Before we got into the Old Testament book of Judges on Sunday, I did something that wasn’t particularly controversial – I just gave a  presentation on ‘Christians and How They Should Vote’.  With the upcoming Australian Federal Election, like I said, nothing contorversial at all!  But it was all about the Christian worldview of politics and public policy.  After Sunday I got several comments from people that they found the presentation helpful, and as far as I can tell, no one’s left church yet because of what I said!  There were 6 points that I covered.  Here’s a summary:

1. The Gospel is the Priority

If you look at Jesus’ life (check out Luke 4:38-44) we see that he was all about healing people. Using our own modern language, he wanted to make people’s ‘livings conditions’ better.  But the more we understand Jesus’ actions, the more we realise his acts of compassion were like little ’snapshots’ of what life in God’s Kingdom will ultimately be like.  And we also discover that Jesus didn’t want to be distracted from proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom .  Even in the midst of his healing activity – he said he must go to other towns to proclaim the good news of the kingdom – because that is why he was sent.

When we think about government and and the important issues of public policy, we need to keep Jesus’ priority as our priority.  We shouldn’t lose sight of what’s most important from the perspective of eternity – sharing the good news of Jesus, with the hope that people will be brought into relationship with God and become citizens of the His eternal Kingdom.

 2. Understand The End

The Christian world-view is to look ahead and know that history is HISstory and He has an end where he is taking it all to.  The risen Lord Jesus will return and the promise is for a new heavens and a new earth in which there will be:

• absolute justice
• perfect environment,
• harmonious human relationships
• full healing.

The Christian worldview is to be realistic about what can be achieved now before this ultimate and good end comes. Christians people should reflect God’s character by desiring justice, a good enviornment, healing etc, but it’s through people coming into relationship with God (Point 1) – that they can have true confidence that they will experience these things.

 3. Pray for Government Leaders

1 Timothy 2:1-4 is an important passage on this topic because it talks about praying for those in authority.  The context of this particular biblical instruction is that Gods people should even pray for leaders who are treating God’s people poorly – ie. at the time, all conquering Roman empire with their pagan gods were persecuting Jews and then Christians.  So it’s truly amazing that the clear teaching is that Christians should pray for the rulers of the day.

 We should therefore even  pray for those leaders and political parties that we do not personally support.

And we should note that the instruction in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 to pray for leaders, is so that there would be peace in the land, so that the gospel would go out and people be saved.  So again we come back to the priority of the gospel – point 1!

 4. They Are All ‘Christian’ Issues

Be careful of a false division between what are Christian issues and those that are not.  Christian issues get defined in all sorts of ways by different people.

 It’s God’s world that he loves, therefore God will be concerned with issues like: aged care, asylum seekers, business tax, education, employment, environment, gambling, hospital funding, housing, international aid, interest rates, marriage legislation media, mental health care, military spending,  peace keeping, policing, pollution, population.

 I can’t think of an issue that we shouldn’t strive to think ‘Christianly’ about.

 5. We Live in A Fallen World

This world has problems.  It is a ‘fallen world’ because of humanity’s rebellion against God.  See Genesis 3.

And by virtue of us having problems in this fallen world– they are not easily solved.  There is complexity.  Therefore – there will be different opinions and approaches to how to best tackle these difficult and complex problems.  So there is place for ‘wisdom’ and it shouldn’t be surprising therefore that there will be Christians who will work within different political parties because they will have different approaches.  And also, it shouldn’t be surprising that Christians will support different political parties.

6. Vote for Love

Here’s my ‘How to Vote’ Card for you.  Vote for Love!

We are told in the bible that God is Love.  God is pure Love.  Out of love, God sent his son who died willing for our sin on the cross.  And in the bible, those who follow Jesus are told to express this sort of serving selfless love.  Jesus told those who follow him to ‘love your neighbour’ and to ‘love your enemies’.  It’s what Christians should be on about.

Not that public policy will ever be expressed in terms of ‘love’.  But here’s some examples of wanting ‘love’ in the area of government decision making:

• ‘Love the Vulnerable’ – the unborn, the indigenous, the poor, the elderly
• ‘International Love’ – foreign aid, military protection, asylum seekers.  Loving our neighbour – means not just loving those in our own patch.  But loving that ‘mob’ over the fence that are different to us.
• And what is becoming increasingly counter-cultural – we should affirm what is ‘true love’.  Christians should have something to say about affirming the biblical picture of marriage – between a man and woman. 

