WHY DID JESUS PRAY?

According to Luke (the Gospel writer) Jesus prayed often.

But he [Jesus] would often withdraw to desolate places and pray.
Luke 5:16

Jesus wasn't merely praying as an example. His praying was Him entering into time and space and making a difference. His praying actually resulted in Him, at times, being strengthened (Luke 22:41-43). He told His disciples that it was a result of His praying that they would be able to continue in their relationship with God -

...but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.
Luke 22:32

There is so much detail of the life of Christ that we don't have. But we do have the repeated record that He was a man who prayed. We know what He prayed, how He prayed, when He prayed and that He prayed. But we are less clear on why He prayed.

Some teach that He prayed because He was just a man. Others teach that He prayed because, although He was God, He had relinquished His deity and was not able to use His rights as God. But neither of these positions is Biblical. While Christ became man, He never ceased being God. He as God in the flesh.

The fact that He prayed at all is very striking. The fact that He prayed as a lifestyle is even more striking. At the very least we should be motivated to pray as a lifestyle. This means praying purposefully (setting aside time to pray, even if its only a few minutes), praying silently (while about our daily routines and activities), praying through a list of requests, praying the principles of the Lord's Prayer and making the prayers of the Bible our own.

pray without ceasing,
1Th. 5:17

Amen.


Andrew.

MEDI-CARE or MEDI-KILL?

Abortion is a blight on our nation. It is a highly emotional issue for many people who in their shrill, abandon ordinary decency and plunge into irrationality. The widespread view held in the 1970s that a fetus was simply a part of a woman's body or that the embryo was not human, or that the unborn in the womb feels no pain, have all been debunked now.

Recently a Australian university banned the display of a poster on their campus which pictured an 8 week old unborn baby ("human embryo") and only had the caption- "An 8 Week Old Embryo".



Abortion is probably now the greatest social injustice in the world today. Its legacy is the trauma that thousands of women who have had an abortion (even decades ago) are now experiencing. This is one reason why we launched Hope For Women - to help some of those women who are experiencing Post-Abortion Trauma. The unborn are not the only casualties of abortion.

This Sunday in our church we will have an urgent petition regarding Medicare funding for abortion which I urge you to sign.
Senator Guy Barnett will be presenting a Bill in the Senate to withdraw Medicare funding for abortion. In an interview on ABC radio this morning, Senator Barnett noted that in up to 20% of current abortions in Australia, the child in the womb is older than 20 weeks and is actually birthed alive and left to die. "I find this galling" said Senator Barnett to ABC radio's Tim Cox.

And so should we.

If you wish to download the Petition yourself, then visit-

Download Petition

I commend this petition to you.

Dr. Andrew Corbett

BE SKEPTICAL, NOT CYNICAL

It might sound strange for a Christian minister to encourage skepticism. But I do. In fact, I don't think it's possible to live a fruitful, faith-filled, Christian life unless we are skeptical. At first glance it might appear that to encourage skepticism and faith is an irreconcilable contradiction. But I think that we can see that faith is grounded by skepticism. Let me explain...

To be skeptical is to be slow to believe. This slowness has to do with processing the proof. Any proof offered for a claim must be tested to determine whether it is sustainable (1Thess. 5:21). While Christians are commended to believe all things (1Cor. 13:7) this does not mean we should be naive in our thinking (1Cor. 14:20). It is reasonable for a Christian to wait for (testable) evidence before they believe a claim such gold-dust falling out of thin air during a worship service, dramatic healings, resurrections, or prophetic messages given supposedly by angels.

In this sense, skepticism in a Christian sense is not being "closed-minded" but rather: "open-minded". That is, the Christian is not "closed" to the idea that what is presented by some sincere (but naive) believers as "from God" may have some quite natural explanation. A Biblically grounded Christian is open-minded to both natural and supernatural answers to certain phenomena.

Yet, despite even the best attempts by mature, Biblically-literate Christians, deception is still possible. It is even more possible when the one deceiving has some credibility. For example, when the son of a highly regarded pastor dupes thousands into believing that he is dying from cancer, it is expected that his claims have been substantiated. This makes his duplicity all the more painful. It is painful for the cause of Christ. It is painful for his family, especially his dad (who deserves to be highly regarded). It is painful for the wider Body of Christ.

