Oxygen

I’ve been away at a conference called Oxygen this week with Anna. It’s a conference for pastors and Christian leaders from around Australia and the south pacific to help us run refreshed in ministry. We’re coming back to you with loads of ideas to work through and things to try, and so it’s difficult to distil down a thing to tell you about – but let me try this:
 
Sam Chan gave a talk on Wednesday night where he explained why in Australia right now about four people of an Asian background are being converted for every one of a Caucasian. He noticed that our presentation of the gospel is a fulfilment of the Asian storyline (i.e. freedom from spiritual evil, freedom from status anxiety). Yet, for Caucasians, their storyline tells them we are free from traditional forms of authority so we are free to think for ourselves. Jesus is the good guy in the Asian storyline and the bad guy in the Caucasian storyline.
 
Sam argued we must never alter the gospel, but we do need to work harder on how we present this gospel in our cultural context. You can access all the talks from Oxygen from the KCC mobile app.
 
I think this thought struck me so much was because we’re finishing Found this week with the story of the younger son. Here is someone desperate to be free from under his father, who’s pursuit of freedom got him ensnared. The solution to the son’s situation wasn’t ultimately his “coming to himself” but his being found in the father’s arms.

grace and peace,

Cruelty to children and the gospel

Putting the World Cup to one side (if only for a moment) the big story of the week has been the Trump administration's treatment of children at their Mexico border.

Many have called it disgraceful that cruelty to children would be used as a deterrent for asylum seekers. My FB and twitter feed have lit up with anger about this policy and happiness (of varying kinds) at the reversal of the policy.

Australians have reacted to this with the same horror and relief that many Americans have, but there's a problem: We have a plank in our own eye. Children have for years been locked up in our off shore detention centres without trial. This is a denial of the Rule of Law.

As I was considering all this, a quote from one of my favourite books, Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf, popped into my head. It's a prophetic word for those who would fear the outsider enough to jail them, but also for those of us who wag our fingers at US border policies:

Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans even as I exclude myself from the community of sinners. But no one can be in the presence of the God of the crucified Messiah for long without overcoming this double exclusion — without transposing the enemy from the
sphere of the monstrous… into the sphere of shared humanity and herself from the sphere of proud innocence into the sphere of common sinfulness.
grace and peace,

Steve

A tale of two champions

I don’t know what you made of the Summit in Korea between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un but to me it felt ancient.
 
My phone was bugging me with reports every half hour or so with reports of where the meeting was up to, the handshake, the photo, the opening remarks, the closed room, more photos, the joint statement, more discussion with Trump and Kim.
 
It felt like on that day the future of our planet was being hung on those two men. Kim, the champion of the DRK, and Trump the champion of… well, amongst others, us.
 
In ancient times battles were fought like this. Armies would line a ravine, but only two men would step forward to fight. Champions would be sent out as representatives of the people. The future of each nation hung in the balance with every swing of the sword. Think David facing the giant Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.
 
Now I, for one, was not thrilled to be represented by Trump in this matter. He hasn’t done much to give me confidence that he could handle this kind of negotiation. Indeed, reports are mixed as to whether the outcome has been in our global interests.
 
But thanks be to God that he hasn’t been intrusted with the really important stuff. Because ours is a champion who faced down the greatest evil the world has ever seen. Jesus didn’t shirk or pander. His victory absolute and our enemy was totally disarmed. Death has been de-stung.
 

grace and peace,

Steve

Found - New Campaign at Renew

The Found Campaign kicks off in two Sunday's time. This is a mid-year mission for Renew. We're going to raise our evangelistic temperature with Sunday services even more geared towards welcoming visitors. I'm going to give three talks on Luke 15 (the parable of the lost sheep, lost coins and lost sons). We'll look at the whole chapter each week from three different angles:

The God of sunken costs - 17thJune
Good Grief - 24thJune
Welcome Home - 1stJuly

Found is bookended by two events:

1. Anglicare pantry appeal at South.Point (with invitations to Found at church and For the Love of God on table) on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th June.
2. For the Love of God screening – Wednesday 4th July.

As well as this we'll be doing a letter box drop across Greenway on 14th or 15th or 16th June, ready for Found 1 on Sun 17th. And finally there will be lunches where all are welcome each Sunday of Found. As you can see, there's heaps going on. This is going to take all of us. Pray for us as a church that we'd be creative in doing good and bold in sharing the good news.

grace and peace,

Steve

Why do we call them... Community Groups

This week at church we're going to see how important words are. So from time to time I'll use this part of the weekly email to explain why our language at church might be a bit different to other churches around us/we've come from. 

There are heaps of different names for small group ministries within different churches. Growth Groups, Connect (Kinect) groups, Bible study groups, Cell groups, Fellowship groups. Why go with Community Groups?

The main reason is that the name reveals the purpose.

We saw a hazard in calling our small groups variants on “Bible studies”. The hazard we want to avoid is communicating that the “task” is finished when the passage is studied. Our Community Groups are never less than Bible studies; meeting God in the scriptures unites us to one another as it unites us to him (Paul insists in 2 Tim 3:16 that the Bible is God breathed, but then goes on to list how it helps us in community). But they are certainly more than Bible studies.

• They are data nodes of Kingdom Centred prayer.
• They are first aid stations for pastoral care.
• They are basecamps for discipleship
• They are refineries where we expectantly wait for God to transform us

Furthermore, the word “study” has an unintended repercussion. Those who have, in the past, found formal education difficult or unpleasant can feel excluded by “study” ministries. Our hope is, ultimately, to redeem theological study for these people so that they have a rehabilitated confidence in their ability to meet Jesus in the Bible and learn and grow as disciples (after all, the word disciple carries the concept of “student” in it.) But that’s a process that takes time, and one that we can only start if they don’t self-exclude from the beginning.

Hope that helps. If there are other things around Renew that catch your ear as odd, let me know. If they're intentionally odd I'll have a crack at explaining it. If they're unintentionally odd, we can deal with it.

grace and peace,

Steve