Quinns Community Baptist Church

At QBC we see it as our role to support parents as they raise their kids and help develop in their faith.

I dunno how you do faith stuff with your kids. Danelle and I do it both in the ebb and flow of life but also more intentionally around the dinner table.

Last year Danelle found a book of kid’s devotions with one for each day of the year so we used that maybe 4 or 5 times a week.

This year I picked up the <a href=”http://e100challenge.com.au/”>Scripture Union E100 Bible Challenge</a>. I have had the guide sitting in my study for a couple of years now and always thought it could be useful. I found the last devotion book a bit lame so wondered how the kids would go with just straight Bible content. And in the E100 there is a fair bit of it…

Here’s an excerpt from their website to give you an idea of what it is:

<blockquote>The Essential 100 Challenge (The E100) is an effective Bible reading program built around 100 carefully selected short Bible passages — 50 from the Old Testament and 50 from the New Testament. It enables people in your church to get the big picture of God’s Word and in the process develop a daily Bible reading habit.

The E100 Bible passages are usually one to two chapters in length and can easily be read in 10 minutes or less. The E100 Challenge takes a reader through all of the major types of biblical writing including Historical books, Poetry and Wisdom Literature, the Prophets, the Gospels, Acts, the Epistles and Revelation.</blockquote>

It seems some churches have used it as a preaching guide and integrated it into their whole teaching program, so it can be a churchwide thing as well as a very locally based activity.

What I’ve noticed is that our kids have responded well to it. Each night we read around 2 chapters of the Bible (currently Genesis) and as we are reading I ask them to consider a) one thing that strikes them and b) one thing that they would want to ask a question about.

And crikey… there is no shortage of questions…

Genesis is just chock full of stuff that needs questioning and mums and dads don’t always have the answers. But it is really good to have the conversations with the kids and to see how their minds enquire and explore. Just the last few days have led us into some pretty murky theological water.

I am conscious that they at a very early stage of faith and need concrete answers as much as possible to their questions, but I am also conscious that I don’t just want to feed them a party line that won’t hold water as they get older and think things thru more carefully.

Either way I’m not too worried. I think it matters less that we get the answers right and it matters more that we raise the issues.

Anyway if you’re looking for something really simple and surprisingly productive to do with your kids (probably 6 & above) then you could check it out.

The next summer movie will be on Saturday Feb 18th out on the school oval where we will be watching Tangled.

BBQs start at 6.30 and the movie around 7.30.

Love to see you there!

It was about 10 years ago that I first attended a Forge intensive, a watershed experience for me in so many ways. At that intensive I met both Al & Deb Hirsch and I was absolutely inspired by their lives and teaching.

Since then we have become good friends, enjoyed having them in our home and shared more than the odd bottle of red together. When it came time to choose a focus for our bloke’s group this year I was browsing a number of books on my shelf when I cam across Untamed by the Hirsch’s.

I opened it and started skimming, but I was compelled to stop and read more carefully and I got absorbed. Its not like I haven’t heard Al & Deb say the stuff I was reading (more times than I can count,) but I was taken back to the raw missional discipleship focus that ignited those of us who were part of Forge and I thought, ‘this would be great for our blokes!’

So this year we will invite the Hirsch’s into the room to speak to us through their book ‘Untamed’. Its a wonderful, inspirational and provocative read that I am sure will be a great conversation starter as we meet and help each other discover what it means to live more Christlike lives.

We are kicking off on Feb 8th and meeting fortnightly so if you want to know more get in touch with me.

Andrew

I was chatting with ‘R’ last week about what the coming year looks like for our church (QBC). In some ways its more of the same – a keeping going in the same direction and being faithful to what we feel God has called us to.

As we talked I had to agree that faithfulness is good, but as ‘R’ said, we really want to see some ‘fire’, some passion in the lives of people, some spiritual battles fought and won, some adventure and faith expressed in risk rather than doggedness.

We have stablilised nicely as a church. We have a healthy bunch of people who seem to get on well together and we can be grateful for that, but wouldn’t it be great to see a ‘bomb go off’ under QBC that ignites it into a dynamic community of people inspired by God and willing to take great risks of faith?

Just a balance to the need for faithfulness…

Its good to be faithful and I think we have done that one pretty well for a while now, but as we come to the book of Acts early in the year I’d like to think we would be asking ‘why doesn’t the 21st C church look a bit more like the 1st C church?’ Of course there are differences due to context, but I get the sense there was energy, conviction and power in those first Christians that is strangely foreign to us here and now.

Let’s have some fire along with the faithfulness I say!

January is always a messy month in church life and when you are a smaller crew it can be especially chaotic as people go on holidays, ‘have a morning off’ and generally enter holiday mode.

Rather than get uptight about it we have decided just to roll with it and change gears in our gatherings.