Let’s vote for love!  This means not simply voting for ‘me’ – what will help line my own pockets, but vote in a way that will lead to the serving and ‘love’ of others.

Throughout July and August at freshchurch we will be going through the Old Testament book of Judges. This is a book that tells the story of various leaders or ‘judges’, God sent to save Israel in a very dark time in their history. These men and women are a colourful bunch - brave yet sometimes scared, wise yet sometimes downright stupid, faithful to God yet sometimes worshipping false idols.  It’s the story of God who constantly sends a saviour, however imperfect they were. We’ll learn about how God sends a perfect saviour for us.

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The Brisbane GROW conference on Saturday 31 July is for women of any age and any stage. Registration costs $50 which includes morning tea and lunch.  We hope to have a lot of women from freshchurch there for the day. It will be a great time.  Reserve the date now! For more information, you can contact kirsty@freshchurch.net

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On Sundays we’re working our way through Luke’s Gospel. This Sunday we’ll be looking at the time when Jesus said the most radical and counter-cultural words ever spoken-  ’LOVE YOUR ENEMIES’.  Think about it….can you do this? Can you love the person who hates you and is out to destroy you? Is this an impossible thing? At Eatons Hill Presbyterian church on Sunday, this what we’ll be learning about together.  Come along and join us, and discover just how radical Jesus was, and how radical he wants his followers to be.

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Over this past weekend freshchurch has delivered copies of ‘The Essential Jesus’ to homes around Eatons Hill. If you yourself have received one, we do hope you take the time to have a read of this book which contains ‘Luke’s Gospel’ as found in the Bible.

We hear many opinions about Jesus, so why not go straight to the source and read this 1st century document and learn about this man who’s been shaping history for the last 2000 years. If you’d like to give any feedback, please do so.  Or if you’d like to investigate further by receiving more literature or by doing a short course about Jesus, please also do contact us. You can send an email to: andrew@freshchurch.net  You also might like to check out church for yourself. A perfect opportunity is our Blue Moon Sunday on 23 May.

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Last weekend, fathers from freshchurch took their sons away for a weekend away at Maleny.  Go-carts, bushwalking, sports, mucking around in the rain and in-door games were all part of the fun.  There was also a session for the men and boys to explore through the Old Testament book of Proverbs - looking at what it means to be a wise man who follows Jesus. It was a great time for all.

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“What really happened back then in the first century, in Jerusalem and around the lake of Galilee, that changed the shape of world history? Who is this figure that emerges from the past to have a profound impact on culture, ethics, politics and philosophy?”  These are the questions that the DVD course ’Life of Jesus’ explores.  Shot on location in Israel, this series of 6 episodes introduces us to what we know of the historical Jesus. 

In term 2, the freshchurch mid-week ‘growth groups’ will be going through ‘Life of Jesus’ and it promises to be a great 6 weeks.  This course is for anyone – whether they’ve been a follower of Jesus for 10 years, 10 days, or are in the process of investigating.  If you want to find out more about freshchruch or about the ‘Life of Jesus’ course that we’ll be running over April and May 2010, contact garnet@freshchurch.net

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Tonight we hung up our 4 metre banner to promote Easter at freshchurch.  If you drive along Eatons Crossing Road, Eatons Hill, you’ll be able to easily spot it out the front of the IGA shopping complex. The banner may be oh-so corny but the message of Easter is nothing but epic. Make your Easter weekend even more special and join us on Good Friday and Easter Sunday at 930am.

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Across Australia on 28 March a campaign is being run called ’Neighbour Day’. It’s a campaign being promoted by media outlets as well as the federal government.  In the words of Kevin Rudd ‘Neighbour Day’ is “an opportunity to make those connections with people in our local communities…Strong communities start with strong streets. Strong streets begin with neighbours who care and look out for each other.”  Check out the website www.neighbourday.org to learn more.  But at freshchurch we think this is a great idea. We want to grow followers of Jesus and we’re committed to serving our communities.  So why not build bridges to our own streets and be neighbourly to our neighbours!  Let’s have some fun in relationship with others! Over the next few weeks the plan is to share ideas amongst ourselves of what different people at church are doing over the whole weekend.  Where ever you are – over the weekend of 27-28 March, consider getting involved and do something with your neighbours.

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