Southern Cross Presbyterian Church

Just so you know, this article is a collaborative effort between myself and Jillian. Jillian gives us a wrap-up of the week-end and I will give some reflections further below:

NCCC Wrap-up (by Jillian)

Well, the North Coast Christian Convention (NCCC) has flown past for another year, but it was an excellent weekend at Evans Head.

NCCC ’08 saw over 400 people gather together to be taught from God’s word by David Jones and Steve Young. This year also saw the introduction of the men’s and women’s seminars run by Steve Young (men) and Di Warren (women). Both received many positive comments in the feedback. Our Saturday night entertainment was provided by Steve Morrison and his band who played some jazz tunes for us.

Many thanks go out to all involved in both the preparation and smooth running of the convention including the committee, speakers, music team, morning and afternoon tea set up teams and many more.

Special thanks go to the teams from Brisbane Uni Church and Mitchelton Presbyterian Church who cared for our creche kids and K-6 kids over the entire weekend. It was great to see so many families at the convention, and doubly great knowing that the kids and youth are being taught the gospel while being cared for so parents can listen in to the talks, uninterrupted.

If you haven’t already done so, make sure you mark the last weekend in May 2009 as booked up with NCCC! Wouldn’t it be a shame to miss such a great opportunity!

Take Every Opportunity (by Wade)

As is the case every year at NCCC, we were privileged to hear God speak to us, as his word was taught faithfully, clearly and boldly.

Steve Young brought us talks from 1 Corinthians and it was great to be reminded of the living hope that we have in Christ; that death is dead and that we will be raised like him.

David Jones brought us talks on the theme for the week-end, ‘Never Say NO to Jesus’. We looked at three passages where Peter told Jesus he was wrong. I was particularly challenged by the last talk, ‘Saying No to the Great Commission’, based on Acts 11 &15. Rather than trying to explain it all to you, I have included a couple clips that are well worth listening to.

We live in a world that sees the Bible as irrelevant or even boring. Many Christian churches bypass the Bible to look for fresh revelations and hearing God’s voice outside of Scripture. Both these influences can rub-off on us and as a result, we can severely undervalue the worth of good Bible teaching. We need to remember afresh that when we open the Bible and we listen to it, we are listening to God himself. It might look so unspectacular in the world’s eyes, but God’s word alone has the power to save and to bring real change. May we be people who take every opportunity to listen to God’s word.

I was particularly challenged by the next part of David’s talk:

At another point in this talk, David mentioned that our churches are so middle-class. He made the comment that it’s very rare to see so many of the Australian “tribes” (sub-cultures) in our churches.

I reckon that our church makes a big effort to welcome people along, no matter what their background.  However, we don’t ever want to become complacent about these things. We need to make sure our church is a place where we can celebrate our diversity. It needs to be a community that demonstrates God’s grace to the world around us. It needs to be a community that shows God accepts people from all backgrounds, cultures and sub-cultures. Our church should celebrate the freedom that we have in Christ and allows people to be different; so long as we are urging them to be living under the Lordship of Christ and conforming to his actions and attitudes.

This is the point of our unity; the gospel of Christ. Let’s make an effort to remove any obstacle in the way of “not-yet Christians” that may prevent them coming to know our Lord and Saviour. I know that I need to repent of the ways I’ve discriminated with the gospel. Let’s not be people that hold the message of hope back from anyone. May God’s word soak deep into our minds and lives so that we would be a community marked by grace; a community that shows that the gospel of Jesus, really is for everyone.

10 talks from mark’s gospel. Encounter him for yourself in the oldest surviving record.

