Connecting Sydney Christadelphian Young People

Health

March 07

The Vine is published every two months by the Sydney Christadelphian Young People

Editorial Team: Jenny Galbraith, Tim Mogg, Jenni Sawell, Katie Shields, Leah Sawell

Masthead design: Alisa Thompson

Layout: Jenny Galbraith

Cover artwork: Wendy Gould

Contributors: Lizzy Rendell, Jake Pogson, Jodie Errington, Robyn Henry, Michaela Pogson, Rosie Lawrie

The Vine is published to the glory of our Heavenly Father, through whom all things are made possible.

Opinions expressed in The Vine are the authors’ and not necessarily held by the Editorial Team.

thevinescyp@hotmail.com

1 The Vine

Keeping physically healthy and maintaining our fi tness is important as we go through our teenage and young adult years. Our health now will have direct bearing on how healthy we are in the later years of our lives. The habits we develop now, like how often we exercise and what we eat

are likely to stick with us through our whole lives.

The same can be said of our spiritual fi tness. If we have no real interest in reading the Bible, praying or being involved in SCYP or our ecclesias now, it will be extremely hard to try and develop these habits as we grow older and our lives get busier with work, family and other concerns.

Developing a healthy spiritual life is vital to staying focused and keeping God as the number one priority in our lives.

But how do we know if we are spiritually healthy? A sign of a healthy baby is it grows and develops over time, learning new things every day. In the same way, if we are growing in our knowledge and relationship with God we can rest assured we are maintaining a healthy spiritual life. We can look back over the last few years and see the changes God has made and how far we have come in our walk to the Kingdom.

If we are stagnant, or going backward in our spiritual walk, we have to recognise that some real changes are needed to get us back walking in the right direction.

The same can be said of our ecclesias. If the body of Christ is not growing, it is unhealthy and not bearing fruit for God. Are we regularly adding members and sharing the gospel with others? Or are numbers falling as people drift away? Are the same projects being undertaken every year, producing no results?

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8) As young people we can have a huge impact on our ecclesias. Our enthusiasm, fresh perspective and ideas are vitally important in reviving our ecclesias and showing how exciting a life in Christ can be! Pray constantly, talk about ideas with other young people (and older ones!) in your ecclesia, take risks and go for it! If we do all in the spirit of Christ, nothing can stop us!

With love in the Lord,

The Editorial Team

a heathy body and mind

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93

3 Are you spiritually fi t?Physical exercise is essential to keep your body fi t, but giving your spiritual life a workout is even more important!

5 Clowning around with Lizzy RendellFind out more about the friendly Lizzy Rendell.

6 2007 Committee Profi lesMeet the team running SCYP this year.

7 How to: make goals stickSticking to your goals can be harder than you think!

9 Photo Spread!Photos from the Adelaide Youth Conference and the Class in the Park.

11 Unspoken miseryEven the most faithful followers of God experienced depression.

13 Courage in captivityLearn about the courage of one little captive maid.

18 ReviewsReview of Casting Crowns’ new album.

33

JESUSJESUSJESUSCONTENTS

11

3 The Vine

Are you spiritually

fit?

At the start of this year did you make any New Year’s resolutions? Maybe you promised to exercise more, eat

healthy or just get a bit fi tter? Noble sentiments… but have you ever thought about the similarities between exercising your physical and spiritual health? You can go about exercising your spirituality in the same way you do your body. The apostle Paul realised that spiritual exercise can be even more benefi cial to us than bodily exercise. “Bodily exercise profi ts little but godliness profi ts all things” (I Tim 4:8). If exercise is to be effective it needs to place the body under stress, to challenge it and to force it to become stronger. It is the same with spiritual exercise: “consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must fi nish its work so that you may be mature and complete...” (James 1:2-4) If you exercise regularly your muscles become faster, stronger, bigger and your heart and lungs improve so that you have more energy. Conversely, if you do nothing you will experience a detraining effect.

