​When I was in year 5 at school, I had the BEST school teacher ever. Her name was 'Miss E' (short for Eagleton), she liked Winnie the Pooh (and so did I), and her mum went to my church. I loved being in her class. For a long time, I wanted to be a teacher, just like her. 

As I grew up, I became more concerned for the many young people who didn't have a faith in Jesus - now there's even young people in Australia who have never heard a proper story about Jesus (can you believe it?!). While I was still discerning where God might take me in my life during the University years - whether primary school or ministry - the big kicker for me was that I LOVED teaching the kids about Jesus. And the amazing thing about the message of Jesus is sharing the hope we have in Him. While I felt a special calling from God to share the good news with the next generation, the bible shows us a continual pattern of God's people taking on this job together too. 

As a nation, Israel was always looking to the next generation. Time and time again, they are reminded by God and their leaders not to be 'like their ancestors - a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God' (Ps. 78:8 - think that complaining 'wilderness' generation), but instead to look towards the next generation coming after them for the sole purpose of them trusting in the Lord (Ps. 78:6). Their job, as a whole nation, was to pass on the amazing things God had done for them, his special words and promises to them, and to teach their children there's a God who loves them. Their job was to keep 'growing young' and pass on the faith to the next generations. It didn't fall to just the parents of the one family, nor did the parents send them off to church and never speak about God at home... it was a whole-of-life passing-on-of-the-faith with the 'whole village' supporting one another. 

As we consider the good news Jesus brings - that anyone can enter the Kingdom of God through him - who are we looking to share that news with? Who are we passing on our faith to? Not just as individuals, but as a whole church. Together, how can we be 'growing young' and passing on our faith to the next generations? 

Can I encourage you to hold that question before God this week and pray about it, for it, and for each other. Pray that together, we may see this village here in Mount Eliza transformed with the good news of Jesus going out to all the generations. Amen. 

Amy

​What you think about matters! What you focus your mind on not only influences your decisions and your direction but can impact your brain and nervous system. Negative thinking will have a negative response, and positive thinking will have a loving and positive response which God has always planned for you. He made us to live in love, with positivity (faith), but this broken world in which we live influences us to think differently sometimes. Therefore, as Christians we are called to rejoice in God despite our circumstances. We are called to no longer conform to the ways of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2). In this week's bible passage, Paul teaches us that we are to be full of joy in the Lord no matter what circumstances we are in and think about/focus on; whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Phil 4:4-8). These thoughts will guide us in the ways God wants us to go. 

Remember he has good plans for you. Plans for a future and a hope. So, be deliberate in what you think about. As a person thinks in his/her heart, so he/she is.

I hope to see you this Sunday.

Rev Tanya Cummings

​When I was away on prayer retreat last year, God gave me the word "GROW" for this year. It has pressed on me since then and came to the fore on my annual leave break. I sense God is wanting me to grow personally, and each of our congregation to grow in God, and for our Church to Grow in numbers. We will lean more into this through our sermons next month. In the meantime, please dream and speak with me about what God might be calling us into, so we can grow!

This Sunday I'll be bringing a word from Philippians 2:12-18 which has challenged me. No doubt it will challenge us all to grow in our understanding of God's word and his good purposes for us. In this scripture it says; 
"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life"

Do these verses describe you? 
Do you have different standards of behaviour when you are with different people?
Is your faith in Jesus the driving force in your life?
Do your attitudes and words promote unity or dissension in our church community?
Is our church community an example of an orderly, harmonious society?
Is your light shining? Do you feel intimidated by non-believers?

These verses, which all of us who are Christians are called to live out, describe a challenging way to live which we can't do in our own strength. We need to obey the spirit's leading our lives in order to live as his blameless, pure children who represent him in this world. This is God's will for us, and he will give us everything we need for doing his good and perfect will.

He is with us, in us, and will help us. We just need to submit to him and grow!

I hope we all look like spiritual giants by the end of the year!

God bless you abundantly as you allow him to have his way in you.

Rev Tanya.

​As Christians we are constantly involved in spiritual battles. This Sunday, being Defence Sunday, I thought it would be good to look at what kind of character we need to have to win our battles, live the life God calls us to, and share the gospel with others.

I will remind you again that the gospel is about “making disciples” and according to Jesus we make disciples by teaching them to obey everything that he taught his disciples (Matthew 28). Paul reiterates this in his 2nd letter to Timothy where he passes on some principles that apply to all Christians because we all have a role in passing on to others what we have received from God.

As we look at 2 Timothy 2:3-7 together, we will see how we are to be like soldiers, athletes, and farmers. Each of these illustrate that the work of the gospel is strenuous, involving both labour and suffering.
Soldiers endure hardship, discipline, taking orders, and are removed from civilian life as part and parcel of being a soldier. No good soldier goes to war surrounded by luxuries and comfort. Soldiers experience and see unpleasant things. It is not a safe activity. Similarly, Christians should not expect an easy life. If we are loyal to the gospel, we will experience opposition, ridicule and “share in his sufferings”.

Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. We must pass on what we have received in obedience to Christ’s commands so at the end of our days we can say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, …. “

We also need to be like a farmer and work hard. We will then be rewarded with the first fruits of the Harvest. We must sow seeds of righteousness, because we will reap what we sow. And we need to open our eyes to see the harvest is plentiful and go out into the harvest field to do our work.

For us to be faithful to our Christian calling and for Mount Eliza Anglican church to grow, we need to be hard workers like farmers, disciplined like athletes, and have the dedication of a good soldier. As we do this, we will receive victory in our battles, the prize for the race run well, and a plentiful harvest to enjoy and give thanks for. Therefore, take courage! And give special thanks for all who have served and fought for our freedoms.

