Around 190 of us gathered on Sunday morning the 5th of July, for Vision Sunday, a combined service to thank God for all he has done in our church and to commit to a refreshed vision for the next chapter of All Saints Anew.
Many of us were grateful to be warmed and caffeinated (with the kids happily hot-choc’d) by the good folk in the Sunny Sippa coffee cart before the service.
The service began with a call to praise God in song with All Creatures of our God and King led by our multi-congregational band with our tech team making it all come together smoothly.
Cinta and Adam led the service, first reflecting on the many things we can give thanks to God for, including:
Seeing the building refurbishment complete and its usefulness to our various congregations and groups
The group who joined the Discover Jesus course and got to know each other and dug into the gospel each week
The way the 5pm congregation has evolved and strengthened, with particular thanks to Tracey’s leadership in this area
Music Makers and the mums and children who come and hear about Jesus’ love for them through this group, which is slowly growing
Cinta’s return to All Saints Anew staff team and all her hard work this year, both seen and unseen
That many of the responses to our recent church survey highlighted the way the church is the family of God. How good!
Adam read a section of Psalm 95, which reflects with thankfulness on what God has done for his people and encourages them to persevere in faith….
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
We watched a video message from Sam at Foundry Church in Wallsend, the church All Saints Anew planted in August last year. Sam shared some encouraging updates about Foundry’s ‘big year of growing in the gospel’ and the various people who joined Foundry (for their Carols service at Diggers, for Mainly Music and even joining the church and the family of Jesus). Sam asked for prayer for Foundry’s upcoming kids holiday club, that it would be a way to connect to the community, share the gospel and invite people to church. Sam also reflected on Foundry’s relationship with us All Saints Anew being like that described in Colossians 1:3-4:
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people
Let’s keep praying for and supporting our church plant, Foundry, and everyone there.
Next our lovely preschoolers bravely hopped up on the stage and shared the rhyme they have been learning:
God loves to save his people
He loves to set them free
That’s why he sent us Jesus
Who died for you and me
One of our infants children and one of our high school youth respectively, led us in clear and encouraging prayers. The band returned with the kids song that is for everyone, Jesus, Strong and Kind while we were led using the Auslan signs for the lyrics. It looked a bit like this if you haven’t been able to see this in person before!
We shared the Lord’s Supper, remembering Christ’s death on the cross to rescue us, with thankfulness. We sang In Christ Alone as everyone received their bread and grape juice, ready for an all-age-friendly Lord’s Supper before the kids headed out to Kids Church (more on this in a minute).
We who stayed in the service then had the privilege of watching a young man’s video testimony. He told the story of how he joined All Saints Anew when he came to faith but realised he didn’t yet have a community. He said hearing God’s promises of love and salvation made him want to put his trust in God. Now having a church community, he says he knows he’s not alone in his faith, and the church helps him grow. The Discover course in particular helped him to see that God is love, and this has shaped his views since. Thank you to this inspirational young fellow for sharing this story
Colossians 1:15-29 – 15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
24Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
The adults heard this reading and it was explored in a short sermon by Arthur. Paul makes it clear in this passage that he expects a Christian church to be proclaiming Jesus. He spells out that Jesus is both God and the head of the church (vv 15-20) and the one who brings us into the church (vv 21-22).
Arthur pointed out Paul’s recipe for maturity: the church should be admonishing (gently reminding others to follow Jesus and stay away from the “spiritual cliffs”) and teaching everyone with all wisdom. This teaching is not just in words but also in the way we live together, and what makes the teaching and admonishing wise is being firmly grounded in the word of God, the Bible (v 25). Arthur gave the example here of being redirected back to the picnic of God after leaving the cliffs of King Edward Park. God’s word is to be the basis of the teaching and admonishing. The truths found here bring us to maturity, and it’s here we find the Jesus we are to proclaim.
The band returned and we sang Christ our Hope in Life and Death, before we were led by one of our 5pm congregation in a prayer of praise and thanksgiving that Jesus reached out and rescued us when we were his enemies. We joined this prayer that God would strengthen us by his Spirit so we might be faithful to the gospel and proclaim Jesus in our city and to the ends of the earth, looking to the future with our eyes fixed on Jesus. Amen!
Meanwhile, we have been reliably informed by some small correspondents that the children in Kids Church heard from John 9, when Jesus heals a man who had been born blind. The kids were reminded that we can only see God with the help of Jesus. Games of blindfolded obstacle courses and guessing the nature of hidden objects reinforced this message.
Thank you to our children’s leader Amy and the kid’s ministry team for teaching our kids the same gospel truths in an age-appropriate way!
Now to the Vision of Vision Sunday: Arthur shared the refreshed vision of All Saints Anew as we move into a new chapter (post-church planting and the building refurbishment):
Proclaiming Jesus from the Bible to see people transformed by Him
Through prayerfully:
Teaching God’s word in all of life
Growing together as God’s people
Sharing gospel hope in the Diocese of Newcastle and beyond
We know that proclaiming Jesus has the power to bring salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1). There is no hope like the hope of the Christian gospel; despite being alienated from God, we can be completely reconciled to him in Christ. We can know our future is safe. Doesn’t Newcastle, and the whole world, need this hope? And so we must as a church be prayerfully (and not in our strength but the strength God gives us in his Spirit) teaching God’s word to people of all ages and in various settings, so we and others might grow, and be transformed and brought to maturity.
Arthur explained that this vision will be further explored in the coming months, including on our weekend away, so don’t miss it.
We prayed about the vision in small groups with those sitting around us, an encouraging time with a very positive response to our refreshed vision.
Adam then quizzed Arthur on a few aspects of the vision and the future of the church. Arthur explained how the new stage Anew is entering required a refocussing. It could be tempting to just… stop, particularly after a busy period of change. Arthur also emphasised how Anglicanism (and the Thirty-Nine Articles) are utterly biblical and point us to Jesus. He further reminded us that, under God’s kindness, it is proclaiming Jesus that sees people saved and churches grow.
We ended the formal part of our time together saying the Nicene Creed and singing Be Thou My Vision. Cinta closed the service with a prayer that All Saints Anew would be a church who continues to proclaim Jesus for many years to come. Let’s keep praying this is so.
The clouds couldn’t put a dampener on the morning tea in the garden after the service. There were joyful catchups and conversations well past 1pm. So many people worked hard to make the morning a success. Thank you to everyone who came and contributed.