Pastor’s Message

Bringing hope into a helpless world

On Monday, we woke up to the sad scenes of a shooting at Bondi Beach, Australia’s most popular beach. Terrorism and fundamentalism had once again reared their ugly heads. Because of the availability of CCTV cameras and people recording on their phones, we have been able to get a clear picture of what transpired, beginning with the couple that tried to stop the gunmen and unfortunately lost their lives. We also saw the man who bravely disarmed one of the shooters and has rightly been hailed as a hero. The shooters have been identified as a man and his son with ties to the radical Islamic group ISIS. Meanwhile, a community grieves, families come to terms with unimaginable loss, and experts pop up with what should have been, what might have been, and who is to blame.

In times like this, I find myself both angry and frustrated. Angry at the perpetrators of such actions and frustrated that this is the reality we live in. Helplessness begins to creep in. I am sure many of us relate to this, since we have lived this reality after our own city witnessed a terror attack not many years ago. 

So where do we go with this? More to the spirit of the season, how do we respond to this during this Christmas season?

There may never be enough answers, especially for those who are grieving, but there is hope. Last night during our prayer meeting, we shared about how the Christmas story is disjointed and inconvenient. If I were to plan the Christmas story, I would have made it more streamlined. Mary and Joseph would have been married, ready to have a child in the right way, and family waiting to welcome them home with glad tidings of great joy. 

Yet, that is not the Christmas story. In fact, one of the reasons I know that the Christmas story is factual is that everyone is inconvenienced. If anyone was trying to make it up and make it look good, they would have told a more streamlined version of events. Mary is the inconvenienced unwed mother-to-be, while Joseph is the inconvenienced young man with a fiancée claiming that her pregnancy is from the Holy Spirit (can you imagine Joseph breaking that news to his family?).  Jesus is the inconvenienced child born in the most unlikely of places.

Yet the birth of Christ ties together more than 310 Old Testament prophecies and brings hope into an inconvenienced world. Whether that is to his own parents, Mary and Joseph, or to those members of the Jewish community targeted this week just because they are Jewish, or to us today, having to deal with our own full plates, whether big or small. The Christmas story rings true and is full of hope.

So this Christmas, remember that Christ was born to bring hope into a helpless world, and that’s good news, regardless of our reality today.

Have a Christmas cheer today,

Mato.

Church Sundays

We have Christingle coming up next Sunday, and then the Christmas Eve service.

Our Christmas Eve service will be a nighttime candlelit service. Please consider coming along. For that particular service, we need some readers. This Sunday, we will be putting out a list with the various readings. Please consider doing a reading.

Our Christmas Day service will be a family service. We will conclude the Christmas season with a thanksgiving service on Dec 28th.

Community

Youth ministry is done meeting for the year. Thank you to everyone who has been part of us and those who have worked tirelessly in the background to make sure that everything runs smoothly and our young people are discipled. We are really encouraged by the support. We would like to specifically thank Sinead, one of our youth workers, for the heart and soul she has poured into this ministry and pray that as she starts grad school, she will feel God's continuous peace and presence.

Youth group resumes on Thursday, 5th February 2026.

Church Sundays

This last Sunday, we were hugely encouraged by our children sharing the Christmas story. Thank you to everyone involved with that, led by Kirstie and Margaret, and all your wonderful children's leaders. We enjoyed every aspect of it, but more importantly, the Christmas story rang true for all those who were there. This week, we will be doing Christingle, and you do not want to miss that.

Children's ministry, in terms of going out and having rosters, takes a break from this week. All families are welcome to stay in the service. At the very back of the church, we have a quieter sensory room if you need it. This room has a speaker and a screen, so you can follow through on what is happening in the service. It is open to anyone willing to use it and is designed to be comfortable and relaxed as well.

Church Sundays

We are very excited about 2026. Excited that you are all part of HCC and about what God is going to do for us and through us. Most of 2026 and beyond will be focused on looking at the New Testament, specifically Paul’s letters to the congregations that he started. 

I figure that we are that category. A young church, in transition, with a lot to think through and wrestle with theologically and socially. Some of the questions we usually ask are:

• How can I pray out loud?

• How can I share my faith?

• How do we become more relevant in our Halswell community?

• How do I live out my faith?

All these are important questions. Paul wrote to most of the congregations he started, answering most of these questions. We will spend some time answering all these in 2026 and beyond. We start with Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians for 2026, then head to Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, Titus, and then Timothy in the future. We are going to call this “Ian’s Journey”.

This is mostly practical Christian living, so I am encouraging us to consider being part of a homegroup so that you can go through these questions and what we share together.

In the short term, here is the schedule for our services in January/February.

HCC giving details

Halswell Community Church

Account Number: 06-0601-0867216-00

Reference: Tithe/Offering

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