On the last weekend of October there will be special service times due to the Noosa Triathlon (instead of the normal morning services). Please note the following times:
- Sunshine Beach: Saturday (29 October) Holy Communion at 5.00pm.
- Sunshine Beach: Sunday (30 October) Family Church at 4.30pm (as per normal).
- Tewantin: Sunday (30 October) Holy Communion at 6.30pm.
You’re invited to celebrate Christmas with the Anglican Church of Noosa at any of our services and at either of our locations. We’ll be celebrating together on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and on December 14 for our Christmas Spectacular. For more information, including our Christmas Flyer, keep reading.
Service Times
Or, you can also download the Christmas Flyer in PDF.
You’re invited to join us for a great night of Christmas fun for the whole family on Wednesday 14th December. Starting at 7.00pm at St Andrew’s Sunshine Beach, you can sing all your favourite carols with special treats for the children. Children are also welcome to come dressed up as angels or shepherds. Afterwards some delicious Christmas refreshments will be served.
For more information please contact the Rev’d Mark Calder by phone 5449 8009 or email. The Christmas Spectacular will take place at St Andrew’s, Sunshine Beach (Bicentennial Drive, Sunshine Beach, QLD 4567). To get directions, click on the map marker.
Notes and readings (for the week commencing 20th February, 2012) are shown below, with a PDF version available here. The sermon topic this Sunday (26/02/2012) will be “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”.
Day 1: Read Mark 9:2-13
After six days since one of the great climaxes in Mark (Peter’s confession that Jesus is the “Christ” in 8:27-30) we are transported to one of the most well known, yet oft-perplexing (especially for the disciples present!) scenes from the Gospels – the Transfiguration (also see: Luke 9:28-36 and Matthew 17:1-13). Whilst it was Jesus’ custom to go to a mountain and pray, we see here that he takes three disciples with him (i.e., Peter, James, and John). On this high mountain (possibly Mount Hermon or Mount Tabor) and before them all, Jesus is ‘transformed’ (the Gospels of Matthew and Luke provide more detail, Luke saying that “the appearance of his face changed”, Matthew saying “his face shone like the sun”) and his clothes become dazzling white (better than any laundry could achieve!). And lo and behold, who is Jesus talking with? Elijah and Moses (both important Old Testament prophets). Peter, who has just confessed Jesus as the Christ, is terrified so blurts out the first thing that comes into his head: shall he set up some shelters? He doesn’t get what is happening. Here Jesus stands, beside two of the greatest prophets of old, the work of whom Jesus is continuing and completing. And there’s something else to note too. Whilst Elijah and Moses never died in front of anyone (Moses went up to Mount Nebo, Elijah was ‘taken up’ in more dramatic fashion) and were indeed great prophets, here they stand more ordinarily besides a dazzling Jesus. The words from God (v.7) then make the point clear: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Critical words in the Gospel of Mark that the reader first heard at the baptism (1:11), and now are reintroduced here.
As things return to ‘normal’, Jesus commands the disciples to be silent on the matter until the Son of Man rises from the dead. The disciples are confused by this, wondering what it means in the context of the prophecy of Elijah preparing the way of the Lord. Jesus makes it clearer (at least, it is clearer for the reader), indicating that this work of preparation has already been made complete (by John the Baptist). But now another prophecy, pertaining to the suffering and rejection of the Son of Man, must come to fruition. That trajectory of the cross – the final messianic task – has been set. So often, we can be like the disciples and be so confused by Jesus that we fail to really listen to him (with our heads and hearts). In our minds, we can limit God but fail to recognise the fullness of who Jesus is. This is why we must keep recalling that it was the Son of God who hung upon the cross, the one who is greater than any of the prophets of old, and who is worthy to be listened to by all. Part of a life dedicated to God, includes a dedication to actively hearing Jesus’ words – even when those words are tough.
