A Christian disciple is someone who follows Jesus Christ. As they follow Jesus they learn from him and take on his way of life. When we talk about discipleship, we refer to the ongoing call to growth which is laid before all followers of Jesus (Eph 4:15; Col 1:28; 2 Thess 1:3). This growth is really the outward expression of our ongoing growth in holiness or our ‘sanctification’. It is an expression of our ongoing transformation...
My father-in-law was an avid gardener! Not only did he cultivate acres of vegetables and greenhouses full of tomatoes and cucumbers, he had a knack and reputation for growing healthy young starter plants from seeds. I knew this firsthand. See, as a teenager, before I was married, I spent many weekends in the spring working for him in the greenhouses. He kept reminding me, since my name was Jacob, that if I was ever to marry his daughter Jeannie, like the...
PrayerPoints2015.pdf LettertoSessions2015.pdf
As churches we have committed ourselves to pray for the lost. This is our first task: "To call upon God for such an outpouring of his Spirit that his people will be assured of his love through his Word, seek to please the Saviour in all things, manifest the godly life and be filled with prayerful and sacrificial compassion for the lost in all the world."
The power of the gospel! This is what the apostle Paul reminded the church in Colossae. He wrote to them: "All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth." (Colossians 1:6) Bearing fruit and growing! As churches of the CRCA we believe this to be our God given mission here in Australia:...
One of my favourite spots in Brisbane is the Botanic Gardens near Mt Coot-tha. There you can wander through moist bamboo groves and arid areas that look a whole lot like sub-Sahara Africa. There are waterfalls, a tropical greenhouse, and the largest collection of Australian native rainforest trees in the world. But the best parts of the gardens are the resting spots. I love gardens like the Brisbane Botanic Gardens where you can...