Unfortunately, this most recent deception may cause some Christians to move from naiveté to cynicism (refusing to believe despite the evidence) rather than to skepticism (which the Bible encourages). If any Christian feels tempted to become cynical because they have realised their naiveté, they firstly need to be commended for having applied the first part of 1Corinthians 13:7. They now need to apply the last part of 1Corinthians 13:7 which encourages us to endure all things which surely includes the failings of men.

This deception is going to cause a severe loss of credibility for many people who had applied 1Corinthians 13:7 to "believe all things". This is especially so for his family, and perhaps due to his high public profile, his father (who is a genuinely great bloke). One small consolation in all this is the relatively swift and transparent conduct of the ACC Executive. They are to be commended for this.

Skepticism should help us to keep our eyes on Christ and not on the shortcomings of others. This is because we have every reason to trust and believe in Jesus of Nazareth. His claims of peace and true joy through the salvation He offers can be tested and be shown to be trustworthy and reliable. For the person who has come to realise the truthfulness of Jesus Christ yet still doubts, there is an offer from God who loves to help skeptics with their doubts.

Mark 9:24 ¶ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

"Faith" to overcome doubts is described in the New Testament as a gift from God that can help transform not just skeptics, but even cynics.

Ephesians 2:8 ~ "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God"

If you are skeptical that this gift of faith from God is for you, then test this claim for yourself and ask God for it.

Andrew.

DO YOU MIND?

This week I took a day out of the office and attended a one day Theological seminar with Prof. Andrew McGowen from Scotland. He gave a series of talks on the role of the Holy Spirit. His opening question asked what did a person need to do in order to become a Christian. The simple answer to this question, according to Dr McGowen, was: believe. But he then presented us with an exposition of Romans 1 which teaches that it is simply impossible for the natural mind to receive the Gospel. According to Romans 1, the mind of an unsaved person is "darkened", "futile", "hardened", "debased", "depraved", "reprobate" (depending on your translation). The natural mind is at enmity with God and His Word (Rom. 8:7).

Dr McGowen went on to explain that the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian was the condition of their mind.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:5

To be a Christ-follower is to receive and develop a different mind. In Hebrew 8:10 it says that the believer has received the Laws of God written into their minds. And Titus 3:5 implies that our minds are washed and regenerated when we become believers.

What we do with our minds reflects what God has done with our minds.

Dr McGowen said that the mind of an unbeliever can only be opened to the truth by a work of the Holy Spirit. It is only then that they can receive the Gospel as "the word of truth".

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,
Colossians 1:5

Until this happens the unbeliever regards the Gospel as foolishness even though Romans 1 says they intuitively know that the Gospel is the truth. Despite this intuitive knowledge, the unbeliever "suppresses" this knowledge of the truth -

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Romans 1:18

Dr McGowen then urged us to acknowledge that it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit at work through the witnessing believer and in the mind of the unbeliever that the word of truth can be received. This, he said, should encourage us to pray. We should pray that our witness is effective-

and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
Philemon 6

And pray that the minds of those being witnessed to would have their minds opened to the truth-

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2Corinthians 4:4

Without prayer, Prof McGowen said, our evangelism is powerless and bound to be unproductive. God has ordained prayer as the ministry aid of the Church's witness. It is our praying that opens our minds to the work of the Holy Spirit so that we can be taught the Word of Truth, and it is our praying that opens the minds of unbelievers to similarly receive the Word of Truth: the Gospel.

As we consider some of our church's outreaches, let's pray. Without prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to intervene in our church's outreaches, it will be powerless. Please pray.

Amen.

Andrew Corbett

FOCUSSING ON THE IMPORTANT RATHER THAN THE URGENT

COMING INTO FOCUS...

There are so many things that demand our attention and cause us to lose focus. We have urgent lists to complete, repairs to be made, tasks to be done, people to see, children to drop-off and pick up, deadlines to meet, and places to be. In fact, in recent times I have found the pressure to keep up with all these urgent things quite immense. As a leader I know that leadership means carrying extra responsibility which means a higher price has to be paid by a leader. Nehemiah is a fantastic example of this. He led with such diligence that when his people slept, he continued to work. When Nehemiah's people were becoming intimidated by their antagonistic neighbours, he stepped up and gave clear leadership by re-focussing them on God and His mission for them.

