South Perth Baptist Church Vision for 2011
The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project which delivers water to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The project was started in 1896 and was completed in 1903. Taking 7 years to build and covering 600 kilometers, travelling through some of the harshest environments in the world.
During the early 1890s, thousands of settlers had swarmed into the barren and dry desert centre of Western Australia in search of gold, but existing infrastructure for the supply of water was non-existent and an urgent need arose. The pipeline continues to operate today, supplying water to over 100,000 people in over 33,000 households as well as mines, farms and other enterprises.
Although supported by Premier Forrest, O'Connor had to deal with widespread criticism and derision from members of the Western Australian Parliament as well as the local press based on a belief that scope of the engineering task was too great and that it would never work. There was also a concern that the gold discoveries would soon dry up and the state would be left with a significant debt to repay but little or no commerce to support it.
Sunday Times editor Frederick Vosper - who was also a politician, ran a personal attack on O'Connor's integrity and ability through the paper.
O'Connor committed suicide in March 1902 less than 12 months before the final commissioning of the pipeline. Lady Forrest officially started the pumping machinery at Pumping Station number one on the 22 January, and on 24 January 1903 water flowed into the Mount Charlotte Reservoir at Kalgoorlie.
The beach where O'Connor died was named after him and there is also a statue sculpted by Tony Jones, of him in the water there.
The novel The Drowner by Robert Drewe provides a fictionalised account of O'Connor and the building of the pipeline.
On 7 December 1898, his daughter Eva married Sir George Julius at St John's Church, Fremantle, Western Australia. Julius was the first chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) which later became the CSIRO.
The C. Y. O'Connor College of TAFE in Western Australia bears his name.
Statue of O'Connor and horse at C.Y. O'Connor beach
A bronze statue of O'Connor stands in front of the Fremantle Port Authority buildings, commemorating O'Connor's achievements.
O'connor has also had a school named after him called O'connor Primary School, in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
CY O’Conner was a man of vision. Despite all the opposition he stood his ground and changed the state of Western Australia. His dream was so great that it cost him his life, but still he stuck to his guns.
What is our churches vision for 2011? How will we as a community make a difference?
I would like to start with our church’s vision statement and then move on down to some bible passages.
HONOUR GOD
To know God
and honour Him by
worshipping, praying and
obeying His Word
EQUIP PEOPLE
To grow a loving and united
community, equipping people for
learning, giving and serving God in all things
IMPACT OUR
COMMUNITY
To go into the South Perth
community and beyond,
showing in a culturally relevant way
that people matter to God.
This document appears in our newsletters, on our walls and clearly marks out what South Perth Baptist Church is about.
But let us look at what the early church was like and what they did right.
Acts 2: 42 – 47
Specifically I want to break down verse 42.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2: 42
Let us break this down even more
1) Teaching
2) Eating together
3) Prayer
1)Teaching:
Acts 2:42a “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”
What is amazing is that the centre of any church is not evangelism or anything like that
“11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5: 11 – 14
Before I move onto the more serious stuff I would like to have a little quiz to test your bible knowledge:
Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth?
A. Ruthless.
Q. What do they call pastors in Germany?
A. German Shepherds.
Q. Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A. Noah He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.
Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh's daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a little prophet.
Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David's Triumph was heard throughout the land. Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles were all in one Accord.
Q. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.
Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in Eden?
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.
Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.
Q. Which area of Palestine was especially wealthy?
A. The area around Jordan The banks were always overflowing.
Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.
Q. Why didn't they play cards on the Ark?
A. Because Noah was standing on the deck. (Groan.)
PS. Did you know it's a sin for a woman to make coffee?
Yup, it's in the Bible. It says . . "He-brews"
On a more serious note.
We should be teachers not students any more. In 2011 we see a number of different ministries in our church that are not ‘pastor dependant’. South Perth Baptist Church was never about the leaders of the church. It has always been about inspiring your faith.
There is a reason why the coming church calendar includes an outing to the outdoor cinema, Michael Villanti likes to organise trips to the outdoor cinema. There is a reason why the coming calander includes English Classes, because Nancy Harding is a really good English teacher.
What about you? What has God put on your heart, to lead our church in? or are you still waiting to be lead? Waiting for someone else to organise something for you? Waiting for someone else to teach you, when really you should be teaching someone else.
For those people who have been in the church for a long time, who will you teach? Who will you disciple?
Author Steve Goodier says "anyway Both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over our nation’s deserts. All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do.”
Who will you teach in the year 2011 how to pray and read their bible? Who will you take under your wing and help them mature in Jesus. If you notice here in the bible it does not say that the church leaders should be doing all the teaching, nor does it say it is for those whom it comes naturally. Paul is speaking to normal church people who don’t like teaching others.
2) Eating together
Acts 2:42b “to the breaking of bread”
Matthew 25: 31 – 46 (Sheep and Goats)
In the coming year we see the spiritual need to eat together. Eating together is more than ‘something you do if you had the time’. It is a spiritual discipline where people of different ages, races and personalities sit around the table. The shear act of eating with different people challenges you.
If you notice, the wording in Matthew 25 is so strong, that the early church was following this command right from the beginning.
Some of you may say, ‘I am really shy, I am not good at meeting new people and I am scared of doing this.’
