Cebu city in the Philippines is a very busy place - more like a downtown Sydney than an Adelaide. A big difference is that it is left hand drive in the car, with no traffic lights, and no road rules. Simply put, this means first in first served when you come to an intersection. Consequently the traffic can only be described as chaotic - everyone skilfully weaves about trying to get across each intersection. In a city of 3.5 million people (who all seem to meet together at once at the same intersection) with everyone honking their horns, it definitely makes for entertaining driving! Julio has taken to getting me to sit in the front because it’s safer in the back!

In contrast to the traffic, the worship here has been an absolute delight to experience! Orphaned children and the poorest of the poor gather to give thanks to God for His rich blessings. Julio told me that people don’t often complain here, despite their circumstances. This attitude makes it difficult to understand the attitude of Christians in Australia complaining - and often about the church. At one place we sat outside to worship with about 100 people who were either orphaned children, or the very poor, living on the streets. It began to rain, but instead of running for non-existent shelter everyone remained where they were. The leader stood up, and commanded the rain to stop in Jesus name - and it did!

One of the privileges I have especially enjoyed was gaining access to Cebu City prison. I felt like a fish in a fishbowl as the prisoners all came to the front of their wired cells to look out at the western visitor. The Christian prisoners gathered to worship with hundreds of prisoners watching, and they sang with such devotion it brought tears to my eyes. I was a bit nervous when I was invited to say a few things and was introduced as Bruce Willis of Australia… unfortunately you tend to stand out here with a bald head! I met a converted gang leader, who had formerly been a notorious criminal, and was now an imprisoned Pastor. When the members of his gang escaped from prison, all the members of his gang had been shot dead by police and he was the only one to survive. As a believer in Christ, he now faithfully ministers to ‘a captive audience’. I rejoiced at being able to give him a variety of gospel tracts I’d taken into the prison.

Another impacting moment was when I was invited to visit the homes of people in one very poor area. It was humbling to be invited into the simplest of squatters’ shacks that were thoroughly clean despite their poverty. Most homes were the size of a small Australian bedroom, divided into a couple of tiny rooms to allow a small space to sleep. I didn’t ask to see the primitive toilets that I could smell. What surprised me most was how happy the Christians were - in spite of such poor conditions - as they warmly greeted me and thanked me for coming.

Remember this Sunday night (28^th) is the special “Easter comes early at EBC” service. It’s a great opportunity to invite family and friends who might not normally come to church.

God bless the poor

The Winter Olympics are under way in Canada and it’s great to see the amazing, physical feats of the worlds best winter sports athletes. I can’t help but praise God for the way He has made us as human beings, as physical strength, agility, coordination and courage is demonstrated and applauded. I’m noticing though that all the athletes are ‘younger’ people, where are all the 50 year old grandfathers? I think I’ll write and complain to the IOC that there is not enough representation of older people – becoming a grumpy old man is starting to feel really comfortable! I just need a bit more free time to think about things I can complain about.

Vancouver is not the only city sporting champions; we have some of our own right here at EBC but they are champions in a different field of endeavour. Recently Dave Vaughan received a prestigious award from CAMS, the Confederation of Australian Motorsport – the governing body of motorsport in Australia. Dave received the award, usually reserved for senior age people with a lifetime of service, for dedicated service to motor sport as a CAMS Accredited Official. Here is what they wrote about him at the recent ceremony. David has been a motor sport official in a number of capacities for over 30 years, but is best known for being the Chaplain for the Australian Rally Championship over the last 9 years. Whenever there is a serious motor sport incident, the services of David come to the fore as a counsellor where he provides comfort and support to anyone affected by such an incident.

Through his demonstrated diligent service and high level of dedication to the sport over a long period of time, David is a highly respected member of the South Australian motor sport community and a very worthy recipient of the CAMS Service Award.

Congratulations Dave and thanks for being an example to us in the church family. Congratulations to all our people who are champions of service to this church and the wider community. We mightn’t see you on TV and most will probably not be acknowledged in any public way or receive a gold medal and media interviews but you are champions in our sight and in the sight of Him who really counts.

