mayfield church of christ

Bring Him what you have... Anniversary 08

Posted by Pastor Mark on 9 November 2008 | 2 Comments

Tags: Anniversary, Thanksgiving

What an amazing week it's been. This is certainly a week of celebration and thanksgiving for our family and it's just great that it coincides with a week of thanksgiving for our church family as well.

When I was growing up, my family were part of the Uniting Church and as a church they had some great traditions, but I think my favourite Sunday on the Church calendar was Harvest Sunday.

As a young guy, I can still remember walking into the church and seeing the stage COVERED in Hay bails and Lucerne bails and the air was thick with that haystack smell. And then, covering all of the bails and half of the floor were baskets of fruit and vegetables, pumpkins, apples, tomatoes, corn, there were flowers and greenery and bags of flour and rice, and there was STACKS of this stuff.....and straight away, I was thinking that morning tea was going to be somehow AWSOME this morning.

I can still smell of the church on Harvest Sunday, and I can still see them loading all that fresh food onto a truck after church to deliver it to the various aid agencies around town for distribution to the poor.

The tradition of having Harvest Festival began back in the old testament around Deuteronomy, as a way of remembering God's provision and our need to give back to him. But it was also about reminding us of WHO God is and his significance to us.

Harvest Festival, was about REMEMBERING that God is the OWNER, that everything belongs to him, as it says in Psalm 24:1...."The earth is the LORD'S, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it."

Harvest Festival was about reminding us that WE are God's stewards. Our role is to look after ALL that He has created, and so to bring forward the finest of the spring crops, and place it before God as a thank offering, made Harvest Festival very significant to me as a young guy. Each kid in the Sunday school was asked to bring a vegetable or fruit, and so during the service, I marched down the front with my couple of carrots and placed my offering on the pile....

Harvest Festival was also about recognising that  we need to TRUST God to provide and give thanks for that provision.

Now we might not celebrate Harvest Sunday in our church calendar.....

But this morning we come here to celebrate 71 Years in which Mayfield Church of Christ has been a part of this area, 71 years of influence in the Mayfield area, 71 years of sewing into the lives of countless people who have walked through those doors, 71 years of friendship and support amongst it's people, 71 years opening up and studying the word of God in small groups and Bible studies,  71 years of eating red jelly slice, well perhaps not 71 YET....but I KNOW it will happen, it is a legacy we leave to our children.

And as I've thought about that milestone this week I had this strong sense,  that in a way this is our Harvest Sunday. Because this morning we want to recognise that this is GOD'S church......He established it, He grew it, He has sustained it through some tough times, through some difficult times, He even kept it's doors open at times when it looked like it all might end. GOD is the owner and ALL this belongs to him.

And in that picture, WE are His stewards and this morning represents a long and faithful line of stewardship within this church, as God has placed upon his people in THIS place, the responsibility of PLOWING the fields, SEWING the seed, of TENDING the flock, SERVING wherever,  as our part in the process of scattering seed and nurturing those seeds to bring forth influence and change in the lives of people that we have contact with.

So in those terms, Garry and his faithfulness in prayer and his steadfastness when this church went through perhaps it's darkest period. For him to have the attitude that ‘as long as the doors are open he would continue to worship in this church', that's  good stewardship.

Mavis, serving as Superintendent in the Sunday School for so many years, giving her time and effort, that's good stewardship.

Pam, who for a long time walked down here from home in Waratah and cleaned the place each Saturday, that's good stewardship

Joan, and her terrier dog consistency in following every available avenue and some not so apparent avenues to allow the restoration of our building to take place, that's good stewardship.

The long line of pastors and leaders that have sewn into this place over the years, the legacy they have left, displays good stewardship.

And even in more recent years, to see Sian start a youth group with only 5 kids. To build around herself a team who together GREW our youth to an amazing group of young people, that's good stewardship.

To watch the CHANGE that has taken place in the lives of our little kids in Energy, is a mark of the stewardship on behalf of Jono and Ruth and the other leaders. 

To see what happens in this place on a Wednesday afternoon, where it's all about Product, and Sum, and Difference....as we help these kids out at the Homework Centre, is amazing.

Over 71 years, Mayfield Church of Christ has seen, and continues to see MUCH harvest. People whose lives are touched by the love commitment...,  the grace of Jesus Christ. This morning is all about CELEBRATING that harvest, THIS is our Harvest Festival.

A few weeks ago, I did a lesson with my scripture class on the feeding of the 5000, And in that lesson, I took along 5 small dinner rolls and 2 fish shaped biscuits, and as I told the story, I went round and broke a little off each for the kids in my class. Now they didn't get FULL with the feast I served them, I wasn't able to perform any miracle at that moment. BUT as a class of 25 year 6 kids, they got a GLIMPSE of how Jesus is able to MULTIPLY, how he is able to take the very LITTLE we have to offer, and often the very LEAST that we are WILLING to give Him, and he MULTIPLIES it, He makes it POSSIBLE.