Just as quickly as you gained it, by doing nothing you lose it. Galatians 5 shows that there are “spiritual muscles” we need to remember and exercise regularly: • love• joy• peace• patience• kindness• goodness• faithfulness• gentleness and• self-control. And like any good nutrition program, refraining from certain things decreases spiritual fat:• jealousy• boastfulness• arrogance• rudeness• self-centredness• resentment and• irritability Maybe you haven’t started getting fi t because you’re too busy living in yesterday’s mistakes. Your decisions may be based on guilt and shame rather than what you genuinely want (and need) to do. True change comes from daily choices and those choices should be based on what you

Are you spiritually

fit?

spiritually

fit?spiritually

Physical exercise is essential to keep your body fi t and healthy, but giving your spiritual life a daily workout is even

more important!

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need to do, instead of what you did or didn’t do yesterday. This will make life much more tolerable. You can’t change what you did or didn’t do yesterday. All you can do is learn from your mistakes and think about what will specifically target your problem areas. If you want to be able to run for miles, but you spend all your time lifting heavy weights at the end of the day you will be no closer to your goal. If you want to improve what you aren’t good at, you need to practice doing it. We are all familiar with our struggle to become ‘fitter’. New Year’s Eve comes around and you resolve that in the coming year you are finally going to make a serious change. So you start to work towards your goals and for a few weeks everything goes

right: you do what you planned to, you start feeling really good and think, ‘I can do this!’. Then ‘it’ happens. The inevitable ‘It’. It might be a holiday, exams, an illness...something that throws you off your game. So you stop, just until you have enough time to think again. The next thing you know it’s a year later. You’re about to make brand new New Year’s resolutions and you are still at that same place you promised you would only ‘rest’ in for a moment.

Being fit is a life long commitment. If you exercise sporadically and without conviction it has little effect. If you won the 1982 New York marathon, but you’ve been sitting on a couch since then you wouldn’t make it around the block today. In the end it doesn’t matter how far you have travelled along the road, or even how fast or long you have been going for. What matters is your mindset, your motives and the direction you are going.

No Pain, No Gain...For those who are out of shape physically, to begin training requires enduring significant pain. But after the initial “start up” pain, training becomes a sort of pleasure. This is because disciplined training leads to

agility, strength, and health. So overcome the initial discomfort, get up off your couch and JUST DO IT! “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” so that one day we may “run and not grow weary…Walk and not be faint.” Heb 12:1, Isaiah 40:31

Tim Mogg

Spiritual or Physical?• Set goals - use daily goals to reach long term goals• Pre-test - set a baseline before you begin so that you identify your weaknesses and measure improvement• Re-test - prove to yourself that what you are doing is helping. If you find no improvement over time, CHANGE SOMETHING!• Keep motivated - write down what you have done. Do it with a friend, or two.

True change comes from daily choices and basing your choices on what you need to do, instead of what you did or didn’t do yesterday.

5 The Vine

So Lizzy, what ecclesia do you go to?I go to Hurstville and we have a young people’s class, combined with Sutherland called Suthernville class every second Friday. My ecclesia’s very nice, if you ask someone they’ll always help you, and I’ll defend them if anyone puts them down coz they’re my family.

Who is your family? Other than your ecclesia...My Dad and Mum, (Ross and Debbie), Heather, who’s engaged to Mark Stuart. And there’s my brother Matthew who’s in Brisbane working for Qantas.

So you spend a fair bit of time at work... where is that and what do you do?Harry Hocking’s Dental Surgery in Riverwood. He’s very nice to us and always gives us time off for christo things and camps etc! Though, he still has his moments. I’m a Dental Assistant... a spit sucker! In Year 10, I needed work experience, and Heather was already there. After that I worked part time till I fi nished school, then I got offered full time. It’s been about two years now.

Do you have any hobbies of which to speak?I have projects I do. I’m try to write a play... it’s in my head, I just have to get it down. It’s a cool play, I like it. I go on bushwalks

with my puppy dog (I call him that though he’s actually four). I play violin every now and then, it gets practiced when I’m asked to do something, otherwise it gets neglected. The

bow’s name is Ellie-Sharma (meaning May Yaweh Rejoice) and the violin itself is named Jedea (meaning Yaweh has Heard).

What do you like most about Jesus?I know it sounds corny but he loved us and died for us. He knew what people wanted without them asking, he answered their true questions, he saw what they needed and he gave it to them. Like how God knows our prayers before we say

them. Jesus didn’t judge people, he had compassion and saw them for who they were.

