Dear Friends in Christ,

The aim of Paul the apostle in his ministry was ‘so that we may present everyone mature in Christ . . . until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the full staure of Christ' (Col. 1:28; Eph. 4:13). Each of us individually, and all of us together, are to come to that fullness of maturity in Christ.

Other passages in the New Testament give witness to the concern of the apostles that believers dear to them be brought to and kept in this maturity:

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word (2 Thess. 2:16-17).

A quiet-spirited, strong and settled assurance, in good times and bad, is of great value. It saves us from being ‘tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine' (Eph. 4:14), and from being subject to the vagaries of our own changes of mood.

Bringing people to this maturity is our aim also in the New Creation Teaching Ministry—to play our part in that among and alongside the local churches. What a task it is! To be able to present, time and again, the great truths of the faith in such a way that they are accessible to any who have not heard them before, and also in a way that honours the profound depth of these truths such that we never tire of them but are constantly refreshed and re-grounded in God’s own grace and love!

We who proclaim and teach this word need it no less than our hearers. We can become anxious, and take on the burden as if it was all up to us. Our worship and teaching can become ‘a human commandment learned by rote’ (Isa. 29:13), and so dry and lifeless, with hearts that are far from the Father. The apostles were confident that it is ‘our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father’ who carries us through, and that ‘The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this’, so that ‘your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). So also we are to be confident, in the progress and reception of our ministry, and in the supply of both personal and material needs, that ‘the God of all grace . . . will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you’.

Because we ourselves are so often at the centre of our own concern, it is timely to be having a Winter School 6–9th June 2008 entitled ‘To Love the Lord Your God’ (see leaflet enclosed or attached). That, too, could be taken on as a burden of responsibility. There is a form of morning prayer that prays:

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.*

Does that seem a bit much to be praying first thing in the morning every day? It does not have to be a raging bushfire. It may be more like when, out camping, the first thing we want to do is get the fire going to boil the billy or, at home, put the jug on, to make a cup of tea to take to others. To be set on fire with the love of God after that order is the kind of ‘fire’ we need to be given each day, to keep us going.

Winter School will help us to know the importance of loving God, and the connection of that with keeping His commandments and living in love with one another. Best of all, we will know that all of this love is from God, and that God is love! Think of others you can pray for and bring to participate in the special time of worship and teaching that is Winter School.

Six weeks later, 21st–25th July 2008, will be the annual Ministry School on ‘The Wisdom of God and the Healing of Man’. God’s wisdom is not something we can accumulate for ourselves by learning. God’s wisdom is God Himself in action, as He carries out His eternal plan, centred in Jesus Christ. We can ask for, and be given, wisdom, and so come to engage with God in the action of His true wisdom in Christ. Leaflets will be sent out shortly to those with leadership in pastoral ministry. While teaching at the Ministry School assumes a certain level of theological understanding, it is open to all, ‘lay’ or ‘ordained’, who participate in the ministry of Christ through his body the church.

Meanwhile, Ian Pennicook, Martin Bleby and Rod James, with Lol Bettany, will lead a teaching weekend 12–13th April 2008 on ‘Living in the Great Truths of God’ at Newdegate, a small town out in the wheat belt of Western Australia, where we have not been before. We will open up 1 Corinthians 6:11: ‘But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God’. Please pray with us that the word will come freshly and freely to those who gather. Before that, Ian will be ministering with our friends at Bethany Christian Fellowship, near Perth.

Among the weekly classes, Trevor Faggotter’s treatment of P. T. Forsyth’s The Justification of God on Thursday Mornings has opened great depths to many. There is also marked interest, particularly amongst young people, in Martin Bleby’s new Monthly Ministry Series on ‘Marriage and the Good News of God’ (next study 3rd and 5th May). Both these can be accessed, in video or audio and text formats, at www.sermonaudio.com/newcreation.

Glad to be with you in the great love of God,

Yours in Christ,

*Anglican Church of Australia, A Prayer Book for Australia, p. 384; emphasis added.