And you know that's what He does again and again in this place, He takes what little we have to offer, and He somehow MULTIPLIES it, and He makes things happen.

How else do you think all this HAPPENS, this building, restored, this congregation growing, our youth, our energy kids, healthy and growing. He does it by taking what we have, and performing a MIRACLE with it to multiply it in ways I find hard to fathom.

Those disciples wanted to send the people away....we CAN'T do it they said, BUT Jesus said bring me what you've GOT.

And see, what's important for us to recognise in this, is that when we involve JESUS in the process. when we place what we are DOING in the hands of Jesus.  then the TOTAL is always more than just the sum of the parts. There is a SYNERGY that happens. BUT, we need to BRING to him what we've got. If we keep it back, then He can't do ANYTHING with it, but when we give it to him, things go crazy. That's what we are witnessing.

BUT, We need to learn this over and over and over again. We need to remember and to trust, that when we bring it to Jesus, when we ask for the power of his blessing, and when we add the power of our prayers , we WILL see miracles!

On Fridays, we have a group of ladies from Alanon meet in the church, and I love having those ladies in each week....for one they feed me, but I love that this place is in a sense a haven for them, they love it.

We now have the Breast Feeding association using our building for their meetings, and again....they are overwhelmed at this resource God had given us, and that WE are willing to SHARE with them.

I believe that the work being done in the homework centre is SO important to this area, and those kids get SO much from the little we put in.

If you have ever been around on a Friday night, and been a part of what happens with our youth, or if you've had them at your house for an activity, it just blows you away. What is happening in that group, and the quality relationships that have been made, and the enthusiasm of those teenagers, and the GROWTH that is taking place is just amazing.

In so many areas of our church, I see the hand of GOD at work. We put in a little , and somehow God multiplies it, to the point where our baskets are overflowing, our emotions are often overflowing, and praise God.....often our transport is overflowing. Because whilst ever we continue to involve JESUS in the process of all that we do here, we will CONTINUE to see God performing miracles in the lives of the individuals that are touched and in the lives of his servants who are willing to BRING Him what they have.

When Sue and I were first married, we honeymooned on the Gold Coast at Currumbin beach in a little one bedroom flat named Goondi. And for nearly the whole week, we were woken up every morning about 8.00 by workmen out the front ripping up the guttering and replacing it....good timing for our honeymoon.  

On the day they poured the new concrete, they went home after work, and Sue and I went down when it got dark and wrote in the soft concrete....Mark and Sue, Hmoon 81. Now that might have been a bad thing to do, but I was young and in love. NOW I'm old and still in love, and I get so much out of going for a walk with Sue each year along the beach to Goondi, and reading what we carved in the concrete 27 years ago. It gives a sense of connection, a sense of history, and a sense of accomplishment to look at that now.

Do you know, that so many people have carved their names in Mayfield Church of Christ over the years in so many ways.

What we do in this place, week after week, is much like that act of marking. But we are not carving into soft concrete, we are making a mark on the lives of individuals, individuals from such a diverse range of ages, cultures, interests and backgrounds. And we make that mark through Love, and Acceptance, and TIME, and devotion, commitment, sacrifice, and Grace....the very things Christ asked us show.

Some of you might be here this morning because years ago, someone from this church sewed into your life with love, and understanding, and formed a bond that has stayed. That connection is the marks we make, many of them we may not see, but they are there. The love of God touching individuals lives at a time when it has great significance, a seed that's planted in their life that might not germinate till YEARS later, but it's sown.

 Last week, Libby and I finally completed the Web Page, and I REALLY want to encourage you, if you have a computer, to start and visit that site. The Link newsletter is there each week now in glorious colour, the latest rosters, sermons that have been taught. But most importantly, is what our church is about, our Vision, our Mission, and our Values, and I want each of you to become very familiar with those elements, because as we move forward from this point, from 71 years to whatever, embracing our history and looking forward to our future, those elements are going to shape who we are, and what we do as a church, and the MARK we make in the Mayfield area through the love of Jesus.

So, for us as a church after 71 years, In the words of the great 1 hit lyricist Timbuk 3, Things are going great, and they're only getting better, the futures so bright, I have to wear shades.

So lets just look for a little while, at what that future looks like.