How do you think these could help or apply to SCYP?The whole of SCYP relating needs to try and understand people and not judge them on fi rst impressions, and show lots of compassion for each other. Look out for those by themselves and needing friendship.Jesus was also so unselfi sh.We can be so selfi sh sometimes, we say “I really dont feel like doing that” but Jesus never said that; he gave himself to die to show how serious sin is.

So share something you’re really looking forward to in the Kingdom?I’m looking forward to the Kingdom because we would stop hurting each other. The world is at war but it’s between people, things that make you sad now.

Like people with disabilities, you don’t know how to react so you hurt each other. Families break down these days, and we hurt each other without

meaning to. In the Kingdom we won’t do that and all sickness will be healed. There’ll be no splits, like our Logos/Shield split. It was our family and it’s like it’s been divorced. Each side has brought up its children like that separation. But in the Kingdom we won’t be separated and what God was trying to teach us will be revealed. The love we know is not comparable to the love in the Kingdom, it’ll continue to grow, and not be stagnant. In reality, there’s huge big stars: everything that exists is created in the star when it dies, and stardust is dispersed. We are made up of stardust. The cool parallel is because Jesus was the biggest and brightest star, when he died, all of us were created... but because we’re made up of actual stardust, we will actually shine like stars in the kingdom, and refl ect God’s glory.

Interview by Leah Sawell

Clowning around with...Lizzy Rendell

Role: music

Likes: music

Dislikes: feet

what She actually does:

Rosie organises the music

for classes.

2007 SCYP

CommitteeRole: Secretary

Likes: Shaftesbury Rd

Ecclesia

Dislikes: snapperheads

what he actually does:

Phil oversees the

committee and basically

does most of the behind

the scenes work.

Role: Treasurer

Likes: Chocolate

Dislikes: olives

what she actually does: Jodie collects money for camps and activities. and writes cheques for Scyp’s expenses.

Role: publicityLikes: Meeting new peopleDislikes: people who don’t use their blinkers

what She actually does: Kezia organises the fridge friend and lets everyone know what classes and activites are happening.

Role: music

Likes: music

Dislikes: feet

what She actually does:

Rosie organises the music

for classes.

Role: Website

Likes: Signing waiver forms

Dislikes: jumping castles

what She actually does:

Rochelle updates and

manages scyp’s website

www.scyp.net

Role: welfare

Likes: being organisedDislikes: not being organised

what She actually does: katie looks out for the members of our group.

Role: class co-ordinators

Likes: playing backgammon

Dislikes: overcooked broccoli

what they actually do:

Michael and shoshanna

organise the monthly scyp

classes.

Role

Phil Pooley

Dislikes

what sheJodie camps and activitwrites cheques for Scypexpenses

Role

Jodie Errington

organised

what Shekatie looks out for the members of our group.

Katie Shields

know what classes and Kezia Kirkwood

Role

Likes

Dislikes

what She

Rochelle updates and

manages scyp

www.scyp.net

Rochelle Erring

tonwww.scyp.net

Likes

Rosie Lawrie

Michael &

Shoshanna

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7 The Vine

Stick with it!

Make goals stickHow to:

At the beginning of every year most of us make some kind of New Year’s resolution. By about March most of us

have failed to keep them. If you’ve kept your resolutions without fault ‘til now, you’re doing better than most of us! New Year’s resolutions are goals that are notorious for being broken. I think this is because we expect them to just happen instantly and make no proper preparation towards them. How about goals in general?

The ones you’re really serious about? Are you any better at sticking to those? Both short and long-term goals can be hard to stick to and fi nding a place to start is often overwhelming. What you need is a plan. I used to fi nd getting to my goals close to impossible! After four years at uni I’ve fi nally designed a plan and I’ve written it down for you. Just add energy.

A place for everything and everything in its place…Everyone thinks clearer and works better in an organised space. You may eventually reach your goals surrounded by clutter but you won’t make it there with ease. When you live with parents, getting nagged to clean your room is pretty normal. You probably avoid it at all costs but you’d be surprised how good a well-organised room can make you feel. Try asking mum to help you have a major overhaul and watch her jaw drop! If you don’t live with your parents, you’re

Many of us have high aspirations for what we want to achieve in life. But how many times have we lost focus from the goals we set for ourselves?

