On Sunday we joyfully welcomed in eight new members: Mak P, Ruby K, Scott and Emma L, Bijoy and Sharon C, and John and Clare C! What a joy!

I preached on Ephesians 5:22-33 (re-listen to the message here) and unpacked what the role of a husband is, as biblically defined. We saw that husbands are called to embrace loving sacrificial headship. John piper helpfully defines headship as follows:

“Biblical headship for the husband is the divine calling to take primary responsibility for Christlike, servant-leadership, protection and provision in the home.”

True flourishing only comes when we as husbands embrace our calling and practice our duties. We are called to lead our wives and we are called to do this with love.

Sacrificial love.

Sanctifying love.

Satisfying love.

And if we do this, we will flourish and thrive. It isn’t easy, but we aren’t alone. We have the power of the Spirit to help as walk as new creatures in Christ.

Desiring God released a very helpful article that picks up on many of these themes, read it here: Headship Crowned with Thorns by Greg Morse.

From Pastor Brendan at Wahroonga:

“Last Sunday night we had a wonderful time chatting all things humility as the Walkers joined our zoom hang out. In two weeks time we’ll be back on again, this time looking at the topic of “Walking with God through Pain and Suffering.”

In this broken world, it’s not a question of “if” you will go through pain and suffering but “when”. As Christians God’s word gives us loads of resources not just to survive in the midst of suffering but to thrive. The real question we need to ask ourselves is not “will I face suffering?” but “Am I prepared for when suffering strikes?”.

On Sunday May 17th we’ll be joined by a couple that we’ve had the privilege of watching thrive in the midst of some significant suffering and that is Glen & Donny Jones. We’ll be trying to get a feel for life in their shoes and how they’ve managed to find real joy in the midst of a difficult season.

We’ll also be reflecting on the introduction to Tim & Kathy Keller’s book, “Walking with God through pain and suffering” which you can read here.

To join the zoom meeting simply click here.

Walking With God Through Pain & Suffering - Zoom HangOut
When: May 17, 7:30PM”

How do we process this pandemic? John Piper has written a new book to deal with trusting in the sovereignty of God during this trial. There are two aims: 1) to see that God is in control through the Coronavirus; 2) to see what God is getting done through this trial.

Desiring God has graciously given us free paperback copies of this because of John Piper’s friendship with CJ Mahaney! So I have a copy to give to each of us! Check your door step in the next week for your copy!

You can also access it electronically in a few different ways:

1) Free e-book download for your e-reader of choice (or simple PDF)

2) Free audiobook via the Ask Pastor John Podcast

• Podcast

• Youtube

A combined SG Churches Australia event for all the men to jump on and think seriously and soberly about our purity. Please read this chapter on “Lust'“ by John Piper if you can before hand as it will help frame the evening. There will be a chance to ask questions for yourself or for a “friend”!

When: May 8th - 9:30pm

Where: Online via Zoom - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81969267294

What: a session of worship followed by a Q + A panel: Riley, Brendan, Patrick.

Who: the men!

Ladies Growth Group’s are on this week! Be ready to discuss the messages from Ephesians 5:21-33. You can access them here

Mark Prater, the Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches (Global), recently put out a short 5 minute podcast called “Loving Our Neighbours” in which he gave a short overview of some of the work being in done through Sovereign Grace Churches, around the world, in this Pandemic.

Thanks for being involved SG Parra!! Check out the video below to hear about our family of churches in action!

On Sunday we had the joy worshipping together and singing a new song: “Glorious” by Sovereign Grace Music. This song meditates on the humble but glorious reality of the incarnation of Jesus, listen to it here.

We were visited by Eric Turbedsky, Senior Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Old Town Orange in California, he is the Western Regional Leader, Communications Director, Church Planting Director, and a member of the Leadership Team, but most importantly, he is a godly man who loves Jesus and loves people. You can check out his church here: www.sovgraceoc.org.

