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WE BELIEVE ...
...that prayer and the Scriptures are central to all that we do and all that we are                
 
...in celebrating God's goodness and presence in praise and worship 
 
...in demonstrating God's love within his Church and amongst the people of our diverse society by reaching out 
 
...in practical and caring ways to those most in need 
 
...in communicating God's Word to all who will listen 
 
...in incorporating people into the Church through fellowship 
 
...in equipping God's people for ministry 
 
...in caring pastorally for all our members 
 
...that all Christians are called to faithful stewardship 
 
...that efficient administration will enhance and facilitate growth
 
...that strong marriages and families are at the heart of a growing, mature and faithful Church 
 
...that young people are the Church of today and the leaders of tomorrow
A T h o u g h t F r o m L a s t W e e k :

 Dear Friends,

I experienced two very different and yet similar experiences over the last couple of week:

On our wedding anniversary at the end of June, Janine and I went out to watch a movie. Roaming through Montecasino waiting for the film to begin we cut through the Casino to the movie theatre complex. I physically turned cold. There was row upon row of glassy-eyed desperate individuals staking all their attention on the next pull or press of the button. Not the kind of folk who had money to spare but more-often-than-not those who didn't and were placing their faith in a gamble.

This morning Christopher and I escorted Melanie to the Apartheid Museum. A world-class, creative environment that is profound in its capacity to mirror the past. Chris and I were reflecting on how so many of the exhibits brought back to mind moments we had lived through. Particularly profound - to such an extent that I can remember what I was doing when they happened - were the moments that nearly derailed the constitutional negotiations: Chris Hani's assassination, the Boipatong Massacre, the Shell House massacre and the 'invasion' of the Codesa negotiations. It's incredible to think of the brink, of the edge that we stepped back from and how at times it all seemed like a gamble that could go either way.

Upon reflection it reminded me of the fickleness of human nature, of the uncertainty of the world and the variability of circumstances in which we live. Why should you and I be worshipping in this place this morning, when someone else is born into abject poverty in the rural Afghanistan mountains? Why did one house collapse in the recent Tsunami in Japan and another not? And so one could go on ad infinitum ...

Yet in all of this it is important to hold onto the one certainty. The one sureness. Hebrews 13:8 reminds us that 'Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever'. There is no gamble with him. No matter what happens, what we have to face or endure. Whether we are humiliated in a business presentation, whether we win the Lotto, whether we end up divorced or the proud grandparents of thirty great-grandchildren, whether we run the Comerades Marathon at 83 or struggling with debilitating illness at 30. Jesus is the same. Jesus' love, grace, forgiveness, compassion and desire to be close to us remains the same yesterday, today and forever.

Of course we should work for justice and peace. Of course our goal is to extend God's Kingdom in our world. Of course we seek his will and purpose for our lives here and now ... but let us take heart that with Jesus the spindle always stops on all sevens, with Jesus the negotiated settlements always stick, with Jesus life never concludes in a gamble.

In His love,