JUSTICE TO CELEBRATION

This past Sunday was fantastic. I heard there was a rousing sermon in the morning when Blake touched on some hard issues regarding Justice – another one of our core values. I haven’t heard the sermon yet, but I heard it was great. In fact, there was a standing ovation at the end! The Archdeacon of Ballarat happened to attend the service and sent this email to say,

“The main reason for this message is to thank you for yours, about justice. It was excellent: hard hitting, honest, and Godly! I imagine it must have taken a lot of courage…you said things that I probably would not dare. We Christians become so comfortable in our ways of doing things, that we no longer see what is going on around us, and the expectations that God has for us. I am sure that is why the prophets had such a bad time; telling people things, made life difficult”

The evening service was a grand celebration honouring our year 12 graduates. It was also our “Youth Takeover Service” - And the youth did a fantastic job. We had a strong band that excellently led others into worship.

We got to hear a beautiful item by Sarah and Hannah Westaway who sang the Brooke Fraser song “Lifeline”. A youth band led by Justin Gray, jumped up and did a great job of singing “Amazing Because It Is” for the church (with a back up youth choir too).

The sermon was split into two parts. The first part was done by our year 12 student Ben Dainton sharing his thoughts on 1 Tim 4:12-16 - encouraging the youth to “blaze a trail” on their own as Jesus did by setting an example for others, devoting yourself to scripture, and not neglecting your gift(s). The second sermon was by Blake who wished to impart 3 spiritual hints to the graduates:

1 – Know what you believe, and why you believe it
2 – Build habits into your life
3 – Live a life upward and beyond you!

Pam McKee made a beautiful video tribute to the year 12’s –growing up thru the years. The service ended with a gift from the church for the graduates and a time of prayer and blessing.

Here are some thoughts Michael Fraser put forward regarding the evening service:
"Even with the impending stress of the upcoming exams looming, the guys were still keen to serve in their respective ministries - with Justin, Sharlene, Simon, Josh and Sarah on the music team (and various items!), and Ben Dainton bringing the message. It was great to hear the energetic worship that only a group of young adults in the prime of their life can bring. You guys are all so very talented, and the church as a whole is extremely blessed to have such the depth of talent that you all bring to the team. Ben's message on blazing a trail was right on the money, and well ahead of his time - to see so much maturity and instinct for teaching in someone fresh out of high school is extremely encouraging, and I think we all learnt something from what you had to say...

...Just as University life is a transition of responsibility academically, I'm sure you'll all be challenged spiritually along the way also. The difference this time, as Blake mentioned in his sermon, is that you've got to stand on your own two feet and be responsible for your own faith. So I'd encourage any young adult coming out of VCE to really have a good think about what they believe and more importantly why they believe it.

There's a lot of Generation Y bagging that goes on these days, but I would defy anyone to say that the up and coming York St young adults are a lost generation. You're talented, energetic, eager and willing to serve. I'm personally very excited for the future of the church because I'm certain it's in very capable hands. Congratulations on all you've achieved through the past 13 years at school, it's a hard slog - but it's only just the first steps to more exciting things that God has in store for your life. We all wish you all the very best for your future endeavours, and hope that a piece of you stays at York St wherever the future may take you!"

There is access to the podcasts on our website under the sermons/messages section if you are interested in an audio version of any of these services.

ALL I HAVE IS YOURS - STEWARDSHIP

Unfortunately, I missed hearing Blake's sermon on discipleship 2 Sundays ago. After reading his notes, I would encourage anyone to get the audio version of the service. If you'd like to comment on this or any other sermon, please feel free to do so!

However, this Sunday, Tim shared on our core value – STEWARDSHIP. It was a fantastic sermon. In Genesis God gave us full reign of the earth. In light of the way the world is today, it makes me wonder what kind of “care” we have taken of the gift that God has given us. Even beyond stewarding the world well, Tim challenged us to steward our finances, our resources/gifts/ time, and talents as well.

Money should not just be carelessly “thrown” into the offering plate when passing by, but given with thought and preparation – asking the Lord. Nobody should tell you what or how to give. God doesn’t need your money….so most of all do not give out of guilt. There is a Biblical principle of giving 10% of your first fruits (Num 18:26) but the ultimate decision is between you and God. Keep in mind tithing involves sacrifice (remember the story of the widow’s offering – Mark 12:41!)

Stewarding our “resources/gifts/time/talents” can be as simple as volunteering your time to help out with kids church, offering to help with preparing food for events, serving on the music worship team, serving Communion, etc. There are many ways that we can give back to God. The most important thing to remember is to be listening to what He is asking of you – and to DO it!

Be faithful in your generosity and God will bless you.
1 Cor: 9

⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written:
"He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever."^a]">[a] ¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

¹²This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. ¹³Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Unity Among Us!

I'm sorry this has been posted late - I've been a bit busy. I'm hoping to get this all back on schedule soon - so that you can read "up to date info" This is from 4 Oct Service...

What a week it’s been! It has been a flurry of activity. There have been lots of joys, and a few sorrows in our family as well. This week we got word that Lisa Fisher (who used to co-run our youth programs) past away in the dust storms in Sydney. It wasn’t an easy piece of news to digest. Along with that we got word that one of our members Janine Brookshaw was in critical condition in the hospital after being crushed by a car, and just this morning she passed away. Please keep the family and friends of these women in your prayers as they grieve. On top of that, as you may know, there have been terrible disasters with the tsunamis that have hit the pacific region. What tragedy.

But today we can also rejoice! There are 2 new “lives” to celebrate – two new babies. The Huf family welcomed a 4th baby on Monday 28/Sept to their family named Sophie Grace. A few days later on Thursday the 1st of Oct, The Moores also welcomed a 4th child to their clan by the name of Ezekiel Ben. Both babies (and mummies) are healthy and well!

This week Tim continued to focus on our core values with an emphasis on UNITY. Many of our core foundations were based directly from this principle. In order to work together and grow together as a family, we need to work through our issues of unity. Disunity is a tool that the enemy loves to use to tear churches apart. Tim advocated that we be on guard, and proactively seek unity among one another.

In Eph 4 Paul encourages the church to: “…be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
He goes on to share how we each have our different roles to play, but the bond of peace is essential.

I was thinking how amazing it was that this week we were faced with so many ups and downs - trials and joys. Nothing brings a family closer together than experiences like these. God is already doing a new thing among us in creating a bond of peace - bringing us closer together, making us stronger, and for this we can only rejoice!

RETRO WORSHIP NIGHT!

“the retro was a hoot , dressing up getting into the theme was a big plus. In amongst all those great old songs was a real sense of worship through the music and that is what is most important, it was great looking out at the congregation seeing people really engaging” Leigh Zeuschner .

This was the second Retro Worship night at Yorkie. And what momentum it has now! Some of the congregation dressed up as well as the band. The most prevailing thing was that using old favourite songs added to a new way of worshipping. The worship team, and the congregation together had fun and worshipped. God is not interested in the style or method of worship, He is interested in any form of worship in spirit and truth! I hope to see you all there at the same time next year! Sarah Barlow