From the Pastor's Pen
Sunday, 15th March 2020
Hello everyone,
I would like to take the opportunity to ask us all to be praying for God’s wisdom and insight regarding how we respond to what we have seen in the news over the last couple of weeks. I find it difficult to see how a nation two months ago was seeking to give, support and rally behind the bushfire tragedy, now has a portion of the population in panic for daily shopping items. However, we can also see many events being cancelled or postponed.
Let’s listen to the advice we are provided by the Government and Medical profession as well as continuing to show good common sense in terms of simply washing our hands. As we have all been advised, if you are not well, please stay at home until you are well again. This is something we all practiced anyway prior to the Corona Virus pandemic. Please let us know if you are unwell so we can be in prayer for you and assist you with shopping or something practical.
Can I encourage us as a church family to respond well with wisdom and grace In the midst of all of this, and to show others what it means to follow Jesus by loving and serving our community. Whilst we may see fear and panic around us, our trust in God should strengthen us to love and speak with confidence and hope, even in difficult circumstances.
Let’s be a praying church. Pray for those who are sick. Pray for our amazing medical profession. Be praying for Cassandra as she works at Campbelltown Hospital, and for others who serve in various ways. Let’s pray for wisdom for our Government and Health Authorities as they seek to respond well.
If we are advised to limit or change the nature of our gatherings due to local infections, we will notify you as best and as promptly as we can. We don’t need to panic, but we do need to respond appropriately.
We will continue with our series ‘Engaging with God in Prayer’ in both services today with our focus on Matthew 6:14-15.
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Hello everyone,
I would like to take the opportunity to ask us all to be praying for God’s wisdom and insight regarding how we respond to what we have seen in the news over the last couple of weeks. I find it difficult to see how a nation two months ago was seeking to give, support and rally behind the bushfire tragedy, now has a portion of the population in panic for daily shopping items. However, we can also see many events being cancelled or postponed.
Let’s listen to the advice we are provided by the Government and Medical profession as well as continuing to show good common sense in terms of simply washing our hands. As we have all been advised, if you are not well, please stay at home until you are well again. This is something we all practiced anyway prior to the Corona Virus pandemic. Please let us know if you are unwell so we can be in prayer for you and assist you with shopping or something practical.
Can I encourage us as a church family to respond well with wisdom and grace In the midst of all of this, and to show others what it means to follow Jesus by loving and serving our community. Whilst we may see fear and panic around us, our trust in God should strengthen us to love and speak with confidence and hope, even in difficult circumstances.
Let’s be a praying church. Pray for those who are sick. Pray for our amazing medical profession. Be praying for Cassandra as she works at Campbelltown Hospital, and for others who serve in various ways. Let’s pray for wisdom for our Government and Health Authorities as they seek to respond well.
If we are advised to limit or change the nature of our gatherings due to local infections, we will notify you as best and as promptly as we can. We don’t need to panic, but we do need to respond appropriately.
We will continue with our series ‘Engaging with God in Prayer’ in both services today with our focus on Matthew 6:14-15.
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Sunday, 8th March 2020
Hello everyone,
I hope you had a good week.
This week we will be continuing our series on ‘Engaging with God in prayer’. The verse we are focusing on is Matthew 6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” It is my hope that as we unpack today’s verse, we will come to a deeper understanding of how much we depend on God the Father’s protection. Further, we also will be reminded that we have a wonderful Saviour who knows what it means to be tempted by the evil one. Also, that we are equipped to quote Scripture with an understanding of how it applies to our daily relationship with God the Father.
Last week we gave notice that on Saturday May 2nd, between 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm we will be conducting our Creating Safe Space Workshop as part of our requirements for ongoing Church compliance. Some of our Deacons will be meeting with those who will need to attend this workshop at morning tea and at Gather@5. The Deacons will also be reminding us that we need to complete the online component prior to attending the workshop. (Please see the flyer for details) As stated last week, some of us may be more comfortable or require some assistance in participating in the online module at church. Please indicate this to the Deacons and we will accommodate your needs in the next couple of weeks.
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Hello everyone,
I hope you had a good week.
This week we will be continuing our series on ‘Engaging with God in prayer’. The verse we are focusing on is Matthew 6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” It is my hope that as we unpack today’s verse, we will come to a deeper understanding of how much we depend on God the Father’s protection. Further, we also will be reminded that we have a wonderful Saviour who knows what it means to be tempted by the evil one. Also, that we are equipped to quote Scripture with an understanding of how it applies to our daily relationship with God the Father.
Last week we gave notice that on Saturday May 2nd, between 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm we will be conducting our Creating Safe Space Workshop as part of our requirements for ongoing Church compliance. Some of our Deacons will be meeting with those who will need to attend this workshop at morning tea and at Gather@5. The Deacons will also be reminding us that we need to complete the online component prior to attending the workshop. (Please see the flyer for details) As stated last week, some of us may be more comfortable or require some assistance in participating in the online module at church. Please indicate this to the Deacons and we will accommodate your needs in the next couple of weeks.
