RevWrites - August 2

Last week I asked to join me in praying. Did you?

Do you remember what I asked you to join me in praying about?

I asked you to join me in asking God to guide us into the next stage of life at NAC. So what happened? Well, life happened. Normal life happened this week. Many of you got caught up in it. And perhaps you really didn’t get around to asking God to guide us.

I understand how life gobbles us up. We got called to the Central Coast on Friday afternoon because Robyn’s dad had a fall and they didn’t want him left alone overnight. That used up 24 hours. On Sunday I preached three times and helped our son and daughter-in-law dig out some trees in the afternoon. On Monday we received a call that a friend’s father had died. I took the mother to the airport to fly to her family home in the country and we looked after the husband and children for a couple of days. On Wednesday we attended the funeral of Anna’s grandmother. In the end, it took up most of the day.

This morning, Thursday, I feel tired and I have headache. Little wonder! Like you, I know what life feels like.

But some of you, despite life, will have prayed along with me for the future of NAC. Some of you who prayed will have done so because you’re disciplined. Self discipline seems to have almost died out. But it hasn’t completely and some of you will have prayed as I asked.

Some of you will have prayed because you’re excited about the future of NAC. Asking questions like: Why has God built a church like NAC on the door step of the City of Parramatta? gets you going. Ideas like: We have strong families at NAC and plenty of schools in the area make you start to imagine. So you started to pray.

Please keep on asking our Father to guide us as we think about the next stage of life at NAC (that’s Northmead Anglican Churches which includes WHAC and Woodberry).

The Parish Leadership Team has begun exploring this question. We’ve begun by reviewing the Makeover. Some parts of the Makeover have gone really well. Have a look at WHAC for example! Check out 6.45!! Both 9.00 and 5.00 are growing!!! There’s been growth in discipling. Once again we’ve seen that NAC is able to change and grow. Our ability to change is a clear mark of God's presence and enabling.

We must build on the changes and growth brought about by the Makeover. The question is how? We exist to see the gospel communicated effectively to as many people who don’t know Jesus as we can. We exist to see those who know Jesus grow in their faithfulness to him. Those two things are inextricably linked.

Now we must explore how we will achieve both those things in bigger and better ways for the next few years. After all, God is giving us growth for a reason!

So, what will we look like in five years’ time? Ten years? And how will we get there?

Join with me, in spite of life, in asking our Father to guide us into the next stage of life at NAC.