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Sep/Oct/Nov 2019 Sep/Oct/Nov From the Editor, Welcome to the final edition for 2019. As we move into the year let’s see more contributions form both Sunday services and combined events. Our magazine is only as good as the content it contains so I encourage you all to take photos of significant events and send them into us with a short article. Please send one or two suitable high-resolution photos with each article to [email protected] as soon after the event as possible. Some content or articles may be edited and photos cropped due to space and lay- out constraints. Ideas and suggestions welcome and should be submitted by email to the editor for consideration. All content and photos should be submitted as early as possible after the event or activity to allow sufficient time to meet our deadlines. Closing date for submissions for the next edition is 24th Nov as the magazine will be published and available on Sunday December 1st 2019. 2 3 Pastor’s Pen Dear HTK Parish Family, In this edition of Belong, we are focussing on the theme, “The Way We Care.” Caring is an essential part of living in the Christian community, the Church, and being Christian. Caring has its roots in the command that Jesus gave his disciples on the night before he gave up his life on the cross. He gave them this command at a significant time- after he had washed his disciples’ feet. Jesus spoke to them these words in John 13:34,35, “A new commandment, I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men (and women) will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Jesus was very serious about this new command. Later in John 15:12, on the same night, Jesus said to his disciples, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Here is the One who cares, who shows his disciples how to be great, by caring, by washing the feet of another, being a servant. What is at the heart of the community of Jesus’ disciples and what is at the heart of the Church is the love of God shown us and given to us through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. As Church, if we genuinely love and care for one another as Christ has loved and cared for us, we will demonstrate that we are a completely different community from any other found in this self-centred world. It will be our love and care for one an- other that will cause the world to sit up and take notice. Because that is what is missing in the lives of many people in the world today. That’s the way it was with the Church at the beginning. What did ancient Romans think about Christians? On several occasions, these words were attributed to the early church’s neighbours: “See how they love one another.” The love of God in Jesus Christ 4 Pastor’s Pen was demonstrated to the world by the first Christians by the way they lived, loved, cared and died. It showed the world that here was something new, something unlike anything found in the world-the old creation. This was new creation whose foundation, inspiration and expression were from the very heart, nature and being of the God of love- the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit who lives together in community in, of and as, love. The way that we demonstrate to the world that love that we have received from the Holy Trinity is by the way we care. Paul writes in Gal. 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfil the law of Christ.” Jesus Christ was known as, “the man for others.” He was totally “other” focussed. That is where the focus of love will lead you- to others. The world of the sinful nature is self-centred- it’s all about me, my needs, my wants, my comfort, my happiness, my security- me, me, me, me, me. But, the way of love is focussed on others, particularly those who are carrying burdens, those who are struggling under the weight of life- no matter how that may be- physical sickness, mental illness, emotional stress, unemployment, disability and so I could go on. The Christian community when it sees those things happening, take those burdens in other people’s lives as opportunities to serve, to care. Not as opportunities to wash one’s hands and say, “I’m too busy,” “It’s too much for me to do,” “All I want to do is go to Church and go home,” “Leave it be for somebody else.” In Galatia, Paul was having trouble with the Judaizers, those who wanted an easy form of Christianity, who wanted to fulfil the law by circumcision and not via the cross. Ignoring the burdens of others is practicing an easy Christianity. But Paul is saying, “If you want to fulfil the law, fulfil the law of the Messiah, the Christ.” Paul is not talking about a new set of rules, but about the law of love, the law of giving oneself in love and humility to the service of others. As Jesus carried the cross for others, so we Christians are called to carry the burdens of others, to love and care as our Lord and Saviour did, all the way to the cross! Love Always, Father Steve. 5 Catching the Wind As the church of the Holy Trinity, called to be evangelical, sacramental and charismatic, Pentecost is a special Sunday. We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church, thus making it the birthday of the church. The Holy Spirit came with “the sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them”. The colour red defined the church and the children made wind detectors in their Sunday School craft session. A great day of celebration. 6 Flowing Together at HTK “We are the body of Christ, His spirit is with us”. Each week we recite this together to affirm that we all belong to the one God and to the one church. Each one of us have a unique history, we live in a unique set of circumstances, we have a unique perspective on things, a unique personality, and have a unique and special relationship with the same God. Over the next few months our HTK church will be calling on the Lord to direct us in our planning for the future. As the old wells of the Holy Spirit are being unblocked, new ones are dug, and the Spirit of God is pouring out among us, we are seeking God to guide us in how He would like us to be and what He would like us to do. As one body in Christ, with all our diversity, we all need to take time to pray and seek to hear from God regarding HTK’s next steps. When the whole body comes together, firstly in prayer, and then followed up with their thoughts, ideas, opinions, feelings and impressions for what God might be asking of us, are we more likely to align ourselves with the will of God. The leadership of HTK is asking that each one of us pray and consider a few short questions that will help to clarify where the Lord is leading us as the Spirit flows. The HTK Parish Council believes it is so important to engage the whole HTK body in this endeavour that we are pre- pared to individually visit anyone at home who needs assistance with the questions. Once we hear back from you (by the 8th Sept), the leadership group will again pray and work through and consolidate your responses. You will be then invited to attend one of two forums scheduled for late September (21st and 26th) to discuss your responses and how we can then move forward in God’s will over the next few years. The Holy Spirit is moving over HTK!!!! I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to think at Joel (2:28) was including HTK when the Lord says “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, you old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” Wardens and Parish Council What do others see when they look at you? Do they see beyond the colour of your hair (or in my case no hair), your wrinkles or pimples? And, who precisely do they relate to when they engage you in a conversation? Is it their cumulative experiences of you from the past? Is it your reputation or the characterisations they have extracted from the stories told about you from others? Perhaps people are seeking to connect with parts of themselves that they might recognise in you - both those which are admirable and those which are otherwise. No! Caring at HTK is relating to each other in a way that is infinitely superior than the ways of the world. Caring at HTK is “knowing” that those immediately with you, right now, are the most important people in the world to you.