Pastor’s Message

I hope we are all having a lovely week.

Baptism is such a beautiful illustration of faith. It is an outward sign of an inward change. It is a public testimony that you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. When you get baptized, you powerfully proclaim what God has done, and is doing, in your life.

The word "baptize" is from the Greek verb "baptizo," meaning to cover or plunge in water, wash, dip, or immerse.

Therefore, Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water as an outward expression of their previous confession of their communion with Christ's death and resurrection.

Why should you be baptized?

Baptism allows you to remember the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to reflect on your relationship with God and one another through the Holy Spirit. 

Here are a few reasons why we should get baptized.

1. Jesus commands us to be baptized. 

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he asked his followers to make disciples and baptize them (Matthew 28:19). Choosing to be baptized is an act of obedience to the Lord Jesus. It is one of the first steps you can take to demonstrate your willingness to follow Jesus' teachings. 

• Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." 

• Mark 16:16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."

2. Jesus was baptized.

Jesus set an example through his baptism. Jesus' willingness to be baptized serves as an example for his followers. In baptism, we do as Jesus did, and we follow in his steps. 

• Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2:6).

• To this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:21) 

3. Baptism is a testimony. 

In Baptism, you publicly identify with Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. You declare that you no longer live for yourself but now seek to live for Christ, in dependence on God and obedience to him. 

• Acts 2:38—"And Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

• Romans 6:3–5 — "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4. We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:5: "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." 

Your baptism can be an opportunity to share the gospel with friends and family, to let them see what God has done in your life.

4. Baptism unifies Christians. 

Your baptism is a witness to other believers that you are a member of the body of Christ, the worldwide community of believers. In the Gospel of John, just before Jesus went to the cross, he prayed that his followers would be unified. 

• John 17:20 I do not ask for these only but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 so that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. 23. I am in them, and you are in me so that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20–23).

5. Baptism can strengthen your faith. 

For many people, the experience of being baptized strengthens their faith. It can solidify your commitment to living the rest of your days as a follower of Jesus.

Colossians 2:11, 12—"In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead."

To profess means to declare openly and freely to others. In baptism, this could mean that you state what you believe in your own words or affirm (say "yes" to) a few specific questions about your faith.

There are three parts of baptism by immersion:

1. Immersion (going down into the water). Believers are identified with Christ's death. 

2. Submersion (being entirely under the water). Believers are identified with Christ's burial. 

3. Emersion (emerging or coming up out of the water). Believers are identified with Christ's resurrection from the dead.

This week, as a first, we will be baptizing Amariyah and dedicating her sister Aasha as well. It's a time for us to witness and celebrate what God has been doing in this family. We will be hearing testimonies from them, joining them in celebration and prayer.

Have a confident week,

Mato

Finishing Galatians and what’s next?

Concluding Galatians.

• We have just completed our series in Galatians, and we are now moving into Ephesians. Some important conclusions from Galatians.

• Paul chooses to boast in the cross and not human effort or human recognition. While everyone else was preaching circumcision for salvation and the importance of human effort, Paul focused on the most contemptible object. 

• There was nothing more humiliating and shameful than crucifixion. "Crux", meaning the cross, was unmentionable in Roman society. Roman society referred to crucifixion as "hanging on the unlucky tree". For Paul to take this imagery and boast in it meant that he was dead to the flesh and the natural human element.

• As analogies go, when someone is dead, they do not respond to anything (threats, excitement, hope, despair). Death on the cross was even worse because it meant that you had been humiliated in the worst way possible. 

• The message of the cross, i.e., crucifying oneself, is the least popular of Jesus’ teachings. The teachings of our day are "self-fulfilment" and "entitlement". We may deny ourselves in the name of a career or health, but never out of our comfort zone, because what we want has to be done on "my terms". Self-denial often feels like oppression.

• Saying yes to Jesus means saying no to innumerable competing options (being liked, being right, and being the life of the party). "What you say, I will do; where you say, I will go” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). “When God calls a man, he bids him to die." 

We concluded with this verse in the middle of Galatians.

Moving to Ephesians.

How Paul came to the city of Ephesus is really fascinating, and you can read all about it in Acts chapter 19. Ephesus was a huge city, acting as the epicentre for trade. It was also a worship centre for most of the Greek and Roman gods. It boasted a pagan temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Diana (Greek Artemis). For over two years, Paul had an effective missionary presence there and converted many people to Christianity. Years later, after being imprisoned by the Romans, he wrote an important letter to the church there.

The movement of thought in the letter divides it into two distinct halves. In the first half (Eph. 1-3), Paul explores the story of the Gospel, how all history came to its climax in Jesus, and his creation of a multiethnic community of followers. The second half (Eph. 4-6) is linked to the first part by the word "therefore". Paul explores how the Gospel should affect the way we live our lives, personally, in our community, and within our families.

The big idea is that the gospel should affect the way we live our lives personally, in our communities, and with our families.

Paul in Ephesians talks about God the Father and his love, God the Son and how he unites and unifies us, and God the Holy Spirit and how he helps us live our lives practically as people united "in Christ”. Paul wrote to expand the horizons of his readers so they might understand better the dimensions of God’s eternal purpose and grace and to come and appreciate the high goals God has for his people.

Chapter 1 opens with a beautiful, Jewish-style poem, in which Paul praises God the Father for the amazing things that he’s done through Christ Jesus. This week, Tim will be taking us through the first part of this poem.

Kids and Youth

Our Monday morning mothers' group started this last Monday with several families joining in, including some that has never been to HCC before. This happens fortnightly.

The purpose of this group is to bring our families together, mums and kids, and invite the community for encouragement and connections. As this group gets underway, please pray for the organisers and the mothers who are coming into our space for the first time.

Pray that they will find deep and lasting connections that lead to conversations about Christ and that the families will be impacted, not just to parent well, but to ground their children in the love of God and to orient their lives and families' lives towards God, who is the ultimate father.

The youth group continues to meet every Thursday evening. It is also very encouraging to see them coming to Church on Sunday morning and sitting at the very front. A question we have been grappling with for a while has been self-worth. What is self-worth? What is the definition of self-worth, and how do we acquire and keep our self-worth? We have talked a lot about what it is not, so as we get deeper into scripture to understand what it is, please continue praying for our young people.

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