Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all,

This is not always a happy time of year for everyone, some of us may have lost loved ones or experienced family break downs. The news is seldom happy and mankind seems to always be at war. The world is broken and messy.

Jesus was born into a world in turmoil - occupation by foreign forces , a  narcissistic king ruling the people and poverty, fear and hopelessness was common place. Jesus knows what pain is like, Mary and Joseph knew what gossip felt like, the shepherds understood the struggle to survive and the wise men knew how difficult it was to wait patiently for God’s leading.

Into this broken messy world came Jesus, Emmanuel “God with us”. God entered our pain, he lived it and he experienced it. He knows our struggles and pain and hurt. Our God is not some distant engineer tinkering with his machine. He is Emmanuel! “God is with us” and wants to guide us in our daily lives. 

I pray that no matter the situation you find yourself in this Christmas, that you find a way to experience “Emmanuel” God with us, the God of hope, joy, love and of restoration (peace).

God is restoring this broken up world one person at a time.

May the God of Peace and Restoration bless you this Christmas. 

Pastor Markus Schmid

Christmas and pain

Here is a link to another Great post by Melinda Cousins on Christmas.

Some questions about......

Grief

I recently read this article 10-things-you-should-say-to-a-grieving-person I beleive we all need to be better at this. So please take the time to read the article and the companion piece 10 things you should say to a grieving person .

Almost there!

The renovations on our new building are progressing very well and we are on schedule to be ready for our first service. This Sunday 23 November is our last service in the Cornerstone Stadium. Sunday 30 November we will begin meeting in our new premises at 65 Owen Terrace Wallaroo.  We would love to see you there feel free to pop in for a visit. We will have an official opening in February 2015 so stay tuned for details.

It is official !!!

We now have a building! Settlement was completed on Friday afternoon and we now have the keys for 65 Owen Terrace Wallaroo SA 5556. Work has already begun on the refurbishment.

Our planned schedule for the next few weeks is:

Saturday 15th of Nov working bee!

Friday 21- Sat 22 Nov 24 hr prayer vigil.

Sunday 23 Nov last service Cornerstone Stadium

Sunday 30th Nov first service 65 Owen Terrace Wallaroo (also 1st Advent).

God has provided for us tremendously and we give him all the glory for this wonderful phase of our development as a church.

Do you need pruning?

Todays message was inspired by the story "the Gardener and the vine" By Andrew McDonough

Details here!

It is a great reminder that we need to stay connected to the vine to flourish.

This weeks sermon "Do you need pruning?" can be downloaded here!

Echidnas-Spiky but loveable.

Todays sermon was inspired by the story "Echidnas on Everest" by Andrew McDonough.
details here

It is always good to be reminded (even through a children's story), that love for one another is central to being the church in the world.

Buy from here

Echidnas-spiky but loveable listen to sermon

No Service Sunday 21st September

This is a reminder that due to the church family camp in the Clare Valley there will be NO service in the Cornerstone Stadium in Kadina this Sunday the 21st of September . If you are not able to attend the camp please take this opportunity to bless one of the other local congregations with your presence.

All services will resume as normal on Sunday the 28th of September

God is our provider

After 7 years of moving around the area and renting accommodation, God has provided Copper Coast Baptist Church with an appropriate building and the means to purchase it.

               The former Church of Christ building and Freemasons Lodge at 65 Owen Terrace Wallaroo SA 5556.

We hope to be celebrating the Birth of Jesus in this place later this year. This year is the 100th anniversary of this building (first opened in 1914) and  this year is also the 150th anniversary of the first Baptist congregation starting in the Copper Coast at Moonta in 1864. We will certainly have much to celebrate!

We are very excited about the ministry opportunities this building will provide and we are looking forward to building more relationships with the local community.

We are well aware that a building is not “the church”.  We, God’s people are “the church”.  The building is simply a tool for ministry to the community.  Moving into this premises is not the end of a long road but the beginning of an exciting journey into the future.

Join with us in prayer as we dedicate this resource to the Lord and his work. 

Decisions

I have often found it difficult to make decisions. Have you? 

Sometimes decisions are easy for me and I don't need to think much about them. I don't think God really minds what the outcome is for these decisions.  However sometimes those decisions  are difficult and God has a vested interest in the outcome. 

