Confirmation Conversation # 3 – the Church

Hi all

This week I would like to move the conversation onto the church. It is word we use a lot, obviously, and has associations with many things. Sometimes we think of the church as the building, such as St. Jude’s. When we speak of St. Jude’s we often think of the building that occupies 444 Brighton Road. At other times, we think of the church as a place we go to on Sundays. We say we are going to church, meaning not only the building, but also attending the act of worship that takes place inside it. We also speak of belonging to a church, and by that we mean we belong to a group of people who assemble at St. Jude’s. We also speak of belonging to the local or global church, or the Anglican Church, or one of the other denominations. Church is word that covers a multitude of meanings.

However, the New Testament mainly understands the word church as a ‘people’ (see Matthew 16: 18; Romans 16: 1, 23; Ephesians 5: 25). Occasionally, at St. Jude’s we sing a song that says;

I am the church! You are the church!

We are the church together!

All who follow Jesus all around the world,

Yes, we’re the church together.

The truth of this song, as it goes on to say, is that;

The church is not a building,

The church is not a steeple,
The church is not a resting-place,
The church is a people![1]

When we are baptized we become members of this church of ‘people’, and all of us are full and equal members of it. St. Jude’s church building might one day close - we hope not!!! However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the church itself will close. St. Jude’s Church could meet in a hall or school gym, because, ultimately, St. Jude’s Church is the people.

How do you understand the word church?

What does being a member of St. Jude’s mean to you?

Do you think the church could meet out of a church building and still be the church?

Chris

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[1] Richard Avery & Donald March 1972, ‘I am the church’, Hymn # 467 in ,Together in Song, HarperCollinsReligious, Sydney, 1999.

Confirmation Class # 2 – Beginning to think about baptism

Last week I wrote a little about what it means to be a Christian. I didn’t, of course, say everything about being Christian, but gave you all a chance, I hope, to think about what it might mean to you to be a Christian. This week I want to write a little about baptism.

All of you, the ones I know, have been baptised, and some of you only in very recent times: what a great celebration that was. Baptism is sometimes described as the gateway into the Christian church, but, it does, have deeper meanings than that as well.  Baptism is the means by which we are united with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection, and our sins forgiven.

The last statement about sin is a difficult one for many people. Many people do not like to think as themselves as sinners. Being a sinner sounds like something incredibly negative to them, or, at the least, should describe people who murder or steal and things like that. However, we understand sin to be that which separates us from God. The bible tells a picture story to illustrate this, and it is a story that we all know fairly well (The Book of Genesis chapter 3: first book in the bible).

Adam and Eve were in the garden made by God and they were happy and had everything they needed. Coaxed by the serpent, Eve encourages Adam to taste of the one fruit, forbidden by God, from the tree of life. They ate the fruit and then their eyes were open and they saw who they were and how they differed from God: they fell from perfection. After this they were banished from the perfect garden.

The world we live in is not perfect, and neither are we. We are all capable – and I do mean all, myself included – of doing nasty and spiteful things, treating people badly, gossiping, and other less than perfect things. This is part of our sinful nature with which we are born with. Something we all share in: the Adam and Eve that is in us. Like Adam and Eve we turn away from God and do not believe God or trust God. The Christian message is that we cannot place ourselves back in the Garden of Eden, but God in Jesus restores us to a right relationship with God by forgiving our sins through the death of Jesus. At the end of time we will be back in the garden (a place of perfection), but it will be a new one, so says The Book of Revelation chapters 21 & 22 (the last book in the bible: not a bad book, but a bit hard to understand!)

At our baptism we were asked four questions;

Do you turn to Christ?

Do you repent (meaning turning away from) of your sins?

Do reject selfish living, and all that is false and unjust?

Do renounce Satan and all evil?

We, or our godparents, on our behalf, answered ‘I do’ and then we were baptised (washed) in water to symbolize the ‘cleansing from sin that Jesus’ death makes possible’. Having been cleansed from our sin we become new ‘Adams and Eves’. The catch though, is that we still live in non-perfect world, and so we still sin from time to time. Having been baptised though, all we need do now is ask for forgiveness in prayer, turn away from our sin again, and ask God to strengthen us to do better (but more on that later).

Now, that is quite a bit to think about this week. We will have a chat about all this after the 9.30am service on 13 May. This week, May 6, we will chat about last week’s post, ‘Being a Christian’. Until then, please post a thought or a question.

Chris