Celebrating champions of service

This Sunday Valentines Day and Chinese New Year will be celebrated so whichever day you recognize happy Valentines Day or Happy Chinese New Year! Valentines Day has rather obscure origins but it is said to have originated as recognition of a Christian martyr. Valentinus was arrested and imprisoned because he was caught marrying Christian couples as well as supporting Christians at a time when Christians were being actively persecuted by the Emperor Claudius Gothicus.

Claudius actually took a liking to his prisoner until Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor which led to his being condemned to death. His was a horrible end when he was beaten with clubs and stoned, but this didn’t kill him so they finally beheaded Valentinus in about 270 AD. Not much to celebrate really is it? The day itself was recognized as a holy day by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD but was later developed into a romantic holiday by Geoffrey Chaucer during the Middle Ages when “the tradition of courtly love flourished.”

Strange how things get twisted and turned to suit our circumstances and culture. Many now call it Hallmark Day because of all the Valentines Day cards that are sold, not to mention the florists. Thinking about Valentinus made me wonder about living as a Christian in an anti Christian society. I think many would agree that our society is growing increasingly pagan and as someone mentioned to me on Sunday, persecution of Christians can’t be far away. 

I’m encouraged to think of Valentinus’ testimony as he supported Christians and even sort to convert the Emperor. How much more should we as Christians in a ‘pre-persecution era’ seek to encourage one another and share our faith at every opportunity? Times change and the door of freedom to so easily speak for Christ may eventually close. Let’s make the most of it while we can.

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25

This Sunday morning I will be speaking while Don is speaking in the evening. We have begun our journey through the gospels as we seek to identify Jesus methods of witness.

Maranatha!

So this is Christmas - tinsel, presents, food, holidays but most of all, hopefully most of all, for Christians it’s about Jesus. God’s gift of a Saviour to a lost world. He is our hope, our forgiveness, our salvation. Imagine the world without Him, imagine your life without Him….

Jesus gives life, meaning and purpose, He brings us into a right relationship with a holy God, whose just and righteous wrath against sin must be satisfied. God’s call to each of us is to have faith in Jesus, to believe in Him that His substitutionary death on Calvary’s cross might make us right in God’s sight.

My prayer for you this Christmas season is that you might have personal experience of knowing God and be right with Him by believing in His Son, Jesus Christ. This, above all else, is the true meaning of life and God’s intended purpose at Christmas.

To all those holidaying and travelling we pray you will have a safe and restful holiday. We look forward to all that 2010 has for us as a church.  In January we will have a sermon series that focuses on God’s desire for relationship with each of us as His creation. No matter who we are or what we’ve done, God wants to restore us to relationship with Himself.

Our service times over the Christmas period are as follows:

• Christmas Eve 7pm
• Christmas Day 9am
• Sunday 27^th 10am (no evening service)
• January 10am & 6pm

May you enjoy God’s richest blessing at Christmas and may His plans for your life continue to be revealed throughout 2010.

Brian.

Our sermon series, “How To Sin & Get Away With It” has now concluded and this week we begin a much briefer but very important follow up series called, “How To Be Forgiven Because We Can’t Get Away With It.” (How’s that for a succinct series title?) The fact is, we can be deceived into thinking our “secret” or “respectable” sins are not so bad compared to the more “serious” sins of others. God is offended by all sin however, no matter whether we categorise some sins as being more serious than others. Hopefully our recent series has helped to highlight the reality and seriousness of all sin.

So when we recognise our sin what do we do? How can we be forgiven? Thankfully God doesn’t just point out our sin then leave us to wallow in self condemnation and guilt - not at all! He has graciously and mercifully provided us with a Saviour, whose long awaited arrival changed for all time the reality and permanence of God’s just forgiveness. Through Jesus Christ we can be forgiven and experience the freedom and joy of knowing and walking with God.