So the January plan looks a bit like this for QBCers:

Jan 1 – There is no official church service. Danelle and I will be going for a swim / brunch at Quinns Beach out the front of Portofinos around 9.30am. If you would like to join us then we will see you there.

Jan 8 & 15 – Bring and share – You know how the Bible speaks of us coming together and each bringing a message, a song, an encouragement etc?… Well, this is an opportunity to do that a little more spontaneously. Take some time to pray, listen to God and come ready to offer whatever you have.

Jan 22 & 29 – We’re not sure yet… we’ll see how January is rolling and make a decision when we are closer to the time.

So – relax – enjoy the change of pace and enjoy the holiday season.

This year we will be holdng our normal Christmas Eve service at 7.00pm, but there will be no service on Christmas day (a Sunday) or on new year’s day (also a Sunday)

A few of us may head down to the beach by Portofinos on New year’s day for brunch and to catch up, but there will be no official gathering.

This year at QBC we will be hosting some free family friendly movies on the school grounds monthly over the warmer period.

The first will be Soul Surfer on Sat Dec 17th.

We will kick off the bbqs at 6.30 and show the movie once it gets dark enough. In case of rain we will move into the primary auditorium.

We’d love to see you there.

Movies are free, but we will happily accept a gold coin donation from anyone who wishes to help with costs.

At the moment in our Sunday gatherings our teaching is focused on what it means for us to be missionaries in our own backyards. We have looked at some of ‘how’ we can go about mission from the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian in Acts, we have looked at where the passion for mission comes from (John 15) and this week we revisit the question of what we are doing and the message is that we are proclaiming to people.

If you’d like a provocative intro to the subject then Scot McKnight’s promo for the King Jesus Gospel is certainly worth a look. I can also recommend Scot’s book The King Jesus Gospel as an excellent read on this subject and a clear call back to the heart of what it means to engage in mission.

Last week I went for a walk on our local beach and saw a 4WD badly bogged and taking on water. The car had driven below the high tide mark, got stuck and then because it was getting dark the owner had left it there overnight.

As I walked past the next morning it was completely bottomed out and stood no chance whatsoever of getting out of its predicament. The owner was furiously digging sand out around the wheels in the hope of getting it to move, but as quickly as he moved the sand a wave would rush up the shore and swirl it all back in again.

His friend was nearby with another 4WD attempting to winch him out, but the size of the car and the fact that it couldn’t be started meant he was pulling a dead weight and literally going nowhere.

He was stuck and completely unable to help himself. As much as he was trying to fix things he was never going to save himself.

Sometimes life is just like that. We find ourselves in a place where we are ‘stuck’, where we can’t see a path forwards, but instead only see only despair and more trouble. It is devastating to be overcome with hopelessness.

Sometimes when I am in those places I like to read the Psalms. These are short poems and songs that capture both the highs and lows of life and show us how to respond when we feel hopeless and beaten up.

Psalm 120 begins with the words “In my distress I called to the Lord and he heard me.” Other Psalms speak of God coming to our aid in times of trouble. The first step is always to admit that we are unable to help ourselves but that God is there and he listens and gets involved in our situation whatever shape that takes.

After 5 or 6 hours the car did eventually manage to get out, but it took an excavator to dig and some serious towing power to move him.  There are times when you just can’t help yourself and you need a greater power to step in and come to your aid. You could do worse than to call on the God of the universe.

Now there’s a word…

What do you think of when you read it? Chances are it has romantic connotations or feminine intonations. Intimacy usually isn’t a word we associate with male friendships. But I wonder why not?

I’m thinking we need intimacy in our lives – close bonds between us and others – deep and substantial relationships with people outside of our immediate family.

You may remember the old movie ‘Jerry Maguire’, about a smooth talking, charismatic sports agent, who is described as ‘good at friendship, but bad at intimacy’. He can laugh and joke about the footy, politics and interest rates, but once things get personal he is uncomfortable and out of his depth. He simply doesn’t know how to relate in this way.

The truth is many us are like Jerry Maguire. We fear intimacy. We fear being exposed for who we really are. If people really knew us then maybe they wouldn’t continue the friendship… (and sadly that’s true – some wouldn’t)

And yet what we long for is to be both known and accepted for who are actually are, not the face we put on when we ‘go out in public’.

To have those kinds of relationships requires two qualities – vulnerability and acceptance. It requires us to be able to reveal ourselves to others as we really are and it requires us to be able to accept others they really are. Too often we trip over our own insecurities and avoid sharing the negative aspects or our lives, yet ironically its when we honestly let others see our brokenness that we form the kinds of relationships we seek.

As I look at Jesus I see a bloke who wasn’t at all afraid of intimacy – who shared both his joys and his struggles with his mates. I also see someone who had time for those who others rejected because of their messed up lives. I see someone who knew how to love and how to form genuine relationships.

