Random thoughts of a fellow traveller
“What is a Christian?” asks J. I. Packer in his book “Knowing God.” His response may surprise you. Although he agrees the question can be answered many ways he suggests, “the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father. Over the past couple of months at in our …
Did you know that over 600 verses in the Bible refer to heaven, more than 500 mention prayer, less than 500 relate to faith, around 50 speak of hell, yet there are more than 2,000 passages which talk about handling money? So good stewardship is a major theme throughout the Bible. A week ago at …
Go back >>> For instance, how will we at Hobart Baptist respond on that day when the first gay married couple walks in seeking a closer relationship with God? Will they receive a welcoming, hospitable response? Will they be accepted? I trust so, after all, every one of us “have sinned and fallen short of …
Last Saturday, along with millions of others across Australia and NZ, Hobart Baptist Church commemorated the Anzac Day Centenary holding our own service of remembrance. Our unique focus was to honour those associated with Hobart Baptist Church who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Their names are listed memorial plaques hanging in our main building.
Back To Page One >>> From a Christian point of view, Anzac Day is a unique moment in the Australian calendar. It is a day when, quite unknowingly the Aussie psyche connects deeply with the Gospel story. Yet it is not only in the acts of mateship, self-sacrifice and redemptive suffering that this is profoundly …
I think we sometimes forget God has entrusted us with the task of bringing the good news of his love, as demonstrated in Christ, to our local community – wherever it iswe are. We can so easily be tempted and fall into the trap of believing the church exists only for us, and conveniently ignore …
Continue reading “Church: There for us? OR There for others . . .”
Go back >>> Hanging on a cross, the weight of the body drags the chest and shoulders down. The arms become extended in such a way that breathing becomes impossible. To breathe, the legs need to take the weight of the body by pushing against the nails in the ankles and hold up the body …
Go Back >>> In other words, the context (terrain) where the church finds itself today is quite different to the past. So much so that the old ‘maps’ are more than misleading and they can easily get us lost. If we are to “rethink our stance entirely” the church needs to go back to the …
Go back >>> To be “intentional, relational, adaptive and creative” in mission and evangelism we need a better understanding not only of the gospel, but of the culture we are seeking to reach. This is as true for local mission as it is for overseas missionaries. After all, we are all called to be missionaries …
Go back >>> It takes so much energy to deal with change that we struggle to stop ourselves regressing into bad habits, whether it be how we speak, how we behave, what we eat, or what goes through our minds. Sometimes we just don’t have the strength to be at our best. Our church, Hobart …