In August we will be starting a sermon series looking at the many images the Bible uses for 'the church'. Some include the gathering, the body, the flock, the building and the bride. But it is the image of 'the family' that expresses the closeness of the relationships we ought to experience in the church.

The church isn't a business, a corporation or even just a community organisation. We're brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus is our older brother, and we are all children of our Heavenly Father.

Last night we welcomed Stephen McAlpine to come and share with us what the church is going to look like in the future as our culture keeps on changing. It was a great time of reflecting on where our world is at and the non-anxious hope that can only be found in Jesus in a world that has lost all sense of meaning and purpose.

A quick eNews before we head to church camp tomorrow!

Please be praying for a safe and fun time away as we grow in community and in maturity as followers of Jesus together. Please also be praying for Jay Behan (the Bishop of the Church of Confessing Anglicans) who will be speaking for us on the Book of Judges.

This week the team has been across in Australia at the Reach Conference to join with 1,300 ministry workers to challenge and encourage one another to reach the nation with the good news of Jesus for the glory of God. 

One of the consistent themes of the conference was that our mission, our service, our love for one another and the world, and our obedience to the Word must flow out of our love for God. Because God has first loved us in Christ we then live lives as wholehearted followers in Jesus. Any other motivation will be sorely lacking and will not sustain us over the long run or when times get tough. 

Psalm 30:5 declares that although weeping may endure for a night, joy comes in the morning. 

Perhaps, unsurprisingly, when this verse is quoted the emphasis often tends to fall on the joy that comes in the morning rather than the weeping in the night. And obviously there is wonderful truth in that hope. The book of Revelation points us to the great hope we have as those who trust in Jesus that there will be a day when God will wipe every tear from our eyes.