Welcome to The Pastors’ Pen, an update for life at Southern Cross.
We continue to think of creative ways to ‘drop love’ to our city and community as we all aim to respond to this natural disaster. As we noted last week, a need that we seem to have identified is the use of the hall by community groups, including St Paul’s (Lismore Presbyterian Church, Keen St). Therefore, if you or your gospel community require a booking, can we remind you of our booking system via this online booking form. If you have a DNA meeting at Park Ave or need it for a ministry team, please also complete the online form to confirm the time with our admin team at Southern Cross, as we expect more usage over the next six months. Praise God for our Park Ave facility and the way we have been able to use it to ‘drop love’ over the last month and in the months ahead!
This Sunday, we continue in our Psalms series with James Ritchie preaching. There will be no video recording of the talk on Sunday. If you are unable to attend, we hope to put the audio of the talk on the website late Sunday afternoon.
Personally, this Sunday, I will travel to Sydney to present a ‘Hope 2022’ message to three large metropolitan churches to outline ways they can partner with us across 2022. Our prayer is that these three churches may be able to partner with SCPC and SCG, both prayerfully and financially, across 2022. This will allow our staff and leaders to continue to proclaim the hope of Christ to our city in its flood of despair. We expect we will know part of the outcome of this support by our AGM next Sunday 3rd April. The AGM will run from 12:15pm until 1pm. We expect this will be a time of confusion, haziness and murkiness, yet an opportunity to again re-anchor ourselves to Christ, cling to him and watch with wisdom as the year progresses.
Let me finish with the passage that I will present to the churches of Sydney this weekend. We explored it briefly a week or two ago in our Psalms series. It comes from the lips of Jesus as he casts his eye over Jerusalem, the city he dearly loves. He invites us again into his heart, his desires, his affections. He wants to gather the city to himself. Jesus loves Lismore. He wants to gather those from Lovemore to himself. Do you share that desire? We pray your heart matches the heartbeat of Christ!
34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Luke 13:34
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Welcome to The Pastors’ Pen, an update for life at Southern Cross.
Thank you so much for your willingness to support our #droplove flood response at SCPC. We have now closed our drop-in centre at Park Ave with the surplus stock from the ‘Pop-Up Pantry’ going to the food distribution centre on Wyrallah Road.
One need that has arisen in the community over the past week is people ‘dropping a line’ or dropping in to the office to enquire about usage of the hall. Please pray for our Staff Team and Committee of Management Executive as they handle those requests.
Our AGM that was postponed due the flood crisis has been rescheduled for Sunday 3rd April. Stay posted for the timing of the meeting. We anticipate the meeting will go for around 45 minutes.
At this point in time with the all the changes affecting The Rivers Secondary College Campuses we haven’t been provided a time for a return to the hall. Therefore, we will continue to meet at Park Ave on Sundays at 9:15am (Coutts, Maxwell, & Griffiths Gospel Communities) and 10:45am (Henderson, Herd, Kemsley & Playsted Gospel Communities). St Paul’s (Lismore Presbyterian Church) will also be using our building on Sundays. SCG will continue to meet at Invercauld House at 9am. We hope to be a position to return to hall at Lismore High School on the first weekend of the NSW school holidays, Sunday 10th April.
What a traumatic time our town and community is suffering from. May we be a place of solidarity and refuge for those whose lives are still at sea, for we have an anchor for our souls.
19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever.
Hebrews 6:19-20
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Updated 16.8.22
We thank our SCPC & SCG family, our community and some wonderful people from further afield for the amazing donations of food, toiletries, water, baby supplies, pet food and cleaning products!
We have now transferred all of our donations to the ‘FREE FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTRE’ at 51 Wyrallah Road, East Lismore, open 9am-5pm.
Please share the new location and direct people there to access free supplies. Alternatively, if you continue to have donations to share then drop them off at 51 Wyrallah Road, East Lismore, between 9am – 5pm.
If you would like to help us #droplove in Lismore by GIVING FINANCIALLY, the bank details to contribute to are:
BSB: 062 674
Account Number: 2800 9498
Account Name: Southern Cross Presbyterian Church
If you can OFFER ASSISTANCE WITH THE CLEANUP/REBUILD EFFORT, and particularly if you have specialist skills (e.g. builder, electrician, engineer etc.), please now register with Resilient Lismore.
