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Restrictions are easing! Woohooo! At one level, this is a crucial development for us all. If there is one thing I know, it is that we are needing a break from these significant restrictions we've been under, and need to be around people. I saw my mum for the first time in person in 4 months yesterday. I've never ever gone so long without seeing my own mother before in my life!!! At another level, restrictions easing introduces new and fresh complexities that we could get caught up in being very anxious about. What will happen to COVID case numbers in the coming weeks? How do we manage return to normal in all it's various iterations? We have been focussed on God's exhortation to us to not "shrink back" as His people no matter what the circumstances. The people of God keep moving forward, because God keeps moving forward towards His glorious promises being fully realised in both time and eternity. "By faith" we're calling this blog series, and the way we are moving out of lockdown as a church. Keep it simple This week we build our sense of biblical faith with this simple (perhaps painfully so) exhortation - "believe what you hear" truthfully proclaimed. In other words, moving forward in the will of God, fully committed to God, grounded in His promises, we access the reality of God by believing what we hear truthfully proclaimed. Distractions come thick and fast I don't know about you, but I have this frustrating ability to make simple things distractingly complex. Especially when it comes to my faith. I tend to like solving problems with innovative solutions; I bring all sorts of devotional solutions, systems, and plans into play for myself, only to find that I'm distracted from the main thing of encountering and knowing God Himself. And as is my want regarding my walk with God, so it can be in lots of other parts of my life. In short, I can tend to create distractions to genuine faith in the living God, thick and fast. It seems this is a perennial issue for us humans. Paul was addressing just this tendency in the fledgling Galatian church. To be sure, the distractions were coming from parties interested in dividing and conquering the young church, rather than building it up. But it is interesting to see how quickly, in Pauls own words, the Galatian believers were becoming enamoured and distracted with new, fandangled teaching and ideas which Paul knew would end up destroying their faith and their church. Let's hear Paul say it straight "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” [Galatians 3:1–6] What is Paul saying? The background was that some fresh teaching regarding extra "works of the law" was being introduced to the Galatian church community and they were getting rather interested in diverting their simple faith in this new direction. Paul called them back to simplicity: "...Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?" "...So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?" Keep it simple, Galatians. God turned up in your midst as you believed what you heard truthfully proclaimed. You received the Holy Spirit, and God worked powerful miracles in your midst as you believed what you heard truthfully proclaimed. In short, as the Galatians believed Paul was declaring the truth about God in Jesus Christ, they experienced God Himself turn up in their midst. Faith accesses God Himself It is this simple faith act - believing what you hear truthfully proclaimed - that God has graciously and magnificently loaded up with the power to make contact with Himself. It will happen no other way for any of us. How, you might be asking, does this help us right now, in coming out of lockdown? Profoundly, I would reply. Profoundly, because you and I don't need anything more right now than to make contact with God Himself. We don't need anything more keenly right now than the active presence, and power, of God at work in us, and through us. And faith - believing what you have heard truthfully proclaimed - is the way God has given us to experience just this. God Himself I think part of the reason I tend to overcomplicate things - with God and in other areas as well for that matter - is because I am, even subconsciously, avoiding the real heart of the matter I seek to encounter. If I shroud what I aiming to do in so much complication, I will show I've tried but in the end won't have to deal with the real consequences of actually succeeding. I mean, what happens when we actually make contact with the living God!!! And that's just the thing - God Himself only knows. For God Himself will respond to us as He chooses. And that is a profoundly vulnerable space for us to inhabit. But so it is in this Universe of His making. And what a wonderful, exciting, challenging, but needed encounter for us all to hold out faith for. A quote I'm reminded of sums up the simplicity of faith for us well: "The object of faith is God, not ideas about God. It is essential to know things about God, but it is more essential to know God. Saint Thomas Aquinas, that most rational (not the same as rationalistic) of theologians, insists that 'the primary object of the act of faith is not a proposition but a reality,' God himself." [Peter Kreeft, Back to Virtue, p.73] This week Know that you sit 2000 years on from real human historical records of God encountering everyday people in an ancient city of Galatia. And the same way is available to you that was available to them, to make contact with the living God. It is the way of faith - believing what you have heard truthfully proclaimed. In the faithful teaching and preaching of God's word in church, life groups, godly Christian teachers the world around - you have the opportunity to believe what you hear, and by so doing make contact with no other than God Himself. This week, don't be afraid ask yourself the question - am I erecting a whole lot of unnecessary clutter between myself and my living God? Do I need to ask myself the question, "how can I simplify my ways with you, Lord?" Know that if you do, the honest self-awareness you choose to facilitate will, I have no doubt, lead to a fresh openness to the promised encounter we lay hold of - encounter with none less than the living God of All Creation. Keeping it simple, by faith, this week ahead! Written by Ps Rob.