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Sunday, 1st March 2020
Hello everyone,
I hope you had a good week.
First of all, I would like to thank our wonderful Members. We had our Quarterly Business Meeting last week where we discussed some important items, as well as voting in a new member of the church.
Secondly, we have been given a date for the Creating Safe Space Workshop. The Diaconate is asking all of our wonderful ministry leaders and volunteers in the church (excluding those who are on the cleaning roster) to attend this. The workshop will be held on May 2nd in the Hall at 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm.
We have an information brochure for this course as as an insert in the bulletin today. Attendees of the workshop must complete the online module before they attend the workshop. The online module can be accessed here: https://creatingsafespaces.org.au/courses/. If people need some help, instructions can be found here: http://creatingsafespaces.org.au/css-online-module-purchase-guide/.
For those who require some assistance with the online module prior to attending the workshop, we are going to organise some group sessions to complete this component in the hall. If this is something you would like to attend, please inform Margaret or myself. Once we see who is interested, we will inform you of the time and date.
Thirdly, today we are continuing our series ‘Engaging with God in prayer’ with a focus on the prayer Jesus taught the disciples in Matthew 6. Following the message this morning, we will have communion and then we can all join together for our fellowship time in the hall.
Once again, if you aren’t been able to attend the AM service, please remember we have Gather@5 in the afternoon. Attendees of Gather@5 have informed me how they are appreciating the workshop style of this series.
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Sunday, 16th February 2020
Hello everyone,
Firstly, I would like to thank all those who participated at the Working Bee yesterday. Thank you to Dennis Moore for organising this and facilitating the risk management and safety of those participating.
Today we launch a new sermon series themed “Engaging with God in prayer”. I think it is important at times, to simply go back to the basics of our faith and simply answer questions like ‘What is prayer?’ In an age of ‘I need it now!’ and ‘I am entitled to it!’, I sometimes wonder if our cultural norms have impacted the way our faith is expressed and practiced especially in something very special like praying to our Father in heaven.
So, before we start the service today, take some time to review your week. What part of your week was time spent in prayer? What was the priority of prayer in the week? What was prayer like for you? Have you received answers to your prayers?
I had a really engaging conversation with someone during the week where this person found their answers to prayer were, ‘Yes, no and wait.’ We both acknowledged how the word ‘wait’ can be a struggle in the moment of need but in the long run we can see God’s good purposes for His perfect timing.
With this in mind, let’s grapple with the first line of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray.
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Sunday, 9th February 2020
Hello everyone,
Isn’t it good to have substantial rain after such a long dry period. The dams around town are starting to fill up again.
We had a successful launch of the new PM Service ‘Gather@5’ last Sunday. Thank you for prayerfully, thoughtfully and physically supporting this new service. It was good to see newcomers to the church. We really sense we have been obedient to God in launching this service.
This morning, Bob Armstrong is our guest speaker. His message today is from Joshua 5:1-12 and I look forward to hearing his insights on this passage.
This evening at Gather@5 and next week at both services, we will be starting a series on ‘Engaging with God deeply in prayer’. As I shared at an earlier service, if you have any questions you would like me to explore during this series about this theme, please feel free to email or come and talk with me. I would be happy to hear from you. A few people have already and this was good to see.
I would also like to thank our ministry leaders and helpers as we recommenced many of our ministries this last week. There is more paperwork to fill out than last year and there are sign in/out forms to more activities. These are the steps we are making as a church to comply with Insurance and Association requirements. We hope it also shows that we care about your safety and the safety of any visitors to our church. With this in mind, I would like to thank Margaret Lepke, Cassandra Callaghan and the ministry leaders who are working tirelessly behind the scenes with me to ensure our forms and information processes cover the needs and requirements for being a healthy and safe Church. There is more to do but we are getting there!
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Sunday, 2nd February 2020
Good morning everyone,
This morning is our commissioning service. This is where we prayerfully set apart all the ministries in the church for their mission and discipleship activities throughout the year. We are so grateful to God for every one of you who serve in leadership and assist in these ministries. As we do this, we need to also thank those on the Diaconate who are behind the scenes tirelessly working on the extra compliance requirements we need to have in place for these ministries to operate in a safe way.
Secondly, this evening at 5:00pm we also will be launching our new evening service called “Gather@5”. You are all invited to come. The reason why we are launching this new service is to accommodate those who can’t for many reasons make it to the 10:00 AM service. There will be some differences between the service as Gather@5 will be in the hall in a more informal Café style setting. The intention is to also reach out to families and younger people. Please be in prayer for this.
Thirdly, on Wednesday, Lifeline will be here at the church hall conducting their mental health first aid course around the topic of suicide. There are some brochures on the front pew for those who may be interested in participating. You will need to register for this through Lifeline. This course is not a therapy or support group, rather it is an education course and it is important that people undertaking the course are feeling relatively robust when they undertake it. It is not recommended for individuals recently bereaved by suicide. Also, a reminder that Annie Hughes will be having her information night this Thursday, 7:00 PM at Tahmoor Inn for an information session on coping with the emotional effects after the bushfires.
