Location, location, location!

This coming Sunday we celebrate four years since our official launch as a new congregation on the 14th of December 2003. At that time we had managed to gather some 24 or 25 adults around us. That is not bad when you consider that 15 months previous we were no more than a good idea. Today, four years on, the number of adults who see themselves as connected to our worship life is now around the 70 mark. We would certainly get a shock if everyone turned up at once! Of course if you add in the kids we can put another 60 onto the list at least!

Then of course you begin to consider our ‘others’ list which sees us in contact with another 50 or 60 families through our various ministries? So, after a few years of hard work maybe we can be kind to each other on our birthday and give all concerned a well earned pat on the back. From me; well done and thank you so much for your support.

Nothing particularly ‘museish’ about the above; but it has got me thinking about how we have gone about forming this very special community of ours. My thinking is also related to our latest foray into the property market and the concern that we are being seen to be moving to the fringe of our area. You know the old Real Estate cry – LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

I believe in the location thing and make the point that we have grown precisely because of that truth. However, it has not been the location of a building that has seen us grow so well; but rather the location of our people. Growth has not come from people being attracted to a building or a particular style of worship; but by people connecting with people, and for this to happen we have had to be located with them! Of course I have made the point a hundred times before but that is how Jesus did it.

‘The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.’ John 1:14 The Message

That’s how we went about it and continue to work this model. I have to say that for Ronnie and I this has been at some cost because among our variety of different gifts, hospitality has never rated all that high! Now, we get on with people okay (I think?), but we are not natural entertainers or hosts. So for two people – one of whom is extremely shy and the other as much an introvert as an extrovert – it has been an interesting journey. As a for instance we would have had more than double the amount of events at our home in five years here than we had in eleven and a half in our previous place.

Location, location, location is a great mission statement as long as we realize that it’s all about people. Jesus went where they were and connected with them. He did it at their workplace, their homes, at family celebrations and wakes, at religious gatherings and even took time out from his own parades to connect with people. These times of interruption stand out for me as the most impressive stuff of all. Here he connects with the unclean, the sick, blind deaf, ostracized and oppressed. It was while Jesus was just going about his daily stuff that healing, hope and life came to others. Here is the thing for me. I can see this happening today right across the different things that we do.

Location is all about being where people are at, rather than where we would like them to be. Life would be so much easier if we arrived in a district, let people know our church times and just waited for the crowds to flock right on in. Here is a news flash. That hasn’t happened for a VERY long time. So we go where they are and provide a variety of opportunities to connect. There are two things that stop our nation and neither of them is religious. Well... I guess they are a bit! ANZAC Day and Melbourne Cup are two key Australian moments and each year we provide a local place for people to reflect and celebrate these occasions.

Aberdoon House, Story Time, Playgroup, Go M.A.D, State of Origin, Ginger Bread Houses, Ladies Day, Christmas Eve, Pub Chat, Movies & Martinis are all attempts at meeting people in a non-threatening place and by stealth BEING the good news that Jesus calls us to be. We do look after ourselves by home groups, 50+, TGYH and other in house things and these are vital to our well being; but our focus has always been outward looking.

Of course in today's diverse society location is also connected to communication. I am old enough to remember when you rang someone and the first question you asked was ‘How are you?’ Nowadays you ring and the question is more likely to be ‘Where are you?’ So we have to connect with people no matter what their location. That is why we have an SMS Network on the go these days, plus these musings, plus our blog address and our website and our bulletin. Someone kindly passed on a word of encouragement about my musings last week and wondered how I found the time to do it. It is imperative that I make time for these things!

So, if you can’t make it next Sunday, let me wish you a Happy Birthday ahead of time. If you are relatively new on the block it makes no difference – you’re part of the family – what’s ours is yours. If you’ve been around from the beginning you deserve a medal. But the best I can do is say thanks and I’m sorry we don’t see as much of each other as we used to.

Are there plastic golf balls in heaven?

This coming Sunday is the First of Advent. In real terms it is the beginning of the church year. For the Christian church Advent is a season of preparation. It is not preparation for Christmas with all of the planning of what to buy, what to eat and what you might like to receive; but a time to reflect upon what the Advent (coming) of Christ – past present and future might mean for us.

Advent is very important to me and I make every effort, despite the time of year, to slow myself down and reflect on what this time really means. So many of us – me included – occasionally refer to this time as the ‘silly season’. It’s a bit sad really that the time of celebrating God’s divine intervention into history is so often an occasion of great stress and turmoil.

It is a regular frustration to me that the one time of the year when our Christian presence might really have an impact among others, we actually abandon our post and simply join the crowd rushing madly around complaining about how little time and money we have and how much we have to do.

One of the Bible readings that I will be looking at on Sunday is Isaiah 2:1-5:

‘The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

In days to come the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be raised above the hills;

all the nations shall stream to it.

Many people shall come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

to the house of the God of Jacob;

that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths .”

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.’

Isaiah didn’t write this when all was well with him and his nation. Indeed they were in exile and things probably could not have been worse. The prophet Isaiah – as is the role of a true prophet – was not ruled by what the eye could see or what his mind might tell him; he was ruled by what he felt God was saying and showing to him. We can learn a lot from Isaiah.

What if we as the people of God in our local communities determined to do what Isaiah suggests in the last part of the above reading? We have just come through a time when people have been offering us a whole bunch of ways forward; what if we chose God’s? What if we chose – against all the odds – to ‘walk in the light of the Lord’? Christmas is supposed to be a time of hope. What if we chose to walk in that hope? It is also supposed to be about peace, joy and love. What if we made a conscious decision this Advent and Christmas to not only light Advent candles and flip through Advent calendars; but make real the promises of God by bringing these things into view through our own lives of worship, witness and service? What if we as a local church committed to offering these things to each other and to others? Come; let us walk in the light of the Lord.

It is a personal theory of mine; but if you are reading this and have already decided that you are too busy for it; you’re right – you are too busy!

Today I was given a lesson in theology by a pre-schooler. Some months ago the families pet dog died and for whatever reason he had been pondering on this and was missing his little mate. He decided that he wanted to give his pet something to play with in heaven. When he suggested that he wanted to give a ball his dad thought that perhaps God already some balls in heaven already; but our little friend had worked out that they were probably hard ones and his pup needed a soft ball. On arrival at Playgroup I was handed a white plastic golf ball with a simple enough request; ‘Pastor John, could you give this ball to God and ask him to give it to my little dog?’