I am, by nature, an optimist. That is, I default to expect good things to happen in the future, I default to thinking the best of people, and I default to being quite sure of my own plans (no matter how lacking in essential detail they may be). This is, in a large number of life situations, an asset as a disposition. But I have in my Christian walk tended to confuse optimism for faith and faith for mere optimism. But biblically speaking, faith is not simply expecting good things to happen in the future, not just thinking the best of people, and not a simple assurance in my plans for the future. As we start moving out of lockdown, we need more than optimism offers us. So we're looking at one of the most often cited places on the subject of faith, Hebrews 11, we get crucial insight into what faith is, specifically. Let's read the opening section together: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible...By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore." [Hebrews 11:1–3; 8-12] Here we are given both a description of what faith is, and examples of what faith looks like in us, God's people. I've particularly included the example of Abraham - there are many more cited in the rest of the chapter. Putting the description of faith alongside the example of Abraham, we can make some really helpful observations of what a life of faith really is meant to be like: Faith is tied to hope, and is an assurance and conviction. Faith is not tied to what we have yet, and it is not necessarily tied to what we see yet. Faith is fundamentally connected to obedience to God, especially God's word, as Abraham shows us. Faith is not connected to having a full and complete picture and understanding of things - we cannot know the fullness of how God created the world, and Abraham did "not know where he was going" when God called him out of Harran. Faith is crucially tied to the promise of God - this is the tether that connects faith with hope, and it is exemplified in Abrahams obedience to go into a land that was promised but not His yet. And God's promise is the tether that connected Sarah's faltering assurance with the power to conceive and have Isaac even in her old age. Faith is an action word - Faith creates understanding in us (vs. 3), moves us out (vs. 8,9), and creates in us (vs. 11, 12). Faith deals in reality - Abraham's promised land became the actual land of Israel (even if only for a period), and Sarah's promised son Isaac became the actual nation of Israel. Optimism versus faith My optimism is often a feeling, can tend to be quite vague, and can be naive at times. Biblical faith is by contrast tied to the concrete, clear, and creative promise of God, and more fundamentally, to God Himself. And whilst biblical faith cannot produce all the details because biblical faith is dependent on the details God is willing to give us, biblical faith is grounded and firm in what God has said, what God can and will do, based in what God has faithfully done before. We need more than optimism ahead We need more than a feeling, more than vague notions, and we don't want to be naive, in looking to our future as God's people. So we need to apply ourselves to cultivate biblical faith. Nothing else will do. And nothing else will make contact with the reality that God has promised and prepared for us ahead. For, if Abraham and Sarah are anything to go by, God's word deals in concrete future realities that we can be sure He brings about. Abraham and Sarah are examples that God's history is our greatest teacher on what biblical faith is and how it outworks itself in our lives. So how do we go forth by faith? Firstly, we need to learn what God has promised us. And do you know what - God's promises to us are "yes" and "amen" in Jesus our Lord and Saviour. This is Paul's rock solid confidence: "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God." [2 Corinthians 1:19–20] If you need a great starting point, try this list. But such lists can be quite overwhelming, to to prevent this... Secondly, we need to focus on a promise that God is showing us is for right now. Rather than just getting lost in lists, pray and ask God - what promise from your word is for me, for us, right now. How do you discern that? Practice listening for the guidance of the Holy Spirit - we've got some posts on this from a while back (here, here, and here). Thirdly, we need to keep the promises God gives us close at heart. This is where the biblical practice of meditation comes in - read Psalm 1:2-4 looks like and produces in our lives. Fourthly, we act on what we know God has told us to do. Abraham obeyed and went. What is God calling you to do, and where or to whom is He calling you to go? As a church, we have been called to go to Wentworthville, and the surrounding suburbs. This is what we are doing, and will continue to, even in these unusual times. You are part of this as our church, but God also has specific assignments for you. What are they for you? I'm pressing into this biblical faith with you in the weeks ahead! Written by Ps. Rob

"The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert..." Do you ever go through a day, or a week, and find it hard to note the practical impacts of God in it all? I do. Sometimes I find I get so focussed on what I've got to do, even do for God, that I forget that I'm doing it all with God. Sometimes I just find it hard to sense God's tangible presence, and I keep going by trust without assurance from my senses. Sometimes I find it hard to keep praying certain prayers, because I've been praying them so long. We've all got our own examples. And they're all examples of the challenge of having faith in the living God. They're also all examples that raise the question - does God really see me? Does God really care for me? Does God really want to answer my prayers? As we prepare to enter a new phase of coming out of restrictions here in Sydney, we are preparing our approach to what lies ahead. And I along with others in our leadership team have felt we need to go to a fresh place of faith. A fresh place of active trust in God. But the truth is, faith is hard to come by if we don't really believe God sees us, cares for us, and wants to answer us. I believe there is a story in Genesis that can help us out greatly in this respect. It's the story of Hagar. God truly saw Hagar Hagar was servant to the Jewish patriarch Abraham (Abram at the time), and his wife Sarah (Sarai at the time). Sarah, unable to have a child heir herself, suggested that Hagar be the one who bears them a son via surrogate motherhood in order to solve this problem. Hagar gets pregnant by Abraham, conceives and gives birth to a son, Ishmael. This then creates no end of personality politics and power struggles, and in the end, Sarah regrets this plan she hatched and basically discards of Hagar. This is all quite distressing to our modern minds, but the powerful thing is, God Himself shares our concern. How do I know? Because of what comes next. Hagar flees from Sarah to fend for herself and her son in a vast and arid nomadic region of the Middle East. She was unlikely to survive very long at all. And then we read: The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” [Genesis 16:7–8] God (here personified as the angel of the Lord) sees all of this, and pursues Hagar as she tries to escape her worsening situation under Abraham and Sarah. God sees Hagar, and goes after her to help her. Hagar who had no choice in the events that had taken place prior. Who was mistreated by her mistress and master. Who was powerless, in distress, and in need of real protection. And the Lord was the one who stepped in for her. God promises her a future for herself and her son Ishmael, and calls her to go back to Abraham and Sarah. She does, and raises her son for some time in this environment. That is, until Isaac, the son born by God's promise, arrives. And then Sarah wants to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael again. Which she does. And again, Hagar and Ishmael are abandoned to the elements and in danger of death in the arid conditions they are shoved into. Until... "God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy as he grew up..." [Genesis 21:17–20] ...until God, again! More than just seeing what is going on, hears the distress of Ishmael, and moves to respond and help. And as we see, provides for Hagar and Ishmael, and then remains with Ishmael from this point onwards. From the point of abandonment at the hands of their human masters. God sees and hears...YOU I find this part of Genesis so deeply encouraging, and assuring. It is such a powerful picture of the presence, merciful love, and active work of God in our lives. God truly does see us, truly does hear us, truly does care about us, and truly does want to walk with us into the life He has made for us to live. We may think to ourselves - yes but this is for big and important bible characters, but is it really for me? It is important at this point to note that Hagar was not a very important person in the times of Abraham and Sarah - as their treatment of her demonstrates. And yet God got directly involved in her life. But it gets better than this. We read in 2 Chronicles 16:9 a wise man's insight into the Lord's ways. In chastising King Asa for trusting in human support over and above the Lord, this wise seer noted the following about God: "For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him..." [2 Chronicles 16:9] God's mercy is real, and personal, and active in our lives - Hagar & Ishmael's story assures us of this. But God is no respecter of persons. You may be a King, of a pauper. You may be a CEO, or a grocery store packer. Whoever you are, whatever you've done, the Lord is not going to restrict you from His mercy. If...you are prepared to fully commit to Him. And here's where it comes back to faith again. In the thinking, praying and planning ahead... We can move forward with faith, because we can be sure - God really does care about my life. God really does see me. God really does want to answer my cries and prayers. In other words, we can move forward fully committed to Him in the unknowns of the months and years ahead for us. Todays reflection is about building our faith. It certainly has built up mine afresh. I hope it has yours. I, for my part, have got a commitment to make - to fully commit to Him. Nothing less. That's what faith is. A full commitment to Him. So how do we do this - how do we make sure we're fully committed to Him? Can I suggest we all (me together with you for sure) take some steps to check our hearts and lives: Do a trust "inventory" with the Lord - We fully commit to those we fully trust. So the next question to ask is: where do I fully trust God? Where do I not? Where you lack it, build it - so having done the "inventory" above, there'll be some low trust area/s we need to build up with the Lord. The Lord has His part to play, and it's the major part. But we are responsible too - especially for our commitment levels (a.k.a. 2 Chronicles 16:9). Some things we're responsible for: Asking God - Matthew 7:7-12 Meditating on His word - Psalm 1 Obeying - John 14:23 Have you done what He last asked you to do? We are responsible to do what God shows us to do. God won't keep speaking to us, and leading us, beyond what He's last asked us to do, if we've not done so. God sees and He strengthens... God saw Hagar, and strengthened her. God saw Ishmael, and He strengthened and came alongside Him. This is God's desire towards all of us. As we commit to Him, He shows us His full commitment to us. As James declares to us: "Come near to God and he will come near to you." [James 4:8a] The God of all Creation, the God of all history, the God of our times and our places, sees you. He wants to strengthen you. Fully commit to Him, as we move out of lockdown, and see just how fully committed to you, and to us, God truly is. Fully committing with you to the Lord afresh this week! Written by Ps. Rob.