Our “how to” girl Katie Shields lets us in on a few secrets on how to stick to your goals.

Get

organised

Set your

goals

Pray

Make a map

Define

your goa

ls

Be

realist

ic

Priorit

ise

Be dedicated

Take it slowly

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Make goals stickprobably even lazier because mum’s not there to nag! You may find yourself leaving the house to avoid the mess. If you procrastinate about cleaning up, I’d take a guess it doesn’t end there. Your goals are almost certainly like the horizon; an imaginary line that recedes as you approach it! I have a better solution. Sort, File, Store, Purge. Pare down your stuff and give unnecessary items to charity. Sort things like with like, file away documents and find a place for everything you’re keeping. For all you shoppers out there, don’t buy more junk, buy storage. Many affordable storage options exist to meet your retail therapy needs! The initial tidy-up might be difficult but once everything has a place, it never takes more than a few minutes. Once you’re physically organised you’ll have a relaxing space in which to purge the clutter from your mind as well for “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the

master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim 2:21).

Finding definitionNow that you are clutter free, you need definition. What are your short and long term goals? You need to know where your headed if you want to get there without getting lost. Have a think and write them down. Once you know where you’re headed give yourself a time frame. It won’t be set in concrete but this will give you focus.

Realistically speaking…Are your goals realistic? Are your expectations way above your ability or could you set the bar even higher? If you’re not sure have a chat to people who have reached the same goal to find out what is involved. Are you willing to work hard? Be realistic about the amount of effort you’re willing to put into reaching your goal. “Now he that plants and he that waters are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.” (1Cor 3:8)

Making a mapHow are you going to get there? Even if you dream about it tonight, you won’t wake up tomorrow with a university degree or your own car. And you certainly won’t have lost 10kgs in your sleep or made a group of new friends. It takes hard work and dedication and planning to achieve any of these goals. Making a map is the key. Work out how you’re going to get from point A to B. If you don’t know, research the steps involved. Your family, friends, teachers and most importantly the Bible are all essential resources! Use a diary to plan your path by the month, week or year depending on the goal. Remember to regularly check your progress!

Where your priority liesPlace you goals in their order of importance. Continually check your priorities and make sure the time and energy you’re giving to each goal is in line with its place on the list.

Don’t forget that we should be living ‘God’s way everyday’ so goals that will help you along God’s path are always most important and deserving of your enthusiasm. Mat 6:33 ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you’.

One step at a timeDedicating yourself whole-heartedly is a must. It means that you are sincere in your desire to reach your goal. But don’t rush things! If you make a new goal to get fit, doing a 10km run on the first day will leave you tired, sore and reluctant to go again. Slow and steady wins the race! Follow the map you have made taking one step at a time. Pray hard and remember that if God wants you to make it there, you will. “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matt 21:22)

Katie Shields

Pray hard and remember that if God wants you to make it there, you will.

Adelaide Youth Conference Class in the Park

Class in the Park

11 The Vine

unspoken misery

Jeremiah knew a lot about depression. He described it perfectly; “I remember it well - oh, how well I remember - the feeling of

hitting the bottom.” (Lamentations 3) People who are depressed talk about being in a black hole - unable to see a way out. That’s because depression is about hopelessness, feeling powerless to make any changes in our lives. It’s believing that what we want doesn’t matter and that there’s nothing to look forward to. Depression can come quickly or it can grow slowly. Sometimes feelings of depression can lift as quickly as they came. But for some people, depression can last for years. Depression can affect anyone; male

and female, all age groups. It is estimated that in Australia, 100,000 young people live with depression each year.

This includes one out of four females and one out of six males. Females usually recognise and admit to depression more quickly than males who often feel ashamed to to call the “black dog” by its name and admit they are depressed. There isn’t room in this article to discuss why young people become depressed. But here’s some ideas for you to talk about:• illness or disability• death of a loved one• family breakup• diffi culty with friendships• rejection by a girlfriend or boyfriend• uncertainty about your value as an individual• feeling a failure We may feel like failures for many reasons, however sometimes this can be because the culture that we live in often harshly measures us by:

Being Christian doesn’ ’t mean we are shielded from depression -

even the most faithful followers of God suffered from the misery

of hopelessness.