The provision of a Saviour, in Jesus Christ, is God’s grand plan of salvation for the human race. It is a plan that has taken millennia to unfold and be fully revealed. Amazingly we live in a time when we can look back on God’s purposes throughout history and His trail of raising up prophet after prophet who have spoken of and given clues to the identity of the coming Saviour. We have the privilege of being able to follow those clues, and recognise the Saviour’s final arrival in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago.

A couple of things become very evident when we reflect upon God’s provision of a Saviour. One is that God loves us dearly, more than we can fully comprehend. The second observation we can make from God’s grand plan of salvation is that God is certainly not in a hurry. All is done according to His will and His timing - not ours. When you are eternal time has much less significance.

I encourage you to reflect in this Christmas season on the wonder of God’s plan of salvation and the provision of His Son our Saviour. The privileges we enjoy as Christians know no bounds and all because He loves us so much.

Forgiven in Jesus,

Brian

Apathy and anxiety are the ‘sins’ that I’ll be speaking about on Sunday night as part of our series, “How To Sin & Get Away With It.” These two sins are particularly common and subtle, allowing us to cultivate the idea that we are flying under the radar of God’s awareness of our attitudes. Perhaps their greatest deception is the fact that often we are the only ones aware of them lodging deep within our hearts and even then we rarely recognise their damaging effects on our relationship with God. Like a cancerous growth they entwine their tentacles deep into our soul robbing us of the joy of serving and trusting God in spite of any and every circumstance of life.  

 God wants to search our hearts and minds, to identify and free us of everything that hinders His work in our lives and quenches the work of His Spirit to bring us spiritual growth and fruitfulness. We may reflect at times on why our experience of God seems dull, lifeless or even boring, but did you know that sin creates that very experience of God.

Think about it - how is it possible that walking with God and experiencing a relationship with the God of the universe can be boring?! Sin and Satan create that impression, and produce that negative experience and impression of God. The God who created this world with its soaring mountains, massive canyons, raging rivers, mountainous seas, vast deserts, weird and wonderful animal life and frightening forces of nature, is anything but boring!

A dull Christian life develops when sin pervades our thinking, sapping spiritual vitality from us. It is a spiritual condition that needs both surgery and medication, surgery comes by confession and repentance, once the problem is diagnosed, and the medicating effects of reading God’s Word and praying in the Spirit heal and strengthen the wounds of sin. There is power in the blood of Jesus. Power to heal, cleanse and forgive, and through the Holy Spirit there is power to transform, power to revive and renew. May that be your experience and mine as we seek to identify and extract sin and its deceptiveness that may be residing in our hearts.

There is no question it is a problem, an overwhelming one at that and it permeates the whole of our society. It is insidious and completely destructive, worse than any plaque, parasite, virus, earthquake, or typhoon; its powers to invade and corrupt are almost unstoppable. Yet surprisingly governments don’t care. It is never addressed by any educational curriculum; the media never mentions it, and you will never hear your neighbours speak about it. Yet the fact remains not a single human being can escape its devastating effects. What am I talking about? A single syllable, three letter word that has brought humanity to the brink of total annihilation on more than one occasion – SIN!

Surprisingly even churches often only mention it in hushed tones. It doesn’t exactly inspire or encourage large attentive crowds wanting to hear of our miserable condition, and the truth of it is often hidden beneath layers of pretence and the veneer of respectability. Truth doesn’t always leave us feeling great about ourselves, but reality is what it is, and we must face it whether we want to or not if we are to be true to God and true to ourselves. The world is full of superficialities. God’s church must dare to be different, and come clean on what is really happening in our lives if we are to ever see the power of God break through - with a force and power equal to and beyond the destructive nature of sin.

Your attendance is therefore invited to our 4^th term series beginning this Sunday entitled, “How To Sin & Get Away With It.” Contrary to what the weather might be telling us, it is Spring - so it’s time for a little Spring cleaning! Where better to begin than with our own souls?

This Sunday morning I will begin the series with an introduction that Kieran Johnson will continue in the evening. Although we may become a little battered and bruised listening to truth, ultimately we have good news about the problem of sin, and this perspective will permeate all of the messages throughout the series.

Look forward to seeing you there,