It s Harvest Time! TGW Weekly Newsletter 03 September 2014

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1 It s Harvest Time! TGW Weekly Newsletter 03 September 2014 The Fields are Ripe So let s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up or quit. (John 4:35, Gal 6:9 MSG) Whether you are engaged in preparing worship for others, or simply worshipping yourself, may these words inspire and encourage you this week. Our worship is rooted in who God is and in God s purposes. We worship because it is natural to respond to the mystery that irradiates life. We know God to be holy and pure, just and true, compassionate and loving. God is worthy to receive our praise and acclaim, worthy of our listening ears and offered hearts. The worth-ship of God is the origin of human worship! We also worship because we are created to reflect and glorify the One in whose image we are made. Eastern Christians believe we are most truly ourselves when we glorify God, finding our perfection and fulfilment in worship. Worship ushers us into the presence of the living God and demands the attention, receptivity, and response of our whole being. It asks us to disengage from the nose-length focus of daily life and see below the surface to life s source. W can then reengage the realities of the world from a deeper and clearer perspective. Worship from the heart. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:29-30). When Jesus Identifies this great commandment, he sets worship at the center of human life. Worship, as full hearted love of God, is meant to permeate our lives. Private or public, it is always first and foremost a matter of the heart. Taken from Soul Feast by Marjorie J Thompson. Denise Parkinson (Major)

2 MORNING PRAYER Eternal God, early in the morning, before we begin our work, We praise your glory. Renew our bodies as fresh as the morning flowers. Open our inner eyes, as the sun casts new light upon the darkness Which prevailed over the night. Deliver us from captivity. Give us wings of freedom like the birds in the sky, to begin a new journey. Restore justice and freedom, as a mighty stream Running continuously as day follows day. We thank you for the gift of this morning, And a new day to work with you. Taken from Septembers Online Retreat s Devotions which can be accessed via the Bulletin Board SAFE SALVOS AWARENESS TRAINING 21 September 2014 Blacktown Salvation Army 2 Kempsey Street Blacktown 1pm - 5pm BYO lunch, light afternoon tea provided Cost $10pp Places are limited. RSVP nicole.viles@aue.salvationarmy.org no later than Monday 15 September SALVATION ARMY YOUNG ADULTS SURVEY In an attempt to seek feedback from Young Adults to address the issue with the declining numbers of Young Adults within The Salvation Army, the territory have established a quick survey. BRAIN TEASER surveymonkey.com/s/bx9dsr8 If you have young adults in your church, could you please make them aware of this and encourage them to participate. (The link can also be found on facebook) Which English word keeps the same pronunciation even if you take away four of its five letters? Answer on following page

3 BLUE KNOT DAY Calling all Faith Based Communities! If you are a member of a faith-based community, we ask your community to consider holding a special service in support of Blue Knot Day If not a service, maybe a moment's silence, or perhaps both. REGISTER YOUR SERVICE.. On Blue Knot Day ASCA asks all communities to unite in support of the 5 million Australian adult survivors of childhood trauma. Blue Knot Day will be celebrated on Monday 27th October, 2014 and activities will be held in the week from October 27 to November Register your service to enable as many community members to attend as possible. If you wish to fundraise in support of Blue Knot Day, set up a personalised fundraising page for your service through our Blue Knot Day. For all your information and application forms, download your FREE Information Pack by clicking HERE or visit the ASCA website. FIRST AID COURSE The course will be delivered via a flexible delivery format, which includes a pre course workbook that takes 3-4 hours + a one day face to face training. This replaces the need to do 2 full days of face to face. Generally the pre course workbook covers much of the theory and knowledge and the face to face is more practical oriented. Reaccredited Format If you have a current First Aid Cert (one that has not expired), simply attend the face to face day + bring with you current First Aid Certificate. The cost is $150 per person. UPCOMING DATES FOR DIVISIONAL LEADERS SEPTEMBER 4th - Southern Highlands Corps Mission Appraisal 8 10th Wider Cabinet 18-28th Divisional Leaders Furlough OCTOBER 15th - Retired Officers Devonshire Tea 16th - Appointment Announcement WOW BRAIN TEASER ANSWER Queue A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 For further information please contact: Christine Pegram (Youthlink) on st - TGW Divisional Review In 1901 the Australian flag is flown for the first time.

4 For The Couch Project this year THQ has created a Sydney wide sleepover event to be held at Parramatta Salvation Army on the 19th September (last day of school term). YOUTHLINK FUNDRAISERS BBQ AT BUNNINGS MINCHINBURY 19th September Parra Salvation Army - 34 Smith St Parramatta 7pm - 7am $10 entry cost (includes food truck dinner) Must be signed up to The Couch Project online: in order to attend the night will educate our youth on what its really like to be homeless - there will be dramas, short 7minute talk, interactive activities, videos, opportunity to speak to a youth worker, and hopefully some actual sleeping. Thursday 11th September 8am- 4pm Great Western Hwy, Minchinbury SAUSAGE SIZZLES AT CAFÉ HORIZONS ST MARYS & CABRAMATTA Friday 12th September 10am -2:30pm St Marys We also hope to have some fundraising initiatives involved during the night: 40 Phillip St, St Marys Cabramatta the highest fundraisers by 11pm AEST will be rewarded with VIP sleeping areas - including couches, mattresses etc the highest amount raised by any youth group will when the famous red couch seen in all couch project promotional materials. any individual who raises $200 or more will receive a Onesie and bedsocks for free. 219 Cabramatta Rd W, Cabramatta SAUSAGE SIZZLE AT CAFÉ HORIZONS ST MARYS Saturday 13th September 10:30am - 2:30pm last year Parramatta youth group raised over $1000 for this cause and we are excited about the potential fundraising total if we combine all Salvos youth groups! 40 Phillip St, St Marys For more information contact Jess Lucas at THQ

