Ecochurch September 7th 2014 ~ Sustainable September

A couple of weeks ago a number of women from St Philips went to the Concert Hall to hear John Lennox, an Oxford professor of mathematics, give a talk on the topic, Can God and Science Mix?  After his talk, he took questions from the audience.  One of the questions was, “Why did God make us?”  (Maybe you’ve wondered this as well.)  Prof. Lennox’s answer was a bit of a ramble but the simple answer is, “Because He wanted to”. God wanted a being He could grow into intimate relationship with Him - and humankind is it.  Revelation 4:11 tells of the worship taking place before the throne of the Almighty:  “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for You created all things, and for Your pleasure they were created and have their being.”  It pleased Him to create us and He delights in us.There’s another reason: God created us to be partners with Him in the ordering, management and ongoing development of the creation we are part of.  The very first blessing/command He gave humankind conferred on them the privilege of taking care of the earth (Gen. 1:28, 2:15).  Even though in the ensuing ages we don’t seem to have taken this privilege seriously andresponsibly, God still and always looks on what He has made as “good” - indeed “very good” (Gen. 1:31) – and that includes us. He sees the eternal (timeless) picture; He knows what it and we are made for and has the perfect plan for achieving it – Messiah Jesus.  “He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will ... and He made known to us the mystery of His will ... to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Eph. 1:5,9,10).  The mess we’ve made of creation doesn’t disqualify us from being God’s co-workers.  Actually, if anything, retrieving the situation we’ve contributed to is part of the process of our salvation.This month has been designated ‘Sustainable September’ by churches across Australia.  It is an invitation for our congregations to consider how each one of us can do something to change an environmentally-harmful practice into a sustainable one.  As members of Ecochurch, we are hoping you will take up the invitation-challenge to forward our role as responsible stewards of the Earth.   As a start, we suggest you find just one thing you can do, individually or as a family, to establish a new, permanent habit over the month of September.  There are many simple things you can do, such as using your own container for water instead of buying very environmentally-unfriendly bottled water, taking reusable bags for shopping and refusing plastic bags, lining the bin with thick newspaper, composting or worm-farming kitchen scraps, etc.  If you already do these things, perhaps you have suggestions you can share with others.  Please be a part of this endeavour, which is our reasonable service as God’s people (Rom 12:2).  Creation is groaning waiting for us to recognise and co-operate with our purpose in God’s plan.  (Your planet needs you!)Grace and peace to you,ST PHILIPS ECOCHURCH GROUP