cccaust connect magazine april 2015

APRIL 2O15

THE QUIETSTRENGTH OF APEACEFUL LEADER

INSIDE 2 Chairman’s Report | 6 Engaging Community | 7 Faith and Finances | 8 New Church Plant

by Gordon MacDonald

Iknew a pastor—he’s gone now—who was dearly loved by hiscongregation. From the children to

the elderly in the church, there was auniversal affection and respect for thisman.

When I asked one of his churchmembers why their pastor was sohighly regarded, she said, “We love himbecause he’s a peaceful leader.”

‘Are you a peaceful leader who touchespeople, or a visionary who uses them?’

Asked to define peaceful leader, shesaid, “Read Psalm 23 and you get apicture of a peaceful leader and asecure flock. Green pastures, quietwaters, refreshed souls, correct paths,care in the moment of danger. That’sthe evidence of a peaceful leader.”

Soon after that exchange, I talked withmy pastor-friend and related what I’d

heard. Had he always been like that, Iasked? A peaceful leader?

His answer: “Peaceful? Not at all. When Ibegan my ministry, I thought my workwas all about big vision, sizable crowds,impressive programs. I constantlypressed the people for more of this,more of that. For a while the peopleloved it. But would they have called mea peaceful leader? No way.”

“What changed?”

Why an unlikely trait has such powerful effects.CO

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The world wants totell us that we are tolook out forourselves first, thatwe should do it ourown way, and thatwe must ask “What isin it for me?” prior to

any commitment or action. The noise ofthese mantras is unavoidable. Wecannot avoid hearing, no to unity, no tocooperation, no to serving others. Dowe avoid the doing?

At the February CCCAust teamgathering in Melbourne we reflected onthree contrasting words which shoulddefine the nature of our movement –Unity, Synergy, and Service.

We believe in one united trinitarianGod. We believe the Father is one withthe Son.1 We believe we are similarlycalled to reflect this unity as a sign of

Christ’s love for the world.2 Unity ismission. By implication our missionaleffectiveness as churches is connectedto our unity. Our desire as a network ofchurches is to be known above all elseas churches which encourage, support,and love one another, having theinterests of the other at heart.3

Being others focussed leads torelationship, relationship leads tounified hearts, which leads to one spiritand purpose. A shared purpose leads toa loving desire to work together for thebuilding and the maturing of all, as eachcontributes its part.4 Synergy advancesmission. Our mission and ministry willbe strengthened by the degree towhich we work together. Our desire is toseek wherever possible a synergybetween the gifts of our people, ourchurches, and our organisations so thatthe body of Christ is strengthened forservice to the glory of God.

Being unified we want to work together.And in synergy we want to serve Godthrough serving others. Our service is tobe marked by two dimensions. Firstly, itis marked by a dimension of sacrifice,the extent of which is set forth in theobedient death of Christ. Secondly, it ismarked by a goal dimension.Sacrificially serving God and othersdoes not end until we all find maturityin Christ, when Christ returns.

In the face of a world that is bent onloving itself – unity, synergy and servicestand in contrast. The desire and urgenttask of us all is to encourage unity andsynergy and to serve all together forChrist, as a visible sign that God lovesthe world.

David Smith

1 John 10:30; 2 John 17:23; 3 Philippians 2:1-5; 4 Ephesians 4:16

CHAIRMAN’SREPORT

2 Connect April 2015


Lydia’s stream is the place wherethey think that the first woman andperson in Europe was baptised. I

had been thinking about being baptisedfor a while so I decided that I would do iton the trip.

To me baptism means a few things. It isa call of obedience because the Bibletells us to be baptised. But moreimportantly to me it is a declaration. It isa declaration that I have made thedecision to trust in God and to befaithful to him.

I was christened when I was only 2 or 3months old – however I felt that thiswas my parents decision and it didn’trepresent any faith that I had or anydecision I had made. Regardless I amgrateful to them for making thatdecision. And so on the 15th of April2014, I was baptised in Lydia’s streambecause of my own decision.

