St Barnabas

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What kind of things do we pray for? Here are some things the 8.30 congregation are praying for this week…

• Pray that as we study Exodus we will come to love God more – seeing how the Old Testament points to Jesus as our great saviour.

• Pray for those going to the GAFCON conference in Jerusalem. Ask that they might be united in the truth of the gospel and encouraged to lead Anglican Churches around the world in mission.

• Pray for God’s mercy on our parish. Ask that we might be able to connect with people.

• Pray for the Smiths as they come to an end of their service in Japan. Ask that their work over many years may continue to bear fruit in the lives of Japanese brothers and sisters.

• Pray for those in hospital, those grieving, those caring for others with illness – ask that the God of all comfort may strengthen them to trust him in the midst of their suffering.

It has been good for us as a church to go back to the Reformation Slogans. I hope, like me, you’ve been challenged to think through what it is you believe. As I prepared I came across this great thought by Tim Keller, the minister at Redeemer Presbyterian Church about the place of the Gospel in the Christian Life:

We never “get beyond the gospel” in our Christian life to something more “advanced.” The gospel is not the first “step” in a “stairway” of truths, rather, it is more like the “hub” in a “wheel” of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s of Christianity, but it is the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom.
We are not justified by the gospel and then sanctified by obedience but the gospel is the way we grow (Gal. 3:1-3) and are renewed (Col 1:6). It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power through every barrier (Rom 1:16-17).
It is very common in the church to think as follows: “The gospel is for non-Christians. One needs it to be saved. But once saved, you grow through hard work and obedience.” But Colossians 1:6 shows that this is a mistake. Both confession and “hard work” that is not arising from and “in line” with the gospel will not sanctify you—it will strangle you. All our problems come from a failure to apply the gospel. Thus when Paul left the Ephesians he committed them “to the word of his grace, which can build you up” (Acts 20:32).
The main problem, then, in the Christian life I that we have not thought out the deep implication of the gospel, we have not “used” the gospel in and on all parts of our life. Richard Lovelace says that most people’s problems are just a failure to be oriented to the gospel—a failure to grasp and believe it through and through. Luther says (on Gal. 2:14), “The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine… Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.” The gospel is not easily comprehended. Paul says that the gospel only does its renewing work in us as we understand it in all its truth. All of us, to some degree live around the truth of the gospel but do not “get” it. So the key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel. A stage of renewal is always the discovery of a new implication or application of the gospel—seeing more of its truth. This is true for either an individual or a church.

The devastating Cyclone Nargis that hit Burma on May 2nd may have claimed up to 100,000 lives and many more at risk of hunger and disease. You can give to the Archbishop’s Emergency Appeal

Your support will help provide much needed emergency relief and ongoing developement assistance to affected communities.

It may come as a surprise that as the Gospel was ‘re-discovered’ in the 16th century reformation there were enormous changes to the family.

At the start of the 16th century approximately 10% of Western Europe were in holy orders. With the Reformation, monasteries and convents emptied. Priests and nuns were urged to marry and raise families. Martin Luther had a wonderful marriage to Katherina Von Bora and you can read their beautiful and funny letters to each other. She was quite the entrepreneur and this gift helped Luther’s writings be widely published.

The Reformation saw a ‘re-orienation’ of the ‘spiritual life.’ Instead of glorious monastic celibacy separated from the world, true spirituality was found in service and love. Luther famously wrote about the true glory of God being seen in the changing of infants nappies!

Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason… , takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, “Alas, must I rock the baby, change its nappies, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores… ?

What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, O God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or change its nappies, or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labor, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight…

God, with all his angels and creatures is smiling—not because the father is changing nappies, but because he is doing so in Christian faith.

Why does he say this? Well, partly because he is a theologian of the cross rather than a theologian of glory. God is known not by mystic contemplation of the unknowable but by his revelation at the Cross. The Christian life is the way of the cross, not the way of glory. This was seen to match the Bible’s concern for the household and relationships within it. The pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus) encourage the selection of church leaders who are able to lead their own families well. It is hard for us to understand how scandalous this was seen in the 16th century.

The Reformation also saw a wide spread attempt to improve literacy and educate children. Why? Because of ‘Scripture Alone’ – if God is known through his word then you will want children to read. Reformers like Melanchton & Bucer brought about universal (yes – girls too!) education for the first time. That legacy is with us today. Slogans.
The Reformation and Changing Nappies

The 2003 movie ‘Luther’ with Joseph Fiennes tells the story well. If we can work out the technology we may show it after 6pm church on the last night of this preaching series.

On 31 October 1517 Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the Church door at Wittenburg. His main complaint was with the sale of indulgences. Take a moment to read them for yourself. If you want to know more, come along to our series on Reformation Solas.