Perhaps we can make a more conscious effort to build these kinds of relationships with those around us and maybe then we will experience the rich and deep life that God intends.

Lately social networking sites have given a fair bit of airplay to the idea of ‘First World Problems’. You might have seen people list the things that really tick them off, issues like:

• My internet just got shaped again…
• I went to the toilet without my phone and was bored the whole time
• My TV is too loud and the remote is on the other couch
• I feel like orange juice but I just brushed my teeth
• There is no Dominos store in my area
• I missed out an iPhone 4S and am stuck with an outdated iPhone 4
• Facebook has changed its layout again and I don’t like it
• I couldn’t get my favourite seat on the train and I was cramped all the way home

You get the idea and I’m sure you can think of plenty other inane ‘white whines’ that really only serve to show how easily we can lose perspective on the real issues of life.

It seems that it’s in our nature to complain. No matter how good life is, there is always something to irritate us. Although if we took the complete opposite approach to life and sought to be grateful for all that we have that is good, then I wonder what effect that could have on our psyche both individually and as a society.

Paul, one of the ancient Bible writers once wrote, ‘I have learnt to be content in every circumstance of life – whether rich or poor, well fed or hungry.’ He was a man who at times had plenty to complain about, but instead he says that he has learned contentment.

How do you learn contentment?…

I’m not sure, but I am guessing it may have something to with practicing gratitude at every moment and choosing not to complain over things that are actually not problems at all. I’m thinking its acknowledging that ours is an increasingly narcissistic and self focused society and deciding to behave differently.

Starvation, war and persecution are probably worth getting upset over, but the fact that that my clock ticks too loud, or that my bedroom is too far from the toilet are possibly just things we need to deal with.

In a couple of weeks we begin a series on ‘Backyard Mission’ – how we can simply and genuinely be missionaries in our own backyards.

I’ve been writing about this stuff since 2003 at my blog here, but much of my writing has actually been ‘reflections in process’ – a kind of thinking out loud rather than definitive conclusions.

However 10 years of ‘backyard mission’ has led me to some strong conclusions and one of them is that mission is not rocket science. As we begin this new series we will be often ‘stating the obvious’, possibly even insulting your intelligence, but that’s because my observation of why mission is hard has less to do with skill/technique and more to do with desire and motivation.

if we’re honest some of us actually don’t want to engage with people we don’t know to help them know more of God and his kingdom. Some of us would really rather just get on with our own lives and let someone else do that stuff. That’s true isn’t it?

I know its been true of me at times.

But equally true is that it is incredibly simple to take action. A couple of stories from the last week might help to show what I mean.

Since moving into our new place Sam and Ellie have been a little lonely and have missed their friends from our old street. We live in a very quiet place and we haven’t seen any kids around – which doesn’t mean they don’t exist…

So last week around the dinner table we started praying for friends for Sam and Ellie – ‘God, we’d like a boy aged about 8 and a girl about 10 who our kids can connect with and play with – and it’d be great if they lived in this street.’

I took a walk around the street and prayed for some friends for my kids. As I did I noticed that another recently sold house had some new occupants and outside the front of the house was a basketball ring – and the ring was adjusted down a little suggesting that whoever used it wasn’t yet a teenager.

I came back home and told Sam. I said ‘what about we go for a walk up the street and welcome these people to the street? We might discover they have kids.’

Sam wasn’t sure you were actually allowed to just go and bang on someone’s door, but I managed to convince him it was ok. So we walked up with a bottle of red and the hope of meeting a family with kids. We prayed as we walked, for the people we’d meet and for the possibility of kids.

We knocked and met the new owner – a brother and sister had bought the house and moved in. And the brother has a 9 year old son. Because he does fly in fly out work the son lives with grandparents when dad is away, but in two weeks time he will be back. We introduced ourselves, gave a gift, chatted for 5 minutes and left. It was good, simple, easy and hopefully blessed the woman who answered the door.

We keep praying because there may be more kids we haven’t met yet.

Today I walked the street again, just to pray for the people who live near us. As I left my place I saw a couple in their 60′s measuring the frontage of a vacant block. I stopped to chat.

The live at the top of the street but own this other block and are about to start building. We got talking and connected. They told us there is another family also building next to them. Soon we will have permanent neighbours.

I made a conscious effort to remember their names and then walked on. As I got to the top of the street I began to see a lot of parked cars – unusual in our street. I walked up to the bend and by then there were about 40 or 50 cars lining the street. I had heard music before leaving home and it was odd, but now I saw where the music was coming from.

In a backyard were people standing around nicely dressed, with balloons which they released into the air as I walked past. They had been playing ‘In the Arms of the Angels’ (or whatever the title of that song is) so I am guessing it was a wake. Someone has died in our street.