I preached on Ephesians the uncontroversial passage of Ephesians 5:21-24! My main idea was (and will be for this coming week) that in order to flourish we must embrace our God given roles and practice our God-given duties. True life only comes from dying to self (Mark 8:34-36). So for wives in particular, the role of a wife is to be her husbands helper and she embraces this by respectfully submitting to his leadership. John Piper and Wayne Grudem helpful define it like this:

“Submission refers to a wife’s divine calling to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership and help carry it through according to her gifts. It is not an absolute surrender of her will. Rather, we speak of her disposition to yield to her husband’s guidance and her inclination to follow his leadership.”

For many this is seen as a beautiful way to live and for many others this is seen as a very hard pill to swallow. But may I remind you, this is God’s best not his back-up plan! Growing in this takes time and a lot of study, fellowship, and accountability, as well as needed your husband to step up and lead you in this!

If you’d like to hear more about what it may look like practically to submit listen to this talk by Rebekah Merkle entitled “Dangerous Woman as a Wife”. Or perhaps, if you are brave, I highly recommend reading “Eve in Exile” by her also. In this book she deconstructs feminism as well as false Christian ideals about womanhood and rebuilds a vision for Biblical Womanhood from the bible, and it really is a glorious vision! I think this quote captures the flavour of the book:

And if God designed women for a specific purpose, if there are fixed limits on the feminine nature, then surely it would follow that when we are living in accordance with those limits and purpose we will be in our sweet spot. That’s where we’ll shine. Where we’ll excel. And where we will find the most fulfillment. If your hackles are already going up at that, then it’s probably because you’re afraid that in the end, what God designed you for is unexciting, unfulfilling, demeaning, and generally dull. You’re already picturing the sadly colored suburban house, the minivan, and the long boring afternoons with a flavorless casserole to look forward to. But just stop and think for a second. What do we know about God? Is He interested in creatures that are dull, underappreciated, and underutilized? Oh for pity’s sake. He’s the God who created the tiger. The eagle. The sun. The palm tree. Why on earth, when He got to mankind, would He suddenly decide that He wanted to top it all off with a creature that’s not allowed to live up to its full potential and has to sputter along at 10 percent output, never allowed to get out of first gear? I think we’re safe on that front. I’m pretty sure that we’ll find that what God has created us for is far more breathtaking, crazy, scary, and glorious than we have wanted to assume, and I don’t think any of us, if we throw ourselves into the roles that He sets for us, will find ourselves bored. So remove from your mind all stereotypes of mid-century housewives, of china-doll femininity, of Victorian ladies swooning, of women not allowed to think for themselves or talk to the men about anything interesting or important. Set all that aside, whether those are things that make you gag or things you think look pretty fun. Drop all that, and let’s just work through the question of what God made women for.

Let’s keep the conversation open and ongoing! If you have questions, concerns, objections, doubts, or if you are worried, or scared, or confused, please reach out to me or to others ladies. I would love to speak to you about this as your wrestle with it :)

Life Group’s are back on this week AND our newest members will all be joining for their first time! Let’s be leaning in and looking to practice the ‘one-another’s’ of Scripture, even in isolation! Life Groups are one of the best things we do as a church, as we look to know, apply, and proclaim the gospel together! This term, our groups will be bigger than we like but we are praying and hoping that soon we can split into a third Life Group once isolation has ended! Stay tuned!

Here is the schedule for the term (and the rest of 2020!)

For the past month i have been sending out the blog twice a week so that we could stay more connected and so that I could increase the opportunities I have to influence and Pastor you. As time has progressed it has become apparent that the need isn’t quite there in the same that it was at the beginning of the isolation, and that it may end up just clogging up the ol’ inbox! So we will go back to a once a week blog on Tuesday!

Read this helpful article from Desiring God, touching upon many of the themes i spoke about last Sunday but giving some more detailed and practical advice for how we can have a vision for the Christian household.