From another part of Isaiah: ‘The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.’
It’s hardly surprising that Jesus calls us to become like little children.

Buying in

Over the years I have seen some strange things go on in churches but seeing a whole bunch of women turn up last Sunday morning with their slippers on was something a little different!

How many conferences have you been to where upon arrival you are presented with a pair of slippers? Well, it happened on Saturday at our first ever ‘Live with Passion – A day for Women.’ It was a very special day where our female guests were very much pampered and made to feel special. So much so that some of our ladies were still wearing those darned slippers on Sunday morning.

These past four weeks have been for me some of the most exciting and uplifting of times. The wonderful success of our first Church Camp, closely followed by a very stormy (weather wise) but highly encouraging Melbourne Cup celebration was a good start to November; and then last weekend’s activities really nailed things. In recent days we seem to have moved to another level of ministry in this place and we should be feeling highly encouraged as we move toward Christmas and the New Year.

Some years ago I was asked by someone if it would be okay if they started coming along to our church even if they did not necessarily hold with some of the stuff we believed. Interesting; I was asked a very similar question this past weekend.

One of my favourite Christian authors is a guy called Gordon McDonald. A few years back he wrote a book called ‘Mid-Course Correction’ which Gordon wrote as he headed into his sixties and was wondering what might lie ahead for him and others of us who have passed the half way mark. He referred to some research by Anthropologists (people who study anthrops) who had found that people in various cultures align themselves in two different ways. One is a circle that is defined by its outer circumference. In this scheme a person is either in or out of the circle. Those inside the circle define what it takes for people outside to get in. Many will of course recognise this as a very common model in a whole bunch of situations, very much including church. The other alternative is not concerned with the circle, its circumference, or who is in our out. The question is not are you in or out but ‘are you moving toward the centre or away from it?’

Now, depending on a whole bunch of things any organisation will have movements toward and away from the centre and I recognise that we are not immune from that movement and some people choose or circumstance dictates a move away from the centre. However, alongside this is the fact that a whole bunch of people are now moving toward the centre and that excites me.

A number of people are now pulling together our big Christmas Eve event (including a kids’ choir!) and other ministry areas such as Playgroup, Ginger Bread House, finance and property matters are all being infiltrated – in the nicest possible way - by different people. At the beginning of this year I identified one of my key areas of focus in 2007 has encouraging new leadership across the life of the church. It isn’t all that often that a good plan really comes together but I have been very happy to see this come to fruition over these past months. Praise God! People are moving toward the centre.

Remember that classic Aussie movie – The Castle? Daryl’s Lawyer is stuck for words as he faces the court and the best he can do is ‘It’s the vibe - it’s all about the vibe’. Well, the vibe around here right now appears to be pretty good. There is a wonderful spirit about the different ways in which NorthWest Uniting Church is going about stuff of late. There is a strong sense of hope, optimism and energy that is quite infectious. Good grief even I’m catching it!

Just today I had cause to reflect on just what it means to be about following Christ in today’s world. I think that Jesus’ illustration of being salt is a good way of looking at it: ‘You are the salt of the earth.’ In the days of Jesus salt was vital to preserve food and give taste. The thing was though; the salt had to be absorbed - disappear - to be most effective. Much of what we do cannot easily be defined and has no obvious spiritual agenda. It’s a bit like the vibe really. You can’t quite pin down what it is or why it is; but nevertheless it IS!

This coming Sunday I will be finishing my four week series – ‘An Infectious Faith’ with a talk titled ‘Shine like stars – A life worth Catching’. Those of you who have kept up (a chocolate bar to anyone hears all four) will know that we started with Courage, then Compassion and last week Credibility. So this week to keep up with the C’s theme we have Catching. Hope you can!

Catching up with God

I am reading a really good book right now called ‘God next door.’ It is written by an Aussie guy called Simon Carey Holt, who has done his share of travel but is now reasonably settled in Melbourne. Simon focuses on something very close to my heart and the title gives it away; the issue of God being a part of our neighbourhood.

Probably my biggest frustration in ministry is this very matter. For way too many years now I and many others have suffered under the popular mindset that Sunday worship is it! If you get that right for a significant majority of people – this act alone probably would qualify you for sainthood – then you are on a winner. Get it wrong and you are condemned to a long hard slog.

My case has always been that the gathering for worship is highly important. Reality is that not being committed to this regular gathering makes it difficult to keep up! It is here that the sense of belonging is closest and it is here that we are reminded as part of the body of Christ what it is we are on about. Important, yes; be all and end all. No!

The new shopping centre at Rouse Hill has become a great place to bump into people. God is present in this bustling new place as certainly as the community centre on Sunday morning. I love bumping into people because I never view a meeting with anyone as just a meeting, accidental or not. These times are amazing opportunities to see what God might be up to at any particular moment. This does not mean that you pull out your trusty pocket size New Testament and regale them with the Gospel, it means that you listen between the words and see every meeting as a possible divine encounter.

I have many friends who do not carry the tag of Christian and I would love for them to become followers of Jesus; but they are not my friends for that reason. I don’t make friends to convert them but to enjoy their company and hopefully we can add value to each others and many other lives. However, from my perspective, God is never absent.

I get concerned at the practice of compartmentalizing our faith. It’s wrong! Check out how often Jesus sat on his backside on the Jewish Sabbath waiting for people to come to synagogue. Gosh, whenever we get a description of him being at the synagogue, he is in strife! On one occasion the crowd was going to throw him off the edge of a cliff. Even my worst message doesn’t get that response!

The whole ministry of Jesus is a description of him wandering around a variety of neighbourhoods, meeting with people and changing the environment in which they lived. Not everyone was healed and not everyone was changed; but by Jesus and his mates hanging out in these places seeds for change were grown. We are still about sowing seeds.