Last Sunday night I shared with the church some of the ways I am representing our church and advancing our vision to be a dynamic growing church for all the family reaching our community and beyond. Some of these things include managing 12 websites, managing the Finding Truth Matters teaching ministry, leading LeganaMEDIA, producing radio-ready 1-minute biographies of great Christian leaders, serving as President of ICI Theological College, lobbying politicians on family and moral issues, lecturing for Tabor College, contributing to an upcoming abortion-recovery information campaign (Hope For Women), pioneering an eBay outreach ministry, running a YouTube evangelism and apologetic ministry, setting up and chairing a round table forum of community, business, and church leaders to pool resources and talents to achieve the Great Commission in Tasmania, called Believe In Tasmania and in recent times have been invited to become an executive member of the Australian Christian Churches in Tasmania. Added to this is my involvement in the community as a volunteer junior tennis coach at the Legana Tennis Club where I have been building bridges with many families. With all of these to keep me busy I have learned that it is easy to lose focus if the urgent becomes prioritised over the important.

It is important for the important things to be done before the urgent ones.
Added to these "beyond" responsibilies of leadership on behalf of our church are the ongoing responsibilities of pastoring our church family through teaching, writing and preaching. My pastoral goal is to help equip everyone in our church to be a Biblically-literate ambassador for Christ, ready to give an answer for the hope we have within us. The only way I can keep up with this is to constantly try to ensure that the important is not swamped by the urgent.

I pray that we as a church we will ever keep the important before the urgent. For us as a church we to prioritise our daily devotion and quiet time with the Lord in prayer and His Word. Together we need to prioritise our worship together, our devotion to the teaching of God's Word together (Heb. 10:24-25), and our commitment to our families as our primary witness (1Tim 5:8).

While Winter is always a frustrating time for trying to get the whole church together (sickness, holidays, darkness) it is also a great time for us as a church to re-focus on the important. It is important for us to be prayerful for our church and our witness. Please pray that we will be a good witness for the Lord in our community, neighbourhood and Valley. Please pray that God will show you how you can serve Him within our church and to give you the strength to do it. Please commit to discipleship- being a disciple and discipling. If everyone in our church had a goal -to reach one ~ teach one- we would become increasingly focussed on the important commission that Christ has given us (Matt. 28:18-19).

I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.”
PHILIPPIANS 3:14 NLT

Amen.

Andrew Corbett

BEING A FAITHFUL WITNESS...

When Christ comes into your heart He changes everything! Two Theologians were recently debating in a public forum what it meant to be saved. One Theologian was arguing for an Arminian view and the other from the Reformed view. The Aminian Theologian said that salvation was like a chair that God was offering people to sit in. He went on to say that people must choose to sit in the chair - because if they don't they'll be damned for eternity.
The other Theologian picked up on the chair analogy and said that God provides a chair that most people cannot see because the room is pitch dark. Even if they wanted to sit in it they couldn't - but the reality is they don't have any desire to sit in the chair because they don't even know it's there. He went on to say that God then turns the light on the room and the person becomes aware of several things. Firstly, they see themselves as tired and worn-out. Secondly they realise that it is not safe to sit anywhere- and then they see the most magnificent sight they have ever seen! They see an infinitely beautiful chair! It is gorgeous! They are drawn to its beauty and then ponder how perfectly comfortable it looks. The chair almost seems to be inviting them to sit in it and rest. Before they know it they are seated in the chair. This Theologian said, the saved don't sit in the chair because they fear being damned if they don't, they sit in the chair because they've seen their true condition in the light of God and seen their only solution as sitting in the chair which has become to them the most beautiful, magnificent, attractive person they could ever see.
When this Theologian, John Piper, sat down, his colleague (RC Sproul) leaned across to whisper to him- I believe the chair is beautiful John!
The Chair is beautiful. The Chair is Jesus.

