Refreshment and something new

Dear Friends,It was good to be with you last Sunday where Christine and I were able to meet many of you and to be prayed for at the end of the 9.30am service. We were grateful for your welcome and are looking forward to our ten weeks amongst you.I would want to encourage you to keep Malcolm and Cheryl in your prayers, asking God to grant them refreshment in every way. Their extended break, afforded to them by long service leave, is designed to give them (along with Annual holidays, a weekly day off and nightly sleep) refreshment in body, mind and spirit. This refreshment is so necessary for us so that we can habitually serve God through our lives and ministries in a way that is cheerful (Romans 12.8), considerate (Hebrews 10.24), thoughtfully helpful (Ephesians 4.29) and encouraging (1 Thessalonians 4.18).During the next ten weeks, I would like to preach through Luke 12. In the past three months since I finished my ministry in Armidale Diocese I’ve been drawn to our Lord’s words in Dr. Luke’s gospel. When considering a preaching series, Chapter 12 with its wide variety of our Lord’s teaching on discipleship kept on commending itself to me. I’m certainly looking forward to preparing and sharing it with you.To help us in this I’ve prepared a little workbook that will enable us to reflect upon the passage before each Sunday.Many things impress me about Jesus. One is His apparent discontent with having crowds of people around Him. He seems to be always calling people to leave the crowds and become disciples. Put another way, we are to be disciples who follow and obey rather than people content to remain on the sidelines. When I was converted at age 17, a constant catch cry was “Lord of all or not at all”, and I’m so grateful to God for the example of the Christians, young and old, in the Parish church who so clearly lived under the Lordship of Jesus. He was their Master, who by graciously mastering them showed us just how good it was to live for and to be moulded by Jesus (Romans 12.1-2 comes to mind).I hope that reading through Luke 12 together will prove to be a great challenge and comfort to us as we seek to live for Jesus as His representatives amongst people so confused and preoccupied with life’s pleasant yet trivial pursuits.From this evening till next Friday I will be in New Zealand as a guest of some pastors but in the following weeks I plan to be available in the Parish Office Tuesdays and Wednesdays .Warmest greetings in ChristPeter Brain