I reckon Jesus quite likes us hanging around his children on Melbourne Cup Day. He probably wishes he could be there himself – but of course he is. Go M.A.D. stuff, Church Camp, Ladies Day, ANZAC Day, Trivia Night, Playgroup, Scripture, Pub Chat, Movies and Matinees, Aberdoon House and even Christmas Eve is where we get the opportunity to discover what God is up to in the area. You could have a BBQ with a few neighbours, start a walking group or go and share a beer on a weekend as everyone is out gardening. God’s already there, we might as well join in the conversation.

One in Christ starts with one

This past weekend I was guest speaker at a church camp and very much enjoyed mixing with a different group of people, some of whom I knew a little and most not at all. Their theme for the weekend was ‘One in Christ’ and so I was able to exercise my mind as to what that particular focus might mean.

A film that really struck me a few years back was called ‘The Notebook.’ Without giving away too much of the story – because it is well worth watching – the plot revolves around a husbands struggle with his wife’s fall into Alzheimer’s Disease. At one point in the story the family are visiting at the nursing home and the struggle and frustration becomes too much for the children and grand children. They say to the father ‘Come on dad, let’s go home.’ The husband (played by James Garner) looks at his lifelong love and then turns to his family saying – ‘Allie is my home.’

When you are asked to talk to a large group of people on a specific subject, the temptation is to just use the shot gun technique and spray out a whole bunch of good corporate thoughts in the hope that some of it might strike home. I figure that’s okay if you’re selling Life Insurance or confectionery (no offence!); but strangely I do expect more from a Christian perspective.

How do you move a Christian cliché such as ‘One in Christ’ from a good idea to a real possibility? My first thrust was to suggest that for a congregation to seek a corporate reality it needs in the first instance a personal challenge and commitment. For US to be one in Christ requires each INDIVIDUAL to be one in Christ first. When my faith in Christ first came alive 24 years ago, the key point was the certainty of being one in Christ. It wasn’t just a good theological idea; but a personal reality. The resurrected Christ was not some doctrinal statement but a sure and certain hope.

I am dotty about my lovely wife so I know full well what it means for ‘Veronica to be my home;’ but I also am aware at a spiritual level that God is my home. It makes a great deal of difference to your life when this is true.

A great strength of our growing church here in the Rouse Hill / Kellyville district is the value placed on belonging deeply; firstly to each other and then prayerfully and hopefully to God. As best as I know how I have been building this value into all that we do. It is part of our DNA. ANZAC Day, Melbourne Cup, Trivia Night, Playgroup, Christmas Eve and our newest venture our own church camp this coming weekend all have this as a part of their makeup. The key feature of all of these events is the openness and sense of welcome that draws and holds people. When we talk about building communities of care and hope, the vision can only come into view as we increasingly risk being transparent and vulnerable to one another.

The down side to this is that in growing such a group of people the value of belonging can become a barrier to others. Many may prefer belonging to a church that you can choose to nibble at occasionally when the time allows or the need arises and hopefully we can cater to that; but a church committed to deep belonging can be hard to link into because a level of commitment grows that some may not be comfortable with. It has the potential and power to change the world but in making that change it has usually rattled a whole lot of cages along the way!

What's love got to do with it?

It had been quite a day. It kicked off with my checking on the health of one of our flock and then at Playgroup we rejoiced with the news of another pregnancy in our ranks, followed by a visit to another one of our sickies and unfortunately at the end of the day one of our special little girls, Olivia, had an emergency dash to hospital. Being part of a new and growing congregation can be something of a roller coaster ride at times.

I feel sad for people who struggle to get involved with a wider community of some kind. It stunts our growth when we tuck ourselves away in what may be perceived as a ‘safe place.’ It is such a blessing for me to see our community grow in trust and in care of one another. What a great blessing to have a whole bunch of people who really do care and will go more than ‘an extra mile’ to see you through safely.

‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.’

It seems to me that this remaining in the love of Jesus is closely connected to remaining within the gathered group. Jesus finished this teaching by saying, ‘This is my command – love each other.’ Too often when something goes wrong we retreat from this corporate love. It may only be one individual that has upset us; but the stunning thing is that often our response is to blame everyone! We withdraw completely from the gathered people; and something inside us dies!

The John 15 passage that I have referred to above is all about ‘abiding or remaining’ in the love of Jesus. In the early part of the chapter Jesus uses the vine as a description of the church. What an interesting picture! Those darned vine branches snake around all over the place! That person I was so miffed with the other week was waaay across the other side of the room a few minutes ago; so how did he finish up right next me?! That’s the way of a vine, twisting and turning this way and that. One minute heading north with great vigour and the next plunging south for no good reason at all! It’s a bit of a strange thing a vine; you never when or who you are going to cross paths with.

Another thing about a vine is that it’s kind of hard to stand out in the thing. The branches are never particularly good looking – more serviceable than attractive – and just as you get into a good position to strut your stuff some new little twig just crosses your path! No consideration for seniority, wisdom or talent at all.

‘Love each other.’ No matter what, love each other. That is the difference between the love that defines the world and that which should define the church and the Christ follower. My marriage sermons are never all that popular really; because I challenge people to seek a love different to what the world offers. The standard model of love is one of give and take and when you don’t get your just desserts; well you bale! I don’t think that the Bible knows much about ‘just desserts.’ Except perhaps for the fact that if we did all get the desserts that we deserved chances are there wouldn’t be much bragging going on.

Last Sunday morning our congregation made a very brave and exciting decision to push forward with the idea of establishing ourselves in a ministry centre of our own in Annangrove Road, Rouse Hill in the first half of 2008. This will take a lot of hard work in coming months and while we will need loads of wisdom, energy, faith and strength; what we will need most of all is love among every one of us.

‘Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm;
for love is
as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like
blazing fire, like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love; rivers
cannot wash it away.’
Song of Songs 8:6&7

In the weeks, months and years ahead I want to develop a team of unquenchable love. We will be each others best supporters club. We will be a source of encouragement, strength and hope for each other. People will look at those who call NorthWest Uniting their home and be amazed at our love!

Care to join the dream?

Joining the Iceberg Club

We have just passed the sixth anniversary of the September 11 crisis in the USA. I can recall that even in secular Australia people sought answers from the church at that time. They sought prayer, hope and even perhaps some answers to hang on to. The result six years on is that the church generally in this country continues to decline. Reality, it seems, is that when people do turn to the church, too often we miss the moment.

