Loftus Uniting Church in Loftus, New South Wales, Australia | Church of God

Loftus Uniting Church

Locality: Loftus, New South Wales, Australia

Address: 3 Nattai Street 2232 Loftus, NSW, Australia

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25.01.2022 Do you have nightmares about not being invited to a wedding: all the important people are there, but you just can’t get inside? Researchers say this is a common dream, where we are scared of missing out. Imagine if you invited all your friends to a party instead, but no one turns up! In Matthew 22: 1-14 Jesus tells a rather dark parable. A king invites people to a wedding banquet, but they refuse to come, even after he sends servants to remind them. Then he invites everyone b...oth good and bad, while sending his soldiers to take care of those who weren’t interested. Clearly this parable relates to the attitude of the chief priests towards Jesus. However it is just as relevant today. Out of his amazing grace and love God sent his son to die for us so we could become banquet guests. But are we prepared to change and put on his wedding clothes and join him in his great banquet? Or do we just want to keep doing things our way? We want it all without changing. It is sobering to think that there are now more Christians living outside the western world than in it. Indeed third world countries are now sending missionaries to the educated west. It seems we are the ones insisting on keeping our own clothes on, seeking to do things our way, putting our hope in our efforts. Unfortunately this means that we are no longer enjoying the banquet, instead as the parable depicts the end result is bleak. Do you have hope in that glorious future you dream of? That God loves us not just as we are but as transformed people, people who are healed and changed. He wants the best for us. He does love murderers, but not as murderers. Ultimately, if he’s a good God, he cannot allow that sort of behaviour, and that sort of person, if they don’t change, to remain forever in the party he’s throwing for his son.

23.01.2022 It has been an interesting week which has raised questions about private vs public lives and can one be a Christian and hold a high office? In politics we have been agonising over when one's private life spills over into and influences one’s public life? The US Senate has been considering whether being a Christian should disqualify an eminently qualified lawyer from being a member of their Supreme court because they might be biased? Are we different people in our public a...nd private lives? How consistent are those 2 people? Who are we really? In the push back against Jesus in his last week in Jerusalem both groups of his opponents - the Pharisees and the Herodians - joined together in an attempt to trap Jesus with an impossible question. The design was for Jesus to be in trouble whether he said yes or no. (See Matthew 22:15-22). Jesus' answer exposed the false assumptions behind their question: in the same way that it exposes those who attempt today to separate church and state . There are 2 worlds: the human world and the world (and the universe) that God has made. The human world is a subset of God’s world; it’s not a case of one or the other. As you live in the human world today do you continue to recognise that you are also living in God’s world? Ultimately the human world will not make sense unless it aligns with God’s world. The wonder is that Jesus came and gave up everything so that by following him we might know the way, the truth and the light to a life beyond measure and beyond time. Who are you serving, who are you following today and into the future? Is your aim to be an imitator of Christ in all you do and say?

17.01.2022 Were you outraged by the crowds storming the US Capitol claiming they were outraged by the conduct of the Presidential Election? Have you been outraged by the reported misbehaviour and toxic culture behind closed doors in Parliament House or by the attempted use of the media to circumvent normal legal processes to achieve particular outcomes? These situations provide a hint at the outrage generated by Jesus cleansing the Temple in John 2 13-22. The Temple was the centre of Je...wish life: culturally, spiritually and politically. The Temple was where the presence of God dwelt in the midst of his people in the promised land. Jesus’ actions occurred at Passover, the time of the year when the Jews came to Jerusalem to celebrate their being freed from slavery in Egypt and the foundation of Israel. Moreover Jesus disrupted the usual practices for Jews offering sacrifices to put their lives right with God, for them being able to repent of the wrong things they had done in the same way we might prepare for Lent. Jesus’ answer when confronted over what he had done highlights how he had come to replace the Temple by dying on the cross for us into the new promised land - his kingdom: how the freedom he offers comes from his dwelling within us and transforming us into new people worthy of being called his children. The key question for us is, as we approach Easter in 2021, have we handed our lives over to Him? Are we living for Him or for ourselves - like those using the Temple practices for their ends, or those in Parliament? Unless we live for Him there is no hope of permanent personal or culture change or finding true freedom in our lives. See more

12.01.2022 There has been much discussion in the media this week about culture and particularly the bad things that can happen if the culture is not right. Further, in discussing the correct way to handle such events there is a demand that we all must be perfect. Will changing the culture deliver that perfection? Will such events stop happening or will we deal with them in exactly the right way? Jesus' life and ministry challenged Israel in exactly this way - see Mark 8:31-38. Israel as... well as Jesus’ disciples were expecting a Messiah who would come in glory and put all things right politically and socially. Jesus said you’ve got it wrong - to follow me requires you to go to the cross, to take up your cross and follow. You need to die to yourself and start living for other people. That is not just a culture change it means a total change of life in ways more radical than the disciples could have imagined when they left their lives for life on the road with them. That is the same call for us today - if we are willing to seek and wait on the Lord we can step into a new life with him. Why not try saying the prayer attributed to St. Brendan (http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/brendan.html) as he set out by boat with a band of friends to do the Lord’s work: this prayer might offer a way of seeking and waiting on the Lord. Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home? Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea? Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy, without silver, without a horse, without fame, without honour? Shall I throw myself wholly upon you, without sword and shield, without food and drink, without a bed to lie on? Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under your yoke? Shall I pour out my heart to you, confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness, tears streaming down my cheeks? Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach, a record of my final prayer in my native land? Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict? Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean? O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea? O Christ, will you help me on the wild waves? See more