"I'm asking GOD for one thing,
only one thing:
To live with him in his house
my whole life long.
I'll contemplate his beauty;
I'll study at his feet.
Psalm 27:4 THE MESSAGE

Being a "witness" means that we are sitting in the Chair. When people ask us why? are we sitting in this Chair, we know how to answer. This is what a witness does. A witness is called upon for their testimony. Our testimony is Christ-saturated. Our witness becomes the light of God in a dark and dying world. We don't coerce people to sit in the Chair. We don't drag people to the Chair. We simply witness.

Being a witness is our mission - converting sinners to the Chair is God's business. I pray that as a Church we will be a good witness, both individually and together.
Amen.
Dr. Andrew Corbett

THE EVANGELICAL GOSPEL...

The Greek word for "Gospel" is evangel. Dallas Willard in his book, "The Great Omission", makes the point that there has been a change in what constitutes the term: Evangelical. Some people confuse the term "Evangelical" with "Evangelistic". While the two words are very similar and share some definitions, they mean quite different things. And this is something that Dallas Willard explores. His argument was that the two words used to mean the same thing. That is, both terms used to mean three things: (i) An awareness of sin, (ii) Spiritual conversion bringing forgiveness of sins, and (iii) Testifying to the work of God in a person's life.

But Evangelicalism has come to mean that a person (i) Believes that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, (ii) That Jesus Christ is divine, and (iii) There is salvation through no-one or thing, other than Jesus Christ. Dallas Willard says that this would be OK- if the Church was Evangelical AND Evangelistic. He lists the Church's general lack of applying the three traits of original Evangelicalism (conviction of sin, conversion to Christ by the Spirit, and testifying of God's work) as one of the great omissions of modern Christianity. He briefly surveys the history of Evangelicalism and makes the point that when the Church's preaching focussed on these three traits it often experienced what we now call "revival" or "awakening".
He cites the Evangelistic ministry of Mordecai Ham who influenced Billy Graham to become a Christian. Mordecai would often preach for weeks in a town before ever inviting people to accept Christ. He wanted to make sure that the town understood what sin was and that they felt deep conviction about it. Willard adds to this point by referring to John Wesley's method of preaching the Law first. "I must preach the Law first, then grace" said Wesley. He did this for same reason as Mordecai Ham. He wanted people to know that the Gospel was a solution- not merely an assessment of the problem.

¶ "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
Romans 7:7

Willard laments that there are too many preachers who have made the Gospel about God meeting "needs" rather than about God. Our greatest need, he writes, is not to have what we want in order to be happy, but to be forgiven of sin so that we can have fellowship with God. This forgiveness of sin can only happen through regeneration by the Holy Spirit (this is what we call being born-again). When this happens, born-again (forgiven and transformed) believers testify to the world about God's work in their hearts. This is what Dallas Willard says is the essence of being an Evangelical Christian. This then becomes the launching pad for Evangelicals to transform society with their testimony. A vibrant Christian testimony will always transform a society.

"Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 5:15-16

I pray that we will be an Evangelical church that preaches the true Gospel which proclaims our true, raw, condition before God; but boldly declares His forgiveness through the work of His Son- Jesus Christ; and upon receiving this eternally good news, we will testify to all who ask for the reason of our hope.

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
1Peter 3:15

Amen.

Dr. Andrew Corbett

GRACE, PRACTICE & WORK...

Christianity is the only 'religion' that has a Saviour from sin. All other religions promote the idea that people can earn God's forgiveness for their sins through their own efforts. Christianity is a grace religion. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation from sin. That's why we say that Christianity is not splet- "D O" but rather, "D O N E"- Jesus Christ is not only our Saviour (He has done all the work necessary for salvation), but our Atoning Sacrifice (He is not merely an example). God's grace in our hearts produces a spiritual revolution in our soul. This is called conversion, or being "born again". This is how you can tell whether someone has truly been saved. They live differently. They think differently. They speak differently. They spend differently. They love differently. Their priorities change. Their relationships are purged. All because they have been rescued by Christ for Christ.

But these changes, while commencing immediately, do not fully bloom immediately. They are seeds that must be watered, fed, nurtured and exposed to sunlight and wind in order to reach maturity. This process is guided by the Holy Spirit as He ministers the Word of God through the Body of Christ to the believer. In this sense, our growth in spiritual maturity is a work of grace.