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unspoken misery

• how we look• how much “stuff” we have• how many parties we get invited to• how well we do in exams• how “successful” we are in exams Our society convinces us that we must always do better or have more. The challenge is a hopeless one because we can never be everything. It’s too hard. Maybe it’s easier for some people to just stop trying and become depressed? You are the only one who can decide when enough is enough for you. Think about your own goals rather than just accepting the goals others or society sets for you. Saul had a classic depressive personality

- and he was a king! He often started a sentence with “BUT”.• BUT - I’m not important enough (for God to love).• BUT - he/she made me do it.• BUT - I was afraid• BUT - the plan won’t work There he is, trembling in his tent, while Goliath shouts his challenge (1 Samuel 17). He was “terrified and lost all hope”.Then David enters. He knows God loves him and empowers those who love God. (Think about wringing the neck of a lion or a bear!) He also knows Goliath hasn’t a chance against God So he says: “Master, don’t give up hope! I’m ready to go and fight this Philistine”. Saul, the depressed, answers: BUT “You can’t go and fight the Philistine! You’re too young and inexperienced”. When Saul tried to load David up with heavy armour David said “I can’t even move with all this stuff on me” and he took it ALL off.

When you feel depressed, you’re carrying around really heavy armour. It stops you moving, makes you afraid and drains life of energy and happiness. NEVER carry around other people’s armour. It won’t fit you. It will weigh you down. The only yoke we must wear fits perfectly because Jesus made it for us. Jeremiah gave us some advice about what to do when we feel ourselves sliding into depression: “Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face... his merciful love... is created new every morning… I’m sticking with God!” (Jer 3: 22, 24, 30)

A professional note: If you are feeling depressed you must

seek help. You probably need more expert help than your friends can give you. Seek the support of a professional counselor. Sometimes medication is needed for a while. A doctor must prescribe this. (Never use alcohol or other drugs to get relief from the sadness). There are two sources of help for you to make a start:1. The Christadelphian Support Service (0407558 819) is there to listen and advise. The website is www.caring4u.org.au2. Beyond Blue has an excellent website: www.beyondblue.org.au Follow the link to the youth support section of this site. If you know someone who seems to be depressed these sites will be very helpful for you.• listen without judgement• ask them how you can help• do not carry their burden - guide them to more experienced sources of help.• pray for them and with them.

Robyn Henry

When you feel depressed you’re carrying around really heavy armour. It stops you moving makes you afraid; drains life of energy and happiness... the only yoke we must wear fits perfectly because Jesus made it for us.

Courage in

Most of you have probably heard of the story of Naaman. Naaman was the commander of the army of the Syrians,

who were enemies of Israel. Once, when the Syrians took some Israelites captive, a young girl was also taken captive, and she became a servant girl for Naaman’s wife. Naaman had a terrible disease called leprosy, and the young girl told Naaman to go to Elisha. Elisha was God’s prophet in Israel. The servant girl knew that Elisha, with God’s power, could cure Naaman. So Naaman went to see Elisha, who told him to wash 7 times in the Jordan River. At fi rst, Naaman was angry, and didn’t want to do such a thing. But one of his servants talked him into it, so eventually he did what Elisha told him to do, and he was cured. He was amazed, and very happy, but more importantly, he learnt about Israel’s God, who is the One True God, and has power to do anything.

Let’s stop for a minute and think about the little servant girl in this story. Can you imagine what it must have been like for her? She was taken away from her parents, her home, her country, and everything she knew and loved. We do not know her name, or how old she was, but we know that she lost everything, and everyone special to her. Even her freedom. She was taken to a strange and different place, where she had no family or friends, where she had to work as a slave for a rich and powerful man who was the enemy of her people. How frightening this must have been for her! How easy it would have been for her to become bitter and resentful, angry, and full of hate! But instead, she remained positive, worked diligently, and above all, remained faithful to God. She bravely proclaimed the power of God, in a noble household which ranked second to the King. What remarkable courage she displayed to speak up, and tell her captors about the God of Israel! What complete faith she must have had in God, and His ability to cure her master! Not only did her faith and bravery save Naaman’s life, but it led the whole household, and even the King of Syria himself, to learn about the One True God. For after he was cured, Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.”(You can read the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5.)

