Southern Cross Presbyterian Church

The countdown is on and we now have less than 2 weeks to think about Celebration Sunday and who we would like to invite.

There are also many exciting opportunities to take advantage of on Celebration Sunday including baptism and membership.

On Sunday we heard from Ally Bell about why she has decided to become a member of Southern Cross.  Ally moved up from Tamworth and is living in Lismore working as a teacher and has been serving in our church in many ways.  On Celebration Sunday Ally will be taking a step to publicly affirm in front of her church family her trust in Jesus and her desire to serve him in our church.  If you would like to become a member on Celebration Sunday please contact the office.

Celebration Sunday starts at 9.30am at Lismore High School and we will share in a meal afterwards from about 12pm onwards.  SCPC will provide the meat, drinks and dessert but it would be great if every family and household could bring a dish to share (please note: there’ll be no night church on Celebration Sunday!).

I don’t know about you, but I was pretty surprised to hear at the end of last week that Morris Iemma had stepped down as NSW Premier to be replaced by Nathan Rees. I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Leadership in Australia and around the world can fluctuate pretty frequently, and that can be seen not only here but in recent times in places like Pakistan and the USA. And because these leaders are influential in shaping current events, people follow the developments pretty closely.

I don’t know about you, but some of the recent news headlines have made me reflect a bit on leadership recently. There’s no doubt that leaders are important. There’s no doubt that it’s a good thing to keep informed about what’s going on. And yet…

And yet the constant overturning of one leader for another… it really shows haw unstable leadership in this world is. Many of us Aussies by now are pretty cynical and jaded towards our leaders because we really don’t believe it’ll make much difference anyway. We’ve largely given up following our leaders and depending on them. Rightly or wrongly, Mr Iemma was pushed out of power because those who followed weren’t totally behind him.

But although in reality the latest leadership change in the NSW government won’t really impact your life in any real major way, there’s one leadership change that’s happened in history that does have a massive impact, an eternal impact.  Once we were all followers of that guy named Adam. He may have rebelled against God right back at the beginning, but we have all followed him. The whole world has been under his leadership of rebellion since the beginning. Adam may have led the charge in rebelling against God, but we’ve all been behind him one hundred percent.

That is, until Jesus. Jesus has effected the greatest leadership change in history. By his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave, Jesus turfed out the old leader and has become the new, leading us who follow him into a right relationship with God. But I think that although we Christians call ourselves ‘followers of Jesus’, we often fail to grasp how much Jesus is our leader. And we fail to get behind him 100%. We can live out our days with the decisions and actions of our lives shaped more by our world than by his Word. But here’s a leader we can have confidence in. Here’s a leader who’ll never be ousted by power, whose rivals of sin and death have been overthrown forever. A leader who truly is a firm foundaton, a solid rock to stand on. As Christians we need to trust fully in Jesus as the leader of our lives, and that’ll mean daily listening to him in his Word and following him – having our lives and values daily shaped by his Word and not our culture. Do we truly trust our leader Jesus Christ, or do we believe we need to find something else as the solid rock we stand on? What a comfort, what an encouragement that we follow no one less than the Lord Jesus himself, victor over sin and death! Let’s ensure our lives are daily shaped by trusting in and following his Word.

If you’re a Christian who likes rock music you can jump up and down to, “Holding Nothing Back” by Tim Hughes is the album for you. Tim Hughes first shot to super-stardom about 5 years ago with “Here I Am to Worship”. If you’re anything like me, just reading the title of that song is enough to make you groan… but – thankfully! – he’s come a long way since then. Gone are the effeminate, wishy-washy, “Jesus-is-my-boyfriend” style songs; bring on the impressively produced pop-rock anthems.

If you’re a “glass-half-empty” kinda person, the album opener “Happy Day” might rub you up the wrong way to start with. But give it some time – it really is a great song. Jesus’ resurrection – “the greatest day in history!” – is worthy of many a joyful song like this one. Another song like it is “Holding Nothing Back” – which, by now, is hopefully a familiar tune to you. Mind you – we did change this one a bit, so that there’d be no room for misunderstanding.

There are some great mellow moments too. “Living for your Glory” is fantastic, reminiscent of the hymn “Take My Life”. (In fact, many of his songs will remind you of hymns – which is not a bad thing!) The highlight of the album is the duet he does with the Kiwi Brooke Fraser, “Clinging to the Cross” (this one’s on our Featured Items Page). It tells the tale of a weak, numb believer, who can’t do anything but cling to the cross of Christ, rejoicing in the fact that Jesus will never let go; Jesus will never fail: “Simply to the Cross I cling, letting go of all earthly things, I’m clinging to the cross.” This song alone makes buying the album worth it.

Beware though – there are some parts that are unfaithful. One of the best songs on the album is also the worst: “God of Justice”. It’s a moving song – musically and lyrically.  We need songs about God’s justice, and His call for us to care for the poor and the broken. But the song is destroyed in the bridge, when he repeatedly sings: “Fill us up, and send us out Lord” – making the frustratingly common error of asking God for more of the Spirit – as if God withholds part of the Spirit until we sing something like this again and again. It’s not true! God’s given us all of the Spirit already (Rom. 8:14-15). Avoid songs like this like the plague.

Overall, the depth of lyrics on this album isn’t what you’d call ‘profound’, and it’s sometimes overly-repetitive. But it’s mostly faithful, and there are some excellent songs that will help to fill your mind with God’s word. Its refreshingly Christ-centred. I’m struck by the quality of the production – guitarists will love it! Parents – buy this one for your teenagers – and talk to them about the songs. Young adults – put this one in your car stereo, but do try not to speed; put it on your iPod, and go for a run. Everyone – sing along, and praise God with a new song. You can sample it for free here.

Hi all

Just posting a brief blog as I finalise some preparation for Sunday’s Bible Talk. It’s a funny thing preaching again after one of the longest breaks I’ve had from it in 11 years – 6 weeks off. And a time, with Rossie’s illness, where my focus has been very much elsewhere than preaching (unlike, for example, when we have a college student with us in January and I’m involved in training and feedback etc).

And so, apart from trying to remember just how you prepare one of these ‘bible talk’ things again, it’s interesting to also recall what the point of it all is. The easiest answer to that, however, is also to reflect on what it’s been like for us to go to church the last few weeks – wonderful! It has been simply wonderful in the midst of a difficult time to join with God’s loving people and to sit under the great promises of the gospel. The gospel is always food for the soul and never more so than during difficult times. I am grateful to God for the messengers of the gospel – those who have preached over recent weeks – and especially for the message of the gospel – the purpose and hope and life we have in Jesus.

The challenge is to keep it real. I hope this has always been the case. But I’m realising more than ever that opening God’s Word together week by week, and through the week, is never to be some mere ritual that we wander through. It is a breathtaking privilege. It is where we listen to our very Creator and respond in in joy and obedience and faith. God’s Word truly does speak to the real issues and challenges of life. It’s real. May we always keep our response real.

Keep it real. To the honour of Jesus.