Narrabri Anglican Church

17/06/2026

Being us: who we are as humans:
children

Everywhere you look, God includes children in his mob. In Exodus 12:37, they are there in the Exodus. In Exodus 20:12, he speaks the commandments to them. In Ezra 8 and 10, they are there as God's people return, mourn and repent in the gathering. In Isaiah 59, in verse 21, God promises that he will give his Spirit and word to them.

God includes children as fully-fledged members of his people.

How?

Well, the same happens as Jesus comes. It is trusting in him, and him alone, that any person is saved (John 3:16). And so, in Matthew 19:13-15, Jesus makes clear that dependence upon him is the only way any person is saved - and children are able to do this!

So, when Peter explains the good news to people gathered in Jerusalem, he explains very clearly in Acts 2:37-40, that this promise is 'for you and your children'. Children are part of God's people!

Prayer:
Father, than you that little image-bearers of you are part of your mob, by Jesus alone. Amen.

15/06/2026

Some stuff worth reading...

Dealing with the cry of the cross...

Whatever happens to either Christ’s human or divine natures happens to the person.

15/06/2026

Being us: who we are as humans:
children

God's original creation blessing and command was for man and woman to 'be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth' (Gen.1:28). The 'one-flesh' of the first marriage is the right context for this (Gen.2:23-25). And the fall does not remove this delightful blessing, but it is affected and cracked and damaged (Gen.3:16). In this context, the words of Genesis 3:20 are a powerful reminder that God's creation blessing and command aren't removed by the fall, but they are damaged by the fall: Eve remains 'the mother of all the living'.

In this context, children are the little image-bearers of God, no less human than adults, no less valuable in God's eyes, no less damaged by sin. The words of Genesis 6:5 apply to children, too. And the recognition of David in his psalm of repentance ring true: children are sinful - as humans, as in the line of Adam - from conception (Psalm 51:5).

Children are in need of sins forgiven as much as anyone else!

Prayer:
Father, thank you that we can address you in that way - we are children in need of your mercy. Amen.

15/06/2026

Some stuff worth reading...

Please, please read this... and please, please ask for God to give you eyes to see like Jesus... and please, please, work selflessly to make our church gathering the kind of place that sees and welcomes and loves, like we have been loved... https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/see-father-son-disability/

A very good reminder... https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-changing-nature-of-pastoral-ministry/

Exporing contemporary challenges to reruiting men to full-time Christian ministry.

15/06/2026

Being us: who we are as humans:
children

You can catch yesterday's sermon here: https://narrabrianglican.org/resources/sermons-talks/

Adam and Eve were commanded to 'be fruitful and multiply', to fill the earth with little image-bearers-of-God... and so they did... Eve is called 'Eve' because she is the mother of all the living (Gen.3:20).

On the one hand, this is fulfilled in the 'Great Commission' of Matthew 28:16-20. On the other hand, this is fulfilled with the birth of children, the expression of the 'one-flesh' of the man and the woman in marriage.

Children are image-bearers of God. They are human beings. They reflect God to the world. They are 'being us'. And so, as God's mob, we must seriously consider who we are as 'children' - what it means to raise them, and to have them in God's mob.

Prayer:
Father, thanks for children - that they bear your image, that they are saved by Jesus, that they are part of your mob. Amen.

Being human: Man and woman in relationship The question of how men and women should relate to one another is a live issue in our society today amplified by social media access. On this question, the Bible’s teaching focusses mainly on two areas of marriage and the church. This is helpful because m...

08/06/2026

Some stuff worth reading...

A reminder of how to work well, in a godly way...

What would a Benedictine workday look like today?

08/06/2026

Being us: who we are as humans:
man and woman in God's mob

You can catch Sunday's sermon here: https://narrabrianglican.org/resources/sermons-talks/

One of the striking realisations I had - it was a revelation, not some self-discovered truth - was that the account of creation is the account of the first church gathering, and the first household, and the first marriage, all in one. There, in the garden, on a high place (from which flowed four rivers), God and humanity lived in fellowship - they 'churched'.

And this means that the thread of creation order in the gardening (man and woman garden-in-relationship, with clear roles - the man to garden by knowing and applying God's word, and the woman his helper - so that God's rest is sustained) runs through all of those communities - through the life of man and woman, through the life of God and humanity, through the life of humanity and God in fellowship.

Prayer:
Father, thank you for the way in which you created so that the thread of creation order runs through every sphere of life. Amen.

Being human: Man and woman in relationship The question of how men and women should relate to one another is a live issue in our society today amplified by social media access. On this question, the Bible’s teaching focusses mainly on two areas of marriage and the church. This is helpful because m...

04/06/2026

Being us: who we are as humans:
man and woman in relationship

So, what does marriage look like, what is it?

It is the living breathing daily example in this world of the love that Jesus has for his mob (Ephesians 5:22-33), so that God's mob can return to what he created them to be: gardeners-in-relationship.

And, just like in gardening-in-relationship, man and woman have clear roles, neither of which is based on value or worth but established in the creation design of God back in Genesis 2... and this thread of created order runs right through the life of the single person, the married person, and people in God's mob.

Can I also make very clear that, in this created design, there is no place for abuse or violence or manipulation or control - in God's design, domestic violence, coercive control, emotional and verbal abuse and manipulation are out of place and wrong. These sins do not represent the good news of Jesus which marriage is designed to display.

Prayer:
Father, thank you for marriage - one man and one woman in covenantally committed relationship for life. Thank you that it points to Jesus. Amen.

03/06/2026

Being us: who we are as humans:
man and woman in relationship

Time and time again, over the last three weeks, we have seen that it is Jesus alone who can restore the image of God on the people of God - on any person, no matter what they have done (Rom.5:12-19). To trust in Jesus (in what he has done and who he is), to repent of sins, and to depend solely on Jesus - that is the way in which people who are rebels are brought back to God (1 Peter 3:18).

And so, any marriage, any relationship, any damage or sin done in relationship - all of these can be put right, and restored to what God created, in Jesus alone. This is crucial for anyone to understand, because all of us will stumble in relationships.

But, as this is done, relationships are brought under the right rule of Jesus. And so, they reflect his design: marriage is between one man and one woman in covenant commitment for life; domestic violence has no place in any relationship; all relationships are about gardening-in-relationship so that God's rest is restored and sustained.

Prayer:
Father, thank you that Jesus can restore any relationship, and forgive any sin. Amen.

02/06/2026

Being us: who we are as humans:
man and woman in relationship

The beauty of the relationship between one man and one woman - and the magnificent privilege of doing so to bear the image of God - should not be minimised. It is the commitment of one man to one woman, forsaking all others. It is this relationship that lies at the heart of the picture that Genesis 2 finishes with... and it is this relationship that is rent asunder in the fall of Genesis 3.

As man and woman willingly overturn God's creation order, God remains steadfast. And his judgement affects, forever in this world, the way man and woman relate in this relationship. The roles are now not 'in partnership' but 'in enmity'. The roles are combat roles. The roles are now opposed to each other, but the design, and the image of God, is not lost.

This explains so much about our world...

Prayer:
Father, please forgive the enmity that lies at the heart of male and female relationships. Amen.