Jenni Sawell

We do not know her name, or how old she was, but we know that she lost everything, and everyone special to her. Even her freedom

CaptivityThe courage of one little captive maid has been remembered

for thousands of years.

13 The Vine

If my mum can do it...

Desleigh Mogg is my mother. A darling, forty-something, mother-of-three, who at my request, undertook a four-week physical

training program in order to ‘get a bit fi tter’. After having an initial chat, Mummy identifi ed cardiovascular fi tness and fl exibility as her major weaknesses. She also wanted to improve core and upper-body strength plus lose some weight. Mum was put through her paces with a vigorous testing regime to establish baseline fi tness in each component that she had identifi ed. She endured:

The Beep TestThis consists of running between two cones spaced 20m before the next beep. You probably did it at school, and it’s actually a very accurate test of cardiovascular endurance.

Sit and ReachSurprisingly enough, this test involves sitting on the fl oor. The participant has their legs straight out in front to see how far they can reach past (or in Mom’s case towards) their toes.

One-Minute Sit-up and Push-up TestsThese are what the army uses as part of their fi tness tests for soldiers. The participant has one minute to do as many sit ups or push-ups as they can. In Mum’s case she opted for the easier version where you bend your knees and use your knees as the fulcrum.

Finally, we did the weigh in. To correctly weigh someone ask them to stand on a set of scales and record the number of kilos that the digital display reads or the needle points to. Pretty simple really.

I then drew up a plan for her to follow. It addressed all fi ve of these issues. The plan included muscle specifi c stretches and exercises, yoga, swimming, walking, tennis, sit-ups and push-ups.

Mrs Mogg’s Initial and Final ResultsThe results are a little skewed because Mum was a maniac on the initial testing day and pushed so hard that she couldn’t exercise for two days after! In the fi nal testing she had hurt her back the day before. All excuses aside Mum still showed improvements of 10 to 20 per cent and displays defi nite potential for the future!My fi tness regime for mum proves that this old saying is just as true today as the day it was coined. Mum identifi ed things she needed to change and has begun taking steps to make that happen. You have the all ability and skills you need to do the same. If you have ever thought about doing exercise to improve your health, but as of yet haven’t done anything I challenge you to think a little bit more. ‘Exercising’ doesn’t always mean working out in a gym. It just has to be half an hour of moderate intensity activity. Walk your dog, bounce on your neighbour’s trampoline, walk your neighbour’s dog, go kick a footy, do cartwheels in a park or challenge your dad to an arm wrestle. The hardest part of doing exercise is getting up and getting going. Once you are actually doing something you may fi nd that you like it. Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the full. So get active, be happy, and remember in whatever you do glorify your Creator and Sustainer. (If you want a free copy of the beep test come and talk to me, I can hook you up with one.)

Starting to exercise can seem like an impossible task, especially when you see no results from your efforts straight away. But our resident personal trainer Tim Mogg reckons if his mum can do it, anyone can!

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15 The Vine

The vision of the Kingdom that has always been in my mind is the opportunity to understand

God. To realise why, and how God created such a beautiful universe. Why God called me. What I can do in return. Christ referred to the concept of ’Knowing God’ in (John 17:3). Reaching this understanding is quite motivating for me. Actually coming to that point is another matter. It’s a difficult thing I suppose but creating that relationship is exactly what is required (Mark 8:35). Bound up in this relationship is an understated privilege and distinct quality of life. Getting there is arduous. It is as though I’ve always been using an LED penlight as I wander in this world; the sun is blanked out, fog is drifting about but there are only a few other people with

torches. Hardly anyone recognises that they are stumbling, or even that they have fallen. Shadows are everywhere, uncertainty is everywhere, God is so hard to find anywhere. Then whoosh!