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Sunday, 26th January 2020
Good morning everyone,
Today is our final sermon in the series “To live is Christ” from Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church. Today is also Australia Day, and you will no doubt hear many thoughts and viewpoints as to what defines us as a nation. At the same time, for some it may be a reminder of a past which isn’t celebratory, and for others it may hold no significance at all. It may just be a day to go to the beach and have a game of cricket or enjoy a BBQ. So, can Australia Day be easily defined?
As we understand what Paul is saying to the Philippian Church, we get an insight into what defines him. I wonder if we will also get an insight into what defines us? Is it easy? Is it too hard?
As the world seeks to define what it means to live in it, I hope and pray that today is a day that may show us how much meaning Jesus Christ can bring to life.
Finally, a reminder that we have a donation bucket for the Baptist Association Bushfire Appeal in order to support Baptist Church families who have been impacted by the recent Bushfires. For every dollar we contribute as an associated church, the Baptist Association and Baptist Care will match up to $10,000.
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Sunday, 19th January 2020
Good morning everyone,
Isn’t it good to get some rain!! This is our second last week with the current sermon series “To live is Christ” from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Starting in February, we will be exploring a topical series on ‘Encountering God through prayer’. I am really looking forward to exploring this important topic with you.
Speaking of prayer, can we as a church please be praying for our new service ‘Gather@5’ starting in a couple of weeks. We really get the sense that we are being obedient to God in starting this. Please pray that for those who come, that they would get a real sense of being part of a new community of faith, hope and love in Jesus Christ.
Thirdly, our Wednesday Night GEL Bible Study group will start up in a couple of weeks. For a while, we will be looking at Paul’s New Testament letter to the Romans and how this provides a good foundation for understanding our faith in Jesus Christ. All are welcome to come and attend.
We have also put a new banner up on the corner advertising Playtime which starts in a couple of weeks. Please be in prayer that new people to our community will see the advertising and find a place of belonging here.
All our ministries will be starting again in a couple of weeks. As indicated in the bulletin, for all those who are serving on a roster, if you haven’t done so already, we will be requiring your Working with Children’s Check numbers to given to Geoff for verification. If you haven’t done so already, we will also all need to complete a Safe Ministry Screening Questionnaire document. If you require a hard copy of the TBC Safe Church Policy, please see me and I can print one off for you. These are part of the new forms and procedures we are required to use as we comply with our Baptist Association Safe Church Standards. Please see Geoff, Margaret or myself if you need any assistance. I will be available to provide any documentation after church today.
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Sunday, 12th January 2020
Good morning everyone,
Before attending Bible College full time, I was employed at a leading Wholesale Nursery. One aspect of my job was spending three days away on the road every fortnight, covering a lot of kilometres. My employment was the foundation of our family’s economic sustainability, and without it we wouldn’t have been able to pay the bills. I’m sure you get the idea.
The further I travelled away on business, the more I would yearn to get back home to see my wife and daughter. I really missed them, and when I finished my trip on the third day, I couldn’t wait to get home. My conundrum: I hated being away from them, but without the work, what sort of a home would I get back to?
As seen in the overall theme of Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church, our faith in Jesus Christ is the primary motivation for what we do and the foundation for our future hope. So, while we don’t place our faith in works (in other words, good behaviour doesn’t give us a golden ticket to heaven), our grace-based faith is expressed by good works in our daily faith walk and journey.
Today’s message is going to address these themes. So, before you hear it, I would like to ask you to reflect on what is shaping your life today, and how does this impact your future?
This week has also seen a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ work achieved by our Deacons and Ministry Leaders as we prepare documentation for our ‘Safe Church’ certification and increased WH&S and Insurance compliance as part of Baptist Association requirements. Thanks to all who have been involved in this work for the Lord and His church here at TBC.
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
Sunday, 5th January 2020
Good morning everyone,
We are saddened once again with the devastating news from the bush fire crisis particularly from the N.S.W South Coast and Victorian Gippsland areas. Let’s be in prayer for those who have lost loved ones and property. Please continue to pray for our wonderful emergency service personnel.
Please also be in prayer for our wonderful ministry leaders and Diaconate as we continue working on the processes and guidelines paperwork over the next couple of weeks. I am very grateful to Cassandra and Margaret who are assisting the ministry leaders on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings this week. Please see our Church Secretary Geoff, Cassandra, Margaret or I if you have any questions.
We continue today on our current series “To live is Christ” from Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church. Paul uses athletic imagery in the verses we are looking at today. The Christian life is like a race. As an athlete’s aspirations are to win the race, the Christian’s ultimate aspirations are found not in the past or today but our eternal hope in Christ and how this hope shapes our lives. Interestingly Paul also uses this approach in his other letters as seen in Romans 6:2-13; Galatians 2:20; 5:24; 6:14; Ephesians 2:6; and Colossians 2:12-13; 3:1.
I love serving alongside you all,
Pastor Nigel Lyons