08.01.2022 As we move closer to Easter you begin to wonder what relevance does it have to us in 2021, particularly as we wrestle with issues like covid, economic recession, racism, depression, bad sexual behaviour and family divisions - to take a sample from the media today. You might feel like calling out about how can we get justice, how can we find hope, does peace exist? Jesus Christ was crucified over 2000 years ago - can that still impact our daily lives today? In John 3: 14-21 Je...sus talks about what it will mean for him to be lifted up in death on the cross. He likens it to Moses’ experience in the wilderness where following God’s instruction he made a bronze serpent: anyone who looked at the serpent survived the poisonous snakes. It reminds us how the secret of the Resurrection is what Eugene Peterson called The Great Reversal. The only way to go down is to go up as Jesus became ruler of the universe by dying on the cross and we enter his kingdom by letting go of our selfish ambitions and living for Him and for others. Moreover we can experience that power today. The only way to live is to die, the only way to be truly rich is to give all you have generously. The only way to rid ourselves of the evil that is deep-rooted within us is to allow Jesus to take the full force of it. The only way we can be lifted up is to look up to Jesus being lifted up in death on the cross for us. We still need this because evil still lurks in our lives and in the world but we can be free if we believe and live both in the present and in a glorious future. As Tom Wright has written: The strange divine love, of which the too-famous John 3:16 speaks, is not the laissez-faire tolerance that accepts everything and everybody the way they are. It is the potent and tenacious transforming energy that deals with the darkness, that defeats the rulers of the world, that banishes the serpent at last, and creates - not a new garden, with a reptile house to keep the serpent alive, but harmless - but the city of God where all is light. This Easter may you experience that great reversal and transforming energy as you look up to the risen Christ and live in the new light that it brings.

08.01.2022 What do you think about Halloween? Do you see it as a marketing gimmick imported from the US that encourages the consumption of sweets and spooky costumes? Or as a chance for young children to have fun getting to know the neighbourhood? Or a concerning flirtation with the darker side of life? Do you know what Halloween means? Hallow stands for a holy person and ‘een’ is a contraction of evening before. Hence Halloween is a way of saying the evening before All Saints Day or ...the evening before November 1 when the faithful departed, including all the saints, are celebrated. It is like Christmas Eve. What is a saint? The best definition I have seen is that a saint is a person that the light shines through. As the saying says People are like stained glass windows They sparkle and shine when the sun’s out. When the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within.Anonymous Adrian Rogers said, As the night grows darker, the saints grow brighter. This is the challenge Jesus gave to the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23: 1-12. It applies equally to us today. Does your light shine for the world to see?

08.01.2022 Do you know the famous Bob Dylan song Oh the time will come up When the winds will stop And the breeze will cease to be breathin'... Like the stillness in the wind 'Fore the hurricane begins The hour when the ship comes in It pines for a time in which the world will be transformed and things put right. Tradition has it that Dylan wrote the song after being refused a room at a hotel because of his vagabond appearance, before friend’s intervened (before he was really well known.) I wonder whether things have changed as I reflect on the major recent public demonstrations demanding cultural change and racial equality - when will these things really change? In John 12.20-36 some Greeks came looking for Jesus shortly before his crucifixion. Jesus’ response was the time has come for you to truly see him for what he had come to do - to transform the world. However the way for this to happen, for him to be glorified was to die and rise victorious over sin and death. That means passing through suffering and death, like a seed of grain, so by dying to ourselves so we can rise glorious. That is the great message of Easter, to a world gripped by injustice and coronavirus, that through His suffering we can look to a great future. As the great linguist and hymn writer John Bowring wrote When the woes of life o’ertake me, Hopes deceive, and fears annoy, Never shall the cross forsake me, Lo! it glows with peace and joy. My prayer is that this Easter time you may come to know that peace and joy as you sprout forth into new life - as love lives again.