I remember a wonderful week I spent in Germany in 2001. Alison was in London for a week at a summer school so instead of spending my days alone I hopped on a plane to Germany and visited my family.  I was hoping to just hang around and soak up some of the local sights.  My very generous uncle had other plans. He wanted to take me on a cultural tour of Germany.  We spent a week driving through culturally significant towns like Hameln (from the Pied Piper story), visited Weimar to see the house of Gothe and we also saw the room in Wartburg Castle where Luther translated the bible into German. It is an experience I will never forget and I will always be grateful for. Whenever we stayed overnight we would go to the local Rathaus or Keller. My choice from the menu was easy.  I would ask what the specialty of that particular restaurant was and I would order that. this can be a more difficult decision for some people particularly if they are not adventurous eaters! 

                                                     Gothe's House Weimar 2001

                                                        Pied Piper Staue Hameln 2001

                                              Luthers Room Wartburg Castle 2001

Some decisions I have made have been agonising though. I have fretted and stressed about whether I was making the right choice or not. Giving up my career to go into ministry was one of these decisions. Ultimately I felt a strong sense that no matter how scary the decision was I just had to trust God and jump in with both feet. When I studied my first subject at university level and passed I felt encouraged that I had made the right choice. When a church hired me as their student pastor I again felt a confirmation of the choice I made. When I received my first call to be a sole pastor of a congregation I received confirmation again. I have received many confirmations along the way to encourage me that I had made the right choice. 

I want to be clear that I am NOT saying that if you make the right choice everything is easy, because in my journey I have also faced obstacles which have also encouraged me that I had made the right decision. We Christians sometimes call this a "spiritual attack". Often when I face an obstacle while trying to do something for God I ask almost out loud "why is this happening now?" and I hear God tell me "because you are making the right choice and it will be hard".

Jesus is the perfect example of making a decision and facing discouragement for example in Luke 22:42 he prays

"Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."(NLT).

Jesus goes on to die on the cross for our sins. God used that choice to enable us all to have a relationship with him through the forgiveness of our sins and the inauguration of the new kingdom in the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.

Some decisions are hard and you won't always feel warm and fuzzy after making them. They may also cause you discomfort and trouble. You may have to jump in and ask God to take over. But if you make these important decisions for God and his plans for you, then he will bring glory to the outcomes.

How long have you been driving?

I have just spent most of this week on a Renewal Retreat with 6 other ministry leaders, 3 hours away from home near Mannum SA.  As I usually do, I used my GPS to direct me. My GPS device has a female voice that gives instructions which I have named Lola. Lola can be quite bossy “in 100 meters turn right” but she also cares about me because after 2 hours of driving she informs me that I have been driving for 2 hours and would I like her to find me a suitable place to take a break. Sometimes I listen to Lola and sometimes I feel confident that I can ignore her.

Pastors in the BCSA (Baptist Churches of South Australia) can as part of their continuing accreditation choose to engage in the Renewal Retreat Program. This is a 2 year program where up to 8 pastors covenant together in fellowship and support, taking 2 retreats a year together - one 24 hour and one 3 day retreat each year.  We meet and share our stories, trials, cares, woes and joys in a safe structured and confidential manner (what is said on retreat stays on retreat).  This time together was our final gathering for this group and next year a new group will be formed that will continue to support one another.

I have heard some people make fun of retreats as though they are some kind of fringe benefit of being a pastor. Comments like “you were all hard at work then?” or “it’s tough for some” tend to get bandied about.  While I do admit that going on a retreat is not an onerous task, I have found it to be vital for the health and longevity of ministry.  I have previously mentioned taking holidays is vital and that ministry is a marathon not a sprint.  Retreats are another function of making ministry a lifetime commitment and we all have a good example to follow.

Jesus took time out in the midst of ministry (Mark 6:31-32), before making major decisions (Luke 6:12-13)  and after major events (Matt 14:22-23) to pray and restore himself and he taught his disciples to do the same.  This is not just something that is important for pastors but any follower of Jesus regularly needs to take heed of Jesus’ example.  This is not an instruction we should choose to ignore.

If we don't pull over and stretch our legs, have drinks and rest a moment we might make a mistake that causes an accident or we might not be vigilant of the actions of others or we may not notice changes in the road conditions. 

Psalm 46:10 says:

“Be still, and know that I am God! 

I will be honored by every nation.

I will be honored throughout the world.” (NLTse)

but Eugene Petersen’s Message version says:

"Step out of the traffic! Take a long,

loving look at me, your High God,

above politics, above everything.”

(Message) 

We regularly need to “step out of the traffic” to be the most effective followers of Jesus that we can be. 