"But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved." [Hebrews 10:39] We're moving into a new phase of life in Sydney, and around the world. It is now clear that we are having to live with a virus that has seriously disrupted our way of life since early 2020. How do we move forward well? A passage in Hebrews comes to mind and I am drawing upon it as starting point of a new blog series titled, "by faith." We need to look ahead, and move forward into this year and beyond by faith. But what does this mean? What is faith, biblically speaking? How does faith work in our lives? How do we express faith in a wise but equally bold way? We're going to look to the scriptures together on this vital topic in order to understand what biblical faith is such that we can be sure to express it fully and well in the season ahead. Let's not shrink back Written to a group of believers who were finding themselves increasingly discouraged because of sufferings, the author of Hebrews writes his letter so that God's people would: "...not throw away [their] confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” 38 And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” 39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved." (Heb 10:35–39) The writer is quoting the Old Testament prophet Habbakuk 2:3-4 in verse 37 and 38, calling this group of Christian believers to live by faith rather than shrinking back. The call that the author sounds is to faithful perseverance, with the promise of rich future reward. This future reward is connected to the promise of God coming without delay to usher in eternity - something we have been considering in our Sunday "Made for More" series. Clearly, the major contrast in this passage is between having faith and shrinking back. I don't know about you, but as my world has been reduced in freedoms over the last few months, there has been a literal shrinking of my world of normal activities. It has been hard to not shrink back emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, as well. I have at times. But God has not let remain in this state, and I have no doubt it is because He wants us to be ready for serving Him in what comes next for our church and our city. There will be much need, challenge, and opportunity ahead. And we need to step into all of this with confidence in Jesus. What faith is not... Let's expand on the word "shrink", in order to understand what this passage is getting at. Synonyms for shrink include: huddle, cower, dwindle, recoil, refrain. Now whilst we've had to take care to observe government restrictions and guidance, and take care to not endanger others, God's word to us is - make sure that you heart hasn't shrunk. It's powerful to note that this "shrinking back" is what faith is not. Instead faith in our hearts is that courage, that readiness, that boldness in Christ that is prepared to serve Him in whatever He calls us to - trusting in His goodness and guidance and wisdom and care the whole way. Antonyms for the word shrink include expand, open, outspread, outstretch, unfold, enlarge. In other words, faith grows stronger, wiser, bolder, and more willing. This is the call given to a group of believers in the midst of suffering. And it is God's call to us today. How do we "open up"? A key lies in Hebrews 10:36 - "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." In short - we open up by ensuring we are doing the will of God. We've been doing the will of God in this season in various ways as a church: Gathering together online to worship and encourage one another, Sunday by Sunday. Gathering together in Life Groups for prayer and encouragement in the word week by week. Respecting the governing authorities and working with them. Loving our neighbour in the ways that we can - respectfully and safely. However, there has been much that we have not been able to do, to see, to notice, and to act upon as a result under our strong and appropriate health and safety restrictions. As things around us open up, we will do, see, notice, and discern how to act in serving Jesus in new ways. We will need to discern God's will in these days - and His will is dynamic, for God is always moving and working and leading us on. So we need to be ready to hear what He's got for us next, and walk accordingly. Hence, why we need to be ready to faithfully persevere in His will in the season ahead. So we shall study faith, and be building ourselves up to be ready and willing for the will of the Lord. Not shrinking back with you this week! Written by Ps. Rob Waugh

"Why? Why this? Why now? Why me?" "Why" is the question we are most likely to ask when something goes wrong in our lives, usually something significant, painful, disappointing, hurtful, or downright evil. The "why" question is made seemingly more necessary when we read teaching like Jesus gives us in how to pray. We have moved through the Lord's prayer over the last number of weeks, and found some incredibly inspiring, rich, and powerful insights from Jesus' teaching on prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. This week, we are focussed in on this clause in His teaching: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." [Matthew 6:13] What do we expect? It seems Jesus is teaching us to ask the Lord to deliver us from evil. Full stop, end of sentence. This could lead to the expectation that those who trust the Lord should expect to never experience sickness, pain, suffering, or misadventure in this life. Is this what the Lord teaching us to expect? Far from it. What is helpful is to understand the different types of approach to evil in Jesus' day, and then reflect on how Jesus Himself dealt with evil. But before we do that, we need to consider evil itself - how are we to think of evil? Is it real? Is it a thing that we have to concern ourselves with? What is evil? The first thing to say is simply this - Jesus specifically used this term in His teaching, and had something very real and specific in mind as He taught His disciples. As a result, we're talking about something real. What exactly this is will go a long way to helping us understand what we should expect from Jesus, and how we can respond to evil in the world as a result. N T Wright puts it well for us: "When human beings worship that which is not God, they give authority to forces of destruction and malevolence; and those forces gain a power, collectively, that has, down the centuries of Christian experience, caused wise people to personify it, to give it the name of Satan, the Accuser. ‘The Satan’, ‘the Evil One’, is not equal and opposite to God; but ‘he’, or ‘it’, is a potent force, opposed to God’s good creation, and particularly to the human beings whom God wishes to put in authority over his world. If all this were not so, the final petition in the Lord’s Prayer would be an unnecessary anti-climax." [The Lord and His Prayer, pp. 71–72] In sum, evil is a potent and real force in the world opposed to God and His good creation, including humanity, and humans can wittingly and unwittingly partner with evil's forces - to our own detriment, and the detriment of God's good creation. Any reasonable person who reads Wright's insights above, and believes them to be truthful, would then think - so how do we counter such a destructive force or be otherwise hapless? This leads us to consider the three different types of responses to evil in Jesus' own day. A Fourth Way In Jesus' day, there were three types of response to the real and present evil in the world at the time: Firstly, the Sadducees minimised evil and it's presence in the world. They were a movement in Jesus' day of largely chief priests and leading aristocrats. They were interested in maintaining their power and privilege, and so they were concerned to do what was necessary to sustain themselves and their political interests. As such, evil was relativized, minimized, depending on the interests and alliances that maintained power and privilege. We don't have to think hard to observe similar movements in our times. Secondly, the Essenes wallowed in the realities of evil in the world. They were a group of Jews who retreated from mainstream Jewish life in a quasi-monastic existence. They believed that the majority culture was fundamentally corrupted, and that a distinct community had to be established to prepare the way for the Lord to return and restore a true, pure, and untainted Israelite nation. Thus, quite opposite to the Sadducees, they were overly convinced of the presence of corrupting evil in the world, and acted to distance themselves from it as a result. Again, there are plenty of people