07.01.2022 Did you watch the US Presidential debate or at least hear about it in the media. Both candidates seemed more interested in swapping insults rather than ideas! Rather than having a vision for the future they just seemed to want to scare us about the future if the other person wins. Similarly the response of a number of our state leaders to the threat of coronavirus seems to focus on putting up walls and to suspend ordinary living in an attempt to keep the virus out because of ...what might happen if it comes into our communities. Unfortunately this is at the cost of our normal lives, the economy and ultimately the future. I wonder if the impact of coronavirus has been to make us fearful of our futures? In Matthew 21:33-46 Jesus tells the story of a landowner who leased out his vineyard. When he sent messengers to collect the rent that was owed to him they refused, presumably because they were scared of what they would lose. They wanted to be in control of themselves. When the landowner sent his son they killed him! Jesus asked, did this assure their futures? Isn’t this reminiscent of our reactions in 2020. Jesus goes on, instead of talking about judgement, to talk about the future with the glorious return of the Messiah. God, the rock (or stone), is an Old Testament title given to the Messiah. It signifies how God’s people can rely on him for absolute protection and salvation. Being crushed by stone is a reference to Daniel chapter 2 in which the stone crushes the statue signifying the empires of the world. It underlines the fact that the only future you can rely on is the one being brought by the Son of Man. God has prepared a glorious inheritance for all of us, what has been our response? Have we accepted it and claimed it by turning our lives over to God and trusting in Him? Or have we sought to grab whatever we have at the moment and hold it close to ourselves fearful that if we open ourselves up to a new and exciting life we will lose it all? Jesus came to set us free: free from our fears, free us to face the future with confidence. What is your choice - to try to hang onto what you think you have or to let go and let God lead you to her kingdom?

06.01.2022 This week marks the beginning of Lent, a time when traditionally people have spent time preparing for and reflecting on the life changing significance of Easter. Typically it has been a time for fasting or giving up some self indulgences as we look to helping others rather than ourselves and asking deeper questions about our purpose in life. Mark 1: 9- 15 sets out Jesus baptism, where his calling was made public, moving on to his public ministry. A key part of this passage i...s Jesus going into the wilderness to reflect on the task he had before him. This reminds me of David Brooks’ book The Second Mountain - the way to a moral life. He argues there are two mountains we can climb in life: first the one promoted by our society that leads to a successful career, money and personal happiness. How many very successful people do you know, who seem to have it all, but are unhappy? The view from the summit was not as grand as they expected and they were left wondering that there has to be more than this? The second mountain is about looking outside of ourselves, as we journey from self to other -centredness; from vanity and selfishness to kindness and understanding so our life is measured by the joy we experience as we serve others in our family and work and our community; as we live out our faith and moral commitment. How often at funerals do we celebrate people who have lived lives like this, not one full of awards and abundant material possessions, but one that changed the world around them? Jesus in the wilderness was tempted with the rewards from climbing the first mountain, but rejected those to climb the second mountain instead. He went immediately into his public ministry to heal people and invite them into the Kingdom of God, ultimately by giving His life so we all might live. As we reflect on the past year it is sad to see some notable Christian leaders who succumbed to sexual temptation, at the cost of their overall ministry. Approaching Lent in 2021 is a good time for us to reflect on which mountain each of us is climbing? Do we need to start changing our lives to look outward in serving others with the love Jesus showered on us at Easter time? In the next 40 days what new behaviours do you want to practice to help you start ascending that second mountain that leads to the Kingdom of God? How might you better model Christ day by day?

05.01.2022 In Matthew 25:1-13 Jesus tells a parable to help his followers prepare to wait for his return in all his glory: we don’t know when his return will be so we need to be ready at any time. The world has changed forever through Jesus death on the cross: we can become new people and start living like that today. He wants us to start living transformed lives as a result of his resurrection. His coming may be delayed but he wants us to continue living each day showing his great love... to the world. If we don’t, if we stop living for him, he won’t recognise us when he returns. That is the challenge, continuing to live for Jesus and his return, when we’ve been waiting over 2000 years. How? By holding onto the teaching of the Bible and holding it out to others so they too will be ready when he returns. What greater hope can we have than to live for that day when God will establish justice and righteousness and peace? Maranatha - come Lord Jesus See more

05.01.2022 This seems to be election season! We have just had an election in New Zealand, one due in Queensland next weekend, one in the US in the week after that and one in Western Australia early next year. As a result there is a lot of political posturing going on. It is always interesting to me to see how politicians aim to appeal to us - what their market research tells them that we want to hear. A lot seems based on promising to protect us from covid - irrespective of the cost to ...others. That suggests they think we are selfish - wanting to protect ourselves at all costs. Is that really true? Matthew 22:34-46 brings to a climax the confrontation between Jesus and his opponents. It is like a debate: they ask him a question and he responds with one of his own. They ask what is the most important thing for us to do in serving God? Jesus responds with loving the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind and loving others as ourselves. It’s funny how in practice this becomes loving ourselves at the expense of everything else in life. Seems rather like 2020. This was Jesus' point - they weren’t living up to it than we are. His point was one that they and we often miss: keeping the law is not a demand but a gift. Jesus, the Messiah, came and died on the cross out of his love for us so that by his love we can experience a new life of love. When we recognise the bigger picture we can bit by bit become people who serve the needs of others, not ourselves. Are you up to the challenge?