It wasn’t my place to walk over and say hello, but it is fine to pray for the people in that house and for whatever they are experiencing.

If you walk the street with your eyes open you will see things and if you walk attuned to the spirit he may show you things.

Its not rocket science is it?

If you want an excellent book to read on local mission then I can recommend Simon Carey Holt’s God Next Door Simon won Australian Christian book of the year with this one and I reckon its a gem. One of the things he recommends is an exegetical walk – walking around your community and observing carefully what’s going on. You can check that out here.

Or if you’d like to watch an interview with Simon then you can go here.

Over the last two weeks we have been framing the bigger picture of what a 21st C church will need to look like and I thought a summary here might be useful given so many have been on holidays and will have missed it.

On Oct 2nd we looked at the changes that have taken place in our world over the last 40 years and the need for us as the church to respond intelligently and to actually do the things we say we believe and be the people we say we hope to be.

Two Quotes:

Helmut Thielicke – “The Gospel must be constantly forwarded to a new address because the recipient is repeatedly changing place of residence”

Peter Corney: “Post-modernism forces the church to move to a new paradigm for being church, not the paradigm of Christendom or post-Christendom, but back to the mission paradigm of the new testament. We have to re-invent the church for today. The old denominational structures must be challenged. The organisational style, mind set, ethos and models belong to the past. We must explore new ways of establishing, creating and being the church in a post-modern world.”

We want to be both
a) people of the word – people who see what it says in scripture and seek to live it out
b) people of our time – people who appreciate that we live in a vastly different era to our parents and we need to respond differently

We discussed the danger of becoming a ‘museum’ ala New Norcia and how when we lose our missionary edge we begin that decline.

Then last week I suggested seven defining qualities of a 21st C church. I don’t normally use alliteration in sermons as I find it a bit forced, but this week I chose seven ‘in’ words that all fit very well with the kind of church we are hoping to be.

So read on:

We began with some 21st C Challenges to the church.

• Consumer culture as an alternative religion and as part of the church – Baal for 21st C people
• Individualism – don’t tell me what to do
• Busyness – affects our time to reflect and listen to God, to be creative in our responses to where we are at, to have relationships
• Easier religious options – new spiritualties offer instant hope and no cross
• Change fatigue – change is painful and hard –
• Fear – A willingness to risk what we have to possibly gain something new
• First C had suffering and we have comfort
• First C could have petered out as it was all new – we could peter out from familiarity

Seven Qualities:

Incarnational – a theological word for a church that is genuinely the presence of Christ in the world it lives in.

If there were a major distinction that has come with this point in time it would be this one.

Rather than lamenting that people don’t come to church like they used to – we can look at how Jesus and others went about things and seek to find them.

Jesus said he came to ‘seek out and save the lost’. It was an active ministry. Jesus said ‘as the father sent me into the world, so I send you into the world’.

The word mission comes from the latin – ‘missio’ – to send. We are the sent people – the invading people – not the ‘inviting people’. If you prefer a theological word then we are to be an incarnational church.

Martin Robinson in ‘Invading Secular Space’ asks this question:

“What would it look like for a church to function in such a way that the primary goal of church life was not to attract more people into attendance and membership, but to produce people who had a profound sense of their personal relationship to God, their resource in Christ and could take that reality into the world with them?”

M Robinson – Invading Secular Space p.111.

Henry Lawson’s poem ‘The Christ of the Never’ tells the story of a bush missionary who hung out with the bushmen and lived like they did – who connected with them. And in writing of him Lawson compares him to the churchmen he knew of who he says “feel not who know not but preach” Those who feel not – who know not – but who preach. If you haven’t felt another person’s world, if you don’t know another person’s world then your right to preach just isn’t there. Only those who venture into the world have the credibility to speak to that world.

Jesus ventured into our world…

Join the dots…

Inclusive:

All welcome… no really.

Jesus welcomed all especially the needy. Its easy for us to welcome the people like us and socialise out the ones who aren’t like us.

Innovative:

A church that asks how can we creatively connect with the people around us.
A church that takes risks
A church that welcomes new ideas rather than stamps on them

Consider Peter’s dream to go to Cornelius
Consider Columbus’ crazy idea of finding new lands.

Indigenous:

A church that has a truly Australian flavour – that belongs in this context and isn’t simply a pale imitation of something that was done in America.

“Australia needs a truly Australian church. The Christian faith will not reach the hearts of Australian people unless it is interpreted in light of our own national consciousness and social situation. Only a fully indigenous church will be able to respond to the unfolding moral and spiritual demands of the nation… The task of Christian thinkers is to come to grips with the distinctive problems and characteristics of Australian consciousness”.

