As we prepare for Celebration Sunday at the end of the term, could I ask you “What makes your heart sing?”

Now you might come up with a list of five things very quickly – Vegemite, board games, sketching, sunsets and kombucha!

However our interest for celebration Sunday is what makes your heart sing as you consider life at Southern Cross Presbyterian Church!

It could be as simple as:
“Seeing kids from our church family heading down for the kids talk each Sunday.”
Or
“Getting together with my DNA to open God’s word and pray together.”

You might like to contribute just one, or you might find it to hard to decide on just one. That’s fine, write as many as you want! Inside your term booklet you will find two hearts that you can tear out to get you started and we will have more available for you across the term. 

Once you’ve written on your hearts, place them in the big heart that will be on display each Sunday at 9:30am and 6pm and our staff team will collect them across Term 3.

Then, on Celebration Sunday (September 22), we will display the small hearts as one large heart. Hence our desire for lots of little hearts to create our one BIG heart on Celebration Sunday!

Celebration Sunday is such a helpful Sunday for us – a rare moment to pause and reflect on the stories of how our God is at work through our ordinary lives, in extraordinary ways. Across our SCPC year*, there will no doubt be times of heartache, and even some times of real heartbreak. But our heartbeat continues, fuelled by the gospel, and Celebration Sunday will allow us to all consider (as we think about life at SCPC) what makes our heart sing.

You might like to reflect on this prayer of the Apostle Paul’s as you write on your paper heart for Celebration Sunday 2024…

1 Thessalonians 1:3 
We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

SP

* There is the calendar year, the financial year and the ‘SCPC year’ (which runs from Celebration Sunday to Celebration Sunday each year)!

Last Sunday we introduced Bill and Linda Colyer as our newest Global Mission Partners (here’s the clip we showed on Sunday). They are preparing to do ministry with uni students in Vanuatu, beginning next year.

Bill has been working in uni ministry for the past 17 years with AFES at Queensland University of Technology and they are currently part of Wilston Presbyterian Church in Brisbane. Here’s a short profile with some more info about them and the rest of their family. 

Bill and Linda, along with their 2 daughters Amy (14) and Gwen (8) will be visiting us on August 9-15. We’ll hopefully get to know them lots more across the week. I met them on zoom for the first time recently and was deeply encouraged by their steadfast heart for people, the gospel and for ministry in the South Pacific. 

I’m excited about the opportunity for us as a church to partner in global mission with them as we seek, under God, to make disciples of all nations. 

JR

Next generation ministries at SCPC have been critical to our heartbeat over the last 25 years.

It is so exciting to be part of a church family where its leaders, elders, Committee of Management (CoM) and staff are proactive about how to give generously of their time, skills and money to grow and extend this vital ministry.

Here are some ways you can be thoughtful and partner with this critical demography…

Firstly, pray for our Mum and Me Time ministry. Last week at our CoM meeting we had a report from them and we heard about the many, many community mums that are coming along weekly and benefiting from the ministry. We rejoice in the incredible opportunity the Lord has provided! But the challenge of this growth is retaining a warm, generous and gospel culture, generated from SCPC mums and mentors. We currently have less mums from SCPC than community mums, and it’s a delicate balance to handle. So, pray for proactivity and creativity for the SCPC directors of Mum and Me Time over the next 6 to 12 months as they consider how to negotiate that space. It would be great to see more preschool families connect with our heart at SCPC [2] over the coming years, and make SCPC home.

Secondly, the NSW school holiday break is almost upon us. As you may know, during school holiday time we request holiday helpers from the extended church family to serve in our Sunday kids program. This allows our kids team to take a well-earned break and come back a little refreshed for the next term. The Sundays the program requires helpers are July 7, 14 and 21. If you are interested in helping you will need current Breaking the Silence training along with a valid Working with Children Check number. To indicate your interest, or ask questions, email office@spcc.org.au

Finally, pray for our Next Generation Pastor role in 2025. We have been in conversation with the denomination and theological colleges about graduates etc. but as many churches are finding, there are more roles than there are pastors and ministry workers! [1] I am due to visit Sydney-based theological colleges in August (on behalf of the Northern Rivers Presbytery) and this may provide another opportunity to connect with critical parties in this space.

What a joy it is to work with the next generation – the curiosity, the enthusiasm and the wonder as they come to understand the depth of our Father’s love for them is magical. So, can I spur you on to pray for this demography at SCPC (including the ministry of Mum and Me Time)? Please also consider if you can serve in our Sunday kids program this coming school holiday break and give generously to the ministry of SCPC so we can provide robust gospel resources and personnel to this significant stage of life.

I have been reading through Proverbs in my quiet time over the last fortnight, so many powerful or challenging little grabs. Here is one from Proverbs 22:6 as we think about precious little lives:
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

SP
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[1] I have checked in occasionally on the website of QTC in Brisbane and found the roles currently available and in 2025 only growing, none disappearing! Pray for the Lord of the Harvest to raise gospel workers in our country and beyond!! (Matthew 9).

[2] We have tried to reconnect with Colin Buchanan’s team about a visit from him in 2025 at SCPC.