Southern Cross Presbyterian Church

A few weeks ago we were all given giving envelopes with a pamphlet wrapped around it entitled “my giving at scpc”.  I think this was my second Sunday working in my new ministry co-ordinator role so I have only had a chance to read through the document this week.

The pamphlet explains a number of things such as:

1. what the Bible says about how much to give and where the guideline of 10% comes from in the Old Testament;
2. how the New Testament encourages generosity even beyond that – it is all based on responding to God’s great generosity and how much He has given in His own son Jesus. Our response to God should be not holding back for the work of the gospel.

As a church we are very focused on our mission to connect. grow. serve. and at all times to give our finances in accordance with that goal.  There are a lot of ministries within the church that are seeing people come to know Christ and grow in Him for eg. MOPS, Kids Church, Youth Group etc.

On Sunday Scott spoke to us on behalf of the Committee of Management about giving and encouraged us to remember two words when we examine our own giving for the work of the gospel

• Being Generous; and
• Being Consistent

Being generous is really between us and God and being consistent is why we use the weekly envelopes or direct giving.  The envelopes work on a weekly basis and the dates act as reminders to help us give regularly (they are not numbered or named – giving is totally anonymous).  Sets of envelopes are available from the church office.

I know that this is the first church where I have given electronically and it helps me to be consistent in my giving from week to week.  This type of giving is also anonymous and just involves instructing your bank to schedule a transfer directly into the SCPC account (for SCPC account details you can call the office on 6621 3655 or see the “my giving at SCPC” for more info).

After giving a quick update in relation to our budget, Scott went on to say that as a church, instead of getting bogged down in fundraising or in lots of separate charges (eg. tea/coffee, bible study material, kids church materials etc), the support and growth of our ministries simply comes through our weekly giving.

My prayer is that as a church family we can prayerfully consider our role in giving and supporting the gospel work in Lismore, and work towards being consistent in our giving.

During the school holidays youth group had their annual week long camp – safari. This year’s camp was quite a big one with 57 people going along to brave the cold at Afterlee (back of Kyogle) and the Yarrahapinni campsite (Grassy Head). As we opened to the book of 2 Peter, the theme for the week was “All you need to know”. We were reminded that the Good News of Jesus is all we need to know to help us grow as Christians, it’s all we need to know because it’s true, it’s all we need to know when people try and tell us otherwise, and it’s all we need to know until the very end.

There were plenty of highlights from this year’s camp (check out the video below), but by far the most encouraging thing that happens on every safari, is seeing so many young people keen to grow in their relationship with God. The leaders would often tell me about the many conversations they had with different students in their groups, each being geared around God’s Word and the desire to really KNOW Jesus.

On a personal note, I was challenged by the guys in my discussion group to be more intentional when it comes to talking to my friends about Jesus. One of the group times we had during safari was all about planning a bring a friend event for the upcoming term – picking one friend, praying for them and inviting them along to the event that we decided on (a golf day for our group). In this particular group time the guys really took charge. They talked about the importance of telling others about Jesus, about ideas on how we can make Jesus more of our everyday conversation with friends and with each other, and then prayed for one another to be bold to talk about Jesus. Very encouraging stuff from a bunch of 16 year old guys!

I’m constantly reminded of the great group of young people God has put in our church family. You’d think with 57 people all sharing the same space for 6 days it’d do anyone’s head in. But being the group they are the week was hassle-free (apart from wake up alarms needing to go off numerous times), and was a great time learning together from God’s Word. All the leaders survived to tell the tale of safari ’08. Thanks to all those that helped with the logistic side of things for safari – it was very much appreciated. Please pray that the high schoolers that went on safari would continue to grow in their relationship with God, and the things they learnt wouldn’t be forgotten. And pray that the leaders would follow up the conversations they had with the youth, and that they’d follow Jesus’ example as they lead high schoolers. If you went on safari ’08 make sure you leave a comment and tell us what you were challenged by from God’s Word.