This week we start a new sermon series looking at Catholicism. In advance of the Pope’s visit to Sydney, what are the similarities and differences between Protestants and Catholics? If there are differences, then are there any alternatives to the bad old days of sectarianism? What does it mean to be ‘Anglican’? Who believes in this doctrine stuff anyway? Doesn’t doctrine divide and love unite? Isn’t being ‘Christian’ enough? What do Catholics think of Anglicans? What place is there for confessions and creeds anymore? Can’t we just pick and choose what we want to believe? 
Isn’t there a world of difference between what any denomination teaches and what people in the pew actually believe?
We’ll consider the 4 great Reformation Slogans: 

May-04 The Evangelical Faith

May-11 Christ Alone

May-18 Grace Alone

May-25 Faith Alone

Jun-01 Scripture Alone
I hope you look forward to this series and have confidence to bring friends who would listen. I’m hoping that Catholics in particular will be warmly welcomed, not offended in any way, and able to nod in agreement as I attempt to describe what it is that Catholics believe and where it is that we differ.

Here is what I said for the Dawn Service at Roseville RSL:

Anzac Day is a day for tears. It is more than that – we give thanks, we honor the fallen, we remember. But it is a time for tears, for weeping, for crying. On this day 93 years ago so many young Australian and NZ men landed on Gallipolli’s dreadful shore. When they left the total casualties on our side, including the French and naval, were 33,000 killed, 78,000 wounded and 8,000 missing. Of these, the Australians made up 8,500 of those killed and more than 19,000 of those wounded.
But the shock news of these casualties, far from weakening this country’s resolve at that time, actually served to strengthen it, for the recruiting rate increased. A young nation with a population of just under 5 million sent 324,000 volunteers overseas to fight. 61,000 would die on the Western Front, 155,000 would be wounded. There were so many who died – It averaged out to about 40 men a day for every day of the war – 280 men every week! The places where they died became tombs for our nation – Gallipolli, Fromelles, Passchendale, Pozzieres, the Hindenburg Line… So many Australian families were caught up in this – so many scarred bodies and minds, so much grief.
My great grandfather fought in France. He never spoke of it – like many of his generation. Just this week, looking at the AWM website – I discovered he’d been awarded the Military Cross. He survived the war but the gas cut his life short. I never met him. We lost so many of that generation. So many lost sons, brothers, fathers. So many tears shed.
The War to end all wars didn’t. That promise rang empty as ANZACs fought in so many conflicts since then. WW2, Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam, UN peacekeeping operations, Namibia to Rwanda, we think of troops currently serving in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor, the Solomons . There are more areas of conflict than ever before. In a world like ours we will keep having new generations march on ANZAC day, representing new conflicts with the same old tears.
The Bible is terribly realistic at this point. It describes a world where warfare begins with Cain killing his brother Abel. Chapter after chapter tells the story of nations at war. Jesus warns his followers that there will be wars & rumours of war, that nation will rise against nation… Jesus himself is killed by the Roman army occupying Palestine. The Bible’s sober assesment is that we live in a world of death of mourning of crying of pain. We live in a world of tears.
But the Bible is a book with tremendous hope – a hope of peace and an end to war. A peace secured not by a sword but by a cross. In the passage from the book of Revelation we heard a solemn promise God makes – he says that the time is coming when ‘he will wipe every tear from the eyes of those who cry’ He says from that day ‘there will be no more mourning or crying or pain and that the old order of things will pass away’ To do this takes nothing less than a new creation – He says ‘I am making everything new’ . The one who brought this creation into being says he will fix his fallen world. He will not let wars continue forever. To people with tears it is good news to hear that there is one who can take your tears away. We can’t take away tears for the fallen, we can’t fight a war to end all war. But God promises to do what we cannot. He promises to one day answer the prayer ‘your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’.

The new 6pm Barneys Church Service was launched on Sunday 9th March. There was no ribbon cutting, plaque unveiling, or champagne popping but we had a great night.

It was really good to see some new faces at Barneys. We began the series on the Book of Revelation.

We’re excited to be starting a new church that is centred on Jesus Christ – who he is, what he has done, and what he is doing.

Everything and everyone is new and we’d love you to join us.

It is wrong for church to be boring and irrelevent – so help us make Barneys a great place to find out about Jesus and learn what it means to follow him in a real way.

We’d love you to join us.

Contact us if you’d like to know more.

In Matthew 16 Jesus says he will build his church on the apostle Peter and the gates of hell will not overcome it.

Remarkably, Jesus is teaching us:

• the church belongs to Jesus – it does not belong to the members of a congregation, or a minister, or a parish council, or a diocese
• the church is built by Jesus – while he does use us as his instrument, it is Jesus that builds the church. How could it be otherwise? It is miraculous when anyone turns to Christ and joins the church.
• the church is built by Jesus on the foundation of the apostolic witness. Jesus keeps building the church as we stick to the gospel message given to us by the apostles.
• the gates of hell won’t defeat the church – church may look frail and powerless and beaten – but Jesus will build it and protect it. Seeing the church built by Jesus is an exercise in spiritual warfare which he has promised to win.

Let’s pray that Jesus will build his church in and through us.