I didn’t spend a lot of time at churchwhen I was growing up, but I havealways known that a God existed andthat he was in control of our world. Ican’t explain to you where that beliefcame from; I don’t remember anybodysitting me down and telling me this. Tome it has always made sense, alwaysbeen obvious that God must exist. Andif you had asked me, I would have toldyou that I was a Christian. I waschristened as an Anglican and I believedthat God must exist so surely that mademe a Christian.

When I was about 15 a friend and Istarted questioning this idea ofChristianity. I soon realised that I reallydid not know anything about what itmeans to be a Christian. I had no ideawhat that Bible thing said, and mypicture of Jesus was the ceramic baby inour nativity set. I decided that if Iwanted to continue to call myself aChristian I needed to know more, andmore importantly I needed to know if Ibelieved everything that Christians sayis true. So when I was 16 I started going

to church, but with the pressure of year12 I was happy to leave my deep andmeaningful questions at the back of myhead and passively sit through a sermonevery 3rd or 4th Sunday, pretty sure thatI could call myself a Christian.

And then I got to university. I went to afew Christian Union events and quicklydiscovered that compared to the othersthere, I knew nothing. I knew aboutAdam and Eve and the fig leaves, I knewabout Noah’s ark, and I knew about thebaby Jesus in the manger. But ofAbraham and Solomon and stories ofJesus cursing fig trees and curingleprosy…? And did you know thatJonah and the whale is actually Biblical?

So then I decided that I couldn’t be aChristian. I decided that I simply wasn’ta Christian because I didn’t know thesestories that everyone else did. But thatwasn’t the right way of thinking either.

Being a Christian isn’t about knowingthe Bible off by heart, or having adegree in theology. No - I wasn’t aChristian because I didn’t trust in whatChrist had done for me. I didn’tunderstand what it meant to say “JesusChrist died on the cross for my sins.” Soafter questioning everything, readingand rereading things, after repeating

the phrase “yeah… but” so many times,after looking at scientific evidence forthe flood that Noah survived,mathematical evidence for theprobability that God exists and theprobability that this universe could haveformed as it did without his presence,historical evidence for the existence ofJesus, and most importantly the Biblicalevidence of what he has done for us - Imade the decision to trust in him anddedicate my life to him. And that’s whatit means to me, to call yourself aChristian.

And today I don’t go to church out offear of punishment if I don’t. I don’tspend so much time going to ChristianUnion and Bible studies because peopleexpect me to. And I certainly don’tbelieve what I do because someone toldme that it’s true. I go to church because Iam thankful for what God has done forme and I want to celebrate that. I attendBible studies, because I want to learnmore and to grow. And I believe what Ido because even after all my doubt andquestioning and critical analysis - I stillbelieve that Christ is the truth.

Jessica BilsonDuncraig Christian FellowshipWestern Australia

TESTIMONY JESSICA BILSON

Just before we went on our Perth Bible College trip to Greece and Turkey, ourlecturer asked if anyone would like to be baptised at Lydia’s stream near Philippi.

April 2015 Connect 3


“Well, one day I had two unexpected,very painful encounters that forced meto see myself through the eyes ofothers.

”The first occurred when I visited afamily from our church. As I pulled up totheir home, I saw the family’s youngestchild, a girl maybe 5 years old, playingin the front yard. I said to her, ‘Could yougo inside and tell your mommy anddaddy that the pastor is here?’

“She ran for the house,” he went on,“and when she got inside, I heard heryell, ‘Mommy, Mommy, the angry manwho shouts in church is here.’

“Her words shook me. To her I was anangry man, a shouter. That’s not apeaceful leader. Was that what I wantedchildren to think of me?

“Then, a few hours later, I bumped intoan elderly couple at church. I begantalking about a new building project wewere considering. Suddenly thehusband interrupted me: ‘Pastor, canyou take a thought from an old man?’

“’Of course,’ I said, thinking he wasgoing to say something nice about me.

“‘I sometimes wonder if there’s a quietpart in you,’ he said.

“‘A quiet part’? What do you mean?