Holidays

Holidays are an amazing time to recharge the batteries, and to prepare ourselves for the work ahead. The Schmid family have spent the last 3 weeks on holidays. Some of that time has been spent at home and some of it travelling through the state of Victoria.  While this has been a precious time with family, I  am ready for and have been eagerly awaiting the start of school this week. I am gad to be back at work and I look forward to what God has in store for us as a church family for the rest of the year. While rest  is good and necessary work and routine is also good and necessary.

One of the things that I have come to realise in the time I have been in a ministry, is that ministry is a marathon not a sprint.  All of us are in ministry whether it is a full-time paid position or not. We need to pace ourselves or we will not go the distance.  Sprinters do well over short distance but they cannot maintain that pace for extended periods.  If a sprinter tried to run a marathon at the same pace as a sprint their body would not cope.  We constantly need to ask "am I  doing too much?" or "am I taking regular time for rest?"  We sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that the world will come to an end if we don't keep pushing ourselves and our bodies to the limit. I don't think that kind of attitude is either healthy or biblical.  The example of our creator God is that after working to create the world God rested and enjoyed his creation, Jesus regularly took time out away from the crowds. Yes there will always be seasons where much work is needed to complete a task well but there must be balance where we can also catch our breath.



Hebrews 12:1 says:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Let us run the race with endurance also!

Facing Leviathan by Mark Sayers

An interesting book by Mark Sayers, which debunks the theory that Christian Leadership must be either Modernist or Postmodernist ( mechanical or organic) leadership. There is another way, and Mark skilfully uses history, Scripture and personal story to make his point that true leadership is.....

You didn't think I would save you the effort of reading the book by giving you spoilers did you? that would be cheating! Go do your home work it will be worth it.

Buy it, Read it and as Eugene Peterson would say consume it.

you can get it here

Facing Leviathan on Amazon

Child protection training seminar 2014

Our child protection training seminar is on again tommorrow Saturday 31st of May at the Kadina Wesley Uniting Church starting at 8.45am . I look forward to seeing you there.

Rest

Here is a great article on resting. It is focused on those in ministry but it is just as relevant to everyone.

REST

Sermon updates

You can find the sermons for our current series on the book of Acts here!

Melinda does it again

Another excellent post by Melinda Cousins. "A tale of 2 disapearances"
CLICK HERE

ANZAC day 2014

Today I wanted to write a brilliant post about contextualising the Gospel in Australian culture. But Melinda beat me to it (and did a better job than I ever could) so here is her post. : ).
enjoy!

http://melindacousins.com/2014/04/25/is-jesus-the-true-anzac/

Good Friday 2014

Another excellent Good Friday service on North Beach Wallaroo. What a blessing it is to celebrate the 2 sacraments that are held by the the Baptist belief (Communion and Baptism) on Good friday. Both sacraments are reminders and symbols of the death and resurrection of our Lord and saviour Jesus. The message on the cross reads " Iesu Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum" (Latin for, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews) INRI. This was meant by Pilate as an insult deriding the claims of Jesus, as a sign to others to say "this is what we do to those who claim to be king". Instead of an insult this is now a title we are proud of when we identify as Christians. May you be richly blessed this Easter as you ponder the significance of Jesus as King!

Safe Christianity?

This is a photo that my older brother sent me the other day. He found it with some of Dad's stuff. It is of the three Schmid boys (ps. I'm the little one). He asked, are we still off on an adventure? Taking on the world? Yes we are! but will it be safe? Here is Todays sermon Safe Christianity.

Scripture Reading

I recently read an article about "5 verses that you need to stop misusing" (you can find it here). I agree with the basic premise of the article that we shouldn't use the bible to justify our own decision.

 However, It got me thinking how often do we actually apply the Bible to our everyday lives? (and how often do we or should we read the bible all the way through). I believe that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,"(2 Timothy 3:16 NIV). My concern is that often we Christians ( particularly the very lucky western Christians in places like Australia) don't rely enough on scripture to help us maneuver through our lives, we rely on our dim memories of hearing someone that said "that the bible says ...." rather than our own experience of the scripture itself. 

So while I agree with the articles intent that we should not misuse the Bible, I advocate using IT regularly, often and wholeheartedly to deal with everything that the world throws at us. Please for the sake of the Kingdom READ YOUR BIBLES. (and Pray but that is a whole other post).

Check this out!

http://sacredagents.net/2014/03/27/a-deaf-culture-eh/

Check out Andrew Turner's new Blog post at Sacred Agents

An Interesting article on Bono and Grace

Click here for article

Pastor Markus on holidays

Pastor Markus and the family will be on holidays until the end of January. If you need some help please call the church phone (0432 017 025) and the Elders will attend to it. May you all have a blessed and restful Summer break.