today who simply stick their heads in the sand, so to speak. Thirdly, the Pharisees zealously fought against evil in real world conflict. They were another political movement passionately interested in manufacturing the conditions required by God in Torah to restore Israel. They were zealous for the pure practice of their Jewish faith and law, were zealous in converting others to their ways, and were prepared to take up arms in fighting for this as the national identity. Our times seem to contain no end of examples of such zealotry in response to our own present day evils. Jesus does not teach us to prayerfully live into any of these responses. We are not to minimize, wallow in, or aggressively fight against evil in a violent or zealot sense. Instead, Jesus modelled in His own life the fourth way - the way that undergirds His teaching here, and that gives us insight into how we are to likewise pray and practice "deliver us from evil." Jesus defeated "evil" in all its potency in and through the cross. Paul in Colossians 2:13-15 declares: "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." [Colossians 2:13–15] The power of sin, and the powers behind sin in all their evil and cruel nuisance, have been cancelled, disarmed, and made a spectacle over in Jesus' triumphant cross. Jesus faced the full resistances of evil in being misrepresented and fought against during His public life, being falsely accused and unjustly condemned to death by the cross at the end of His life, and ultimately surrendered His life in death upon the cross - all as struggle against, and in aims to defeat evil. His rising again on the third day declares the outcome of this struggle - wonderful defeat of evil at its worst. In short, Jesus has already prefigured and begun our deliverance from evil through His victorious death and resurrection. But lest we get too triumphant, Jesus' way of victory - in His life, death, and resurrection - is the model for our way of victory over the evil still present in our day. Resist, struggle, in order to ultimately win This means a few things for us, as we pray "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." We resist - Jesus defeat of evil by His cross and in resurrection calls us to boldly resist evil in the world. As He declared with true foresight at the last supper: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” [John 16:33] We have peace in this assurance - He has already overcome the world. It's powerful to note that Jesus spoke these words prior to His death and resurrection, such was His assurance of His impending victory. So as we pray "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" we are praying to be able to live: "May the forces of destruction, of dehumanization, of anti-creation, of anti-redemption, be bound and gagged, that this good world of Yours not be sucked down into a lasting mess. May we be live in such a way as to be part of Your binding and gagging work through our efforts of love, service, and sacrifice. Deliver us from war, deliver us from human folly and the appalling accidents this can produce. Deliver us the evils of riches in excess, and poverty without redemption. Deliver us from arrogance, and pride and the terror of wanton self-interest. Amen." Note here that asking God to "deliver us" is an appeal to Him to work on our behalf in His might - we are not doing this on our own steam or resources. We struggle - Jesus words to His disciples also remind us that this life will not be without trouble for us. Jesus Himself warned His disciples: "A servant is not greater than his master.’ t If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also..." [John 15:20]. We are to be prepared to struggle with evil, head-on. Paul the Apostle would later declare we're in an active warfare: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." [Ephesians 6:12]. Paul himself experienced both this struggle, and the Lord's deliverance, during his life of service to the Lord: "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us..." [2 Corinthians 1:8–10]. It makes sense that, if our Lord and King struggled with the realities of evil in His time in order to birth and bring for the Kingdom of God, that we will likewise struggle and fight in order to continue to bring forth His Kingdom in our times. In order to ultimately win - Lest we find ourselves discouraged that loving and serving Jesus will involve struggle and battle, we can be assured that what we are bringing about will not end in futility, but ultimately in full and final victory. What Jesus has begun, and is working in and through us, will end in a final victory over all evil. A final deliverance from all evil. Such that evil shall become a distant memory for a fully restored and fully redeemed creation. The hope of eternal life is simply this. That one day soon: "He [God] will wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” [Revelation 21:4–5] So our answer to evil, to "why", is in the end, the answer of bold and faithful resistance, including readiness to suffer with and for Jesus and His Kingdom purpose, knowing that the resurrection of Jesus will not fail to be completed one day for all creation in total and final redemption. And so we pray, and live, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Praying I'd live this with you all. Written by Ps Rob.

"Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us..." [Matthew 6:12] Imagine being right where this image was taken. Can you feel the freshness of the morning. The crisp air, the moisture hanging in the wisps of morning breeze that brush your face. The earthiness that rises from the lush green beneath your feet. And the warmth of that sun, penetrating through the branches and leaves...reaching towards you to warm the deepest parts of you. It's quite visceral for me at least. I'm drawing in part from the recent mornings we have been enjoying here in Sydney. This is a picture of freshness. The freshness of this natural landscape. The freshness in the air. The freshness of a new day dawning. And it is this kind of freshness that the notion of biblical forgiveness should evoke in our hearts and minds. Imagine this... You have been locked away in prison for a white collar crime - you were caught and gaoled for 2 years for embezzlement - taking your companies travel allowance over a number of years and using it for building a private collection of luxury items rather than travelling as officially arranged. The above image has been your home for the past two years. That small cell. Plus the common areas, eating areas, and exercise quad. You have not been as near to tasting the freshness of real freedom - without an impending return to cell #268 - as you are now. The door opens to your cell, and your two gaol officers come to collect you and your meagre belongings and escort you out of the prison compound. Imagine the first steps you take out of into the open air - free from your rightful imprisonment without any required return. That's a fresh freedom indeed. Putting these together... ...the freshness of morning and your first steps out of rightful imprisonment...and you have some sense of the biblical notion of forgiveness. This is what God offers all who come to Him, who return to Him. This forgiveness is most powerfully storied in Jesus' parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-31). Forgiveness from God is a fresh start, a clean slate, a cancelling of all debt accrued by us, a releasing from the prison cells of our own making. And it is permanent offer for every single one of God's children - up until the day of His final return to usher in the fullness of our coming eternal destiny. Forgiveness for your life is like the freshness of a beautiful morning to your day. Forgiveness for guilty and condemned souls is like the complete release from prison that a criminal who has served their time walks out with on that first day of freedom. Forgiveness is ours, through Jesus Christ, and it is total, restorative, and eternal. Wow! Just wow! Possibly the Most Important Part of The Lord's Prayer This release of fresh life, this cancelling of debts and freeing from imprisonment - this is quite possibly the most potent, life-giving, and powerful part of the Lord's prayer. In a very real sense, forgiveness is how we can know the Lord, and know who He truly is. Forgiveness is how we come to experience His Kingdom, and extend His will in the Earth. Forgiveness is the crucial assurance we need in our hearts in order to be able to come to Him, and seek His provision of our daily bread. In short, forgiveness is key to personal, communal, national, and