first blogs include comments on John Stott’s The Cross of Christ and ‘The One Who Meets our Need’ (from Hebrews 7:26). Check it out!

(Sorry this disappeared from our site for a while - technical problem with server).

THAT’S EASTER Life to Death from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

While Christians know that we can make a fresh start with God anytime, the start of a new year can be a good opportunity to change some of the patterns of life and make the changes that we haven’t felt able to make in the business of the year. I suggested in a recent sermon that two of the habits and patterns we might seek to establish or re-establish for the new year might be our quiet times and our Bible reading programme. Often these two can (and should) be linked.

One of the challenges of establishing a regular Bible reading plan is working out the plan. I find that it helps to use a plan that someone else has put some time and effort into devising. I recently came across a collection of these gathered by Justin Taylor here:  http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2009/12/30/bible-reading-plans-2/

In particular I recommend the plan I am using this year. It was originally devised by Robert Murray M’Cheyne in 1842. If you read all four readings for each day you read the whole Bible in a year. It can easily be modified so that you read the whole Bible in two years (just read two readings each day). The plan is reprinted in a book by Don Carson, For the Love of God (Vols 1 and 2) which gives a short reflection for each day on one of the readings.  Carson’s introduction, which includes a copy of the plan, can be found here:  Carson’s Introduction - For the Love of God

Take the plunge and get into a Bible reading plan this year. I pray that God will bless you richly as you listen to his word.

The same is true of God, and the key part of his story is Jesus—the Jesus you’ll discover in the Bible’s account of his life.

We want you to have the opportunity to read or hear about Jesus first hand. We would like to offer you a free copy of the book or audio book The Essential Jesus. If you would like your copy, then please call, e-mail or visit (details below).

If you would like to find out more visit connect09.com or our church website http://www.padstowanglican.org.au.

You are also very welcome at any of our church services—especially over Easter (details below). These will be another great opportunity to find out about the ‘Essential Jesus’. I hope that we can help you connect, or re-connect with Jesus in 2009. Richard Blight (Minister)

DON’T DESIRE WEALTH!

I can smell it. It’s like toast or steak or brownies. It doesn’t just draw our desire, it creates desire. Deep drops in the stock market make many people salivate. They know it will rebound. They are sitting on cash. By year’s end their pile could ride the recovery to riches.

For such people I have a word from God. The word is: Don’t desire to be rich. It will kill you. And in a world like ours many will probably perish with you. Paul’s language is more graphic than mine:

There is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1Timothy 6:6-10)

source:  http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1436_dont_desire_wealth/

The essence of being religious is thinking that we can somehow please God if we do enough ‘religious activity’.  Our religious activities might include special clothes or symbols we wear, pilgrimages or rituals, and even good things like going to church, prayers, Bible reading or doing good deeds. The problem is when we think that simply doing these activities can make us right with God. The essence of ‘religion’ is what we DO. The essence of true Christianity is what Jesus has DONE for us, received by faith.

In Mark 7 Jesus criticises the ‘religious leaders’ because they practise all kinds of religious ceremonies such as the washing of hands, cups and pots. They made sure that they were ‘clean’ on the outside, but on the inside their hearts were far from God. So of course they didn’t really keep God’s commands at all. Instead they kept all sorts of human regulations. True faith is seen in the words, attitudes and actions that come out of our hearts and not the religious activities we do.

The challenge for anyone who seeks to follow Jesus is not to get caught into the trap of thinking that Jesus wants us to be ‘religious’. We can never make ourselves right with God by religious activity. Instead we need to develop a real relationship with God through Jesus – a relationship that will change us from the inside out.

I want to thank Ben Beilharz our very amiable web-designer!

My hope is that this web-site will be a good source of information about what is going on at our church as well as a place for resources such as links and sermons you can download. I am also planning to use this ‘From the Minister’ column as a place to reflect on our world from a Christian viewpoint and to provide food for thought from God’s Word.

Enjoy!

Yours in Christ,

Richard

In the last year we have heard a great deal about the Global Financial Crisis and the Global Environmental Crisis - and the need for a Global Rescue plan for each one. We don’t often think about the biggest crisis facing us all - the Global Sin Crisis. This is our biggest crisis because we are all sinners and therefore are facing the righteous judgement of God on the day he holds our world to account. Christmas is a time to remember that God’s solution to our greatest crisis was to send the Son into the world as a human - born in a shed in Bethlehem. The arrival of Jesus was GREAT NEWS because he came to be our saviour and to make possible our forgiveness and new life with God. Jesus was God’s incredibly generous gift to us on that first Christmas - worth far more than even the trillions of dollars being spent to rescue the world’s economies. Yet even more amazing is God’s generosity in offering us the gift of forgiveness for free.

Please take the time this Christmas to remember that Jesus is God’s gift of love to you. Will you thank God for His gift, and live in thankful dependence on our loving heavenly Father?

We hope and pray that this Christmas is a time where you know the true Peace that comes from knowing God through Jesus Christ.

Richard Blight