On Sunday we heard from Rachel Iedema about her life growing up in a Catholic family of 10 children and how through trusting in God’s Word rather than the Catholic Church with its traditions and rituals she found that salvation is through Christ alone.

There are some wonderful resources available for those wanting to learn about the issues that are involved with Catholics and how to share the gospel with them.

When Ray Galea submitted his life to Christ, he had a problem on his hands: Which church should he go to?

“I did not want to assume that just because I was born a Catholic, this was by definition the right choice. I knew I could just as easily have been born a Baptist or a Mormon. So I spent the next six months reading and talking to priests and ministers to find out the differences between Catholics and Protestants. How did each of their teachings compare with the teaching of Jesus and the apostles?”

This book is a kind of re-tracing of Ray’s investigation, looking at the key issues which continue to divide Protestants and Catholics, and assessing them in light of the teaching of Scripture. A challenging and invaluable book for Protestants and Catholics alike.

contents:

1. Growing up Catholic
2. Which Catholicism?
3. Christ and the Mass
4. The Bible and the Church
5. The way of salvation
6. It’s just grace
7. Mary
8. It is finished

Appendix: The new Catholicism

$16.95 from
Matthias Media
p 1800 814 360
w matthiasmedia.com.au

www.certainty.org.au

here’s the intro you’ll find when you go to www.certainty.org.au, followed by some great videos and info about other helpful resources…

Welcome to certainty.org.au

The following has been written by Bible believing Christians to help people in the Catholic faith rightly understand salvation

When will you have certainty?
On our journey through life we face many challenges. Challenges to health, work, relationships, even challenges to our faith.

Life is a difficult journey. No matter what path you choose, danger and hardship are at every turn. And for many, the destination is uncertain.
We’d all like to be certain. Certain of who we are… that we’re loved. Most of all, certain of where we’re heading.

Who am I? Does God love me? Will I go to heaven?
Amidst uncertainty, people often turn to different religions for answers. It can be comforting to ‘do’ something. To participate in some religious activity to reassure us.

True Christianity, however, is very different from religion. Jesus offers himself as the only way into heaven describing himself as “the door” (The Bible – John chapter 10, verse 9). He says that anyone who listens to his voice and follows him will be saved. We need to respond to Jesus with a life that is changed, but we don’t need to ‘do’ good works or perform rituals to earn salvation. This is because Jesus has already done all that is necessary.

Jesus loves us and is always there for us. As our great high priest, who sympathises with our weaknesses, He is able to help us in our time of need (The Bible – Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14-16).

On the cross Jesus died to pay for the things we’ve done wrong. Three days later he rose again from the dead. If we trust in Jesus’ work at the cross we can be friends with God and be saved.

It has been fantastic to hear the call of God’s Word to mission in our current Bible Talk series. As you may be aware, we’re also beginning to plan for CONNECT 2009 – a year of focus on mission. ‘Focussed’ because, of course, we’re always wanting to make mission a priority. Sometimes it’s helpful, though, to bring something into full focus even as a reminder that that’s what we’re always here for: to be light in the darkness, promoting the gospel of Jesus Christ in Lismore, our region and the world.

We are eager to start with prayer. Planning can come later. In fact, as we grow in our prayer for mission we will hopefully also start growing in our action in mission. And some of the best planning will emerge from that – from the mission that’s already happening! As much as anything, we’re not thinking so much in terms of activities and events to plan (that often just make us busy and take us away from mission in life) but rather praying that we’ll awaken to the mission opportunities that make up our everyday lives. We also want to include prayer for world mission in this outlook.

While we want this prayer, preparing for a year of mission, to happen through our small groups so all can participate, an additional special mission focus weekly prayer meeting will be open to all: THURSDAYS 7AM STARTING JULY 24 AT PARK AVE. We anticipate this weekly prayer meeting will run to the end of the year. Please join us as we talk together with our great God about the work of his gospel in us and through us.