"A Star shall come out of Jacob; _A Sceptre shall rise out of Israel...." (Numbers 24:17)__
A "star" symbolizes knowledges of good and truth, and in the highest sense the knowledge respecting the Lord. (Apocalypse Explained 422:20)
The beautiful words from the book of Numbers were a prophecy of the birth of the Lord God Jesus Christ into the world. These were the words that told the wise men of the East to watch for a wonderful new star that would be a sign of the Saviour's birth. They would follow the star until it led them to where the Lord was, where they could fall down and worship Him. And then they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
As we celebrate the Christmas season, we too can follow the Lord's star and come to worship Him. Our guiding star is the Lord's holy Word. The heavenly truths in the Word can help us come to acknowledge the Lord as the one God of heaven and earth. When we look to the Lord alone and live a life of good, then we are truly worshiping Him. And we can bring Him the precious gifts symbolized by gold, frankincense, and myrrh - love, charity, and obedience.
by Rev. David Lindrooth
"I see Him but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a star shall come out of Jacob; a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy the sons of tumult" (Numbers 24:17).
We are not always aware of the Lord working in our lives. "We see Him, but not now." We want Him involved in our lives, but we feel as if He is "not near."
The Lord's infinite presence is a little like the air we breathe. It is something that is such an integral part of our lives that we aren't normally aware of it. We breathe constantly without thinking of the life-giving chemical reactions that are continually happening in our bodies. We rarely reflect that without the atmosphere all forms of life would cease to exist.
The Lord is as present and essential in our lives as air is to our bodies. His life flowing into the world is the cause of all life. His interaction with us gives us the abilities to think, to love, and to respond as human beings. His life provides the backdrop to our consciousness. Yet, we are as unconscious of the miracles the Lord is continually creating in our lives as we are unconscious of the life-supporting qualities of the atmosphere.
The Lord was born on earth so that we could become aware of His presence in our lives. By knowing who the Lord is we can begin to be aware of the ways He continually works in our lives, giving us His gifts, leading us forward, creating our circle of life and sustaining us. This awareness takes a lifetime. It can be compared to becoming aware of each breath we take and beginning to sense the life-giving response our bodies have to the air. Gradually we can become aware of how desolate our lives are without the Lord-as desolate as this planet would be without our atmosphere. A life based on this understanding opens us up to receive the Lord's eternal gifts of life, love, and wisdom.
(The above material was sourced from The General Church
website under the section "The Vineyard".)
http://www.newchurch.org/resources/vineyard/2006dec
"Bush to Big Smoke" Trip Sydney 2007
As we go to print our friends from far northeast Western Australia will have completed their two week visit and be on the long journey home. It has been a pleasure for the Hurstville Society to provide accommodation for the boys, while the girls stayed at Mahys a few doors down the street. We would like to acknowledge all the hard work by teachers Leanne Mahy and David Turfery along with their assistants Rosemary Daylight, Rosemary Malgil and John Echo in successfully supervising all the many trips and activities during the visit. Also Leanne's parents Trevor and Maureen deserve medals for keeping people feed, housed and everything running smoothly.
Our multi purpose building, Baringa, came into its own with twelve boys in residence - Lachlan Bray, Cedric Cann, Dominic Churchill, Douglas Junior Cooper, Jaimal Mung, Imran Paddy, Rochelle Peris, Thomas Pinday, Graeme Thomas, Dale Thomas, Kieren Turner, Codie Yalunga - sleeping on mattresses in the Richard Morse Room. Together with their leaders they had the house to themselves with the freedom to come and go which helped them to feel at home. They were close by to the six girls at the Mahys - Claire Drill, Saverio Jessell, Miranda Mosquito, April Nulgit, Shailyn Peris and Tatum Rivers. Our large spacious property with lawns, gardens and a tennis court provided plenty of open areas for relaxing or running off steam as the case may be!