Day 2: Read Mark 9:14-29
Since our lofty mountain experience with Jesus, we are now returned to the common struggles of daily life and suffering. We hear of the tragic situation in which a boy is so tormented by an evil spirit that his life is in grave danger. It’s a situation that has been plaguing the boy for sometime (since childhood) and the father desperately seeks healing from Jesus. The disciples have failed to be of assistance – not because of a lack of ‘power’, but due to a lack of belief. How amazing that as the man approaches Jesus for help, he even feels at liberty to ask Jesus with help to overcome his unbelief. What a great lesson for us sometimes, when we struggle to understand how God is working in our lives, to ask for help in this way! We should note the really strong contrast in this incident between God (good) and evil: whilst evil seeks to destroy, God seeks to create and redeem. We also note that whilst the teachers of the law were busy arguing about the situation, Jesus gets on with resolving the situation. Instead of trusting in God, the disciples had instead tried to just copy Jesus. The previous healings and miracles hadn’t happened because Jesus had a ‘magical’ method – it was all about the source of his power, God. Because Jesus is God, he can command the healing. Conversely, because the disciples are not God, the healing can only occur if they ask God (and trust in him). That’s what Jesus means when he says, “This kind can come out only by prayer”. True trust in God does not mean dictating to God our desired outcome. True trust means learning to think like God does, and accordingly praying in that way.
Day 3: Read Mark 9:30-37
Our passage today begins with the second prediction of Jesus’ suffering and resurrection (the third is yet to come). Each of these predictions is followed by instructions on discipleship and incidents that reveal the disciples’ lack of understanding. They haven’t really listened. Worse, even though they didn’t understand, they were afraid to ask Jesus for further information! (Compare that with the man asking Jesus for help with his unbelief!) What a great reminder to us: if we struggle in our understanding, our reaction should not be fear but a request for help!
Following the prediction, I love the coyness of the disciples as Jesus queries them about the content of their quarrelling. Heart of hearts, they knew that they shouldn’t be arguing about ‘who is the greatest’. Jesus, as we should be familiar with now, knows their hearts and in doing so presents a poignant response. True greatness is not measured by who is ‘first in line’, but by the depth of their humility and servanthood. What a radical message! We note once again that God’s kingdom does not play by the rules of this world, especially when it comes to greatness, honour, and power. It’s easy to pay lip service to the notion that the ‘first will be last’, but it’s a life of sacrificial love to really live it.
Day 4: Read Mark 9:38-50
Whilst today we begin by being reminded that the followers of Jesus are not connect by the crowd with whom they spend their time, but by the name in which they act (and whom they believe), I want us to focus on the extremely challenging warning concerning those who cause others to sin. Indeed, it seems that the chapter has been full of challenging words by Jesus (a critical observation when recalling the authoritative command to ‘listen’ that we heard earlier on). Whilst I do not believe that Jesus is literally commanding them to dispense body parts that cause sin (I wonder what would be left of anyone!), he is trying to paint a metaphorical picture that puts into perspective the true gravity of sin (the people would have been very familiar with such use of metaphor).
These sayings are challenging us to examine the quality of our discipleship. It’s evident that discipleship is not something to be given up lightly, or pushed aside at first opportunity. Discipleship is costly and intended to permeate (perhaps sometimes penetrate) every aspect of our lives. Further, as per the final verse (v.50), we should never feel that we do this alone. We of course always have companionship with God, but Jesus reminds us here that if we are to remain disciples (i.e., ‘salty’), we ought to seek the support of others too (“peace with each other”). We’re also strongly reminded that the quality of our discipleship does not just affect ourselves, but also has the potential to affect others.
With our recent launch of the Small Group programme for 2012, it has been incredibly exciting that an additional 25 people have joined Small Groups since the end of last year. If you’re still considering joining a small group, you still can! Be sure to check out our Small Groups page to watch the promotional video and check out the range of group times and venues to choose from. Please remember, joining a group doesn’t mean that you’re committed to it forever – you are most welcome to check it out once or even try a few different groups. If you’re already in Small Group, my hope and prayer is that you are finding it an incredibly enriching part of your weekly routine.
Are we deluded? Or are there facts to back up what Christians believe? You can decide for yourself at any of the six talks, starting February 29 from 7 to 8pm. Everyone is welcome with topics including: Aren’t all religions much the same? Why take the Bible seriously? Jesus, real figure of history? Jesus, was he who he said he was? Jesus crucified, true? Jesus resurrected, for real? For more information, including a map to get to the venue, visit the dedicated page on our website.
Notes and readings (for the week commencing 13th February, 2012) are shown below, with a PDF version available here. The sermon topic this Sunday (19/02/2012) will be “Who do you say I am?”.