In 2000 the Sydney Olympics were seen as a classic moment for the church to bring a Christian focus and I have no doubt this was effectively done; but where is the fruit? Why does the church continue to struggle to have its voice heard? Some would say that perhaps we are not shouting loudly enough, or we are not visible enough. For me the Christian story is subversive in nature; and is less about accepting a declared set of ideas and more about seducing people into a journey of discovery. For too many today the answers are sorted – done and dusted – where I have to confess that I seem to spend an increasing amount of time not understanding much at all and to be honest I am actually quite comfortable living in the mystery.

Last Sunday afternoon I was privileged to be the celebrant at a local wedding. The couple chose the Bible readings from the Song of Songs chapter 2:10-13 and 8:6-7. I felt led to focus on the issue of anticipation:

'My lover spoke and said to me,
“Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.

See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves is heard in our land.'

A wedding day is a day of anticipation for all concerned; but most of all for the bride and groom. I wonder when the anticipation wears off. It has always struck me as rather cool that God has made men and women so different (apart from the obvious!). It should ensure that we spend a lifetime in anticipation. Sadly, there comes a time when we appear to withdraw from the sense of anticipation and settle for something less; losing the mystery along the way.

I think that every day with Jesus would have been full of anticipation and mystery. How about that first miracle at Cana in Galilee, where Jesus turned the water into wine? Who would have guessed that one? I bet the disciples were on their toes after that. A young boys lunch that mum had put together that morning ended up feeding 5,000!? It would have been fun mountain climbing with Jesus. One day they ran into a couple of guys called Moses and Elijah up there! Even going to church had its moments when Jesus healed a man with a crippled hand right there in front of everybody in the synagogue!

I like the time when Jesus came to the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. Rumour had it that occasionally an angel would stir the waters of the pool and the first one into the pool after that moment was healed. Good idea; but a bit unfair on a man who had been crippled for 38 years and didn’t have any mates to get him into the pool even if the angel did turn up. “That’s okay,’ (my translation) said Jesus. ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ And he did! And the ‘religious’ of the day responded with great joy. Nah! They pointed out to the guy walking home that it was illegal to carry his mat on the Sabbath. Nice one.

Last Sunday we had a big day with a double baptism for the Arnold clan and an Oasis celebration. Now, I personally didn't think it was the best service that we have ever done. It was a great time of baptism; but perhaps missing something in other parts. Yet I was overwhelmed by the number of visitors who were clearly blessed by the day. They didn’t have to give the amount of praise that they did. ‘Nice service Pastor,’ would possibly have been the standard reply. One person said, ‘John, there is something very special going on here with you guys. It was exciting to be here today. Thank you.’ I think that person got in touch with a little more than what was simply presented. Maybe they stumbled into the mystery of being with Jesus and his people last Sunday?

Now, where was I? Oh yes; the effectiveness of the church. I figure that a gathering for worship is a bit like the old iceberg illustration. What we see – and have control over - might or might not look impressive; but there is a whole lot more going on that we cannot see. That’s the stuff that we need to open up for people. That’s the stuff that perhaps we need to open up to ourselves. I am personally nurturing a sense of anticipation about that and wondering how to grow the idea further. You might like to join my anticipation club – it numbers one at present.

Our world is too small

If you were not on the church attendance roster for last Sundays gathering, you missed a real treat! We played host to three ministers from the US of A; but that was about the only thing they had in common. One was Caucasian from the Mid West, one was CIA (Chinese, Indonesian, American) based in the North East and one was proudly black from the south in Atlanta, Georgia. Forrest, Henry and Roe were a great encouragement to us all and a few were privileged to share lunch with them and hear even more of their stories.

Personally it was a real treat to sit back and enjoy the ministry of others, as we heard our visitors share and the whole church interact very well with them also. The morning was refreshing for me in hearing a message rather than giving one; and encouraging to see many of our own people responding to the various needs and tasks that the visit caused us to respond to. Well done everyone.

Creating a new worship community can be a little all consuming at times and it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Moments such as Sunday remind us that the Christian church is very much a global movement and comes to us in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colours. My first experience of the wider church was in Amsterdam in 1986 when I attended a conference for 8,000 Evangelists hosted by Billy Graham. On the first night of the conference we were asked to pray with and for the person sitting next to us. My neighbor was an Indian man who asked if I would mind if he prayed for me in his own language as he was more comfortable doing this. I assured him that I didn’t mind and he prayed so powerfully that I was blessed amazingly with words that I did not understand and did not seek to have translated. Looking back in life you note special moments in your journey and that time was one of mine.

I remember at the time of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 we called a prayer meeting at our centre for people to just gather and pray. Many were so shocked that they were barely able to verbalise their feelings and some others were getting frustrated that they couldn’t hear the words of some of the prayers across the room. I had to remind people that our hearing and understanding was much less important than people knowing that God heard and understood.

Our visitors reminded me that we are part of a very big family. We were able to talk, laugh and interact with people who were strangers just a few hours earlier. One of my little things is to regularly make the comment that we are in danger of making our world too small. With all of the freedom and openness that we enjoy in this land the family unit is shrinking rather than growing. Just today I was sat with a member of our clan and his youngest just came up next to me and climbed onto my lap as if it was the most natural thing in the world; and you know for a growing number among us it is!! Each Sunday morning – and at other times – I see kids going naturally to other adults whom they know, love and trust and see them as family. Not some theoretical thing; but quite real. This is a powerful thing and goes a long way to expanding the worlds of these small lives long into the future.

I often talk with fondness about my friendships with people outside the life of the church as I value these relationships greatly. However, I want to say that part of my being drawn into the life of the church and ultimately into a conversion experience was the issue of friendship and family, and the Christian family was for me, just about literally life saving.

I think back twenty plus years to my first church family and friendships that are still deep and long lasting. A little further along and I consider our mid north coast family and value greatly these great friends. Nowadays I am just as thrilled to be building deep friendships here in this region that will last eternally! There are some people very close to me that I love very deeply; but the sense of family love that many try to keep tight and controlled, I lost control of years ago. You see when I speak about loving all of the people in my congregation, I actually mean it! God has gifted me in many ways; but one of the most precious is the gift of an ever expanding family. I am forever grateful for that and just want to keep the story going.