Just over two years ago, I put some ideas up on the screen that looked like this. What we saw at that point, was that we now had the main building restored and looking great, but we didn't have anywhere to have morning tea. And what we also began to think about, was HOW this building could be set up to allow us to better SERVE our community, and at that time, I teased some ideas around about computer classes for adults, music lessons for kids, and a place for small groups to gather. So I put together these ideas and walked you all through the idea of a café area where we could have morning tea, with glass doors leading out the side of the building into a covered outdoor area. As well, this plan included a couple of small conference / seminar rooms, and there was a lot of excitement about those ideas....

So we put these to paper and had plans drawn up. Those plans spent 18 months in council, but NOW, they are passed and ready to be built.

I have really come to understand and embrace the concept of GOD'S timing. I used to get SO up tight and stress about WHY things didn't happen when I expected them to. But as the plans came back just recently, I almost SENSED this week, as the trees disappeared from around the car park, that the time is right, and God has delivered the plans back to us in His time, and we are ready to start a new project. So early next year, we will begin to break ground on our extensions. We don't want those extensions to limit or disrupt what we are doing already in the church, so a small project team will drive that process.....so....exciting times.....and the plans for those extensions are up the back for you to have a look at.

Half way through this year, we applied to Churches of Christ in NSW for a two Synergy Grants to allow us to develop some existing and new ministries within the church. We asked for $5000 to go towards the purchase of a second Hiace Bus. I think one of the big needs around this area, is to provide cheap (I'm talking gold coin cheap) transport for elderly people, to allow them to buy groceries and do shopping in Mayfield. They would be picked up from their home and dropped off in Mayfield, given an hour or so to do shopping, then delivered back home.

Now, We were unsuccessful on this grant THIS year, BUT I still believe this to be an AWSOME opportunity to sew back into the community of Mayfield, and next year, I want to get this up and running, regardless.

The other grant we applied for, was for $5000 to purchase 10 Notebook computers for use with the homework centre. As well, we want to be able to start adult computer skills classes.  Those three old computers I got from school only JUST cope each week. NOW this grant, we were successful on. I was notified this week, so we will be purchasing those machines in the next little while ready for next year, and again, from the feedback we get from the school and the parents of kids who come to Homework Centre, this is a REAL need in our area, and WE can meet that need, when we BRING what we have to the hands of Jesus.

Jono Finch has all but cleared around the block, and in particular around the church hall. What we hope to do in the near future, is to pressure clean the entire building, fix up any damaged boards, then paint the whole structure to match the church. And I think that will give an amazing face lift to the whole block, as well as a show of support and encouragement to the Samaritans.

We love having the Samaritans in that building,  and they are extremely gracious to let us use the facilities on Sunday mornings for Energy.

I can see a time, when we may need to resume the use of that building, when our youth and children's work needs a permanent home, but again, God will make that time very clear I know, but in the meantime, the rent being paid by the Samaritans will be used to support any loan that we will need to take out to complete the building program.

The bus has been a great bonus for the youth this year, what we hope to do, is to purchase a second bus of similar quality, to keep up with the ever increasing Youth numbers. Our Youth now has 62 on the books and a regular 35 to 40 each week.....THAT'S amazing. And I want to thank Luke and Bec and the whole team....Shelly, Jake, Zec, Kaleb, Suminda, Karly, for all the work they do and for all that they BRING to that group.

Perhaps the greatest THRILL for me over the last year, was to travel to Manila and become a part of what the King Solomon Learning Centre is doing in the slums there. But I think the greater thrill came, when we came BACK and introduced to you, the urban poor of Manila, and their need.

I have been truly overwhelmed by the way this church has embraced those people and the work of King Solomon. How every challenge and need that has been placed before us has been met so above and beyond. It AMAZES me. YOU have not MET these people personally and yet it's as if you KNOW them and FEEL their plight and you GIVE with such generosity. After the fire which left over a hundred families homeless, we raised over $11,000 in one offering. When a young boy needed an operation, we raised over $1500.

I can hardly wait till January 2010 to take a group of you over to Manila, to meet these beautiful people, Because you know what, they see you all as HEROES...seriously, you are like AMAZING in their eyes, do you feel that way. NO.....you bring what you can to the hands of Jesus and he MULTIPLIES it and is able to accomplish MIRACLES in the lives of these people.

Church, these activities, these offerings on our part, are our HARVEST for God, and we bring them to him and we offer them back to him as a way of saying THANKYOU for ALL that He has done for us. My greatest prayer, is that WE will continue to BRING our gifts to God and that He will continue to use them to touch lives, to leave a mark, for His glory.....Amen

Father, we come before you this morning and we want to just THANK you for ALL that we se happening in and through this church. For the opportunity that we each have to be a part of something MUCH bigger than ourselves. Father, we stand before you now and we give you our thanks for 71 years of faithful ministry in this church, of which we ALL are a small part. We pray Father that you will continue to use the small offerings we bring you, for your glory....Amen.