Day 1: Read Mark 8:1-13
No you read correctly and yes, this is the second time Jesus fed a large group. Although there are similarities in the way Mark reports this, there are enough differences to indicate that this indeed happened a second time. The time the crowd had been with Jesus (three days here, one in chapter 6); the number of people present, the quantity of food available, the baskets of unused food collected. Interestingly, seeing how the second feeding occurred in a far more Gentile region, the type of basket used is different. (The word used translated ‘basket’ in the first had distinctly Jewish associations, where the word used in the second are large and associated with Gentiles.)
Some scholars doubt the historical credibility of the second feeding on the grounds of the disciples asking about where they were going to obtain sufficient food to feed the crowd. “But this is to miss the very point Jesus is making. Due to their spiritual blindness, the Twelve ‘had not understood about the loaves’ (6:52). Because of their lack of insight, the feeding of the 5,000 remained ambiguous to them: had it really happened? Perhaps they had been mistaken about it?… Their question here shows that their unbelief is reaching new heights.” Paul Barnett, The Servant King, p 149. Are YOU getting the picture of who Jesus is?
Vv11-13 show further escalation in the tension between Jesus and the Pharisees. Remember this Jesus claims to forgive sins (blasphemy), eats with sinners, breaks the Sabbath, he is the devil, he doesn’t wash properly! Now they ask for a sign from him. If he was heralding the Kingdom of God, where were the dramatic signs expected to accompany the coming of such a kingdom? But of course, the casting out of demons, the restoration of the sick and even the dead, the opening of the deaf man’s ears in the previous chapter, were all the signs needed – if only they had paid attention to the (Old Testament) Scriptures! So Jesus will do no other sign for them!
Day 2: Read Mark 8:14-21
Note how the section finishes…? – with Jesus asking “do you still not understand?” If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking – “can’t blame them! I don’t get what Jesus is saying here either!”
So let me see if I can unpack it. Ever made bread? The yeast, though you use a relatively small amount, does an amazing work as it grows and spreads in the warm moist setting. Yeast is often used as a metaphor for the spread of evil. A small amount does great harm.
So as the disciples stress about not having bread for their dinner, Jesus picks up the bread theme to warn the disciples about the influence of both the Pharisees and Herod. The Pharisees – because they’d just asked for an unmistakeable sign – and Herod – because they were near his home town and he wanted to be rid of Jesus.
But then Jesus asks why they are stressing about bread in any case, because the amount of food left over following the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000 ought to have been sign enough that only having one loaf to share between him and the disciples was never going to be a problem. Did they still not understand who he is? Their unbelief is at a height – despite the signs they had witnessed! We too are being asked– ‘do you still not understand’?
Day 3: Read Mark 822-26
The feeding of the 5,000 had occurred just a few kilometres south, so it is no surprise that some people recognised Jesus and brought the blind man to him. In Mark 7 we saw the healing of a deaf and mute man and now the healing of a blind man. The kingdom has come, and as we saw earlier, these miracles are a glimpse or promise or preview of the end time kingdom blessings. In the prophet Isaiah, in one of the many references to the end time Kingdom of God we read: “5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.” In both these miracles, Jesus’ spit is involved – though we are not sure why. Both seem to be tied to spiritual hearing and seeing. Both occurred in Gentile lands with a sign that Gentiles were more open to Jesus than were the Jews. In these two miracles of sight and hearing, Jesus demonstrates that Jesus is the Messiah and that the age of the Messiah has truly come! Up till now, Jesus’ disciples have not yet understood this, but that is all about to change in the next reading.
As a final thought today, why do you think the healing of the blind man took place in two stages? Tuck that question away and we’ll revisit it in our next reading.
Day 4: Read Mark 8:27-9:1
The opening verse of Mark’s gospel, if you recall, read: The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, [or Christ] the Son of God. From that point on, Mark sets out to show us why we should take such a claim seriously. Here in Mark 8 – approximately the middle of the story – is the first of two great moments of recognition – that Jesus is the Messiah. Right at the end – when Jesus dramatically draws his last breath, is the second powerful moment of recognition – that Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus has moved 40 kms north of Bethsaida. He is in Gentile territory with few Jewish settlers. Beautiful snow-capped Mount Hermon towers about 3000 metres above the villages. On the way (a phrase used also at 9:33, 10:17, 32, 46, 52) Jesus asks the disciples the question we readers have been grappling with throughout the first half of the book. “Who do people say I am?” The same answers are given as were discussed when Herod felt under threat by Jesus – see ch 6:14-15. But what about you Twelve? – now that you have been with me along the way and seen what I’ve done and heard what I have to say and been out on mission for me; what do you make of me? The air must have been tense. Were they still blind? Or had the light began to dawn? And in the first dramatic climax of the book, Peter answers on behalf of the others, “You are the Messiah”. (Or “the Christ” which was the Greek form of the Hebrew “Messiah”, meaning, ‘the Anointed One’.) He is the King of God’s Kingdom. With his coming, the kingdom itself has come!