”‘Every time we see you, you seem allwound up, talking about projects andprograms. You speak of Jesus only inyour sermons, not in conversations.Maybe some people like that. But we’reup in years, and we’d like to know thatour pastor has a quiet side where Jesuswhispers into his life for the benefit ofothers.’”

Peaceful leaders offer a fresh view ofJesus because he is embedded in theircharacter.

My friend paused and then said: “Twopowerful rebukes in two hours. A littlegirl who thought I was a shouter and anold man who didn’t see much of Jesusin me. When I told my wife what hadhappened, she said, ‘Maybe heaven isspeaking through those two. Perhapsit’s time to think about the kind ofleader you’re becoming. Are youbecoming a peaceful leader whoconnects with people or anorganizational leader who uses them?’”

Then my pastor-friend said to me, “Ifwhat you say has any truth to it—thatnow I am perceived as a peacefulleader—that was the day things beganto change. A child and an old manstarted the ball rolling.”

That conversation happened manyyears ago, and the memory of itreturned the other day when I watcheda small boy on TV approach PopeFrancis, wrap his arms around the HolyFather’s legs, and receive anaffectionate pat on his head. Then thechild climbed up on the papal throne asif it were his to own. What did this childsense about the Pope that caused himto feel free to do that?

I thought of the young school teacherin the Oklahoma tornado who gatheredher class in a small interior closet and inthe most frightening moments kepttelling the children, “It’s almost over; it'salmost over.”

Then there was the teacher during theNewtown, Connecticut, schoolshootings who kept saying to herchildren—also in a closet—“I love every

one of you; I love every one of you."Later she told a reporter, "If thosechildren were going to die, I didn't wantit to happen without them hearing thatsomeone loved them."

These are peaceful leaders.

Peaceable role models

When I search the Scriptures for peoplewho model peacefulness, I always endup with one early church leader at thetop of my list.

Joseph—aka Encouragement or“Barnabas”—first appeared amongbelievers as a model of exuberantgenerosity. He later appeared as theone who brokered reconciliationbetween Jerusalem's Christian leadersand the one-time persecutor, Saul ofTarsus. Without Barnabas, there wouldhave been no Saul of Tarsus as we knowhim.

It was Barnabas who was sent toAntioch to discern the nature of anupstart church plant that dared to mixthe races. Once there, he stuck aroundand helped firm up the congregation.And, of course, he brought Saul into theleadership. Absent Barnabas, therewould have been no mature Antiochchurch.

It was Barnabas who teamed up withSaul (soon to be Paul) for the firstknown missionary expedition. Andwhen it became appropriate, it wasBarnabas who stepped back into thenumber two position on the missionaryteam. The man knew how to positionhimself to be maximally helpful.

And it was Barnabas who advocated foryoung John Mark, defending his needfor a second chance at missionary life.And Barnabas stood his ground whenPaul said no. Paul, it turned out, waswrong!

In all of these scenes, Barnabas is thequintessential peaceful man. Generous,caring, bridging, encouraging, teaching,mercy-giving.

Can I point out a peaceful leader in theOld Testament? It’s Abigail, who, whenwe first meet her, is married to a loutnamed Nabal. The back story records

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some culturally-defined insults that led to a momentwhen the somewhat impetuous, soon-to-be-king, Daviddetermined to kill Nabal. Had David succeeded, it is likelythat he would never have gone on to be the king ofIsrael. In his need to win, he would have started aperpetual blood feud and never gotten past it.

Credit Abigail for intuiting all of this. Confronting David,she spoke so persuasively that his anger was stilled andhe backed off.

David, acknowledging his debt to Abigail said, “Praise beto the Lord God of Israel who has sent you today to meetme. May you be blessed for your good judgment and forkeeping me from bloodshed this day and from avengingmyself with my own hands.”

Soon after, Nabal died—maybe from a heart attack or astroke. And later, Abigail became the cherished wife ofDavid. I don’t understand all the dynamics of theDavid/Abigail story, but she led a volatile situation to apeaceful resolution.