international healing, renewal, and restoration. Maybe the freshness we all need to be reminded of is not to be found in our circumstances changing (although a walk in the Blue Mountains in the freshness of one of these Spring mornings would be wonderful) but to be found in knowing the depths and fullness of the Lord's forgiveness - for us, and through us. Bishop Desmond Tutu, a pioneer of forgiveness and reconciliation at a national level for the nation of South Africa, describes the power of forgiveness so eloquently here as the renewing of a relationship: “Renewing a relationship is a creative act. We make a new relationship. It is possible to build a new relationship regardless of the realities of the old relationship.” The only way that this is possible is through the power of God-inspired, God-shaped, God-breathed forgiveness. This is what God has done with us - He has, through the forgiveness given us in Jesus, created a new relationship. Paul describes it powerfully in Romans 5:1-2: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God." The work of forgiveness is to give us peace with the God of all creation we have all at some point been thoroughly at war with. But God's creative act of forgiveness actually gives us a complete, ongoing, and eternal peace with God through Jesus, that means we can stand in grace before our God and King, and more than both of these, boast in the hope of eternal glory with our living God. God has made a new relationship for us to enter - His sons and daughters, from now on into eternity. God is intentionally building towards us, and in us, a new relationship that is, as Bishop Tutu describes, regardless of the old relationship realities - because of the forgiveness won for us by Jesus. So what? So what do we do with this, for the week ahead? Well, let me suggest a few things, and then finish with a quote from N T Wrights book, "The Lord and His Prayer". Firstly, the suggestions: Make sure you take some time to pray, "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." John tells us, in his pastoral letter, than none of us are without sin. So take time to acknowledge and confess yours, and forgive others that have sinned against you. Imagine the forgiveness you receive and offer others in prayer, perhaps using one of the images given above. We need to see forgiveness in our minds eye - the fresh morning and release from prison images above are just two images available to us that really do picture the realities of biblical forgiveness for us. Secondly, and finally, the quote from N T Wright, with a brief comment afterwards: "We, as the people who pray this prayer for the world, are called to be the people who live in this way ourselves. At the end of Luke’s gospel, Jesus sends the disciples to announce ‘the forgiveness of sins’ to the whole cosmos. The church is to tell, and to live, the Jubilee-message, the forgiveness-of-sins message. The church is to embody before the world the disgraceful, glorious, shocking and joyful message of the arrival of the King. When the world sees what the church is doing, it ought to ask questions to which the proper answer would be a story about a father running down the road to embrace his disreputable son." [From "The Lord and His Prayer", pp. 58–59] In other words, we are to live as a people forgiven, and a people who forgive to the world around us, including our church community. That is, we live as a people who bring freshness to the world of relationships around us. We see people set free from the prisons they create in themselves and towards us. We act creatively to begin new relationships with people, irrespective of the old relationships. Let's lean into this prayer together this week church. "Father, forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us." Amen. Written by Ps. Rob

"This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread..." (Mt 6:9–11) Order in Our Spaces Have you done any re-ordering of spaces in the home this lockdown? We have - our kitchen cupboards in particular. We've re-ordered the draws for our pots and pans, and all the cooking tools we use, and the plastic containers, and a whole lot of other things. And what a difference it makes to the space! I can find what I'm looking for more easily. I can access the items I want to cook with more easily and efficiently. Re-ordering our kitchen cupboards have simply made being in the kitchen space enjoyable and fun! Order in the heart This week in our series on the Lord's prayer, quoted above, we're diving into "...Give us today our daily bread...". This is the part of Jesus teaching where prayer gets focussed on our real needs. Our "daily bread" needs - everything from provision over our lives, to the needs for relationship, relief from distress, opportunities for work and purpose - all these and so much more. What I particularly want to focus on is the fact that Jesus teaches us that prayer doesn't start with our needs. "Give us this day our daily bread" comes after "our Father", and giving honour to His name, and praying for His Kingdom to come, and each of these elements of prayer are hugely significant. Jesus is teaching us about God's design for the right ordering of the needs and desires of our hearts. Now let's be honest. Our prayers lives (or at least mine) don't always reflect this ordering. I find myself at times, usually due to the sheer pressing anxiety or desperation with respect to a need, racing straight to "give us this day our daily bread." But this is, according to Jesus, to out the cart before the horse. N T Wright, in his extended meditation on this prayer teaching by Jesus, says that we are putting greed before grace when we race to "give us this day our daily bread." I'll let him take the floor and elaborate: "When that happens, greed defeats its own object. If we don’t spend time adoring our Father in heaven, seeking the honour of his name, and praying for his kingdom, all our own desires and hopes will simply present themselves to us in a muddled and jumbled fashion, coming bubbling up to the surface in what C. S. Lewis, contemptuous of the later writings of James Joyce, called ‘steam of consciousness’." Muddled and jumbled How often I have found myself in this kind of inner state pictured above, in prayer. But do you know what? The Lord, in His mercy, has let me rant and rave and plead and cry out, in all my muddle and jumble. Listened intently and carefully until the storm in me subsides. And then spoken promise, and peace, not simply by getting to my list of wants and needs. But by putting my needs into perspective. Putting them in the context of His much bigger story - the story of the loving Father of us all, who is Holy, bringing His Kingdom to Earth in and through His Son and His church. Fulfilling His good will, which includes taking good and generous care of my "daily bread" needs, in the much grander context of His great salvation work in the world. It was St Augustine who thought, quite insightfully, that "the essence of sin is disordered love." (read reflections on this here). Simply put - God is, as Jesus teaches, to be our supreme and first love, and then we are to love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40). If we get the order wrong, which I have done as many times as the next man, we experience the distress, frustration, and even destructive outcomes that can result. What's the takeaway? Perhaps the Lord wants to reorder some things in yours and my hearts today? Bring the order that He has designed to exist in our hearts, through practicing prayer in the way He has given us here in His teaching. And like bringing order to our spaces and homes brings the peace of everything in its right place, and being able to exist in such ordered spaces with greater joy, freedom, and fulfilment, so the Lord's teaching on prayer helps us put "give us this day our daily bread" in its rightful place. In the context of who He is as our loving Heavenly Father, Holy and awesome, bringing about His Kingdom plan and will in the world, even through us. Such that we can enjoy the "daily bread" provisions He brings in their rightful place - and experience greater joy, freedom and fulfilment in general. I don't know about you, but I need this kind of peace and fulfilment. The peace and fulfilment of an ordered soul. And the Lord has given us the clearest way to this - by practicing ordering our desires, our loves, according to His design. As we do this, we will find the peace not only of following Jesus teaching, but the peace of knowing our desires are aligned with His good purpose and design. Which means we will receive our "daily bread" in His faithfulness and loving favour. Pursuing ordered loves, God's way, with you this week! Written by Ps. Rob

"Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." “Epic” "Epic" is a word that I have over-used. A word that I have used to describe a tasty meal – that burger was “epic.” A word that I have used to describe an incredible goal in soccer – that was an “epic” shot. But not a word I have used for prayer much, if at all. But in preparing my reflections on this part of the Lord’s prayer, in our go-slow series of reflections on Jesus’ teaching here, I have discovered that we are dealing with an epic prayer. And no part of this way to pray that Jesus gives us in Matthew 6 is more epic than this portion we are focussed on today: “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” [Matthew 6:10] (Note - You can catch up on the series by clicking here, and you’ll get all the posts listed) This portion of the Lord’s prayer quoted above is an epic prayer. This is a prayer that captures the heart of what it is to be a Christian. Because it is the heart of what Jesus came to bring about both in and through Himself. Jesus embodied this prayer, in His life, death, and resurrection: In describing how he lived his life, Jesus explained: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.” (John 5:19–20) In wrestling with confronting his pending death by crucifixion, Jesus prayed: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39) And just before rising into heaven to lead us, His church, from the right hand of the Father, he told us: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” [Matthew 28:18-20] In short, Jesus lived out the God His Father’s will on a daily basis, was prepared to lay down His life to do this, and having done so, carries all authority in Heaven and on Earth now to empower us to go and do likewise. Jesus demonstrated, at just the right time in human history, that His life is what life is meant to be like - for us, and for the whole Creation. Humans, fulfilling their proper role, under God’s rule, in God’s good world. And so, “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, is meant to increasingly become the most natural prayer for you and I to pray. That we together, as God’s people, would increasingly look to the world around us just like Jesus did – as He literally walked the Earth over 2000 years ago. A little more info, please? Right now, though, some of us might be thinking – but what exactly does this look like? Having received some great help from N T Wright on all of this (watch some great teaching here), I can do no better than to point us to read, and pray, Psalm 72, in conjunction with this portion of the Lord’s prayer. Psalm 72 This is a Messianic Psalm (a Psalm that anticipates the calling and work of the Great Saviour of all mankind who was revealed to be Jesus Christ of Nazareth). In this Psalm, we read of everything that Jesus came and did, everything that He continues to do by His Spirit and through His body the church, and everything He will finish when He returns to Judge the World and usher in the New Heavens and the New Earth in completeness. To give you a summarised list from Psalm 72 of some of the things expected to be brought on by the Messiah: Judgement in Righteousness (a standard which is universally true and right). Prosperity to the people. Defence of the afflicted. Salvation for the children of the needy. Crushing of the oppressor. An enduring Kingship. Causing the righteous (those who worship and follow Him) to flourish. Rule from sea to sea. All nations coming to Him and serving Him. Deliverance for the needy and the afflicted who have no one to help. Pity for the weak and needy. Rescue of those oppressed and experiencing violence. His name enduring forever. All nations blessed through him. The whole Earth filled with His glory. Here’s where things become epic. If you read through the Gospels, you see that Jesus embodied this Psalm 72 prayer of expectation. Even more, you hear Jesus (as quoted above) telling us, "this is what you are to continue, in my name." So, as we prayer, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”, we are praying: “Do everything that is written in this Psalm, Lord. Do it now, as you have been since your came on Earth to begin setting this right. And Lord Jesus, increase this work to cover the whole world. Finally Lord, work in me and through me such that I can play my part, with your people, for your glory." The beautiful (and epic) truth in all of this is – this is the work that Jesus is doing, right here, right now. In our city, and in our nation, as in all the nations of the Earth. Even as we battle this global virus. Let’s Pray Church! The one with all authority in Heaven and on Earth is at work in us right now, and through us right now. So let’s get praying, and let’s work out, together, how Jesus wants us to play our part in being part of fulfilling His epic plan for the world, expressed so eloquently in Psalm 72, in our community, in our city, and in the nations, even now, in the midst of lockdown and this global pandemic. Working this out with you in prayer this week. Written by Ps. Rob.

So I believe we need some empowerment right now. I want to ask and answer this question: How can we live and operate, in the current circumstances, with a sense of power? And when I use that term, I mean energy and resource to not only keep going, but keep going with strength, hope and effect. This week's reflection in our Lord's Prayer series is exactly that - empowering. We have, so far, covered: Our Father (in 2 posts, here and here) Hallowed be your name (here) Today, we're going to dive into, "Your Kingdom Come." For reference, the prayer we are referring to is called the Lord's Prayer, taught by Jesus in response to His disciples asking for help in praying. It goes like this: “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, s but deliver us from the evil one.’" (Matthew 6:9–13) Kingdoms We don't talk much of Kingdoms these days. We don't have many functioning in the world right now that you could call a Kingdom in the truest sense of the world. And the word Kingdom has some complex associations in our thinking. But in short - a Kingdom is a King's rule in a certain place. A Kingdom is a particular land, state, or much larger territory under the rule and reign of a particular King. So to pray, "Your Kingdom come", is to pray that the rule and reign of King Jesus, declared in the bible to be the King of all King's (1 Timothy 6:15), would come here on Earth, right now. And this is a very empowering prayer to pray. Especially right now! Jesus taught His Kingdom was at hand When we pray, "Your Kingdom come", we are praying for what the Old Testament saints knew about God and also looked forward to in a special new way, we're praying for what Jesus taught was beginning in His public ministry, and we are praying for what Jesus declared would continue after His death and resurrection. We see: In the OT, The Psalmist declaring to God belongs Kingship - He rules over all nations (Psalm 22:27-28). Also in the OT, The Prophet Zechariah looked forward to a time where the Lord "will be King over the whole earth" (Zechariah 14:9). In the NT, Jesus start and continue His public ministry declaring: "“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Mt 4:17); and, "“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” (Mk 9:1) Jesus also teaching that the way to become part of this Kingdom movement was through being "born again" by the power of the Holy Spirit: “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." (Jn 3:5–6) Finally in the NT, we see the early churches self-understanding as being part of the Kingdom of God now (Colossians 1:13) and something to strive towards in a future fullness (1 Thessalonians 2:12). Thus, generally speaking we can say that God's rule and reign over the our world is universal, but not accepted by all people everywhere. As such, Jesus came to begin the work of re-establishing God's eventual universal reign over all reality. In Jesus, there was a unique showing of God's reign and rule - God was present in His power and authority through His Son. And through His church, the Kingdom of God grows and develops as Jesus leads us as King and head (Colossians 1:18). However, ultimately the Kingdom of God will be completed when Jesus returns (Matthew 24:3-31). How is this empowering me right now? In at least three really important ways. We pray "your Kingdom come" and the connected thought is "on Earth as it is in heaven". This means we are crying out: For Jesus to show His