Pure Spiritual Milk
“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation — if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good”
1 Peter 2: 2-3
You can be part of bringing pure spiritual milk to our children in Corio. Bus Stop Cafe runs three days per week at school pick up time. Around 50 children race into the little cafe set up in the church. Each day we use around 9 litres of milk for the hot chocolates we give away for each child who completes a Jesus challenge. And this ministry is really working. A little girl declared to her mother last week, “I love Jesus!” You can help provide this pure spiritual milk by funding the milk we use for our 50 hot chocolates per day.
You can help us serve 150 Hot Chocolates per week requiring 30 Litres of milk per week. That comes to $45 per week. Bringing Pure Spiritual Milk to 150 children per week. Simply CLICK here to donate NOW!
Pop Up Church
Kiri was the MC again and did a great job spontaneously eliciting a testimony from Rob about being set free from drugs by God. Cora shared her testimony which was so powerful and she sang some moving songs. The One in Christ crew brought a gigantic pot of soup for everyone and we gave away hand knitted beanies. I preached on the reason why we’re called Little Miracles. That is because we guarantee little miracles when we pray together in faith and love in Jesus’ name. I can’t promise big miracles, but I can promise little miracles.
Holiday
Christine and I went to Bali for 10 days to escape the cold and relax. It was so lovely and we read a few books. I read a book about preaching by Andy Stanley (below).
Bus Stop Cafe
After our holiday in Bali, we opened the cafe in week 2 of Term 3 instead of week
1. We didn’t realise how much trouble this would cause some parents whose children kept asking to go to the Hot Chocolate place! We opened strongly from the Gospel of Luke with John the Baptist and to record numbers of children and parents: 160 in the first week! In the second week Christine launched a new phase of sewing – pyjamas and two migrant women came. It was so fun with her new overlocker!
God’s Abundant Provision
As a mission leader, you can imagine that one of my key concerns is provision. Like you, I can choose my opinion, my attitude or my focus about the issues I face. Regarding the provision for Little Miracles, I can choose the way I see it. My choice is to see this like King David saw things: God is present, willing and able to do more than we can think or imagine for the completion of His plans. This is the wisest stance I can deduce. It is certainly better than complaining or acting as if God does not have the power or will to adequately resource us.
Notwithstanding this, God usually sustains His blessed missions on a shoestring according to my reading of missions history. Contemplating this recently on a camping trip, I was reading Matthew 6: 25 – 26, where Jesus says:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
I asked the Lord, what can I learn from these birds? How do they demonstrate Jesus’ teaching? I noticed a few things:
1. They are focussed on collecting the resources they need for the day.
2. They do this together with certainty and joy and look great.
So I’m trying to copy the birds, as Jesus said. Be confident of God’s abundant provision, but keep looking for resources.
Unsettled to preach
What an honour to be invited to preach at Impact Church Geelong! But I told the pastor I’m unsettled about preaching. This is because of my background in teaching English as a second language. In this field we see that learning occurs when people struggle through the subject matter in a personal way. Not when they listen to someone talking. I see the general immaturity of church-goers as proof that traditional church culture doesn’t promote maturity.
As such, in the past I’ve tried to innovate the sermon time by adding elements to increase the chances of actual learning. More visuals, work sheets, pair work, group work. Audience participation. This came to a head at Bethel Christian Fellowship and I was not supported in continuing this drive to innovate. Obviously now Christine and I innovate at Pop Up Church and Bus Stop Cafe, which is a fabulous opportunity.
However, being invited to preach at Impact Church has brought it all back so I went and prayed with my dog Tigger and had a fantastic time with the Lord. God showed me something very simple.
The fact is the sermon is not going away. Many people go to church to start again, to get help with their challenges and they expect someone entertaining to help them find God in their daily life. This culture is not going away, regardless of what I think so, to be fruitful (which is my abiding prayer) I might as well accept it and get on with becoming the best preacher I can be. Imagine the doors that will open if I really work at this, especially given the lack of Christian leaders in Australia at present.
Leaders’ Dinner
Please pray for the kingdom of God to come in power as we host an informal dinner for all the Christian leaders in Corio, Norlane and Lara in August. This dinner will help create unity by promoting friendship and reconciliation between those who have been estranged over the years.
Thank you for praying for the Kingdom of God to come in power as we serve the people of Corio and Norlane.
Please support us financially, with these details:
Account Name: Little Miracles Community Inc.
BSB: 633 000
ACC: 205 402 357