Mission that looks like me!

Thankfully, I have a continued concern for people outside the life of the church. I am grateful for this as I sometimes feel that while Christian people might give lip service to this concern, I sometimes find the church quite disconnected as far as mission is concerned. It seems that the old missionary model still exists where it is accepted that the people who need to hear about the love of God are the obvious unfortunates of life. Now of course this is true and part of Jesus’ own call to ministry was to ‘preach good news to the poor .. proclaim freedom for the prisoners .. recovery of sight to the blind and release for oppressed;’ but I think that we can tend to get stuck there and lose sight of the more obvious mission fields right on our door step.

Ronnie and I support wider mission in a bunch of other ways such as sponsorship of a child and financial backing of social justice and / or ministry fields. However, for me my missionary heart has never strayed too far away from people who look like very much like me. My Biblical foundation for this is found in the call of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. Good old Zeke might have yearned for a mission field among some tribe of a distant land but God told him his mission was with his own people, the people of Israel. The first three chapters of Ezekiel describe this and the narrative closes with words that mean a great deal to me. Ezekiel has had a vision of God and now he is back with his people beside the Kebar River at Tel Abib (Modern day Tel Aviv):

‘I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib near the Kebar River.

And there, where they were living,

I sat among them for seven days—overwhelmed.’

I regularly get upset about injustices locally and internationally; but my heart is generally for people who look, speak and act very much like me. Even now, some twenty plus years on from the time when my faith came alive, I know and understand the feelings of Ezekiel as he sat among his own and was overwhelmed by their sense of loss and pain. I am pleased to say that my heart is still regularly overwhelmed as I pray, reflect, talk and serve among our local community.

Christianity has a bad name in some circles because we tend to be seen as people who answer questions that no one is asking. We have a prepared script with the appropriate Bible passages to prove that a person is far from God, needs to repent and turn to Jesus and no debate will be entered into. It’s funny that we are often critical of Jehovah Witnesses for doing the exact same thing?

Rather than going in there with a script we need to go in with an open heart, open ears and closed mouth. We need to sit with people and hear their questions, their doubts, their joys and their fears. Only by being with them can we hope to offer anything of life and hope. For me it has always been in sitting with people that my heart has been enlarged for them. It began with some street kids in my local suburb 24 years ago, sitting with them in the gutters at 3.00 in the morning hearing and feeling their pain.

For six years those kids shaped my future ministry. Over that time our team was mocked and occasionally abused and hardly a night would pass without our being ridiculed for what we were doing. On a couple of occasions I was physically attacked; once so badly that I had cracked ribs and was black and blue for days after and yet it was in this place that God touched me.

These kids were not usually out of bad homes with abusive parents. Often they were simply bored and trying to be a little rebellious. The suburb was a new growth area full of young families not dissimilar to where we are today. Since those days I thank God that I still have a heart for the mission field that confronts every morning when I open the front door.

What is it that touches your heart? Is there a way that you can find to sit among them and be overwhelmed?

Sometimes life has a habit of reaching out and grabbing you at the strangest – and most inopportune – moments. This was so for me last Sunday when I found myself in something of a strange personal struggle for most of the day.

Of course it was Father’s Day and I was conscious that this particular Sunday actually fell on the anniversary of my dad’s death on September 2, 2000. That day seven years ago was a very odd one for me as dad died in Ballarat and we were then living on the north coast of New South Wales. I was kept up to date with his condition but family felt that he might again pull through but by the time that it was clear he wouldn’t I was unable to do anything about it. Adding to the mix that day was the fact that I was dealing with a family break up within our church life and I was trying to handle this in the midst of my own journey. Such is a Pastor’s life.

I give this as background, because on Sunday morning in the midst of preparation for the service and then moving into the worship time itself, the memories of that day seven years ago came flooding back. Here we were celebrating a special day for dads and I found myself in this strange place of great sadness and loss. There is of course nothing unusual here as many will be able to equate with moments just like this; it was just inconvenient and disconcerting for me in terms of the timing. If the Pastor made less sense than usual and seemed a little ‘off’ then maybe this explains it.

Please don’t get all deep and meaningful with me and try to sort out my feelings of deep seated grief and regret at not being with my father when he died, because there is nothing to sort out. Every time I said goodbye to him over those last years we were both well aware that it might be our last goodbye and so finally it turned out to be. I am fine with all of that but still have those moments of simply missing someone that meant a great deal to me. This time it surprised me but on reflection it was hardly surprising. I had immersed myself in preparing for Sunday and in doing so had probably been able to suppress those usual memories at certain anniversaries.
When did life last sneak up and surprise you? For me the whole day turned into a time of mixed feelings and good reflection as I gave myself permission to accept what was going on and flow with the emotions and feelings that were evoked. Have you known a time recently when something similar occurred?

I guess I write this to encourage something that is very important to me; the issue of authenticity. We all have our different masks that cover our true feelings from time to time; but I believe that we will grow as a church and really begin to make a difference in our communities when we allow those masks to drop a little more often. You see, everybody is playing the same game and it is only when a few are silly enough and brave enough to remove a mask that we can give permission to others to do the same.

A favourite book of mine by John Ortberg is called – ‘If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.’ I believe that many today play the game of being Christ followers. It’s not that hard in the boat. Generally life is good and the sun is shining. Yes, from time to time the weather might get a bit squally and we have to hang on a bit and occasionally we might have a disagreement with fellow passengers; but life’s okay. A little dull maybe; but okay.

I am blessed that I came to be a follower of Christ from the outside in. It was while I was messing about in the water that I discovered the joy and peace of the boat and decided to join the crew. However, I have never lost sight of the fact that the real action is outside the boat!

Standing in the doorway

The things that we value drive our behavior. I am very passionate about connecting with people who are not a part of the church. Even after twenty odd years of living out a fairly committed Christian faith, some of my strongest personal relationships are with people outside the life of the church. I have some very close and strong Christian friendships; but am glad to say that I would have equally as many who would not share my faith ideas. It has always been a great sadness to me that so many Christian people, after a number of years, lose track of previous non Christian friendships.