loving and almighty rule in all places and times - including ours. Even if all people and circumstances don't line up with His rule, Jesus is still in control and moving history forward towards His ultimate Kingdom purposes. The OT affirms this and the NT declares Jesus is now reigning above everything (Ephesians 1:18-23). That we may usher in His reign and rule now (Matthew 6:33)! Yes, it will be partial and incomplete, but Jesus does promise in many different ways that He is present with us (John 14:23; Matthew 28:18-20), which means His reign and rule is present not just to us, but through us as well! As we pray and seek His Kingdom now - we are participating in the "on the ground" extension of God's reign and rule in the world. And that is something that cannot be thwarted by mere human plans (Acts 5:35-39) or natural events (Isaiah 35:1-8). This means we are part of God's good reign and rule extending in our particular times, and places, and relationships. In short - Jesus is with us, and His reign and rule is at work in us and through us, particularly as we pray! None of us are simply, or primarily, at the mercy of our circumstances. We are, to use that same turn of phrase, continually at the mercy of our loving, all powerful, and gracious King Jesus. And His promise is to respond to us, especially in answer to our prayers (John 15:5-8). Thus, we have powerful agency to see the King of the Universe get involved in our prayers and therefore get involved in the things, the people, and the circumstances we bring before Him. You are, in short, empowered. Right now! This is the reality crafted by the assurance of God's word. Amazing, isn't it! So what do I do? I can do no better than to suggest that one of the best ways we can pray, "your kingdom come" is to heed the promise and invitation of Jesus in His word: “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:22–25) Praying with you to see God's Kingdom come in our city, and nation, as in the nations of the world! Let's have faith in God church! Written by Ps. Rob

So we're doing an extended reflection on the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray, popularly known as the "Lord's Prayer." Lockdown is actually a time of opportunity - to seek God in fresh ways. It's hard in certain ways, but there's also opportunities here - the Lord is at work, and will continue to be. So what's in a name? Allot, especially when it comes to the Bible and a biblical understanding of names. And this is important for understanding the next section of the Lord's prayer we're getting onto today: “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..." [Matthew 6:9] We've already covered "Our Father". We're now moving on to "hallowed be your name." To start with, hallowed means holy, sacred, revered. The word group around "holiness" has a rich history of meaning in the bible. Holy???? To declare God Holy is to declare something about God's essential and innermost nature. To declare God Holy is to declare His power over everything, His eternal nature, His incomparable glory, and is meant to evoke a strong and deep sense of awe. So, when we pray "hallowed be your name" we are seeking God in His essential and innermost nature. Do you know what makes this even more powerful though? Linking this insight with an understanding of the significance of biblical names and naming. What's in a Name? We understand names to be quite important. Especially when naming the next generation, each new child that comes into the world tends to have some significance to their name. Whether it's a loved relative, a name that carries special significance to the parents, or a prayerful consideration, when naming we tend to look for names with great meaning. Biblically, the concept of naming was rooted in the ancient world’s understanding that a name expressed essence. To know the name of a person was to know that person’s character and nature. Even more, names revealed character and destiny, like in the case of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25 (verses 24-26 in particular). Initially, Jacob in particular was named in a way that meant deceiver, and he indeed proved to be true to his name. However, after a powerful encounter with God, Jacob's name was changed by God's direct initiative, revealing a transformation in his character and destiny (Genesis 32:28). In other words, names are about the core identity, the core character, the essential nature of a thing - whether us humans, or God Himself. So when we call upon God's name, we are calling upon God in His essential identity, character, and nature. So what? When we "hallow" God's name, we're actually getting our focus completely set right. Getting our focus set on who He is. As such, the part of the Lord's prayer, "hallowed be your name" is a a powerful reorientation of our focus, ourselves, our lives. And we all need this "righting" of our perspective right now! When we pray "hallowed be your name", we've got the opportunity to pray that "be" into existence wherever we direct our praying. We are asking God, in His essential nature, character, and identity, to "be so" in the world, in our nation, in our lives, in our decisions, in our affections, in our relationships...wherever we want God to "be" who He is. In other words, we are seeking God, by setting our focus on who He is, to be who He is in our world and in our lives. And right now, more than we need Governments to make good decisions, more than we need individual citizens to make good decisions, more than we need this virus to be overcome in the world, we need God to be God. Because, if this is God's world, and He loves us in it, which the bible clearly declares He does (see, for example, John 3:16), then God can lead us in taking care of all these above desires, and some! Where to from here? You and I need to know who God is! In order for us to know who we are calling on to "be" at work in whatever we're praying for. So make sure you know who God is. You can't do worse than to study the names of God. This will ensure that when you "hallow" his name, you are actually calling upon a God who is far more profound, wonderful, powerful, and true, than you could have previously imagined. Jesus, teaching on the vital importance of seeking God in prayer, and not giving up, finished His teaching with this declaration. It is a declaration to take to heart, and to put into our praying with fresh purpose and passion right now: "...will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly." (Luke 18:7–8) This is what is behind He who we cry out to, "hallowed be your name." What a God of promise and hope He is. And how we need to hear that, around the world, right now! Praying "hallowed be your name" with you this week! Written by Ps. Rob

I have found this second lockdown more difficult in some ways than the first last year. For a few reasons. This "Delta" variant being more contagious and thus creating higher risk awareness generally. The sudden and constant flow of restrictions, getting more and more constricting. Last week I started being able to ride 10kms from home and by weeks end I could only go up to 5kms from home. A reason for adjustments to my exercise circuits. In some ways, my last example seems rather trivial. Don't get me wrong - I am deeply thankful for our Governments and leaders doing their jobs under the most trying of circumstances. But at another level, as someone who likes to freely roam and usually has no reason to think twice about it in our city, I have found the increased curtailment of this freedom emotionally asphyxiating. I don't think I'm alone. For some us, we've had increasing numbers of people we cannot physically see and be in the same room as. We've had work projects put on hold or deferred (again!). We've had our work cancelled even. We've had holidays put off or cancelled. We've had events, parties, or otherwise, abruptly halted. And we've been restricted, or felt constrained, to the four walls that make up our street address. Emotionally asphyxiating may be a bit strong, but the "emotional pipes" have certainly been tightened over this last lockdown. Which makes praying and practicing the Lord's prayer all the more inspiring and encouraging at this time. Inspiring...really??? "Our Father..." [Matthew 6:9a] I already started with this phrase last week, but I've got a good reason to continue today. You see, calling God "Our Father" has a rich and storied history in the Bible, taking us all the way back to the Exodus of Israel, out of slavery, and into the freedom of being the Kingdom of priests for the sake of the nations of the world (Read the