Lest we forget!

Rev Tanya

​On Monday afternoons, Amy and I have been reading the Gospel of Mark with two of our youth. I love reading the gospels and reflecting on the way Jesus made disciples. He chose Simon and Andrew to come follow him and taught them to make more disciples (followers) of Jesus. He also called James, John, then Levi and others to join them. Jesus took his team with him as he went out and taught people about the kingdom of God, healed people and set people free.
Jesus' message was good news and his popularity grew. More and more people started to follow him. Christianity (following Jesus) was a movement! It wasn't about going to church on Sunday. It was about sharing the good news about the kingdom of God in the local community. As a result, more and more people became Christians.
When my Nana was young, it seemed almost everyone went to church and that was their expression of being a Christian. They didn't necessarily make disciples though, and as a result church attendance has declined. Last week I sat with a network of local Church and community leaders, under the teaching of Phil Mc Creddan, principle of Ecclesia Leadership to ponder the decline in Church attendance, and what we ought to do, or not do, to be more relevant to our world today.
I don't have all the answers, but I think we are on the right track with trying to include more discipleship pathways in our Mission Action Plan. We need to get back to making disciples: one person, one relationship at a time, and helping people to grow in their understanding of God's Kingdom and what it means to be a follower of Jesus today.
I believe Jesus is calling his followers today to go back to the grass roots of Christianity and be disciples who make disciples, as he always intended. Jesus wants his followers to share the good news of His Kingdom with those around us. He wants to set people free from all that holds them back from living life as God intended, in relationship with him. He is still Goodnews in our post-modern, post-Christendom, western culture and context. 
The idea of going to church each week, like our grandparents did, may not appeal to younger generations, but they still need Jesus and the Hope he gives to us in this life and the next. Thats why I'm excited about HOPE 25, an initiative of the Anglican Diocese to help churches consider afresh how we can connect with the people around us and share the good news of Jesus with them.
At Synod, we spent half an hour with our teams, considering what the Church needs to change (let go of/take on) to make disciples of Jesus today. What do you think we need to do differently? 
How can we share the good news of Jesus in our local community/networks? 
Who are you discipling? It's up to every one of us to fulfil the call of Jesus on our lives. We are called to be disciples who make disciples, and when we do that, the church will grow.
I'm excited for our future, and I love being in this with you.

Yours in Christ,
Reverend Tanya Cummings

​"Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). I've quoted this bible verse to several people this week. This is an easy and non-threatening way to invite people to seek God for themselves and discover that he is good - all the time, even in the storms of life.

In Australia we are unlikely to be persecuted or suffer for sharing our faith, and yet many Christians here are complacent or frightened of rejection. We need to remember that Jesus said, "pick up your cross and follow me". This is an aspect of discipleship that we don't like to talk about much. None of us want to suffer and many of us fear rejection. The reality is that our neighbors and friends are likely to respond well if we share our faith and encourage faith in others in a gentle and respectful way. If we do happen to get an unpleasant response, we can turn our eyes to Jesus and be encouraged that we can be so identified with him. We need to be reminded to "Keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:1-3)

In other parts of the world, Christians face persecution and suffer like Jesus did. In some places they are killed, tortured, put in prison, and opposed. This is to be expected as Jesus said that the world hated him and if we follow Jesus, it will hate his followers too. This Sunday, we will hear more about this from our visiting speaker, Lachlan, from Barnabas Aid (another mission agency we support with our financial giving through MEAC). I hope you will join us. 

This week I pray we will all be emboldened to share our faith with those around us when opportunity arises. We need to always have an answer for the faith we have when people ask us. This is how people come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, and grow in maturity, one conversation at a time.

Are you ready to tell people that you have tasted (sought and come to know) the Lord, and know that he is good? Will you encourage others to taste him and come to know him for themselves? Are you willing to suffer for the gospel, if ever needed? Keeping your eyes on Jesus will enable you to endure anything you come up against.

God is with you and for you,
 
Reverend Tanya Cummings

God is such a generous giver of good gifts. Last Sunday John preached an awesome word, encouraging us to eagerly desire intimate relationship with God and the gifts of the spirit. May God grant each of us our hearts desire to know him more and serve him and others well with the gifts he provides.
This week we consider the greatest gift of all. Love! In Corinthians 13 Paul says that without love, all our other gifts and works are useless. Love needs to be the motivation for everything we do. It needs to be demonstrated in the way we serve and interact as God’s people.
Together, we need to be a community who are seeking to live out Jesus' invitation to “love one another” because we know that it's by acts of love and grace that we will be witnesses to and transform our world. As Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr famously said: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Love is powerful!
The best news is that Love is a gift that all have access to. This “gift” isn’t limited to the privileged or elite. It isn’t a gift that is only available to the educated or those with the right color skin. Instead, the poor, the uneducated, the disadvantaged … in fact everyone could embrace and practice what Paul calls the greatest gift … love. This is both our privilege and our mission … to love unconditionally and relentlessly. I wonder where and how God might be calling you to show love in action?
This Sunday we will have a visiting preacher (Gemma) from FUSION, where she helps to provide homeless youth with a place to belong and receive love and support. As a Church we show our support for FUSION with our prayers, financial giving, food/grocery donations, and on November 9 we are planning a Trivia Night to raise funds to support the work of FUSION. Mark your diaries now and plan to join us. We can all join together to show love in action and make this world a better place for many. We do this out of love for God and others, because he loved us first!

God loves you and so do I (as do many others).

Reverend Tanya Cummings
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