Peaceful leaders are not shrill, easily angered, or quick totake sides. They are not name-callers or slanderers.Peaceable people listen and discern and insist thatothers be heard. Peaceful leaders do not divide people,they unite them.

When St. Francis of Assisi heard that Christians in Europewere cobbling an army to go kill Muslims, he took itupon himself to sail to Egypt, cross the battlefield, andspend several days with the Muslim Caliph whom hetried to convert to Christianity. He was unsuccessful. Buthe made a good friend. And although his peace-missionfailed, at least Francis tried. He tried!

Today—eight centuries later—we live with the legacy ofthe so-called Crusaders who, unlike Francis, preferred thewar option. Only one man, Francis, advocated for peace.

What peaceful leaders produce

When peaceable leaders are present, people thinkhigher and more noble thoughts. As Paul writes: “Rejoice… be gentle … don’t be anxious … be thankful andbring your requests to God. And the peace of God whichtranscends all understanding will guard your hearts andminds in Christ Jesus.”

There is something about peaceful leaders that makesyou feel safe to open your heart. There are no out-of-bounds questions. Peaceful leaders absorb anger and donot respond to it. They do not push or promotethemselves.

In short: peaceful leaders offer a fresh view of Jesusbecause he is embedded in their character andpersonality.

Copyright © 2014 Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Used by permission.

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Together”



Combined with other relatedstories over the years, it becameapparent that the church was a

significant orchestrator of communityevents in the past. As most of us wouldbe aware the church is no longer themain orchestrator of community eventsdue to the subsequent development ofthe entertainment industry and otherfactors.

Whilst many churches grapple with howthey can reconnect with thecommunity, Christian CommunityChurches in Victoria and Tasmania(CCCVaT) has witnessed the birth of twoprograms that offer churches theopportunity of engaging thecommunity at a grass roots level.

One is the National School ChaplaincyProgram (NSCP); initially funded by theFederal Government to employchaplains in schools to assist with thewellbeing of students, teachers andparents; not to be confused with SpecialReligious Instruction (SRI).

This program has enabled schoolchaplains to provide significant supportfor students, parents and teachers andwe have not heard of any school

principal that does not highly valuetheir support.

In recognition of the value of thisprogram, CCCVaT established CCCVaT –School Support Services (CCCVaT SSS)to employ school chaplains in schools inclose proximity to the churches CCCVaTserves. Currently CCCVaT SSS employseight chaplains in ten primary/secondary schools. Through thisprogram CCCVaT is and will be callingupon local churches to assist schoolchaplains in their role; as well asproviding support for communityprograms hosted by the school andimplementing programs designed toaid and assist students. Some of theseinclude breakfast programs, Kids Hope,teaching students to drive and pairingstudents set upon a career path withpersons employed in the profession.

The other program is run by SportsChaplaincy Australia (SCA), employingsports chaplains in sporting clubs toassist with the wellbeing of players,parents and club personnel. Once againthese sports chaplains are doing anamazing job in a very challengingenvironment. SCA hosts informationsessions for churches to demonstrate

the effectiveness of this program andtrains persons from the church willingto serve as a sports chaplain. The persondoes not need to possess a love of sportor be skilled in the related disciplines,just have a heart to assist players copewith life. Many of the churches CCCVaTserves are beginning to recognise thevalue of this program and have calledupon SCA to assist them to becomeinvolved (refer related article from SCA).

Both these programs offer churches anopportunity to engage with thecommunity at a grass roots level andare having a positive impact on the livesof those served, for the kingdom, theirspiritual wellbeing and salvation.

To determine how your church mayassist school chaplains, first contact theschool to discover if the school employsa school chaplain and, if so, request ifyou can meet with him/her to volunteeryour support. This support can varyfrom deploying volunteers for manningprograms as detailed, to providingfinancial and staffing support forcommunity events hosted by theschool, to providing funds for theschool to employ the chaplain for moredays than covered by the governmentprogram, etc.

If the school does not have a schoolchaplain then encourage it to consideremploying one. CCCVaT SSS hasmaterial you are welcome to use tosubstantiate the value of this role. Notehowever, most of the funding for thecurrent four year program has beenallocated by the various stategovernments which would require yourchurch or a collection of benefactors tofund the chaplain’s employment in thevicinity of $20K p/a.