The Welcome Ceremony on Sunday 11th November, due to a misunderstanding, turned out to be a Water Blessing not a Smoking Ceremony as previously reported. Around 6pm church people and friends along with the Ngalangangpum School group, the Mahys and their friends began to gather awaiting the arrival of the local welcoming contingent from the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry at Penrith (website: www.acmcssr.org.au). As they had come from a distance and were unfamiliar with the area it wasn't surprising some of them became a little lost along the way. However, it was a lovely evening, the church grounds were looking particularly beautiful and this provided a pleasant atmosphere for this special occasion. The artificial grass tennis court was chosen as an excellent flat space to perform the ceremony. People wandered in and sat or stood as they wished. One of six ladies who carried bowls of water and leafy twigs introduced the ceremony by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land. Then, dipping the leaves in the water, the ladies walked among the audience gently sprinkling water droplets over everyone. This was such a simple gesture but a very powerful one. The representation of water is as ancient as the land and links us with our Creator. It gave a sense of belonging, of welcoming - no matter what our skin colour!
The final part of the ceremony was a dance and song performed by our friendly six ladies. The song was called "One People One Land" written by the renowned Australian Christian composer Monica Brown. The movements of the dance, the music and the words conveyed a very spiritual connection throughout. A big thank you to the following people with their support team from the Penrith Aboriginal Catholic Ministry for a wonderful moving experience - Jenny Ebsworth, Sharon Mumbler, Allison Nicholls, Judy Curry, Daisy Barker, Margaret Farrell, Janice Brown, Janice Kennedy, Father Phil Medlin, Sister Naomi Smith, Sister Rosemary. Also to the young ones who came with the group - Scarlett Kirby, Jamellah Mumbler, Henry Ebsworth, Kale Law, Brendan Morrison, John Murphy. We have been told that there has been an exchange of phone numbers and addresses among these kids with some of those from Ngalangangpum School; new friendships linking the city and the bush.
A touching finish to the evening was the presentation to our church by the Ngalangangpum School as a thank you for offering the use of our building and property. It was an original ochre painting by famous Warmun Community spiritual leader and artist Patrick Mung Mung. He is the grandfather of visiting student Imran Paddy, who handed over the painting. The subject matter of the painting is the Bungle Bungles which is Patrick Mung Mung's home country of the Kija language group.
It was thought to be appropriate to hang the painting in the church along with the 100th Anniversary painting of the "Voice of Many Waters" and the "Garden in Heaven". This was done in time for Leanne Mahy and some of the children to see on their last day. To draw out the many layers of significance of the painting an Australian Aboriginal Proverb was inscribed on a piece of timber and placed next to it. It reads:
We are all visitors to this time, this place.
We are just passing through.
Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to l ove
. . . and then to return home.
Margaret Heldon and Imran Paddy with the painting by Patrick Mung Mung
Dearest Hurstville Society,
We would like to thank everyone for welcoming us into your congregation. The friendliness of the society here has made us feel a home away from home.
On our trip we got to experience the city, appreciate nature while hiking the Blue Mountains and be of use to the church. Some of these uses included weeding the garden, organizing and teaching a Sunday School lesson, making up the order of services for church, choosing sermons to be read, refinishing garden furniture, delivering books of the Writings to bookshops, cataloguing books in the Bookroom, Library and Archives, putting on a games night and pancake breakfast, and our favourite, singing for church.
Thank you all for the joy you have added to our lives. The experiences we have had here and the relationships we've built are things we will take with us for the rest of our lives. We feel apart of the community now and will sincerely miss everyone.
With immense love, your interns,
Carling Wyncoll and Sarah Elder
It was sad on the one hand to farewell our interns both at the formal society Farewell Luncheon on Sunday 11th November and at the airport on Thursday 15th but on the other hand it was joyful to know that they would be returning home to family, friends and further study at the Bryn Athyn College USA. A happy outcome for us is that we now all have some new friends!
It was a pleasure to supervise these lovely girls who right from the beginning were determined to do their very best. They went out of their way to find extra tasks that they thought would be of use to the society.
Our sincere thanks were expressed at our Farewell Luncheon where Sarah and Carling were presented with gifts as a token of our gratitude. Along with some Australian song books and CDs both girls received a sterling silver charm bracelet - Sarah's charm was a kookaburra and Carling's was a kangaroo. As someone pointed out these were very appropriate because Sarah loves birds and laughs a lot and Carling is a bouncy joyful person. We wish them all the best for the future. Adieu until we meet again sometime, some place!
Margaret Heldon