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6 I wanted to share with you this powerful devotional presented at the Nepean Hub Strategic Team Meeting last Wednesday. Erik and Amanda are the Family Ministry Coordinators for the Nepean, and are bringing great direction to this role. Erik has given permission for this message from God to be shared. I found it very challenging. Denise Parkinson 1 Corinthians 9:19 23 (NIV) 19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God s law but am under Christ s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. You know what it s like. Sometimes we have read things so many times, we almost get immune to what they are really saying. What was once radical and shocking becomes all too familiar. I have been reminded and particularly challenged by these few verses lately. As someone who identifies with the Apostle Paul in more ways than one, I can relate to where he comes from. Like him, I was radically saved from the other team - not Team Indifference but Team Actively-Persecuting-the-Believers. And I remember my untamable zeal. Zeal for His House truly consumed me. I would sit down and pray for people on buses to be saved. I would organise Matthew parties for my pagan, atheist and communist friends to mix with my Christian friends, maybe even to set them up to date to save if I had to. I would always carry at least one Bible with me at all times. I would lock myself up in my room and desperately pray in tongues for my family s salvation until my voice failed. I would pray for God to override people s wills and make them show up at the door, leaving them with no other option. I would sing my heart out in the shower in praise and worship (not always a blessing, trust me!). I would read through the Bible in a month. I would try anything and everything. What did I have to lose? I have hopefully grown since then and have learnt many things along the way over the course of the last 15 years or so. I am hopefully more well-rounded, but I don t think Paul is particularly concerned with balance right here. Look, there are times when perhaps he would be concerned with just that, but I truly believe he is calling us to think radically outside of the box here. God wants to do exceedingly, abundantly, above anything that we can even think, dream or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Let s dream as big as He is! Let s dream dreams, have visions and make plans that need God to be able to be fulfilled. And let our motivation be salvation. The lost. What s that first part of our name again? Are we the quasi-military troops of balanced and dignified Christianity? No, we are The Salvation Army. And I believe here Paul is about as militant and focused on the Cause as it gets: To win as many as possible. To win those under the law. To win those who do not have the law. To win the weak. And finally, and climactically, to become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. This is radical missionary stuff. And if anything is about others, it is this! It is about being willing to break down the walls, about being Jesus hands and feet, about realising we are not all that different, about being set apart and holy, yes, but not ever losing touch with the world. It s about daring to walk a mile in someone else s shoes and not letting judgement get the better of us and ruin our witness. It is about breaking down the big wall of hostility between us and them. And, have we really exhausted all possible means yet? If Christ would return tomorrow, can we say we have ticked every box? Have we let our creative juices work overtime, or do we just do what we have always done? I believe Paul is saying here he reserved the right do things differently every time if the situation called for it. He would adapt, he would learn lessons along the way, but he would also rid himself of unnecessary garbage. He would go to almost extreme lengths not to be a stumbling block. He even had poor Timothy circumcised for this very reason! Continued...

7 By all possible means and to win as many as possible. Friends, is this also our constant concern and preoccupation in all that we do, plan for and in what we are about? Roberto de Nobili, an early Italian missionary to India, I believe really grasped this, when he proposed a radically new form of incarnational mission which was rare at the time when colonial mindsets were incredibly hard to break. He famously said: Indians do need the water of life, but not in a European cup! And this was certainly not the easiest way, but it was without a doubt the one least shrouded in prejudice and clouded by own personal preference. Are we willing to give up some of our rights and our precious little wrongs for the sake of the gospel? We are going to need to be to truly be The Salvation Army. It is important to note, too, that when Paul talks about becoming a Jew to the Jews and a Greek to the Greeks, he is most definitely not talking about a strategy of following the path of least resistance. He is not describing the lifestyle of someone desperate to fit in, be liked, popular and accepted. He does not give us a license to use these few verses as a legitimation for our own fearful and anxious desire to be accepted, fashionable and cool. Though we do need plenty of cool Christians to reach the cool, we also need plenty of dags, misfits and bogans to reach the world around us. Rather, Paul is talking about something quite Christ-like - about a sacrificial willingness to do the things that don t feel comfortable, to go to places which he doesn t find it easy to go to, and to do it all in the deliberate pursuit of the salvation of others. How far are you willing to go for the sake of the mission, for the sake of the lost? I want you to hear, well, Jesus really, and experience his heart for lost humanity, but I also want you to allow Paul to disturb, irritate and unsettle you. I want you to hear Paul as he rages against safe faith and any risk-free missions we may have set up. I want you to see before you a Paul who would go anywhere, do anything to cross any barrier for the sake of the mission, for the sake of the lost. And if you get tired of Paul s voice, or mine, or if ever we get stuck in a cost benefit or missional benefit analysis, I would also like to leave you with the following words from Catherine Booth: "While we have been standing upon our dignity, whole generations have gone to hell! if the Bible is true. How much longer shall we stand there? If Jesus had stood upon His dignity He would never have come to die between two thieves. The whole work of redemption is a work of humiliation, self sacrifice, and suffering; and if we are not willing to follow Him in that, we may as well give up professing His name. Lord Jesus, may you give us the courage to walk in your footsteps, to follow you wherever you lead. Embolden us, lead us and help us to walk into unchartered territory, far removed from our comfort zones, and to do it all for the sake of the lost. Amen.

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