Here is a short video from one of our pastors, Stew, as he talks about life at SCPC this week.
Welcome to The Pastor’s Post, an update for life at Southern Cross.
Yesterday, our Staff Team had our Term 4 planning meeting. A dangerous business you might say, making plans in the current environment! Yet much of our planning was around God’s word, which doesn’t change!
In Term 4, we will travel with the reluctant runaway prophet, Jonah, whose definite plan was to head west! As far away from the eastern city of Nineveh he had been commanded to preach to. Why did he make plans to run away? Nineveh was a part of Assyria, a well known enemy to Israel. Jonah knew what God’s plan was. He wanted Jonah to go to that city, to preach to them so they might repent and turn to God, but Jonah knew God’s unchanging nature, that he is a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Whose plan will come to fruition? Will it be God’s or Jonah’s? Stay turned for our Term 4 series.
We, however, did make some plans which we hope we won’t need to change, whether lockdown or not. The first one is to encourage you to consider getting yourself caught up in God’s word by memorising it! Across the Jonah series we want to encourage you all to consider committing to heart, Jonah 2:2b-9. Keep an eye out in your Term Booklet to read about a bit of fun that might go to a few ‘lucky’ ones who take on Jonah’s prayer from the heart of the whale in Jonah chapter 2.
The second is to do some ‘whale watching’ across Lismore and Goonellabah, in fact, in whatever LGA you find yourself! YES, you heard it, WHALE WATCHING! For while out exercising: walking, running, cycling; consider taking a piece of chalk with you. Find a smooth piece of concrete or asphalt and draw a whale. Nothing elaborate: ten seconds, five seconds, two seconds…then keep walking.
However, as you come across the road, you might see a whale someone else has drawn in chalk. What are you to do? Stop and pray! Actually, don’t stop! Keep exercising, but do pray to our God, the missionary God, who is abounding in love, would have compassion on our city!!! We pray that whale watching will become a popular pursuit as our city exercises through this lockdown.
A final plan we made, is not to meet at 9am at SCG or 9:45am at LHS on 19th December, to allow our staff, music and sound teams to prepare for our two Carols concerts at City Hall: 5pm and 7pm with the theme, ‘Summer is a Time for Saving’. That Christmas is the time Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
Let me finish by reading from Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the whale:
7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
Thanks for tuning in to The Pastors’ Post.
Leave a Reply