Alan Walker in Advance Australia Where

Intuitive:

Listening to God + listening to the context
Responding to the spirit rather than setting plans in concrete for the next 5-10 years

Karl Barth once said “you should preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other”

Inspirational:

A church that loves, gives, blesses and leaves people with a sense of Jesus

Ivan Illich was once asked what he thought was the most radical way to change society; was it through violent revolution or gradual reform? He gave a careful answer. Neither. Rather, he suggested that if one wanted to change society, then one must tell an alternative story.

Or live an alternative story

In your face:

A confronting church

For those who have been doing the church thing for quite a while – for those of you who are ‘overchurched’ this could be a difficult period of time – or it could be a reinvigorating time – a coming alive.

Some people are calling this period of time the second reformation.

We only have to look at Jesus and see the established church being disturbed at his unconventional approach to reaching people. Its ironic that Jesus found himself in conflict with religious people way more often than anyone else because he chose to challenge long held traditions and man made laws.

It got pretty heated between Peter and Paul too when they argued over some issues. Peter hung out with the Gentiles, as he had been led to do in his dream, until some Jewish people came and obviously intimidated him – told him to back off. He got scared so he drew back and ate only with Jews again. In Gal 2 Paul writes that he opposed Peter to his face because he had got caught up with the wrong ideas and his ideas were restricting the spread of the gospel.

Paul says to him ‘we’ve over that Peter’. Don’t be intimidated into practices that are contrary to the gospel just so you can please other people – this is their tradition – this is not the way. This brought leaders into conflict as they sought to work it out. In this time we will need to occasionally engage in healthy conflict and that’s not a bad thing.

Perhaps if that sounds a bit worrying – or a bit overwhelming, you’d like to consider the opposites of those idea? Imagine a church that is inward looking, isolated from the world, that has no plans for mission or no concern for what is happening in the world it is trying to reach. Imagine a church that is stuck in a rut, that is closed to new ideas, a church that is a clone of others and frightened to attempt anything new. Imagine a church that want nothing more than for to remain the same for ever and ever amen.

Which would you rather?

To engage in being a mission focused church will cost us. We will need to risk the danger of leaving the harbour of the 20th C and sailing into unfamiliar oceans – of doing things very differently.

Paulo Coehlo once said “The ship is safest when it is in port. But that’s not what ships were made for”.

This ship needs to venture into the stormy seas of mission in a culture that is open but turbulent. You can be a passenger and sit below deck and pretend that we’re still moored up to the dock or you can get up on deck and develop some new skills and gather some new ideas and in the process you’ll see the church connect with ordinary Australian people like it never has before.

This Wednesday evening starts a new focus in our blokes group so if you’ve been considering joining then now is a good time to ‘get on the bus’, as a new journey is about to start and it will be a good one.

We will be using the book ‘Cost of Discipleship‘ by Dietrich Bonhoeffer as the basis for our discussions thru to the end of the year. Its a 20th century classic and while not an easy read, its one that I am sure you will find inspiring. (I have already ordered 10 of these so don’t buy one)

As per our previous meetings the book will give us a starting point for discussion, but the group won’t revolve around the book. There will be some reading to do that will give shape to our conversation, but essentially we will be looking to relate that reading to what’s going on in your everyday world. The primary biblical focus for Bonhoeffer’s book is the sermon on the mount, so you can expect that we will spend a fair bit of time meditating on it and discussing it. (Matt 5-7)

I have linked to a short bio of Bonhoeffer which will give some context to the person and his life.

As usual we will meet fortnightly in the lounge, open the doors at 7pm for coffee/tea and catch up and we will begin to focus in around 7.30pm. So come whenever suits you. We will wrap up by 9pm so it won’t be a late night.

If you haven’t been to the bloke’s group before and would like to join in then we’d love to have you. Our emphasis is on developing strong, honest relationships amongst men where we can share our lives and struggles and enjoy a laugh and a beer. We always have some form of engagement with the Bible but usually in a meditative mode rather than a ‘study’ mode. Bloke’s group has been one of the highlights of my own time at QBC so I would really encourage you to get involved.

This week will be an intro to Bonhoeffer the man, and the sermon on the mount as well as some discussion around what we see discipleship to mean. Then next fortnight we will watch ‘Bonhoeffer Agent of Grace’ a 90 min movie of his life and by then the books should have arrived from the US.

If you want to know any more then just drop me an email.

A few weeks back I had a nagging toothache, so I reluctantly went to the dentist. The reluctance was partly due to what I imagined might be an enormous bill, but it was also a result of a prolonged series of fillings and dental work I had done at seventeen that left me never wanting to sit in a dentist’s chair again as long as I live.

Even though I knew I needed help I was tempted to just endure the pain and hope that it ‘fixed itself’. Eventually common sense (and pain) won over and I found myself lying in the blue chair with the sunglasses on and my mouth wide open, as he tried to figure out what was going on.

