We are back with Life Groups this week! Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for your Zoom meeting!
I have some mixed good news.
The NSW Government has changed the COVID restrictions again recently and that means that most of us (those who are fully vaccinated) will be able to sing corporately again from this coming Sunday.
Unfortunately, the Government has not yet allowed those not yet fully vaccinated to sing. In the interest of Public Health, if you are not yet fully vaccinated, the Government is requiring you to abstain until we reach 95% fully vaxxed or on December 15th, whichever comes first. So if that is you, as disappointing as this is, may I encourage you to remember this: our worship is not reduced to our singing!
Yes, it is a major expression of worship, and yes it is commanded in Scripture. But it is not the only way we worship. One of the ways that you can worship in this time is by obeying God’s word, which says in Titus 3:1 “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work…” You can worship just as much by obeying this text with a happy heart, knowing that God put it here for you. You can worship and honour the Lord in your heart, in your clapping, in your joy. Furthermore, you can worship the Lord by singing to Him outside, or in your home.
The reality is: although I do not like these rules, and I would not enforce them myself, this does not mean that we can pick and choose which rules we obey and follow.
The other reality is: the only reason we have this conundrum and problem is precisely because churches are receiving preferential treatment! Because churches are open to all, regardless of vaccination status, we are in this scenario where we now have these restrictions enforced. So let us be grateful for our privileged status as churches!
So let us come together this Sunday, not divided by COVID restrictions and rules, but united by our sharing in the blood of Christ. Let us come together in person, in love, in unity, fixing our eyes on Jesus.
Colossians 3:1-4 is good counsel for us all in this time:
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Let us be in constant prayer for our leaders, for the freedom of worship, for the evil one to be resisted, and for unity across the churches. If you have any questions, queries or concerns about this, please come and talk to me, I’d love to hear from you!
P.S. Masks are still mandatory inside the church and whilst singing.
This Sunday there’ll be another chance to grab some gospel centered presents/resources for kids. They’ll be on sale before and after the service.
Also, I’ve got a big box of new SG Parra shirts - so if yours needs replacing, or you don’t yet have one, come and grab a new one! (Stock is limited!)
Remember, if you are on KIDS or WELCOMING you need to wear your shirt please :)
Your LG leaders will let you know all the details!
Once again we were challenged and encouraged by Jesus’ teaching. In this passage Jesus deals with the case for marriage, the ground for divorce, and the option of celibacy for the Kingdom, you can listen to the sermon here.
On Nov 28th we will be having a ‘Baby Dedication Sunday’.
These Sundays are very special to us as a church as we set aside time to thank God for the lives of our children and dedicate ourselves and our child(ren) to the things of the Lord.
So please mark your calendars and plan to join us. If you have a child you’d like to dedicate and Riley hasn’t contacted you, please send him an email at rs@sgparra.org.au
Psalm 127:3 - ‘Behold children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.’
This Sunday there’ll be the chance to grab some gospel centered presents/resources for kids. They’ll be on sale before and after the service.
Also, I’ve got a big box of new SG Parra shirts - so if yours needs replacing, or you don’t yet have one, come and grab a new one! (Stock is limited!)
Remember, if you are on KIDS or WELCOMING you need to wear your shirt please :)
What a great joy it was to regather on Sunday! It was so good to see each other and worship together for the first time in nearly 5 months!
Thank you for being flexible in our new venue, for all the help you put in to make it happen, and for your joy and enthusiasm in returning!
We took time on Sunday to know our history and story by looking at the Reformation. The catch-cry of the Reformation is just as relevant today and we ought never take it for granted! You can listen to the sermon here: www.sgparra.org.au/sermons
- Sola Sciptura –Bible Alone
- Sola Gratia – Grace Alone
- Sola Fide – Faith Alone
- Solus Christus – Christ Alone
- Soli Deo Gloria – To The Glory of God Alone
As the reformers would say: justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone to the glory of God alone!
As promised, here is the quote from Luther from when he realized what Romans 1:16-17 really meant, that I skipped in the sermon:
“My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage him. Therefore I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him. Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know what he meant. Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that “the just shall live by his faith.” Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before the “justice of God” had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven. . .”
Martin Luther:
We are back with Life Groups this week! Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for your Zoom meeting!
This Sunday during our prayer time we are going to break into small groups to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. This day is coordinated by Open Doors, an incredible organisation founded by Brother Andrew as he went about delivering bibles across the iron curtain into Soviet Russia in 1955. You can watch their story here.
I cannot wait to pray with you on Sunday!
“If we understood the potential power of our prayers, we would be on our knees
a hundred times a day asking God for things that would turn the world upside down.”Brother Andrew, founder of Open Doors.
Prayer Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKX2pX8SBEw
