Hannah knelt and prayed. She was greatly distressed, year after year she had asked that God might bless her with a child and to date the answer had been “No.” In 1 Samuel 1 we read that the Lord remembered Hannah and she gave birth to a son. There are many good gifts that God blesses us with and…
A few weeks ago we appointed a range of leaders for our church for Parish Council and other important roles. In addition to the people you elected to Council, I have asked Helen McNab and John Cooper to join the team as my appointees. Council has now had its first meeting and things are well under way. The council meets…
As the holidays start this week I’m reminded of some comments by C S Lewis worth reflecting on as we continue our series on ‘What is heaven like?’ “In my first school we believed in the end of term, but it seemed far off and of little consequence compared with tomorrows algebra exam. As talk of glory seems little comfort…
The Eurogliders once sang ‘Heaven must be there, I don’t want to live in this place.’ I wonder if you think that’s sufficient justification to believe in heaven – that there must be a better place than this? Then of course those who believe in heaven have a multitude of different opinions as to what heaven is like. Some…
What kind of God do you believe in? There are those who see Him as the clock-maker who has created and wound up the universe and then left it to run while he goes on to other projects. Others see him as the absent-minded granddad, a nice old bloke who is kind to everyone and just a bit forgetful about…
You will probably know the story of the boy throwing starfish into the sea after thousands had washed onto the beach overnight. A man asks him why is he bothering, since there were so many starfish he couldn’t save them all. The man says; ‘All your efforts are not going to make much difference to…
Next week at our annual meeting we will appoint leaders to take us into 2017. Please pray that God may raise up the right people for the roles needed. We have been very blessed with the leadership that has brought us to this point in our church life and God willing, many of our leaders will be able to continue…
I was very grateful to receive a large amount of feedback about my suggestion to put a sign outside our church suggesting sanctuary could be found at St Hilda’s. Considering and discussing the matter has been a valuable exercise and I have been convicted that it’s worth doing. The majority of people who spoke to me were very positive about the…
When Rev Simon Manchester was introduced as the first ever chaplain of North Sydney Rugby League club, he sat in the locker room of the Bears, and surrounded by the players. One of them asked him ‘So what use are you to us?’ Simon replied; ‘Well, I do a good funeral’. It broke the ice…
Today we commission our youth ministry workers for all the various youth ministries that will be commencing in the next week or two. God tells us in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Training a child is more…