After an hour, he replaced a filling, charged me a reasonable fee and sent me on my way. It wasn’t anywhere near as traumatic as I imagined and it actually did me some good.

I have a feeling that for many people the whole idea of ever becoming part of a church community evokes a feeling something like that of going to the dentist. Perhaps you have been there previously and it scarred you for life, or perhaps your perceptions from afar cause you to perceive the church sceptically. I’d want to invite you to re-consider.

Because there are also a significant number of people for whom ‘life’ isn’t working. And I’m not talking about those who are ‘down and out’. I’m talking of those who apparently have all they want, but still have a nagging ache that won’t go away and reminds them there is more to life than ‘everything’.

That ache is a spiritual one and it simply won’t get solved with a bigger house or better car. Its one that requires a different solution. Admitting there is an issue is a first step. It’s easier to just hope it will disappear, as I did with my toothache. But then to seek out those who may be able to offer some insights into a solution can be equally challenging.

At Quinns Baptist Church you won’t find a bunch of people with all the answers, but I’d suggest you will find some people who share your experiences and who are making sense of life as they view it through a different lens, as they attempt to see the world as God sees it.

Maybe that makes you apprehensive?…

Maybe its also worth the risk…

I came across this post on Seth Godin’s blog today and I thought it captured some of what I value in who we are as a church community.

You can read the original here, but I have copied it below. I don’t think I need to add any commentary to the story itself!

Two signs, each telling a very different story:

This sign says, “we’re in power, we’re going to use newspeak and double-talk and pretend we’ve done something to benefit you, which of course, we haven’t.” It also uses “conveniently” as an adverb, which is just annoying. Why not tell the truth, straight up?

On the other hand, this sign screams transparency and honesty. The farmer explained that on days when the corn was picked that day, he erases the scribbles on the bottom of the sign, but if the corn was picked just one day earlier, it’s just not right to say ‘fresh’. It’s worth noting that instead of having two signs, one for each condition, he uses his own hand to tell the truth, quite vigorously. Guess who has the most popular corn stand in New York, even on days when it is not, apparently, fresh?

A few of us have been talking for a while about scheduling another QBC Camp Weekend, with fishing, surfing, 4wding, great wine, food and friends, so its happening!

Its got two purposes:

a) to help us to all catch up, hang out, get to know one another better (one our top priorities for 2011)

b) to create a space where our friends who aren’t part of QBC  can come and hang out with the crew.

Here’s the basic info:

• · Where: Ledge Point Caravan Park about 100km north of Quinns and close to Lancelin, The Pinnacles and Wedge Island, all fantastic places to visit.
• · When: the weekend of Fri 23rd-Sun 25th September (although you might like to take Friday off work and come up Thursday night making it a long weekend.)
• · Cost: Check out the rates for the caravan park on this link. You can stay in tents, chalets, or whatever you can find. Those are the only set costs. After that its up to you what you eat/spend etc

This isn’t a camp with a specific ‘spiritual agenda’ i.e. there won’t be any meetings/sermons, but the emphasis will simply be on having fun and relaxing together. You can come and go as you please, but obviously we are looking to hang out together and make the most of the time so when you ring the campsite to book just mention that you are part of the QBC crew and they will try to locate us near to one another.

We will look to visit the Pinnacles, Wedge Island, The Lancelin sand dunes and any other places of interest up there. (You don’t need a 4WD) Of course if you’d rather just fish quietly on the beach, or read a book in the shade then you can do that too…

So we’d love you to come and join us and invite along any friends you’ve got who you think would enjoy being around the QBC crew.

So what do you need to do?

• · Call the caravan park and book yourself in
• · Let me know you’re coming
• · Pray for some good weather on that weekend!

If you have any questions then give Andrew a call

Yesterday we were having lunch at a friend’s home and I was watching my son jump on their trampoline. Only he wasn’t just jumping on the trampoline… He was jumping onto the trampoline off the top of a limestone pier, in the boundary wall as a way of getting a bit of extra bounce.  He had seen the bigger boys do it and in his own careful way he wanted to have a go too.

It was an activity that caused my wife to say ‘can you have a look and see what you think? It that an ok thing for him to be doing?’ She wasn’t sure whether she should worry or whether he was just ‘doing what boys do’. As a former ‘boy’ I checked out the situation and quickly affirmed that all was well. Yes it may be a little dangerous, and no we didn’t have dental insurance, but it definitely is what boys do. In fact I would suggest it’s important that boys (and girls) get to do these things and enjoy a little risk and adventure.

At 47 years old now I can remember some of the wild crazy things I did as a boy, and then a teenager, activities that stretched my courage, made my heart pound and my palms sweat. Paddling out in enormous surf at North Point in Cowaramup Bay as a 17 year old, only to get pounded repeatedly and washed back to shore, climbing trees higher and higher and higher simply because there was more tree left to climb, jumping off railway bridges into dark rivers below… I could go on and I’m sure you could make your own list.