But the disciples had more to learn. For Jesus would not be the type of Messiah long awaited by Israel. Their hopes and expectations of the Messiah lay in the overturning of the Romans and the establishment of God’s kingdom right there in Israel. This idea of “Messiah” is immediately shattered as Jesus speaks plainly of his impending suffering and death. Peter won’t have a bar of it. Peter and Jesus rebuke one another! But in the last section here, we also learn the sobering reality, that Jesus’ disciples must also lay down their lives in concert with their King. Cling to your life as if it was your own and you’ll lose it. Give it over, lay it down for Jesus and you’ll gain it. It was one thing for the disciples to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, it was another thing for them to realise all that would mean both for Jesus – and for themselves. Perhaps a two stage ‘seeing’ of who Jesus is?
In preparation for our Annual General Meeting on the 25th of February (read more about it here), we have prepared our Mission Plan for 2012. The document looks back at our 2011 plans, establishes the Guiding Principles for this year, and details the plans for 2012 in three key areas of: Evangelism, Discipleship, and Mission. We will discuss it in more detail at the AGM, but in the meantime we encourage you to read it and pray for God’s wisdom and blessing as we seek to serve him. You can access the Mission Plan (in PDF) here.
It was a great start to Family Church tonight at 4.30pm with over 35 adults and a dozen children. Bettrys and Adam joined together to tell the story from Mark 6 of Jesus feeding the 5,000. Jennifer Birch shared why she and Jordon enjoy family church and Adam introduced Simon and Heather Keith (our new Children’s Ministry Leader and family) with the help of their lovely family photo. Emily Calder did a great job leading the children’s songs and Chris Ivey led an inspiring time of prayer to which each family contributed. The 45 minutes had a great feel and everyone was excited to be back at Family Church.We then shared some lovingly prepared food and were very grateful to God for the joys of Family Church. Please spread the word about Family Church and keep praying!
Notes and readings (for the week commencing 6th February, 2012) are shown below, with a PDF version available here. The sermon topic this Sunday (12/02/2012) will be “These people honour me with their lips?”.
Day 1: Read Mark 7:1-13
The chapter opens with another clash between Jesus and the Pharisees and teachers of the law. You’ll remember they began plotting to kill Jesus back in Ch 3 because he claimed to forgive sins, ate with sinners and tax collectors, didn’t fast and broke the Sabbath. To that great list, they now add “and his disciples eat with unwashed hands”. Jesus is quite a problem!
Every Jewish house had large stone jars placed near the entrance for people to wash and purify themselves from the defilement of contact with goods which may have been handled by Gentiles (ie, people who were not Jews). They also washed utensils for the same reason. This was not so much about hygiene as for the washing away of moral and spiritual defilement. Gentiles ate food sacrificed to idols, they were known to be promiscuous, and they aborted their unborn. Such religious uncleanness had to be guarded against! The Gospel writer Mark points out that these washings were not prescribed in the Old Testament (except for priests), but by the elders – the traditions of men.
So – ‘why don’t your disciples observe these rituals?’ ask the Pharisees and teachers of the law. The question sparks a very sharp criticism from Jesus. He claims that Isaiah (a major Old Testament prophet) was right – these people are actors in a play (the origin of ‘hypocrite’). They honour God with their lips but their hearts were far from God. Hence they worship God in vain, because the teachings they so religiously follow are not from the word of God but are rules taught by men. Tradition had overtaken the word of God in their lives.
Jesus goes on to give an example. Although men and women were to honour their parents, some were claiming that the money they would have had available to care for them, they had given to God. They swore to give it to God, but then often reneged on that commitment, keeping the money for themselves, leaving their parents uncared for! Hence v13 – you nullify the word of God by your tradition.
Friends, we must ask ourselves – are the traditions of the church more important than the word of God? Is it possible that I honour God with my lips each Sunday, but in reality my heart is far from him? Is there a way I twist the word God so that it looks like I’m doing the right thing, while all the time I’m something quite opposite?
