Newsletter Week 29

Well hello everyone and greetings in Jesus name,

Yes the team is back from the Solomon Islands and the time spent over there was fruitful and encouraging. The team was awesome and did everything asked of them and went beyond in some circumstances. I am so proud of them. We will be sharing many stories next week at Missions Sunday so I encourage you to come and hear the wonderful testimonies the team has.

I look forward to catching up with you soon as I understand many have been away with one commitment or another. I really appreciate all of you who gave Janitos a ring over the past two and a half weeks to see how she was going. It gladdens my heart to know there are people who will look out for others and not because she is my wife but I pray we have the same attitude for all people who are a part of this wonderful body of Christ. The thing about family is that it is always good to get back together and swap stories and share our experiences.

God is so good and so patient and so loving, forgiving, understanding and the list goes on. I am so in awe of him and I am so humbled to be called to this great cause which Jesus came to set in motion. It astounds me to think that we can and have a times placed him in a box, tried to make him subject to our own understanding and attitudes, dared to direct the script of what can and cannot be done in his name. I know my downfall in this area and if we are honest we would all own up to it as well. He said my yoke is easy and my burden is light so why do we see many believers in Jesus Christ weighed down under the expectations of ourselves and others. There is a fine line between living a disciplined Christ honouring life which is a shining example as his ambassador and a life that merely reflects an adherence to a set of rules and expectations imposed by those who would ‘guide us’. It is a line that is sometimes blurred by the anomaly of being set free yet living by the Spirit to be salt and light to this dead and dying world. Move one way to far and you have dictatorship and legalism; too far the other way and you have individualistic attitudes and a cry of ‘I will do whatever I like’ and justify it by saying God has given them permission to do so. There is a middle ground. Exactly where that is, I and we continue to search it out. The best thing about it is that we are all on a journey of faith, hope and love. Real people living real lives, trying our best to run our race with our eyes fixed on Jesus; the author and perfector of our faith.

God bless you my friends and thank you for sharing your journey with me as I hope I am able to share my journey with you. It continues to be a blast. Praise the Lord……

Just to finish off with some dates:

• This Sunday is Super Sunday so get to it and invite your friends, family, neighbours and work colleagues to the Sunday morning service.
• The week after is Missions Sunday. This is where we focus on missions and this time our team back from the Solomon’s will be sharing their testimonies and stories. 
• Combined NSW and VIC State Conference is being held in Albury on Oct 17-19. I really encourage you to seriously consider it as a time where you can get to know your wider CRC family a bit better. Let me know if you want to come.
• We have 3 adult and 7 youth discounted tickets for next year’s giant International People Convention in Adelaide in September. See Jan for these quick and if you have put your name down but still haven’t paid for your tickets then we really need you to fix that up asap or even sooner as the church is carrying that debt till all tickets have been paid for.

That’s all folks so hopefully I will see you on the weekend.

Ps Rodney Bortolin

Newsletter week 25

Hi all it is I with your weekly instalment from your beloved pastor JJ

As we wind our way through a chilly winter i remind myself that there is only 9 days left until the team leave for the Solomon’s and what will be warmer days and barmy nights. Don’t be too jealous though as showers are more than likely cold water only; if we are lucky…but seriously the team is pumped and primed to head over there and be a blessing to them as I am sure they will be a blessing to us. 

The two younger ones, Natalia and Patular, look a little nervous especially after I told them they are up for the youth meeting the first night we arrive. May as well go in the deep end. I ask you keep the team in your prayers to be dangerous against the kingdom of darkness. Pray for me as the team leader that I am able to encourage all the guys and to have wisdom in ministering to the people. Praise God that he has already sent the Holy Spirit over ahead of us to prepare the hearts and minds of those that he has chosen in advance. Pray we come back with testimony after testimony of the goodness and greatness of our Almighty God.

I often think that as individuals we have the desire and the willingness to do great things. 