"The process of conformation to Christ," as might more appropriately call it, is constantly supported by grace and otherwise would be impossible. But it is not therefore passive. Grace is opposed to earning, not to effort. In fact, nothing inspires and enhances effort like the experience of grace."
Dallas Willard, "The Great Omission", page 80

In First Timothy 4:7 we are told to "train yourself for godliness". Dallas Willard suggests that the process of God's grace working in our lives is most often achieved through a training process.

"For example, if I find, as most do, that I cannot by direct effort succeed in 'blessing those who curse me' or 'praying without ceasing,' in putting anger aside or not indulging the covetous or lustful eye, then it is my responsibility to find out how I can train myself (always under grace and divine guidance, we must never forget) so that I will be able to do what I cannot do just by trying in the moment of need."
Dallas Willard, "The Great Omission", page 114

Grace empowers work. This is achieved through practice and training. Do you want to be able to forgive others? Train yourself and practice forgiving. Do you want to have more friends? Train yourself to be a friend and practice friendship (not just friendliness). Do you want to be more generous? Train yourself and practice. Do you want to pray more? Train and practice. If it all seems too hard, remember that your ability to train and practice is made possible by the grace of God.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
Titus 2:11-12

The Bible says that only those Christians who have laboured, trained, and practiced godliness can enjoy the solid food reserved for the spiritually mature-

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 5:14

The goal of Christ for us is to make us like Him. For this goal to be achieved He gives us His grace which enables us to practice those things that will make us more like Jesus. This requires work and training. But its work and training made possible only by the grace of God. As a church being shaped by the grace of God we can expect that our workload will increase- but we can ask God to train us and help us to carry out this work.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11

Andrew Corbett
Discover What The Book of Revelation Means!

BE ON YOUR GUARD...

What can we expect in the days to come for our churches? We can probably expect "more". More in the sense that what we are experiencing now, we will experience more of into the future. We can expect an increasing number of people accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord. We are currently seeing people who are broken turn to Christ and find healing and wholeness. By God's grace, we are helping to strengthen marriages. We can expect more of this into the near future. But we can also expect more of less positive things as well.

1Peter 5:8 ¶ Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.

Peter tells us that we can expect our spiritual enemy to try and attack us. He warns believers to be careful, or, on their guard. This means that it is not inevitable that we will be victims of the Devil. We can guard ourselves against his attacks. As our churches grow we can expect that the Devil will try to find some victim candidates from among our number. But we shouldn't assume that every difficulty we face will be a direct attack of the Devil. Churches face difficulties because-

1. We live in a fallen world which is riddled with sin and sickness

2. Church growth built upon young and new Christians always presents challenges (note the principle of Proverbs 14:4)

3. Knowledge and Competence Challenges

We could perhaps apply Peter's fatherly warning to the church in each of these three areas. The enemy can distract us from Jesus on the Throne by whispering into our ears that all the affects of the fallen world, which we are all ocassionally afflicted by, is his doing- as if he, the Devil, has some ability to random afflict people. As we grow we can expect more injuries, sickness, pain and suffering- because this is the world in which we live! It is not necessarily the Devil's doing. We should never abandon God just because these inevitable things happen. Neither should we give up on God's ability to heal. But some churches who begin to experience growth become distracted by the affects of the fallen world. May God help us to keep our gaze on Him in the midst of afflictions.

Peter tells us to be on guard; to be careful. Consider each of these areas where difficulties can arise for a church and ponder how our church will experience these things as we grow. For some people, any growth that brings more difficulties is just not worth it. But God thinks it is. He wants us to grow. He wants us to "overcome" difficulties. Would you please pray for our churches to be growing, overcoming, churches? Would you please pray that when we experience difficulties we will have the grace to hold onto Christ? Would you please pray that we will do all we need to in order to minimise or even prevent the consequences of living in a fallen world? Would you please pray that we will have caring and understanding partners in our churches who will patiently help any new or young Christian in their walk with Christ? And, would you pray that we will grow in our knowledge and competence to help and care for people so that they grow in the walk with Christ?

Finally, would you pray that we continue to grow the Kingdom of Christ and that we are not easily disuaded from serving the Lord in the churches that He has placed us in?

Andrew Corbett