Pastoral Letter 235
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and peace to you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I hope you all are doing fine by God’s grace.
The next two months, November and December, will be a busy time for us at St. Andrew’s with so many programs planned. Every Tuesday in November we will have a gathering in the War Memorial Hall, starting on the first Tuesday with our monthly Movie Night with Pizza at 6:30 pm, showing the film “Read Joan” and then with the screening of the Trilogy of the documentaries known as “The Map of Gratitude” in the following Tuesdays, starting on 12 November at 7:00 pm. The documentaries will be, “Map of Salvation”, “The American Good Samaritans” and the “The Golden Chain of Mercy”.
This Tuesday I will be away in Melbourne overnight, not to be at the Melbourne Cup, but to attend the Award Ceremony of Internation Film Festival of Australia (IFFA), the documentary “The Golden Chain of Mercy” has been shortlisted as finalist in the category of best documentaries. I hope and pray that the film will be awarded, totalling the number of Internation film festivals’ awards to 61! Please enjoy the Pizza and the film, while I am away in Melbourne for the ceremony.
On Sunday 1 December, which is Advent 1 and the beginning of the Christmas Season, we will be privileged to have with us a special guest preacher, Rev Bill Crews, from Exodus Foundation, who will preach during the morning service. Also, on the same day we are going to celebrate our traditional St. Andrew’s Day during the Morning Service followed by St. Andrew’s Day Lunch. Please secure your tickets for the lunch as soon as you can.
On Sunday 15 December we will have our tradition Carols Service during the Morning Service and on Tuesday 24 December, Christmas Eve Service at 7:00 pm, hopefully on the lawn, and on Wednesday Morning Christmas Service at 9:00 am.
We have commenced collecting Christmas gifts and food for the Exodus Foundation. All should be in by the 15 December 2024. Please accept our thanks in advance.
Last Sunday the John Flynn Combined Service with Lane Cove at St. Columba’s was a great success. The worship was well planned with our guest speaker Mr. Rob Floyd the National Director of Frontier Services. Following the Service, we had Morning Tea, trivia and the Great Outback Fundraiser BBQ. Together we have raised $1500, which was sent to the Frontier Service during the week. Thanks to Rob and for all who took part in the service and a great thank you for the delicious BBQ prepared and served by the Lane Cove folk.
Last Wednesday the funeral of one of our previous congregation members, Valerie Berry, was held in our church, who passed away at the age of 89. Our sympathies and condolences to her family.
If you are not able to join us for worship tomorrow, please light a candle, have a small roll of bread and small cup of wine for Communion and worship with us following the attached Order of Service.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray for Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, as the hostilities continue and the talk about a ceasefire to come true soon for the sake of the suffering people.
- Pray for the refugees of Artsakh in Armenia, as they are still facing many challenges.
- Pray for the sick, the poor, the homeless, refugees the lonely and those who have financial burdens.
- Pray for the Frontier Services – the National Director, Bush Chaplains and the volunteers.
- Pray for our future plans beyond 31 May 2025.
- Pray for Virginia and Bruce, as he recovers from a surgery.
In Christ
Krikor
MESSAGE
The Promise to the Saints
Rev. 21:1-7
“They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God….”
“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’”
When it comes to the book of Revelation, we usually feel and sense fear. That has been the general feeling for all, even for those who believe in God and have faith in Jesus Christ. Many of us do not want to read or even think about the book, as it seems to be difficult to understand and explain/interpret the meaning. Personally, I like to read and reflect on the first few chapters and take the clear and strong message given to the seven churches, a message that applies to the church today. Chapters 4 and are 5 are still OK, but when it comes to the opening of the seven seals, the beasts, the angels, etc. we think that we are doomed and terrified. And in a way we should be terrified, worried and concerned about the things that will happen. But we should not be much concerned about those things, even though it is important and necessary for us to understand as much as we can and grasp some idea.
Towards the end of the book, we read about the last part of John’s vision, when he saw “A new heaven and a new earth. He saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband”. This was a promise of eternal rest and joy in the holy presence of the Lord. A place where there will be no more tears and mourning, no more pain and suffering and no death. This promise is given for all those who put their trust in God and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That the Lord who was risen from the dead. No other words bring more comfort to a believer in the Lord than these. For the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead gives our lives meaning. This one event — two thousand years ago — defines who we are. It is the main reason that we have gathered here in the beautiful house of worship. Not beautiful because of its beautiful architecture, or the stained-glass windows—as beautiful as those things are. But beautiful because of what happens here every time we gather and worship and especially when we share together the Lord’s Table, as we will do today.
What happens here is nothing less than a miracle. Here is where God comes to us, to be with us Emmanuel. The creator of the universe comes to us in His Word, in song, in bread and wine. Here we find comfort from the evil world. Here all things are made new in Jesus Christ.
As we gather this morning, we think that the world has invaded our peace and our comfortable place. Some would say that “death has claimed one of our own.” But that’s not true. Death has no claim on us. Sure, it will claim our bodies, but death no longer has mastery over us because in Christ we are alive forever.
When we were baptised, we were actually dead. Paul says in Romans: “All of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3). We died with Christ. And “if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him” (v. 8-9).
God is making everything new. He is making us new as we move into a new phase of our lives; a little sadder, a little confused and frightened. But God is making us new and stronger in our faith in Christ – the faith that we confess mightily as a member of the body of Christ and the saints.
“He who was seated on the throne [also] said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’”
I don’t want to overlook this part of our text for it is full of comfort and hope. John was told to write down what he had heard from God because what he heard is trustworthy and true. Because of Christ’s life, death and resurrection, “the dwelling of God is with us, and he will live with us. We will be his people, and God himself will be with us and be our God. He 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” (Rev 21:3-4).
Here, God dwells among us until we die. When we die, we dwell with God forever in heaven. Here, tears will be shed. We will face death, mourning, crying, and pain – the old order of things. But here, we also hear of the wonderfully comforting Good News about Jesus and the new things He makes with His death and resurrection.
These words are trustworthy and true because these words are the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is making all things new. He is coming soon. That’s the promise.
The loud voice in the vision of John made clear that we will be His people and He himself will be with us for ever and be our God, to whom we can trust in any circumstance, be it pain, suffering, illness, stress, loss of a dear one, uncertain times, danger and terror of war. God is always with as and He will be always.
He also makes clear that there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away with Christ our Lord and Saviour. He orders John to write down these trustworthy and true words: “I am making everything new! It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To whom who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God, and he will be my son” (Rev. 21:5-7).
If we believe in God and accept Jesus as our Lord and personal saviour, then we are saints in the sight of God. A saint is the one who is declared a saint by God and given the inheritance promised in Ephesians when we were “marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13). A saint’s identity is assured by God through baptism and this identity cannot be changed or lost. We are declared saints; we are invited to live our lives in response to that fact. A saint is one who is faithful in all circumstances, one whose identity is not shaken by the daily circumstances, the ups and downs of life.
As the saints and the faithful people, we have the great promise of inheriting the Kingdom of God and becoming God’s people with everything new and the promise of eternal life.
As such, we have a great promise of a bright future with God, our Father, through His Son and Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
To whom be the glory for ever and ever!
Amen!