Have you ever been a restaurant where all the shy waiters gather together and just look at you. There is always one person that says ‘hello’ from behind the counter and then they ignore you. Those restaurants do not come across as friendly, they come across as cold and they are dying. The shy waiters do not come across as cute, they come across as selfish and mean.
It is easy to be shy, it is easy to feel threatened. It is easy to give into that feeling that we will not be liked. It is harder to stand on the gospel of Jesus Christ and love others.
I would like to tell you a true story what happened to me this Friday night. I was out with some friends of mine from University days. We were celebrating Andy’s birthday, Rachel and I are the only Christians in the pub. Most people are drinking beer, as many of you will know I am allergic to beer so I am feeling a little bit out of place but glad to be with my old friends.
A total stranger hears that I am a pastor and begins a conversation around me what is wrong with religion. For over an hour this guy leads a very bitter conversation against Christianity and how we are always ‘preachy’. I said absolutely nothing and just sipped at my drink. After spending one hour slamming my faith, he then spends the next hour probing my life and asking very personal questions, still I just sipped on my drink and tried to answer his questions. Truthfully I just want to celebrate my friend’s birthday and didn’t want to start a religious debate.
After two hours of this negative experience I finally stopped the guy and said, ‘You seem fascinated that I have a faith, if you are not a person of faith why don’t you just be like everyone else in the room and talk about something else?’
He admitted he was just waiting for me to react and he found it fascinating he did not. He walked on and one of my friends who had been listening turned to me and said, ‘Noal, one time I really do want to debate with you about Jesus.’ I said, sure let’s catch up for dinner’. He said, ‘I don’t want dinner, I want a discussion about God, no holes barred.’
So in the next couple of weeks I will be teaching an old uni friend of mine all about Jesus.
In the book of Exodus it says:
“10 Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
14 Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses” (Exodus 4: 10 – 14a)
What about you? If Jesus were here today would you be judged like Moses? Are you someone who teaches others about Jesus, or are you someone like Moses, or a creepy waiter, that does not know how to relate to new people? Our vision at South Perth Baptist Church is that Jesus will say to everyone of you:
“35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in” (Matthew 25:35)
3) Prayer
Acts 2:42c “and to prayer”
Tony Campolo, A Baptist minister, tells the story how he was invited to speak at a college in Valley Forge Penn, in the United States of America. He drove to the college and before he spoke several men took him in the back room and began to pray for him, that God would use his speech. While these men were praying, one man, just off the cuff began praying "And Lord, about Burt Harris. Lord, Burt Harris needs you really badly. Because he lives in that trailer down the street and he is considering leaving his wife and family. And Lord if you could just get through to Burt Harris...that would be great." and then went on with his prayer. Campolo thought, "that is strange that he should pray that here." He went out and he spoke and finished his message and then he got in his car and was driving home. And he picked up a hitch hiker. He said he knew that he wasn’t supposed to pick up hitch hikers, but he thought, ’being a preacher, anytime I can get a captive audience, I’ll take advantage of it."So he gets this guy in the car and he is talking to him and he says, "By the way, what is your name?" and the man said, "Burt Harris". Campolo stopped the car, turned it around and immediately headed the opposite direction. The man looked at him and said, "What are you doing?" Campolo said, "I am taking you back to your wife and family whom you are trying to leave." The man went white! He never said another word, he sat there speechless and Campolo drove him straight up to this guys trailer. And the guy says, "How do you know where I live?" Campolo said, "God told me." (in a way He really had.) Campolo said "I took this guy inside his home and the family and marriage was restored and God did an exciting thing."
Mark 11: 12 – 25 (Jesus and the fig tree)
Here Jesus shows the power of prayer, with one simple prayer he kills a fig tree. Because he values prayer so much he clears out the temple forcefully. Finally he wants us all to pray just like he does.
The Japanese introduced a tree to the west that is called a Bonsai tree. It is measured in centimetres instead of metres as other trees are measured. It is not allowed to reach anywhere near its full growth potential but instead grows in a stunted miniature form. The reason for it growing in stunted form is that when it first sticks its head out of the ground as a sapling, the owner pulls it out of the soil and ties off its main tap root and some of its branch feeder roots and then replantes it. By doing this, its owner deliberately stunts its growth by limiting the roots ability to spread out and grow deep and take in enough of the soils nutrients for a normal growth. What was done to the Bonsai tree by its owner is what Satan does to the believer, if he can. He is going to try to tie off our tap root of prayer, so that our faith will never grow and will remain stunted.
Everybody ends up somewhere in life. A few people end up somewhere on purpose. Those are the ones with vision and prayer. The most practical advantage of prayer is it sets a direction for our lives. It serves as a road map for the year 2011.
Prayer provides the push through the problems. Prayer provides the energy for the effort. Without prayer our passion leaks, our agendas surface, our production falls, and our people scatter.
Prayer keeps us on track in 2011.
Our church aims to be a people of prayer, from prayer, praise and worship nights, to home groups, to prayer meetings that people organise we are always looking for ways to pray. In the year 2011 we want you to own the journey of prayer.
Conclusion:
Let me read verse 42 again
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2: 42
This shows us how to grow a great church. It shows what we need to do. But the rest of it shows what God wants to do.
The results that we are aiming for in 2011 are:
43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers (at South Perth Baptist Church) were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together (in the church building). They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to (South Perth Baptist Church’s) number daily those who were being saved. (Mark 11)
This is part that we trust in God to give us, are you willing to do your part.?
Let’s pray