Christ returns. Sunlight bursts through the clouds and illuminates the shadowy outlines and the extremely poor concept I have had of life. Everything is now visible in perfect and dazzling clarity. The torch I’ve been using is so pathetic, so unfit for the job. It’s at that moment with Christ, I’d like to walk through the trees that grow on the

bank of the river flowing from Mount Zion eating fruit and talking to him about everything! Trying to understand how he managed to cope as a mortal human, what his life was like. Learning about love and God’s perspective. That’s why I’ll need eternal life.

Capturing theKingdom

It’s at that moment with Christ, I’d like to walk through the tre

that grow on the bank of the river flowing from

Mount Zion eating fruit and talking to him about

everything!

by Jake Pogson

Ecclesial Profile...Shaftesbury Rd

Well…what can I say about the dear ecclesia we all fondly call “Shaftes” (notice the ‘tEs’)?? There have been songs written

about us (ask Andrew or I for a rendition if you’re interested!), we have the all-knowing Bro Nick in attendance and there is a common misconception that Jesus will return to set up his Kingdom from Shaftesbury Rd (I think the YP at Castle Hill may just be jealous!) But aside from the fame we all know and love, which doesn’t give us big heads at all, we’re really just one big happy family who’re enthusiastic about serving God! We have a fairly large group of young people, somewhere between 25 to 30 individuals, most of whom love to attend SCYP classes and activities (and I think we may be the most represented ecclesia on the SCYP committee!) Since the classes are held at Shaftes, we’re the ones to look for if you ever need to fi nd something there! (Especially look for Ben Pooley; he absolutely LOVES helping out!) Us young people are blessed to have an

awesome Sunday School class run by Ken Pooley each Sunday morning, where we are invited to put forward any ’pressing issues’. We have recently been discussing the life of John the Baptist, and we’ve just started looking at the differences between the Old and New covenants. Thanks to Aunty Gilly, each Sunday morning after an SCYP class, we also enjoy a delicious breakfast together! Some of us are also privileged to actively participate in a really successful preaching activity, where we invite people from around the area to free conversational English classes, using the Bible as our text for lessons. In this way, we are showing our Christ-like love to the community as we are willing to give up our Sunday nights for others, as well as revealing the gospel and the hope of the Kingdom to come! We always need people to help in many different ways, so you’re more than welcome to come along!

Jodie Errington

The Vine 16

17 The Vine

Reviews Heard it on the...Casting Crowns’ newest album, Lifesong, has become one of my favourite albums to

listen to.I like this album because I

relate to so many of the songs, which talk about everyday praise and struggles.

One of my favourite songs in the album is called ‘While You Were Sleeping’. It focuses on the idea that when Jesus was born, the whole world was asleep and

had no time for their saviour. It then goes on to ask if we will be sleeping when Christ returns. The song really questions how aware we are that Christ could return at any moment and whether we are ready for his return. I love the style of music that Casting Crowns play because it is refl ective and makes you

ponder on your commitment and love for God. I defi nitely recommend it to anyone trying to fi nd good Christian music.

Michaela Pogson

“It really questions how aware you are that Christ could return at any moment and whether you will be ready.”

Casting Crowns: Lifesong

“... what will we miss while we are sleepingWill Jesus come againAnd leave us slumbering where we lay... will we go down in historyAs a nation with no room for its KingWill we be sleeping?”

- While you were sleeping (Casting Crowns)

Heard it on the...Grapevine

EngagementsJulia Thompson and Peter Gaston

BaptismsMichael Court

Kezia KirkwoodAndrew Errington and Beth NutterPeter Hardy

Heard of the NSW Christadelphian Support Service?It is a private and confi dential service for YOU, offering the following

plus much more:

• Telephone helpline provided by trained individuals who will listen to anyone in absolute confi dentiality and refer them to professional help if required.• Chat line / online counselling• Regular seminar program on topical welfare matters• Marriage enrichment and parenting course

Quarterly newsletter, publications and library services

Got something that is worrying you or on your mind? Need to talk to someone confi dentially about absolutely anything?

Phone - 0407 558 819 (24 hours) Email: youthsupport@caring4u.org.au

www.caring4u.org.au/cssyouth

John 13:34 “As I have loved you, so you must love one another”

Jesse Simkus and Felisa Relton

“I am the true vine...”