St Mark's Camberwell

04/09/2026

This morning, we're reminded that we are blessed to be a blessing and witnesses to God's love. We are blessed, and called to be a blessing. We had a great time gathering in an all congregations combined service. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBq0wWc0TLw&t=1704s

02/09/2026

Reflecting on the Lord's blessing: 'The Lord bless you and keep you...' and His promises to us. God's richness, kindness, and peace are always with us, especially as Jesus fulfils these promises.

01/09/2026

Tim's Weekly Newsletter

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
(Ps 133:1)

I loved our weekend away; finishing with a combined church service at 10 am on Sunday. One thing that stood out to me: the goodness of being God's people in community; and how we long for others to join that. Rod, one of our wardens, led us through a time of prayer on Saturday at our weekend away. One of those prayer stations was a spot to pray for those we long to know Jesus: those close to us; those in our buildings; those in our work spaces. We wrote people's names, and attached them to a daisy chain.

On Sunday morning we celebrated communion together, remembering what Jesus has done for us at the cross, and his continued presence with us. And as we waited to take communion, we added more names to the daisy chain. As we have community (communion!) together as disciples of Jesus, so we long for all those we pray for to join us. Like me, you will have people you long for to know the truth of Jesus.

In our sermon (I say ours because there was lots of crowd participation), we reflected on Psalm 67; to paraphrase Kate, our service leader said: "It doesn't say God blesses us so we could have good vibes: we ask for God's blessings so more and more people might know him". We reflected how Jesus is the fulfilment of the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24): he keeps is in God; he shines on us and is so, so gracious to us; his attentiveness to us means we have peace with God.

On our weekend "away" together we had lots of time to hear about what being disciples meant; to consider what it meant to be evangelistic, and also to think about what we hope for St Mark's. There was also plenty of time to share feedback about what we love about Jesus; and where we can focus our energy. I'd love to have your thoughts even if you weren't able to make it.

This survey was about what we love about Jesus, and what we hope people would experience at St Mark's if they came.

The second was about where we might want to focus our energies, and where God is calling us to.

I loved the chance to spend more time with so many of you. One thing I was particularly thankful for and enjoyed was the amount of praise, and prayer we incorporated into the weekend. We recognise that only by remaining in Jesus (John 15) will we be disciples who make disciples. Disciples who know what Jesus has done for us (Col 1:22) and seek to present all people as mature in Christ (Col 1:28). If you want to take some time to pray for St Mark's, why not join us this Friday at 7:45 am on zoom? You could join on your morning walk, from your desk, or siting in your PJs with a cup of tea. The link is in Thursday's newsletter.

With blessings,

Tim Collison
Vicar

This newsletter drops into email inboxes on Monday. It's published here on Tuesdays. The newsletter includes a prayer of the week, plus extra content from St Mark's (this week you're missing out on the commissioning prayer and the links to the surveys) which is not shared on Facebook. If you'd like to sign up for it to receive it straight to your inbox you can here: https://stmarkscamberwell.org.au/connect

31/08/2026

Do you love having a good time with friends?

Then join us for our Trivia Night this Saturday, 5 September. Sign up here: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1622680

29/08/2026

Jesus warned that gaining the world means nothing if you forfeit your soul. Are your possessions a barrier to God? True richness comes from generosity and using your gifts for His kingdom, not accumulating worldly things. From Bishop Stephen Hale's sermon on Sunday 23 Aug: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQGrzJG8gUo&t=1867s

27/08/2026

At their core, churches exist for the benefit of others. Their function hinges not just on staff, but primarily on the voluntary contributions and presence of people. If your time is limited, but your resources are blessed, please be generous so others can continue the work. From Bishop Stephen Hale's sermon on Sunday 23 Aug: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQGrzJG8gUo&t=1867s

25/08/2026

Vicar's Weekly Newsletter

There are hundreds of care packs for local year 12s sitting in one of our rooms at St Mark's. Local Mustard groups will hand them to the year 12s in their final couple of weeks of year 12. They include study aids, some sweet treats, and a notice that St Mark's is praying for them.



We've been looking at money and possessions for the last six (!) weeks. At the heart of that series is that we worship a God who has abundantly blessed us through his son Jesus Christ, and that we live out of that response. The generosity of God flings lives wide open. +Stephen Hale was back with us yesterday (so I gave him the hardest sermon in the series), and in his preaching he encouraged us to "not squeeze God out of our lives". The danger and seduction of money and possessions is that they can come to replace God in our lives. Even good things can be come God things.

Generosity is the opposite of squeezing God out of our lives. Generosity is a way to fling our lives and the lives of others wide open. Possibility follows generosity. A reminder that a church they walk past cares about them and prays for them. A reminder that God is good and faithful. Generosity creates opportunity.

And it is never transactional. We don't read in John 3 "that God sent his son into the world so that all who were able to pay back to God in kind would be saved". Jesus' parables of the king settling his accounts (Matthew 18:23 -31) and the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) aren't about people being forgiven because of what they've done, or being rewarded for the right amount of work. They are about the wide open generosity of God.

There is no transactionality in the generosity of God; no tit for tat; no quid pro quo; no ROI. It is freely given, actually, that's wrong: its given at great cost: that of the life and death of Jesus Christ. We live in the openness of that generosity. Let's not squeeze God out.

With blessings,

Tim Collison
Vicar

This newsletter drops into email inboxes on Monday. It's published here on Tuesdays. The newsletter includes a prayer of the week, plus extra content from St Mark's (this week you're missing out on a chunk of the weekly email) which is not shared on Facebook. If you'd like to sign up for it to receive it straight to your inbox you can here:

Would you like to know more about what is happening at St Mark’s? An easy way to connect more and know what is happening is to sign up for one or both of our weekly emails. You can do so here.

21/08/2026

Reflecting on the parable of the Good Samaritan: the priest who passed by, the Levite who prioritized his own journey, and the Samaritan who stopped everything to help. Who truly ends their day with satisfaction? Watch the rest of the sermon here: https://www.youtube.com/live/06ntfHvcgaM?si=cwhWPOWpjrvS6jZ2&t=1206

20/08/2026

We see God's great mercy in Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself up for us. The expert in the law recognizes the Samaritan, the traditional enemy, as most like God in this story. Not the priest, not the Levite, but the outsider. Watch the rest of the sermon here: https://www.youtube.com/live/06ntfHvcgaM?si=cwhWPOWpjrvS6jZ2&t=1206

17/08/2026

On Friday at youth group we learned about God's great love for the world in Jesus. And our vicar, Tim, and youth pastor, Xander challenged each other in Parkour.