To enquire about SCA’s sportschaplaincy program visit:http://sportschaplaincy.com.au/contact

Listening to the radio prior to Anzac Day one year,where the radio host had invited war widows to call inand relate their stories about the man they had marriedand lost in the Second World War, one striking aspectof their stories was the claim most had met at acommunity dance organised by their local church.

HOW TO ENGAGE COMMUNITY!



“The earth is theLord’s, and everythingin it.” Psalm 24:1

The idea of stewardship isfound throughout theBible as a key theme for Christian living.

As believers, we are entrusted byGod with time, talents, moneyand other resources. Our role is

to be good and faithful servants withthese resources.

This regular column will explore thepractical matters of being faithfulstewards. How can we manage ourfinances rather than feeling controlledby them? What does financial freedomlook like? How can we build our savingsand be generous givers?

Of course stewardship is about morethan having a budget or giving

generously. Stewardship is an attitudethat permeates all of life – an attitudethat we can prayerfully cultivate andnurture in our hearts through the workof the Holy Spirit.

Our vision is to see people living withfinancial health and understanding. Wehope that you will find the contentthought-provoking and encouraging, as

you seek to grow in financialstewardship and manage your moneywith wisdom.

Tim MacreadyChief Investment Officer

www.christiansuper.com.au

FAITH AND FINANCES




CCCAust Newsletter | E: [email protected] Box 573 Riverstone, NSW 2763 T: 02 8006 9569

Contributing Editors: Ross Bunyon, Dan Proctor, David Smith, Len Smith, Jeff Spencer

If you would like to make any comments or submit material for this newsletter, kindly contact Dan Proctor on the details above.Layout and printing: Michael Bull (02) 4782 1000 Member of Katoomba Gospel Chapel

It’s been just over a year and a halfsince the Ballina Church started thenew church at Wollongbar. It wasn’t

an easy decision to make as thefellowship at Ballina was very preciousand from our point of view we had awell-balanced church as far as giftingand our activities were concerned.

Starting in Wollongbar would mean wewould both be considerably weaker, butwe went ahead because we believedwithout a doubt it was what Godwanted. In the Lord’s work, you can’t

always look at things from an idealhuman perspective – God has anagenda and He wants us to workalongside Him to accomplish it. So eventhough from the start both churcheswere weaker, the God who had blessedus was still with us in both places.

It hasn’t always been an easy time.We’ve both had our struggles, but we’vealso both experienced blessing withpeople coming to the Lord in bothchurches. One thing that has been veryclear is that the God who was blessing

and encouraging us when we weregathered as one church is continuing tobless and encourage as we serve Him intwo churches.

In Ballina we have especially beenencouraged over the last few months.The Sunday before Christmas we hadour annual Carols at church, but thisyear decided to have it under the stars.It was a great night with around 120people present, half of which don’tcome to church. That was exciting andthe result is that we now believe theLord is leading us to commenceoutdoor BBQs and gospel presentationsfrom people’s yards in the suburbaround the church. We’re also able tostart a couple more Bible studies withunsaved people who are keen to knowmore about the Lord and His greatsalvation. So things are happening andwe praise God that he is wanting to useus even though we’re small and prettyweak – but that’s what He does, isn’t it?

We would value prayer that we will befaithful to our Lord in what He has calledus to. And one other specific thing wewould value prayer for is for the peoplewe need to continue to serve God in theway He wants us to. We are losing somegreat young people as they move awayfor various reasons; we pray they will bea blessing where the Lord leads them,but we are going to feel their absence.Thanks for taking the time to read thisarticle and pray for us.

Allan Moss, Elder, Ballina Bible Centre

Greetings! Here is a brief account of what’s beenhappening with Ballina Bible Centre, including anexciting report about the ‘birth’ of their new churchplant, Wollongbar Christian Church.

EXCITING NEW CHURCH PLANT IN WOOLONGBAR!


cccaust connect magazine april 2015

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