That was all before the ‘safe police’ took over our world and pretty much outlawed anything that involved a minor chance of getting hurt. Of course an increasingly litigious society hasn’t helped the cause. Now it’s much more important to protect your butt than to give people room to have fun and adventure.

I remember too that as a young person the life of faith also looked much more appealing, adventurous and inspiring, but as I got older it began to look increasingly like a religious version of everyone else’s life. I was no longer inspired.  I was disappointed. Angry even. It has taken me on a journey of asking what does it mean to follow Jesus and why did the life he lived and the life of the early Christians appear so inspiring while so much of what passes for faith today is so dull.

It was Jesus who said ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?’

I am convinced he was onto something there. Sometimes the life we really seek is found by living counterintuitively and by doing the very things that may appear to be unsafe, unwise or plain foolish.

Maybe some of us need to climb the wall and get jumping on that trampoline again?..

This Sunday our church gathering was in honour of the many wonderful South African people who have landed up as part of our church community.

A ‘braai’ is a South African barbie and these guys certainly did a fantastic job of introducing us to their culture and their food.

Thanks to Paul and the crew for making it happen. I think we could safely say we’d like to do that again some time!

Bernie knocks up a sensational seafood dish.

Paul the Braai-master

Karla getting stuck in

It was one of our longest church gatherings ever and great to see people connecting.

If you missed this morning then here are some summary notes of our learning. We will upload the audio at some point as well.

Who Are We as the People of God?

Eph 2

Baptists distinctives? Any clues as to what they are?…

Anyone care

Purpose here is not to try and ‘baptistise you’. More about ‘who we are’

Struggling to Find Identity as  teen

Describe – 5 Identities I ‘tried on’ to try and find me…

Most of us go thru identity issues in our teen years as we try to figure out who we are. It’s a natural part of life. Very few people are secure enough in themselves that they can just roll thru life (and anyone that secure will usually get teased to death by the other kids who can’t stand to see someone who has their life together and then finish up with identity issues anyway)

There I was – a teenage kid – just trying to figure out who I was and who I was going to be and it seemed like I found it very hard to be content being me.

Church & Identity

This morning as we come to reflect on who we are as a church I think we can see similar forces at play. You don’t have to look too far to see all sorts of influences shaping the identity of churches and it happens when we aren’t secure in our own identity – when we don’t know who we already are and who we are supposed to be.

Churches so often look around and try to imitate the church down the road that seems cooler, that seems more spiritual, that seems to have more people. Classically, Aussie churches try to make themselves into mini-hillsongs, rather than just asking how can we be the best version of ourselves.

I’m sure plenty of you have seen churches following the latest trends trying to be cool and it looks bad – it looks embarrassing. It often says ‘we don’t know who we are – can someone please tell us’

So this morning shortly we will come to the question – of who are we as the church? And out of that we will be able to discuss ‘so what do we need to do?’

Last week

But before we do we need to review:

- We are part of a much bigger story. As we read Eph 1 we saw that we, as the church have been part of God’s plan right from the beginning of time.

- The church is the most basic unit of the Christian faith – that there is very little in the Bible about my relationship with God – but a lot about our relationship with God. The focus is ‘us’ not ‘me.’

- Following Jesus is a teamsport. You can’t do it alone.

- Most importantly – We said last week that if we don’t place the church in the broader context of the establishment of God’s kingdom then it just doesn’t make sense. It looks like an odd bunch of religious people doing religious things, but for no greater purpose. But if the purpose of the church is to participate in the establishment of the kingdom of God then our activities make more sense.

- Jesus is recorded as speaking just twice about church – but spoke all the time of God’s kingdom. The ‘good news’ Jesus came to bring was that God’s kingdom was imminent.

In essence – to a persecuted Jewish people – ‘things are gonna change around here – because the king is starting to take charge’. No one really knew what he meant, but that was his basic message. And this is at the core of the good news – the king is coming and he is making things right. He is renewing everything. But not as you think… Because they envisioned a mighty battle and a king taking charge.

Instead it looked like this…

So Jesus came firstly to establish God’s kingdom – to show and teach and demonstrate to people what it looks like we live life God’s way – what a world is like when God is in charge.

And out of this goal the church was birthed.

And its not that the church is incidental or accidental. It’s anything but. When it comes to the establishment of his kingdom the church is central. Its non-negotiable. The church is the primary means by which God’s rule is implemented on earth.

But… but… the church is not an end in itself. And when we make it one we create an idol.

Howard Synder – In Liberating he says we are to become kingdom people rather than church people. He says this:

“Kingdom people seek first the kingdom of God and its justice. Church people often put church work above concerns of justice, mercy and truth. Church people think about how to get people into the church. Kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church. Kingdom people work to see the church change the world.