Perhaps this is why I really enjoy the story of Jesus connecting up with Matthew the Tax Collector:

'As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax
collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed
him.
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors
and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.
When the Pharisees
saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax
collectors and ‘sinners’?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the
healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
But go and learn what this means:
‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners.”'

The things that we value drive our behaviour. The Pharisees values were based on doing the right ‘religious’ thing and their lifestyle flowed out of that value. They were interested in whether people were doing the right or wrong thing, so some people were out, while others were in. Jesus wasn’t so much about right or wrong as he was about life and so he wasn’t at all fussed about who he hung out with. His values decided his behavior.

My picture of the above reading is of Jesus in the middle of this noisy – perhaps boozy – crowd, enjoying the banter and the by play, while we have the Pharisees standing in the doorway peeking in with frowning faces. By nature I am a fairly quiet person; but I still prefer to be where things are happening rather than standing by the door peering in. Part of this is because I don’t want to miss whatever is going on at the time.

I wonder what our values as a growing local church are. Do we prefer to stand at the door of life checking things out to see who fits and who doesn’t; or are we keen to just get in amongst it all and sort out the detail as we go along? Personally I have always been attracted to the Jesus model. It can be quite risky at times and you do spend a lot of the time making things up as you go along; but mostly its fun. Above all for me I find also that it keeps you grounded and real. When people become Christians we are often too keen to plug them into our way of living rather than spend some time living in their world. For some that is one hell of a quantum leap of faith! I think that it is sometimes better for us to join their party than it is for them to join ours. To be frank, they often have more fun!

Always keep in mind that Jesus didn’t get his team to sign up to a set of rules. His was an invitation to join in the journey and see what might happen as they travelled. It was risky not defining what was right and wrong; not knowing who was in and who was out. So risky that at the end of the journey Jesus didn’t appear to have many mates left. Resurrection is another value worth hanging onto. It can make quite a difference.

Finding Jesus behind the religious curtain

I am forever reading material on the new and emerging church and this week I came across a book - Shaped by God's Heart by Milfred Minatrea - with a chapter named ‘Be Real and not Real Religious.’ I skipped a whole bunch of other chapters to take a look at that one, because being real is so important to me and to my ministry.

Ever since I was a little kid – a while ago now – Jesus has fascinated me. Not the religious one that is too often portrayed; but the REAL one with whom we can be quite uncomfortable if we really let him settle at our place. This Jesus is the one who makes mud poultices for blind men. It is this Jesus who honours a woman of dubious reputation among his ‘religious’ peers. He reaches out to touch lepers and tells disturbing stories about the most despised people being fit for the kingdom of God. Let's get this quite clear; religious people were disturbed by him!

Why did I spend so many of my early adult years distant from the church if Jesus fascinated me? Because as far as I could see the churches and Christians that I did bump into, had sanitised Jesus into something very different to the one in the Bible.

Why don’t men don’t take a greater interest in church? My theory is that we present a Jesus figure they are uncomfortable with. Jesus was a carpenter for heavens sake! I reckon he was a bloke’s bloke. He hung around with fishermen, tax collectors and a mixture of other men and women you might find at the Pub on any night of the week. How many songs do we hear about Jesus in this context? Not many. They are usually love songs full of syrup and dripping with words that the average bloke wouldn’t even say to his wife on a good day!

Jesus was REAL not real religious. Real is dangerous. That’s one of the reasons they killed him.

Don't step on the crack!!

I shared a kid’s story on Sunday called ‘Don’t Step on the Crack!’ For as long as I can remember I have had fun with walking along a footpath or what ever and trying not to step on the cracks. When I come to a pedestrian crossing I usually make a decision on whether I step on the white line or the black, or live really dangerously and put my foot on both at once! Some of the stripes these days are well apart – or it could be my advancing years – and you sometimes have to actually jump to make it. Stupid stuff I know and one of these days I may grow out of it; but don’t hold your breath!

The point to my telling the story was that often within the life of the church you find yourself trying to avoid stepping on cracks. Just the other day I realized that I had got the protocol wrong for a committee that I have been leading; another crack stepped on and another dose of forgiveness sought! A lot of the time, if you are not careful, you find yourself second guessing everything that you do. ‘If I do this will it offend so and so? If I don’t do this I am bound to upset Mrs Kafoops.’

Then I read the stories of Jesus and reflect on the transformed lives of people that he met and touched and I begin to wonder. ‘What if we put aside all of the stuff that binds and constrains us and we determined to experiment living with and through Jesus?’ What difference would it make? What might be some of the marks of this kind of life?

I think that we would be a lot more transparent. Remember those times when Jesus just knew what people were really thinking? In pastoral leadership I often find myself having to second guess people. Many clearly have a very high opinion of ministers as they seem convinced that one of our major gifts is that of being able to read minds. As best as I know I try to be a model for being transparent. On Sunday someone said that they enjoyed my humanness and honesty. Well, I spent way too many years not liking my own humanness and being grossly dishonest to waste time nowadays masking it.

Whenever I read the stories of Jesus I am struck by the vulnerability of his journey. The very act of God becoming one of us is surely the ultimate act of vulnerability? As one who started a church plant five years ago from almost nothing, I am encouraged that Jesus hardly got a flying start at ministry either. Moses had Aaron to give him a hand and we know that Paul served under a leading teacher of the day; but Jesus it seemed was simply the local carpenter. I wonder what it was like for him in those first months as he left home and went to the Jordan to be baptized and then tested in the wilderness. Let’s remember that ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ was finally killed as a common criminal in what looked much more like a crushing defeat than any kind of victory.

When I worked for a short time with God’s Squad, the Christian Bikers gang, they wore a badge that read ‘Jesus – friend of sinners.’ I think that the church has still got a lot to learn from Jesus about openness. We are often too quick to judge and risk turning our backs on the very people that Jesus died for.

Finally I think that we can learn a lot from Jesus about being a people of prayer. One of the most powerful passages of Scripture for me is where we read of Jesus saying

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

Luke 22:31,32

As one who has failed as much as – maybe more than most - anybody, I want to be a person who prays for someone in their struggles rather than be the one who smiles rather smugly and says ‘I told you so.’

