• Seeking prosperity.
• Raised the profile of the cafe within our church & local community (online & offline)
• Mutually beneficial.

See the first post in this series

Art and About asked Sydney WHAT IF… ?

They have now displayed Sydney’s answers on banners around the City…. Why not use them as stimulus for conversations with your friends, especially banners like this one… Could get you into a great conversation.

One of the concerns was the difficulty of obtaining studio and/or gallery space. Partly due to expense, location (many of the ‘places’ are concentrate in the city and displace artists from their communities), and even if you did have such a space no audience (Sydney: GO! VIEW! ART!)

Some of the solutions bandied about were: property owners loan your property/retail space to artists on temporary basis (artists promise they won’t become squatters and never leave); have local artists showcasing in their local communities, and pitching to their local community. Success doesn’t mean 2000 people coming to view your exhibition or piece. Aim to reach people on your street, your neighbours! The panelists in the debate even suggested that more churches need to be transformed into art space.

I thought this was a) a snide comment of the panels opinion that churches are a dying, they are wasted space, only being used on a Sunday and could serve local communities better than just preaching a sermon on Sundays! and b) a great encouragement to the endeavors our church and others like York St Anglican Church are doing with art!

York St recently had a festival in their church. Here is a snapshot comment from Jenny Ihn on using church space as an art space.

Unlike contemporary white gallery spaces, we did not have a space that primarily existed ‘for’ the Art. We had, if you like, a ‘historic space loaded with memories of the past’.

Read more of Jenny’s reflections here

Related articles

• Our Churches Are The Proof Of The Gospel (via Brister & Dever) (mgpcpastor.wordpress.com)
• Artists reveal their private spaces at M Gallery invitational show (charlestoncitypaper.com)

Jesus’ interaction with the crowds in Matthew 9:35-38 supplies us with great motivation for evangelism and helps shapes the way we do outreach here at Church by the Bridge :

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Like Jesus, we should see the ‘crowds’ and have compassion on them, whether they from in Kirribilli or our personal lives.  It is in the contexts of our many outreach initiatives – such as Playtime, Kirribilli Kids, Community Lunches, I Heart Kirribilli, Simply Christianity and other courses, Fitness mornings, Carols Under the Bridge, and even our weekend services – that we can better see, know, love and share the gospel with our neighbours and friends. All of these activities are intentionally created to help us build genuine relationships with the ‘crowds’ and the success of them relies on each of us playing a role.

Instead of just bringing in the ‘professional-up-front-evangelists’, the Billy Graham‘s or our own church pastors, the majority of evangelism will actually be done by all of us, as we together live out 1 Thessalonians 2:8 :

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.

I am convinced, that as we faithfully share the gospel and our lives with those we know and are yet know, we will be a church marked by rejoicing. For what praise ought we to give God when we continue to witness His work in bringing the crowds to receive the gospel and to join in with us living for Jesus and loving like Jesus?

For Jesus’ Fame,
Hayley Neal
(Community Pastor)

* this was written for the weekly newsletter that we print to hand out as an insert in all the bibles. this is 1 out of 2 in a series.

Our young men are going into the professional fields because they don’t ‘feel called’ to the mission field. We don’t need a call; we need a kick in the pants. We must begin thinking in terms of ‘going out,’ and stop weeping because ‘they won’t come in.’ Who wants to step into an igloo? The tombs themselves are not colder than the churches. May God send us forth.” – Jim Elliot

This morning at VibeWire’s FastBreak the following questions were asked, What’s stopping us? What stops us from doing the things we want/have to do?

The Fast Speakers gave some great and intimate insights into their worlds and the hurdles that are stopping them:

• Being Overlooked.
• Depression.
• The Inner Voice (IV) & the voices of others.
• The day-to-day. Starting a business is like “climbing up a hill wearing roller-skates“.
• Lack of clarity, awareness & appreciation/ thankfulness: “yet there are happier people in refugee camps?”

Maybe you resonate with these obstacles. Are these the things dragging you down or hindering you?

Personally, what is stopping me is actually myself. Sounds crazy to blame myself, doesn’t it?
But, why do we always assume the role of ‘victim’ in our circumstance. And when I ask myself what is stopping me, its me?

I, like Annie, want to live a life that “values moral integrity, sustainable practices, collaboration, empathy, and understanding”, yet, if I am truly honest with myself, what holds me back from seeking out such a life is my own  selfishness,  individualism and narcissism.

selfishness | Who isn’t consumed with self? We find it hard to share especially our success! How often to you catch yourself not wanting to share any of the glory of projects, achievements, ideas with anyone but yourself? How often do you think if only there were more people like me, and did things the way I do and to the standards I produce? I do, and unfortunately too often!

individualism | We live in an incredibly individualized culture. We are very used to living in networks of terminally casual relationships, whereby deep, intimate and long-lasting connections becomes just some nostalgic gesture of the yester-years.  The right to live our lives our own way and the belief that within and of ourselves we have everything in we need as individuals to do what we want to do and become, is delusion. Autonomy and self-sufficiency, although ever present in each of us, is a lie. We need each other. We need community and partnerships to succeed and prosper (physically, socially, vocationally and spiritually).

narcissism | Social media itself is testament that we all have ‘egos’ to preserve. Motivation for our tweets, status updates, comments, or posts is to promote the self and paint ourselves in a better light than perhaps what is the truth and reality. How often do you read about people promoting ‘others’ interests and standing up for the voices that are struggling to be heard?

In short, it is my own S.I.N that holds me back.

So, what is the remedy to being held back by these things?

top 3 tips to get you going

1. Don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought.
2. Appreciate others. Don’t overlook them. Serve them. Seek their good.
3. Look up to others, who look out for others. (Check this out)

Surprisingly (or perhaps not, perhaps this is the way we are actually wired to operate?), other-person-centredness benefits the self in the long run. It brings awareness, clarity and thankfulness. It equips us with a gracious objectivity, flexibility, empathy and understanding.

Looking outside of ourselves to the needs of others brings greater motivation to get on with life & its projects.

I’ve asked I AM SECOND to clarify whether how this fits together with the other footage out there of her saying she ‘quits Christianity’…watch her here and watch this space for an update when I hear back from I AM SECOND.

• So do you know the gospel?
• Could you articulate it?
• Can you address everyday issues with the Gospel?
• Are you obeying and living out the Gospel?

Jeff says:

Shaping a Gospel Fluent Culture starts with you being regularly shaped by the truth of the Gospel. This means you have to KNOW it and APPLY it to everyday stuff, while asking others to SPEAK it into your life.

read the post here

Each year we have a goal at Church by the Bridge and in 2011 the goal is this: “Reaching Those We Know”

Challenge: Choose 3 people that you do know, and think how can you can reach them with the good news of Jesus “

Q How will you pray?
Q How will you love as Jesus loves?
Q How will you take every opportunity to speak about Jesus?

…all for the glory of God