Southern Cross Presbyterian Church

On Sunday I got the opportunity to explain to our congregation what I have been up to in terms of year 13 and what’s coming up.  The downside was I didn’t really get to explain what I’ve found encouraging, or challenging, about it all so far, except to a few people that I got to talk to after the service.
So, I just want to stress, year 13 is excellent!  Even just the idea of being able to serve God in Lismore, with my church family, while also building relationships with other Christians my age and with God, is awesome.  Not to mention the fact that as part of the year 13 group I can go to Fiji to help build up the churches and youth ministries there, as well as strengthen relationships between the Fijian and Australian Christian communities.
One of the most exciting things about all of this is that I am able to do it in partnership with my church family at Southern Cross Presbyterian Church, essentially including our whole church in everything that I learn and experience.  This hopefully includes the encouragement that I have found in getting to know the other year 13ers while I was in Sydney, the joy in being able to grow closer to God through studying the Bible more, as well as the excitement that I am feeling as the short tem mission trip to Fiji draws closer.
Perhaps the thing that I am most looking forward to about the trip is the youth leadership conference that we will be involved in.  At this conference we aim to not only build up the skills and maturity of youth ministry workers, but also break down barriers between denominations in Fiji that can often be a hindrance to the work of the gospel.
Another thing that I will be involved in is “walk up evangelism”.  We will be doing this in the Lautoka markets, and it would be great if you could be praying that we would be courageous in proclaiming Jesus, and for the people we come in contact with, that God would be softening their hearts.
Even though this is an amazing opportunity to proclaim the gospel and build up disciples, it is also reasonably expensive, as it is an entire month of unpaid ministry work.  If you could be prayerfully considering helping me out in this area, I’d be very grateful.  If you would like to know more please call the church office on 66213655.
Thanks for your prayers and support!

Brad Herd

This is an interesting question that relates to the question preached on last Sunday ‘how could a good God allow suffering?’

I reckon one of the strange stories in the   Bible is a story about rape, circumcision and murder. You can read about it in Genesis 34.

In brief Dinah one of Jacob’s daughters is raped by a guy from a different nation. Dinah’s brothers are furious and the guy    who raped Dinah wants to marry her. So      the brothers trick the guy and all of his clan. They say that only if the guy and his clan get circumcised they will let the guy marry their sister. So the guy and his clan go ahead with the very painful exercise – especially considering they didn’t have any real pain relief.

Read what the brothers do. Genesis 34:25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male.

What does God think about all this? Well in the story you don’t really get God’s thoughts. You just find out that Jacob is very angry with what his sons have done.

Actually when I think about it I don’t know anywhere in the Bible were God is happy about rape and murder. I guess at this point we need to make an important distinction – in the Bible there are descriptive parts (where we are just told what happened) and prescriptive parts (where we are told what God wants us to do).

I guess the point of saying that is although there might stories about rape and murder in the Bible, that doesn’t mean God thinks they’re cool. In actual fact we know from the Bible that God really hates it when the vulnerable are taken advantage of and there will be some nasty stuff coming the way of the those who do such things. And as someone who knows a few people who have been assaulted I will be putting up my hand if God needs any help when it comes to dishing it out on the last day (not that he will… need my help that is).

But what makes me think I’m such a good guy? If anyone was to see the extent of my sin I reckon they would be crying out for justice too.

I guess we also need to talk about the wars that God is for in the Old Testament. Wars that in some cases clear the way for his people and wars in other cases that punish his people. There are probably two things to say. God made us so he can judge us however he wants (which we will hear more about on Sunday) and that a lot of the time we underestimate our own sin (rejection of God).

While the Old Testament can sound violent, if you actually think about it, Jesus has far more harsh things to say. Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Because we are so materialistic we think death is the worst thing that can happen to us… But in reality there is a far greater punishment in store for all of us.

But there is good news God poured out his anger on his Son – Jesus on the cross. And we can have the hope of a sure future with Jesus if we acknowledge our own sin to God and trust in the risen Lord Jesus.

This is great news for sinners like me. Jesus isn’t meek and mild he’s a fearless warrior. What’s gunna happen when you meet him?

Have you ever heard 3 people tell the same story but notice that there were slight differences in the details? Last term, someone asked the question:

The gospel can’t seem to agree on who actually saw the resurrected Jesus at first. Different people in each of the Gospels. If God’s word is present throughout the Bible, how could he stuff this up, when so important?

In the bible, there are four different accounts of Jesus’ life (the Gospels). I have often wondered about why one writer speaks of one event and another writer mentions something else. The question is then: does that mean that God messed up? Messed up something so crucial, so important…

How do differences in stories happen? For example, look at this picture: lots of witnesses but I bet each of them would’ve had a slightly different account of how the car arrived in its precarious position. The differences remind us of the reality that people can look at the same event and walk away with a different perspective.

A couple of weeks ago at church, we thought through the question: can we REALLY trust the bible? We can see that there is historical evidence supporting the events of the bible, particularly Jesus’ death, and the events following Jesus’ resurrection. Its pretty amazing that there is so much evidence and yet the events of Jesus’ life can be still treated as myth. What are your thoughts?