If we can seek to build an authentic church community that seeks to manifest the above qualities in their personal and corporate lives, I wonder what sort of church we would offer to God and the people that we meet. We probably wouldn’t worry so much about stepping on cracks or any stray egg shells.

I was blind but now I see

Last week a friend suggested – kindly I think – that I was the ‘king of spin’ as far as the church was concerned. As we approach a Federal election we are going to get a lot of spin. The government spin merchants will be busy convincing us that Mr Howard is the greatest Prime Minister in history and how could we possibly think of tossing him aside, while at the same time belittling Mr Rudd’s credibility as an alternative choice. Have no fear; the Federal Opposition will be up to the same tricks. So why take being called a spin merchant as a compliment?

I think that a gift of ministry leadership is to see things that for many other people are not there. It is a visionary part of what we do. There is any number of people ready and willing to tell you and anybody who will listen, that there is nothing to see and no sign of being able to see it either; but I still like to see hope in most things.

When I commenced ministry here I had several ‘professionals’ ask me ‘what was the vision that I would bring to the region?’ It is as if you have a little vision tool box and you dip into the box and pull out a you beaut number 2106.3c Vision just perfect for the cause and away you go. Oh that life was so easy.

I believe that one of the key things that we should be looking for in mission leaders is the ability to see things into being. It is not about holy guess work; but more about the ability to cultivate and give credibility to the everyday happenings of life and people. Believe me if you do not have this gift and you are keen to be about doing new things in church ministry, find something else to do! Without this gift you will be controlled by what your physical eyes can see and what other people tell you and doubt, despair and yes, ministry death, is not very far away.

Growing something new means that you have to bring a certainty that for sure, even if you cannot see it right now, seeds are growing. I am of the opinion that God was here in this district long before I was! Just a crazy thought perhaps? I am also of the opinion that many Christian people have prayed and continue to pray for the work of God to prosper in this place. We’re always building on somebody else’s faithful work. Seeds are in the ground and fools such as I have the task of ‘seeing’ them out into the open. They won’t always appear and sometimes we will look foolish and suffer some embarrassment. In the greater scheme of things I guess a bit of embarrassment can be coped with.

I can recall being at a church Synod meeting some years ago now where a young minister was sharing a vision with colleagues over a lunch time gathering. The problem for me was that as he was sharing the hope that he had for this audacious dream, he was in almost the same breath talking it down by telling us all how ‘the church’ would not support or understand it. Don’t let the voice of rationality or reality hold you back from seeing what others might not be able to see! The loss is theirs not yours.

In Matthew 13:31, Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven being like a mustard seed. Jesus spoke of this seed eventually growing to be a tree so big that the birds of the air would come and perch in it. Now, a mustard seed may well break the ground and become a mustard bush. It might even grow two or three metres tall; but it ain’t going to be a tree!! No way and no how; never. Unless you have the eyes to see it and then ….. who knows?

A conversation with Anthony

It is fascinating living life through the eyes of children. I recall some weeks ago I dropped in on our Tuesday Playgroup and found myself falling into conversation with one of my favourite young men, a pre-schooler called Anthony. To prove that men really can do more than one thing at once, Anthony and I were able to hold this conversation whilst manufacturing, slicing and eating some very tasty play dough sausage.

Now, it does need to be said that a lot of our discussion was a little one sided as there were several occasions when my poor adult mind was unable to figure out the intricacies let alone the pace of my young friends language. Nevertheless, Anthony was very kind and full of grace and despite my ignorance battled on with me.

I was very much struck by my time with Anthony. If I had decided that I was in too much of a hurry, or that I needed to speak to an adult, or that really ‘I don’t understand the child anyway,’ so why bother, I believe that I would have missed something very precious. I have no doubt that Anthony valued our time together and I certainly appreciated him making time for me in his busy morning.

This experience with Anthony got me thinking about realtionships generally and then specifically with God. There is a richness that comes from the byplay of close relationships. These are not just business transactions, they should be punctuated with moments of laughter, quietness, a soft touch, a knowing look; a grimace or smile. I wonder are some of these things also true of my relationship with God? Should we even consider God in this way?

Personally, I’m really glad that God, the Creator of the Universe, is willing to sit at my table and help me with my latest play dough creation. Sometimes it might seem that I am not really getting through but I chatter on and somehow at the end of it all I feel so much better for the experience. I feel valued and important.

Whenever I serve Holy Communion to people I try to make it as personal as possible. I may not always use people’s names – sometimes I don’t know names – but I try to ensure that people own what is happening. When I say ‘Bob, the Body of Christ.’ I want Bob to know that this really is for him. Sometimes we come to a place (even church) and we feel pretty much unknown and anonymous. In the simple offering of bread and wine we remind people that they are known and they have a name. That in itself is a life giving act.

I am a great believer in building authentic relationships and would have to admit that when I talk about this sometimes in a church setting a lot of people really don’t get it. I like to think that Anthony got it yesterday (I know I did) and I like to think that my Scripture class will get it tomorrow. An authentic relationship values someone for who they are, not who we might like them to be. When we accept the truth of someone and see him or her as an individual who is created in the image of God and is therefore a reflection of God’s goodness, then we are on the way to authenticity. I like the thoughts of writer Madeleine L’Engle:

Because you’re not what I would have you be
I blind myself to who, in truth, you are.
Seeking mirage where desert blooms, I mar
Your you. Aah, I would like to see
Past all delusion to reality:
Then I would see God’s image in your face.

Spend some quality time with a child this week and look beyond the mirage into the face and image of God. My guess is it will make a difference.

Cheers - John

As well as Anthony, thanks also to Rochelle Melander whose book A Generous Presence provided the above quote and affirmed my thoughts regarding authenticity.

A Gospel I'd like to see

I wish that the Bible contained a gospel story of Jesus that just focused on his ‘hanging out’ time. Put aside the great teachings, miracles, and healings and generally getting up the noses of many of the religious of the day that were all a part of Jesus’ life. I wonder what it was like just to hang out with him.

