by Andrew Corbett | 2022 Aug,19 | Pastor's Desk
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR? The Jewish leaders had a very strict understanding of who God accepted and who God rejected. Obviously, they taught, God had accepted the Jews as His favourite – particularly Jewish men. Jewish women were sort of accepted, but only as second-class members of God’s people. This obviously also meant that unless a gentile (a non-Jew) converted to Judaism they could not be accepted by God. Therefore, God rejected all gentiles — and He especially rejected Roman gentiles — but He reserved His ultimate rejection for Samaritans! Jesus then tells the Temple-lawyer the story of the Good Samaritan.
by Donna Hill | 2018 Oct,3 | Pastor's Desk
Have you ever had an annoying neighbour? Perhaps they party until late at night. Perhaps they park their car in front of your driveway? Perhaps they throw their rubbish over the fence into your yard?Neighbours can also be wonderful. They can keep an eye on our home...
by Andrew Corbett | 2017 Jul,7 | Pastor's Desk
How is our church known in our community? Whenever churches have taken the time to ask their community, they generally get feedback sounding like – irrelevant, out-dated, money-focussed, judgmental. Increasingly though, it seems they also get blank looks. That is, many people in their community aren’t even aware of the church in their community. Sometimes, we church-goers become so inward-focussed that we assume everyone (including those in our community) know who we are, what we do, how we fail, and at least where we are. But the sad reality is, they don’t. Bill Hybels recently had a reason to go down to the back of his Willow Creek Church campus (in Chicago). A neighbour to the church called him over and pointed at the church and asked, “Hey, what is this?” As I recall the story, Bill asked him if he was new to the area. “No, I’ve lived here for years.” Even 20,000 member churches (such as Willow Creek) can have difficulties connecting with their communities!
