might be more hidden and not always seen by the majority of people. He reveals himself to those who are seeking, to those who are expecting, to those who are longing for his presence. This advent, can I encourage you to look for the presence and work of God in your life and around you in unexpected places. Take time to pause and seek to see where he is at work and what he is doing and what he might be trying to reveal to you. Ask for eyes to see his work and a heart that is open to the move of his Spirit afresh as we remember his coming – Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Joy to the world, the Lord will come!

Grace and Peace - Garry

Listen to my Words

Matthew 7:24  "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock”

In Greek and Hebrew, the words “listen” and “obey” have the same root word and could in many cases be used interchangeably. The sense when we read about “listening” to God in Scripture, is that if we don’t obey or put in to practice what we “hear”, then we actually haven’t heard in the first place. Jesus so often talked about having ears to hear such that the hearer would then re-order their life or their thinking. Jesus in the Gospel of John is presented as the Word, who was from the beginning, spoke the universe into being, and continued to speak creativity and life and power through his human voice while on earth. When we read the Bible, at times we lose that sense of this “Living” Word sitting behind and within the text. The words on the page are communication from someone living and dynamic, similar to us reading a letter from someone, with the knowledge of the person who sits behind the pen.

Eugene Peterson says that when we lose a sense of the “Living Being” and “Word” behind Scripture, the text itself is like a dried or desiccated object that is devoid of life and flavor and bursting juiciness.  Rather than nourishing us, it can suck the life out of our mouths so to speak and leave us more dehydrated than we started. Jesus is the living water and the life that sits within and behind the text. So as we read the Bible, we should approach it with ears to hear that living voice of Jesus. And with a heart attitude that comes open to be re-ordered based on the voice which will speak to us through the otherwise dry words on the pages. Paul writing to Timothy says that Scripture is “God breathed”, again giving us that sense of the Spirit or “wind”, or breath of God that is seeking, not to give us regulations and rules, but to communicate his essence and breath his life once again into his beloved dust.

I have been reading through the Bible once a year for the past 7 years, and this has been a really good discipline for me, and very helpful on many levels. Yet I must confess that as I lie in bed reading every night, I don’t always come with an expectation of encountering that Word of life, or with ears to hear and a desire to allow God to re-order my life and heart and thinking through his Word. But I am trying to do that more and to see the person behind the words as I would someone I know who has written a personal letter to me. In recent months when I have woken up early I have tried to get into the habit of not just lying in bed and thinking, but instead getting up to spend time in the psalms.  I grab a coffee, sit on the couch, and still my heart seeking to slowly read a psalm several times. In between readings, I seek to be open to God’s presence, to his voice, to his personhood and desire to communicate to me. However, this needs to be paired with a humility to hear and then to obey and allow him to re-order my thinking or day or attitudes. As I have practiced this, Andrea has commented and noted that on those days, something is different in my spirit and being. I feel it too, and that gives me encouragement to keep going and to know that this Word is alive and is able to change me if I am simply open to come and to be, and to hear.

So can I encourage you to enter this “Word”, to come to Scripture seeking to hear and encounter the one behind the words on the page. The Spirit who has spoken from the beginning, and continues to speak now, and desires to communicate to you such that we might draw near to him and order our lives around his life, which is living water and life to the full. This does not mean everything becomes easy, that our troubles disappear, that our difficult relationships instantly become easy. But it can change us and help us approach this things more lightly and freely in the Yoke of Jesus.

Grace and Peace - Garry

Consider the Lilies

Luke 12:27  "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

Spring is just around the corner, and the reason I know that with certainty is not because of the calendar, or phases of the moon. The reason I know for sure that spring is on its way is because of one thing that has interrupted my life in the last week – sneezing! I have always suffered from bad hay fever, and even had two years of treatment every month where I was injected with a concoction of pollen in small doses to try and desensitise my nose and body. I can remember being on a farm a few years ago down at Mt Gambier during hay making season. My hay fever was so bad I couldn’t even leave the house.

So this past week I had a day when my nose started to twitch, and I began to sneeze and I knew immediately there was pollen in the air. My body is so finely attuned to it. Once I registered the change, I then began to notice all the beautiful blossom that has boldly sprouted forth, even in the face of ongoing cold and rain. The beautiful whites and pinks of the ornamental plum and pear trees that line the streets on my drive in to work each day. And so I have been “considering the flowers of the field” and thinking about their beauty and what they can teach me.

Most flowers are delicate and soft, emerging for just a few short days, bringing us joy, beauty, and hope for the summer to come. But they are incredibly fragile as well, and within a week their soft petals will be strewn across the road and in the gutter, turning into brown slush – humus. But Jesus tells us there is much to learn from humble flowers. Why put so much effort into such beauty, which lasts such a short time? On a practical level, we can just write it off as the need to attract bees for pollination so the plant can reproduce. However, I think there is more to it than that. God, the divine artist, has woven incredible beauty into something that could be more practical. Partly I think so that we could appreciate it; that we could find joy and hope coming out of our dark winters. And partly to show that God is so infinitely good and creative as he clothes the flowers.

Jesus says that despite their short life and inevitable return to the dust, these flowers are more beautiful and amazing than the richest greatest king who ever lived, and all the gold and treasures he possessed. He too and all his “stuff” would return to the dust or be taken away by others. However, Jesus in stopping on the side of the road and pointing out the flowers to the disciples is a reminder that God is good, that we can put our trust in him, that we worry about far too much. If that is the care he gives to flowers, then we can trust that he also cares for us, and that even in our dark seasons of life there is hope that beauty and new life can, and will emerge.

This week as you drive around or look at your garden, take time to notice the flowers. If your nose starts to fizz and you sneeze, then remember the flowers and consider the love and care and goodness of God, not just to them but also to you whatever circumstance you find yourself in. And as you notice the flowers, remember that God loves you and delights in you and will always be with you. He is good and he calls us to surrender our worries and cares to him and take time to reflect and notice his presence, and to find hope in his resurrection life.

Grace and Peace - Garry