We may have the talent to achieve it but often I believe people become frustrated because they do not sense the opportunity. It is almost like ‘I’m all dressed up and nowhere to go’. In my experience I have certainly felt like that at times wondering when I will get my big break; when will I get the call up; hey God how come this isn’t happening for me. We blame God, we blame other people and we might blame circumstance.

The best piece of advice I can offer to you is this: take your mind off what ‘you’ want to do for a moment. Take a chill pill, put your mind to rest knowing if it is in God then it will happen; just in his timing not in yours, and get in and help someone else.

The kingdom of God is a we thing not an I thing. It’s not about me, my plans. If we look at our bodies we understand that if a body part starts to act independently from all the others it can disable at worst or debilitate the whole body. No, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:26

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed…

and in Ephesians 4:15

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

I wonder what was happening in the two Greek churches that Paul felt to encourage them in this area with both of them. The point is we are all in this together, no one is of less value than the other, no one is more dispensable than another. I must submit itself to we and we must submit ourselves to Christ who is the head.

So do you still find yourself frustrated…get over it and get on with it. WE will keep marching on. WE will continue to seek opportunities to express ourselves. WE will trust in God that he brings all things to pass in his timing. WE will commit to see this city bow it’s knee to Jesus…they will all do it one day anyway. Much better as Lord and Saviour rather than Judge and Jury.

WE are the body of Christ and this is God’s church that WE have been place into. YOU are of great value and YOU have something to contribute. Go for it.

See you on Sunday

Newsletter Week 15

Hello everyone and God’s blessings in Jesus name,

How can we ever stop being in awe of our Almighty God! Every time I think about his mighty hand upon my life and his wonderful grace flowing through this body of Christ I am just blown away. Our prayer for some time now is that salvation of souls be a weekly occurrence amongst us and that Jesus would draw all people from every nation to himself as His word declares, as we lift up his name. So it shouldn’t surprise us that this would occur and is occurring more and more. God is so faithful and I praise him before you that He is the best.

I bring to your attention the changed traffic conditions near our church. The council has begun construction of a new roundabout on the intersection of Stafford Road and Murrumbidgee Avenue. This means that a detour is in place and that the only access to the church is from the eastern end of Stafford Road. If you normally come from the Bunnings side then there will be no difference but if you come from Murrumbidgee Ave side then you need to go across to Sidlow Road past Pioneer Lodge and turn onto Stafford Road. Go to http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=Sidlow+Rd,+Griffith+New+South+Wales+2680&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hl=en&geocode=FVSU9P0dol60CA&split=0&sll=-25.335448,135.745076&sspn=38.161973,47.373047&hq=&hnear=Sidlow+Rd,+Griffith+New+South+Wales+2680&ll=-34.297678,146.043105&spn=0.022406,0.045447&z=15 if you need to check it out.

Let me leave you with a thought from our SOAP scriptures; Matthew 25:40 ...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers on mine, you did it for me... In a world that glamorises the rich and famous, the successful and the standouts, Jesus in this parable points to the poor, the naked, the hungry, the undesirables and the incarcerated. I encourage us all that as people come to Christ and therefore come to church it is everyone’s responsibility to make them feel welcome and befriend them. I still find myself frustrated when I see new people on their own and our people lining up at Missions Kiosk or sitting down with the regulars. My brothers and sisters can I ask you to think back to the first time you walked into a church and the courage it sometimes takes to walk into a church. Can I ask you to think back to how welcomed you felt when someone said hello to you and showed some interest in you as a person. To this end in consultation with others we have decided to delay the serving of missions kiosk for 5 minutes after the service. This won’t make a great deal of difference in the grand scheme of things; it gives the kiosk team a bit of a chance to get organised but more importantly it will give you a chance to say hello to someone new and invite them to share a meal with you or a cup of coffee. Please see this as something that you can do and do not leave it to others...Still love me J

Anyway to God be the glory for all that he does and let us praise him in all we do and all we say. Praise his mighty name.

Ps Rodney Bortolin