book of Exodus - it's a fascinating read). In short - calling upon God as our Father, means we're calling upon God to be our freedom fighter, liberator, and the one who fulfils His promise to make us a free and restored people. A people free to serve Him, and free to serve the peoples of the world in His name. Exodus (Chapter 4) The first occurrence in the Old Testament of the idea of God as our Father comes when Moses marches in boldly to stand before Pharaoh, and says: "...say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” [Ex 4:22–23] For Israel to call God ‘Father’, then, was to hold on to the hope of liberty. The slaves were called to be sons and daughters. For you and I, calling upon God as our Father means we are calling out in the sure and certain hope of God's promise of liberty. Not just the liberty of freedom from social restrictions, nor even the freedom from worry and uncertainty created by a virus. No, we're talking the freedom to bear a fundamental identity at the core of our lives, that transforms how we see ourselves, our world, and our freedom of purpose within it. And that fundamental identity at the core of our lives - is being God's freed sons and daughters! How does this help us? Well, the Exodus event didn't happen overnight. Israel were slaves for a very long time. Then there were all types of miracles and power games between God and the Pharaoh of Egypt, with God coming out victorious and getting the people freed from their slavery. And then there were the years of not simply working out how to be sons, rather than slaves. The Israelites had to work slavery out of their community mindset and identity and way of relating to God, each other, and the world around them. In other words, freedom took time, involved struggle, but God remained true to His word and fulfilled what He promised. Jesus, teaching on the theme of being sons and daughters of God in the New Testament, says this: “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." [John 8:34–36] So freedom is ours, by nature of God's promise, made sure through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But freedom is a process, and freedom is as much getting old habits of slavery out of ourselves, as it is about getting out of slavery in any more literal sense of the word. What I'm not saying, to be clear, is that we're in slavery to our Governments, or that these restrictions we're under are like being enslaved. But the yearning to be free that we are all experiencing at present - to walk and roam freely with a clear and unrestricted sense of purpose in our step - is being evoked very strongly in these current circumstances. And this yearning is part of the way God has made us, but not to taunt us without any ability to help us, but rather to point us to His promised true and lasting freedom. What can we do to access this help? Freedom is found in a person, not in a set of circumstances. Note again what Jesus says above: "...if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." You know what this means? If we have access to the person who gives us freedom, and we get His freedom within us, we can approach whatever set of circumstances we face free. Free already. In the ways that matter to the core of who we are. You can let these circumstances lock you down. Or you can approach these circumstances, by praying, "Our Father", knowing that this is a prayer that deeply connects you to His promise of freedom, power to free you, and wisdom to teach you His ways of freedom. In order that you can live them out, no matter where you find yourself, and no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. You can be locked up in gaol, and still free (like the Apostle Paul, check it out). You can be locked in with a den of lions, or thrown into a fiery furnace, and still be free (check out Daniel and his mates here). I need to remember this right now. I'm guessing you might, too. As we pray, "Our Father", we take note of who God is, what God is up to, and we partner with Him in His works. God is not bound. God is not locked down. God is working freely in His world, and freely in and amongst us. But we've got to choose to stop, approach Him, seek Him as the Father of our Freedom, and discern His freedom ways for our lives and current circumstances. Remember - you may not be able to be physically in the room, but you've got a phone. You may not be able to take the groceries to someone - but you can click and collect for them. You may not be able to push that project forward - but you can build solid relationships of care and trust with your team, ready for the project push that will come. You may not have work right now - but you can serve God in lots of different ways, small and great alike. Freedom, under "our Father's" watchful care and empowering grace, becomes not so much about our circumstances, but the spirit, the faith, the assurance we have in the face of any and every set of circumstances. That we are free, as God's sons and daughters, and we're free to serve this world in love and boldness and with great effect - because we're partnering up with the Father of our Freedom. Both for now, and on into eternity. And this gives me great strength and new, bold hope. Because my freedom can't actually be taken from me. It was purchased for me, and is received by me, through my Saviours Cross. Hallelujah! Laying hold of this freedom more with you this week! Written by Ps. Rob Waugh

So we're setting into lockdown here in Sydney, and I was praying for us as a church. And I sensed God wanted to get us focused on the Lord's prayer (Jesus most clear teaching on how to pray), and mine it, slowly and patiently, for fresh insights and encouragement at this time. So that's what we're going to do together. Here's the full prayer, out of Matthews gospel: “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’" (Mt 6:9–13) Context tells us that Jesus was teaching His disciples on a range of different topics, helping them understand how to practice various things as His disciples, and as people of His Kingdom. We are His disciples, and we are here to build His Kingdom. So His framing of prayer here is very instructive for us. And He starts His model with a very personal opening. Those First Few Words "Our Father." Not my Father. Nor our God or Higher Being. Our shared Heavenly Father. Jesus is modelling prayer for us, and it is personal from the outset. We are able to address the Creator and Lord of the Universe as our own Father. John explains how this is possible in the Gospel bearing his name: "Yet to all who did receive him [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." (John 1:12-13) John explains that those who believe in Jesus, in all He is and has done, become, supernaturally, the children of God. John of course got this idea from Jesus Himself. And Jesus, in His teaching on prayer, assumes that we can come to God as our Father through Him. And so Jesus teaches you and me that the God that we pray to wants us to know Him personally, as our Father. This implies so much that relates to the idea of Fatherhood: protection, love, care, provision, leadership, wisdom, support, and above all, presence. Prayer takeaway #1 - When you come to God in prayer, you are coming to God who wants you to know Him personally as your Father. As your protector, provider, leader, wise counsellor, supporter, and above all else, loving personal presence in your life. And He is all of these things in reality, not just in theory. And many more besides. But He's not just my or your Father. He is our Father. Our Father Our relationship with God is not just personal, and it is certainly not private. It is shared with everyone else who, as John explains above, believes in Jesus. God is our Father. Together. Particularly in this times where we are locked down, this particular aspect of who we are as God's children is being tested the most. And so I encourage you, don't let our trust in God as Father get lost. Get together with others in our Church and pray together. Pray for each other. Pray for our city and nation. Pray for our world. Pray for God's Kingdom to come, and will to be done - part of the Lords' prayer coming up soon. Prayer takeaway #2 - Make opportunities to pray together with other followers of Jesus. In our church, and beyond. Get together, and pray together, to our Heavenly Father. And find together His protection, provision, leadership, wisdom, support, and loving personal presence. You know what is most powerful about prayer. Prayer is not locked down. We can pray anywhere, anytime. Looking forward to praying with you! Written by Ps Rob.