Pastors Letter (Page 19)

Dear friends On Sunday we introduced our idea for Christmas this year. With not being able to have a carols this year we thought it would be a great opportunity to try something different and so we’re encouraging people to get together and think about how we can make and distribute gifts to people in our community. We’re hoping doing so might be a meaningful…

Dear friends I thought I would share a few thoughts with you about singing that I picked up as I read some more of my friend Jonathan Edwards’ works.  I am sure that you will see how relevant this in as we have (almost) all missed being able to sing during the recent COVID thing. So, why do we sing? Why are there encouragements and exhortations (and perhaps even commands)…

Dear friends As we kicked off term 4 a couple of weeks ago our Young Adults group decided Ecclesiastes would be a fun book for us to study for the term. I don’t know if you’ve read it recently or are familiar with the book, but it’s a deep reflection from a “teacher” who’s struggling with big questions. In the first few lines of the…

Dear friends Last Sunday we started to talk about church health – particularly, how we could know if what we think is God working in our midst is actually God’s work, or not. Jonathan Edwards, the US pastor from the 1700s, asked the same question of the revivals that were happening in his time.  What are the distinguishing marks of a work of God’s Holy Spirit? We…

Dear friends I’m writing the pastoral letter this week on Wednesday morning, and I’ve just been flicking through the news articles following the budget which was handed down last night. Big tax cuts, money for infrastructure and incentives for businesses to hire people seemed to be the big news stories – all designed to get our economy going again as we…

Dear friends Over the last few weeks I have been sharing some insights from John Flavel’s little book, Keeping the Heart, which is an extended reflection on Proverbs 4.23 – “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”  Last week I shared six particular actions Flavel recommended as helpful in guarding the heart. The initial element of…

Dear friends Last week I began to share with you some thoughts from John Flavel’s little book, “Keeping the Heart:  How to maintain your love for God”. The book itself is a reflection on Proverbs 4.23 – “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Initially Flavel makes the point that only a heart that has been regenerated by God’s Holy…

Dear friends With Matt preaching his series through Acts, over the last few weeks I have been able to spend a bit more time reading.  One book I have returned to is a book by a man by the name of John Flavel called “Keeping the Heart”.  Its subtitle is “How to maintain your love for God”. Now John Flavel is probably not familiar to many, if any, of you.  He was an English…