So read ‘The Bible Talks’ posters around the uni campus this semester, as Wade took us through the gospel and showed us the real Jesus. And what an encounter! It was great to learn about the amazing difference Jesus came to bring to our world, a world of darkness, pain, loss fear and death. But through the cross Jesus has defeated the old power of our world, and called us to a new life. As I prepared a couple of talks in Wade’s absence, I was struck with the contrast Mark shows us between Jesus the King and the world he entered. And the amazing challenge to all of us about who we’re following, Jesus or the world. Do we live our lives for the world, or for Christ Jesus? Do we live a life that worships and glorifies him? Students were encouraged and challenged in the life of making Jesus known to our fallen world. It’s also been great seeing students involved in that life, and to see new students coming to tbt, both believers and unbelievers.

Please continue to pray for this vital ministry at the uni, thanking God for the fruit growing in people’s lives, and asking that it’d continue, and spread.

Calling all Southern Cross men! Every now and then the time comes to take stock. We believe that now is such a time for the men of our church. On Thursday 28th August Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill church in Seattle USA will be speaking in Brisbane. He’ll be speaking as a Christian man to other Christian men, challenging us all to really live for Jesus and we want as many SCPC men as possible to be there.

The organisers of the event have drafted the following “statement of commitment” as a way of preparing all men for the night and for the challenge that will be issued. Have a read, and if it sounds like something that you want to be part of, let us know by commenting here on the website. Just identify yourself and say something like “I’m IN!” and we’ll save you a ticket.

300 Men for Jesus: Humbly acknowledging our own failures, we, the undersigned 300 men, challenge the men of our city to join us in getting serious about following Jesus. We confess we have often worshipped a convenient Jesus who has allowed us to continue unchallenged in our comfortable lives. We have made an idol for ourselves – a small, easy Jesus.

Because we want to repent of this, we have invited Mark Driscoll to unsettle our complacency and expand our view of the real Jesus. We will renew our efforts to grow as real Christian men who are faithful to our families, who fight hard against sexual temptation, who are honest and reliable in all our dealings, who seek to serve rather than be served, who are committed to our churches, who strive to be bold yet humble, and who bring honour to our Lord Jesus. ‘Burn your plastic Jesus’ and join us in this journey.

We’re aiming for 50 men from Southern Cross, so take the challenge and add your name to mine!

Pete Thompson

It’s tempting to think that someone who never changes is plain old boring. Doesn’t the idea of someone who’s always the same seem like a bit of a yawn?

But that’s because God and us – we’re not the same. Though we’re made in God’s image, we’re broken images – because of our sin. Until we’re in heaven we’ll only be poor reflections of Him. God’s perfect; we’re imperfect. God’s holy; we’re unholy. God always loves; we always fail to love. God’s always good, always merciful, always faithful, always true, always gracious, always forgiving, always patient, always pure… we could go on for a long time! But us – at best, if you replace the word ‘always’ with ‘sometimes’, you’d have a more accurate description. We always fall short. We’re broken images – we’re not the same.

That’s why we’re tempted to think that someone who never changes is boring. In fact, for us to never change is far worse than boring – it’s downright unfaithful. It’s blatant disobedience. A person who never changes is a hardened sinner. We should always be trying hard to change – to grow more and more like Christ. Someone who’s always the same isn’t following Jesus.

God’s not the same as us though – He’s already perfect, and He always will be: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He doesn’t have any ‘grey spots’ in His life to work on or grow in – He’s the very definition of glory already. Despite our unfaithfulness, He’s always faithful. And isn’t that what we long for more than anything or anyone in this life – someone who’s always faithful, and always loving? Isn’t that exactly what we need?

That’s why I love the song “Yesterday, Today and Forever”. It’s a wonderful celebration of the same-ness of God:

Everlasting God
The years go by but you’re unchanging
In this fragile world
You are the only firm foundation

Always loving, always true
Always merciful and good, so good

Yesterday today and forever
You are the same, and you never change
Yesterday today and forever
You are faithful and we will trust in You

As we start to sing this song together as a Church family, I hope you’ll keep all of the above in mind: that you’ll delight in our ever-faithful God, despite our ever-unfaithfulness. And just to keep you going, why not have a listen to Amanda Kemsley singing it for us:

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