Day 2: Read Mark 7:14-23
Note that Jesus has now left the crowd and entered the house. This is probably Peter’s house in Capernaum. The disciples ask Jesus to explain further the concepts of ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’.
The Pharisees focused on the external state of things. Jesus however points out that uncleanness is not from the outside, in; it’s from the inside, out! He expresses frustration that they can’t see this. The heart of the matter is that the heart IS the matter! External things cannot ultimately impact our heart. But our heart is already vile and this is what renders us ‘unclean’ before God.
We all know this don’t we? We know our heart has evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly vv21-22. And no amount of correct and ceremonial hand washing (or any other religious ritual) will do anything about our unclean heart! What we need is a new and clean heart – which only God can do through the Lord Jesus and his death and resurrection. If you’re trying to get ‘clean’ before God by following religious ritual, it will never happen! But forgiveness and cleansing occurs when we repent and trust Jesus. How good is that!
(We note in passing, that Jesus declared all foods ‘clean’. Since food did not defile anyone before God, people were free to eat whatever they chose – the restrictions under the old covenant were annulled. And people were free to eat with whom they chose – even with Gentiles! Jesus had smashed a major ritual barrier to Jews and Gentiles sharing food together!)
Day 3: Read Mark 7:24-30
From this point, Jesus will now spend more time in Gentile territory – to the west, east and north of Galilee. His life was in danger and the dispute over ‘uncleanness’ would have made the religious leaders all the more determined to do something about Jesus. However, we see among some Gentiles Jesus comes across, a better understanding of Jesus than the Twelve!
Although Jesus wanted his visit to remain secret, such was his fame that he couldn’t keep his presence quiet. A Gentile woman from Syrian (or coastal) Phoenicia asked Jesus to drive a demon out of her daughter. Jesus’ strange reply seems very cold and blunt, but it is a parable picking up the common language and understanding of the day. The ‘children’ are the people of Israel – the Jews; the ‘dogs’ are the Gentiles (as the Jews commonly referred to them) and the ‘bread’ is the Kingdom of God which Jesus is bringing – of which Jesus’ authority over evil is a sign. Jesus says his priority is the children of Israel.
However, the blessings of the Kingdom were always going to flow to the Gentiles. The woman understands this and replies with great wit and determination, picking up the theme and language of Jesus’ parable. She is prepared to acknowledge that according to the Jews she is a mere ‘dog’ and so accordingly asks just for the scraps from the table. She has understood who he is and her understanding is portrayed so as to demonstrate a contrast with the dullness of the Twelve. Even though not physically present with her mother, Jesus declares the daughter to be free of the evil spirit and the woman returns home to find that was indeed the case. Here we see the first Gentile turn to Jesus – because of Jesus’ kindness and grace. We Gentiles are also in the new kingdom – all through Jesus’ kindness and grace. Thank the Lord for his grace and mercy to you also!
Day 4: Read Mark 7:31-37
Our final passage for the week begins with Mark’s most detailed description of Jesus’ travels so far. It was a long way through Gentile territory and must have taken many weeks. It may have been necessary to avoid arrest. The author Mark has chosen just one healing episode to include in his account of those weeks, and some have thought that healing the deaf man is a sign pointing to the beginning of people’s understanding of Jesus and his message. We need to pray in our day for deaf ears to be opened. That is, we need to pray that the Lord will help people to truly hear the message of Jesus so that their life may be rescued from sin and death and they find life in the Lord Jesus.
Again Jesus commands silence. The risk of being overrun by sick people is now compounded by the life-threatening menace of the Pharisees and Herodians. But Jesus could not keep them quiet! They were amazed and overwhelmed and could not shut up about Jesus. Of course, we are under no such direction (to keep quiet). And my prayer is that we may increasingly be so ‘overwhelmed with amazement’ that we can’t keep quiet either!
As another year gets into full swing and all our ministries begin again, I trust and pray you will immerse yourself in the life of our church this year. Can I urge you not to have a consumerism view of church as a place where you call in from time to time, ‘fill up’ and then head home. The Lord Jesus has so much more in mind for you than that. Church is not a filling station or a bus for a passenger ride. It is a family, a body, a living organism, a place where God lives by his Holy Spirit. Join a small group, seek ways you can serve, contribute generously, deepen relationships, come to encourage others, and you’ll be greatly blessed along the way. Sincerely, Mark Calder