It’s a whole different focus. It’s a completely different paradigm and it affects everything.

Ephesians 2

We said last week that we are going to use Ephesians as a text in which to anchor our focus on the church because:

a)    its written to a church – a specific group of people

b)   its about God’s plans for ‘the church’ as an expression of his kingdom

c)    it gives substance to how the church is supposed to work – there is a theological framing as well as some very practical advice.

If Jesus is the head of the church which is his body then who are we.

Ephesians 2

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ (see the language of kingdoms and powers again) All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

So there’s a ‘that was then’ picture, but Paul goes on.

⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

So – we were living in darkness and driven purely by our own desires – but Jesus has changed all of that. He has saved us, given us purpose + things to do and Paul goes to say he has welded us into God’s bigger family.

Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ

¹¹ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— ¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵ by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

So – that’s like the theory part of things – Jesus’ purpose was creating a people for himself – and here’s how it works out

¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Again there are some descriptions in there of who we are now as the people of God so we don’t need to be chasing around trying to find our identity.

So in this passage we see several statements about the identity of the church:

a) It is a community of sinners saved by grace – it is a group of people who recognise their lack of ability to repair their own lives and who have called on God to save them.

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

Then verse 4…

⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

So at baseline level – and I know this one is obvious – but I say it because it may not be to all – the church is made of people who know they can’t save themselves.

They are people who have all said to God ‘I have screwed up – I am screwed up – I cannot fix this – I need you to fix things up’. I need you to get me out of here because I am stuck…

Snatched! – 4 WDing – digging, pushing, branches etc or a snatch strap – someone else just pulls you out.

If you’re a Christian – if you’ve been ‘snatched’ from death to life – then you are already part of God’s church.

Remember we spoke of the universal church?

By contrast – If you haven’t done that  – if you haven’t asked God to save you – then you aren’t in ‘the church’ – no matter how long you’ve been coming. No matter how much you do around the place.

You might be a part of the community, but you aren’t part of ‘the church’…

Bottom line = only those who know they don’t deserve it get a gig

I hope that is obvious and if it’s not then re-read this chapter.

Secondly – the church is made up of people who are now living under God’s reign.

In the first part of this chapter we read:

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a] and following its desires and thoughts.

Paul says – there was a time when you were simply driven by your internal passions and you didn’t have another voice calling you to a different way. You didn’t even have a desire for a different way.

This is all past tense.

Now we have been saved to live a different life – v 10 says a life of good deeds God prepared in advance for us to do.

Question – can you look back over your life and observe changes in the way you live because you follow Christ? Points in your life where you have willingly said ‘although this does not come naturally to me I will live like this out of submission to Christ’?

The ear-ring story

Cashies

The idea of a monarch with absolute unbridled control who can tell us what to do is somewhat foreign to us. The idea of giving up our rights to whatever want is hard for us.

I was thinking marriage might get close…

Seriously if we are the church then both individually and corporately we should be becoming more and more like Christ in behaviour and personality.

So a commitment to godly living is a not negotiable if you want to be part of the church.

It simply isn’t possible to say ‘I know God says ‘x’, but I am going to do ‘y’’ Because we have already said ‘we do what he says’.

Can you see the obvious and challenging questions this raises?

What if someone is part of the church and decides they want to live a life contrary to scripture? How do we as a community respond to that?

c) Finally – when we enter the church we become part of a community, a family and we are expected to be contributing members.

We cease to be outsiders looking in

This is not a ‘passive membership’ that means nothing. I can join my local library and all that means is that at my convenience I can go and borrow a book. But its all when it suits me.

We can treat church like that, but if you do then you have missed the point.

Membership of the church (and I’m not talking ‘specific local church membership – but church big picture) comes with both privilege and responsibility.

Its like spiritual PR – permanent residency in the kingdom of God. Only its easier to get!

Paul says  ¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹

We have been grafted in along with the other gentiles and we are now just as much a part.

It is very much like receiving citizenship. Once you are a citizen of Oz you get health care like everyone else, you get a first home owners grant, you get centrelink benefits.

We give you a pair of thongs and a singlet, a copy of the Castle and we teach you how to talk properly. We give you a new name – Bernie, Maggie, Ricky, Gus, Jerry, Billy…

Paul is saying when it comes to being part of the family – if you’re saved by grace and committed to living with Christ as king then you are in and all the benefits of being in relationship with God are ours.

Peter says it similarly

1 Peter 2 says this:  ⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Summary

So what does it mean if we are a mob of people

a)    saved by grace with nothing to offer

b)   seeking to live a holy life under Jesus rule

c)    committed to one another in love

I think it means that if we allow those things to shape our identity then there is a chance that people will see some evidence of the kingdom of God.

People will see God’s kingdom in action.