In the gospel of Mark we have a brief story about the conversion of Levi (Matthew) the Tax Collector. The first thing that Matthew does after agreeing to join Jesus and the rest of the gang, was to throw a party for his mates; with Jesus as the guest of honour. The teachers of the law hear about this and are scandalised that Jesus is eating and drinking with ‘tax collectors and sinners.’ Jesus replies, ‘It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’

It seems to me that the church has for a long time had its focus on the righteous and the holy to the exclusion of the tax collectors, publicans and sinners. I am always drawn to the scandal of the gospel where Jesus, for some, had a reputation as a ‘glutton, drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ I think that this reputation of Jesus – given to him by the ‘righteous’ - is worth a great deal of exploration. My guess is that many like Jesus as the ‘gentle Jesus meek and mild’ type or the Jesus with Napisan white robes and the cute little halo over the head.

I am fascinated with the Jesus whose robe was as grubby as the rest of us and would occasionally smell of stale fish. The Jesus who even as the Son of God and a carpenter occasionally sported a blackened thumb nail from a misdirected hammer blow. I rarely see Compass on Sunday night but I liked one of the quotes in the previews where I think Kofi Annan says, ‘The problem is not the faith; but the faithful.’

A major reason for my conversion many years ago now was that I met some Christian people who followed Jesus but were not weird! I had been a big fan of Jesus for many years but I was never particularly impressed by those who carried his name. My judgement was that – at least the ones I bumped into – were arrogant, rude, and judgemental and yes, a little bit weird! Now that I am a long term member of the club, can I say that for some, my opinion has not changed and I am well aware that I might well be labelled under some of that stuff occasionally?

I see my call as endeavouring to cultivate an ever growing group of people who are willing to put their lives and reputations on the line. These will be people who are willing to take the risk of pushing beyond the stereotypical Jesus in an attempt to find the real one. It might be that in the process we get the reputation of hanging out with the wrong kind of people and being found in the wrong kind of places. That’s cool; we’ll probably find Jesus hanging around there anyway.

Another day another giant slide

In July we had our usual Go M.A.D. (Go Make A Difference) primary school holiday programs. This time our theme was Harry Potter and one day we travelled to the Zig Zag Railway and boarded the Hogwarts Express at Platform nine and three quarters for a day of wild - and cold - adventures.

Another day we visited the magic and mystery of Luna Park and Coney Island. Now, at Coney Isalnd there is a giant slide. This slide is not only very high; but the first part of this monster is very steep. Indeed it is so steep that when you get up there (so I was told!) and look down, the first five metres looks like a sheer drop! No gentle beginnings, it just drops.

Being of a more mature age, with my 60th birthday just days away; one would would not be silly enough to contemplate the thought of attempting such a slide. Indeed I wasn't doing so. I was more than happy to be an interested spectator. But you know, you look at it and you think, 'I could do that, I really wouldn't mind having a go at that.' Then the next thing you know someone challenges you and you are climbing the stairs, upward and ever upward.

So there you are at the top of this thing, looking down in fear and trepidation, with a bunch of kids behind you waiting their turn and wondering what this old so and so is doing taking up space on the planet, let alone this slide. You're not going to back out with that audience (and your original challenger) egging you on. So you push off, hang on and hope that nothing too embarassing (like swearing or cracking your stupid skull!) happens on the way down.

You know, sometimes I need a reminder of what I signed up for five or so years ago. There were other options at the time; but whether I liked the idea or not, I was called to this task of church planting. At Coney Island there were other, gentler slides, but no, I had to tackle the giant one.

Nowadays as the size of the task doesn't diminish but the challenges regularly do, it is tempting to consider the gentler slide. Yet invariably I find myself back up on top of the giant one, looking over the edge, taking a deep breath and I'm ready to push off again.

The What If people

We are into Advent, that time of the year when some people have an advent calendar which is really useful for ticking off the number of days until Christmas Day. It’s a shame that this thinking predominates because this season of the Christian calendar is much more important than that.

Advent means the arrival of someone or something and is a time of preparation that encourages Christians to reflect on the coming of Christ past, present and future. From my perspective I am always disappointed that the focus – depending on your particular religious leaning is on the past or the present. The Infant Jesus in the manger or the last days when Christ will come and wrap everything up. The past is good and a great celebration, while the future is probably all a bit too hard; but what about today?

I read a story recently about a young Christian woman who, when people complained about the lack of leaders today, would say to anyone who wanted to listen – ‘We are the one’s we’ve been waiting for!’ Her name was Lisa Sullivan and she died at the age of 40; but her words and challenge live on. What if we were to stop whingeing, whining and waiting and just got on with it? What if we were to take the words of Christ as REAL truth and not just some nice Christian clichés and actually chose to walk in their power and hope? What if?

I think that for too long we have held on to the idea of Christ without really experiencing his work in our lives by His Spirit. Someone kindly shared with me that my message on Sunday was helpful to them because of my belief that God is a part of everything that I do - yes everything - and therefore I don’t see God at work occasionally; but always. So I see God in the very mundane day to day stuff which actually allows me from time to see God in more exciting and even ‘miraculous’ stuff.

I have this theory that people have lost interest in the Christian message and the church, because we don’t live as if we believe it. In the more traditional churches we might focus on a certain understanding of how church happens because this grounds us in the great history of the past and the sense of still being a part of the ongoing story without ever feeling its power. In the more ‘spirit filled’ churches we find a focus on the miracles and the work of the Spirit but this can often lead to frustration and disappointment when nothing happens. I have a blind friend who attended a congregation that prayed for his healing for a length of time and then he left because he felt that his lack of healing was causing some discontent. Interestingly, while he would like to see, he is one of the most victorious Christian men I have ever known!

I figure that if you give God all of the glory and pain of the mundane stuff we will from time to time see God’s divine will in some bigger stuff as well. We might actually get a sniff of a miracle or two? Without this mind set we allow mediocrity to set in and don’t see God at work at all. We look for the big banger miracles and miss the little stuff before our eyes. Do some dreaming and a whole bunch of people would love to join you!

During Advent I am going to be dreaming some dreams. Unless you are into divine dreaming you might get a little bored; but I challenge you to bring your dreaming head along next Sunday and the rest of the Sundays leading up to Christmas Day. Last week we looked at being strong and living out our lives appropriately. This week I want us to be looking at hope. What might be if we own the truth that ‘We are the ones we’ve been waiting for’! You never know, we might just be a part of turning swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.