Being a city church, we have a high turnover of a portion of our membership; yet we are also greatly blessed by a large number of godly, long-term members who are committed to and passionate about the unique kingdom and ministry opportunities our central location offers.
Have you noticed that we humans tend to excel at viewing the world through a lens of either/or? That thing is either big or small. It is either fast or it is slow. It is either enjoyable or it is boring. And so on. Not only that, but we usually consider our designation of something as either this or that as clearly self-evident. After all, the Titanic was obviously big, Sydney buses are definitely slow and COVID lockdown is clearly boring! Humans tend to excel at viewing the world through a lens of either/or … But things aren’t always that...
There, then, is the message of this book–that through marriage, “the mystery of the gospel is unveiled.” Marriage is a major vehicle for the gospel’s remaking of your heart from the inside out and your life from the ground up.”[1] I was in my mid-twenties and in my final year of Social Work when I first read these words from Tim and Kathy Keller’s book The Meaning of Marriage. I didn’t want to be single. Rather, I envisaged myself using my future marriage to minister to the most vulnerable children in our society. Married people get sex and sanctification; who...
Picture this. After months and months of not being able to meet together with your church family, it’s the first Sunday that church is finally back on! You pull into the car park. The kids bound out and you catch up with them at the church doors. At first you’re a little surprised. The chairs have been laid out differently, with lots of small clusters throughout the room, each separated by a couple of metres. There are also a number of solo chairs spread amongst the clusters. Welcome to church social-distancing style! Your family makes it way to one of...
The Bible values marriage. The Bible also values singleness. As Sam Allberry says, ‘Marriage shows us the shape of the gospel, singleness shows us its sufficiency’.[1] Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 7 is a key text which supports the view that marriage is good, but optional. ‘If you do marry, you have not sinned’, Paul says. In fact, earlier in the chapter he encourages married couples in their mutual love and service of one another. But, Paul also says to the Corinthians, ‘I wish that all of you were as I am’. That is, he wishes they were all single....
