It was almost a replay of the first State of Origin match in 2013. New South Wales trumped Queensland. The Blues beat the Maroons. But it wasn't rugby. It was the gathering of church leaders and members, men and women, younger and older, at the Advance Together Conference held at New Life Christian Church in Blacktown.
Speakers came up from cooler parts of Australia to the sunshine state -- and it was a sunny day when over 60 church leaders and members came from near and far to the third Advance Together conference. This event was held in the beautiful facilities of Bray Park Community Church. After a time of worship led by the worship team of Bray Park, Murray Capill again gave the plenary address, challenging believers to be radical disciples. This time KJ Tromp, the pastor from the Nerang congregation, joined Ray Rus, Jonathan Vandenberg, and Jack De Vries as one of the elective speakers. One of those who attended the conference summed up the day beautifully: " The conference was excellent and I believe God was really at work here today." And God was!
It was a beautiful day in Dandenong when 100 church members from 12 Christian Reformed churches gathered for the Victoria Advance Together. Murray Capill, principal and lecturer at the Reformed Theological College, again opened the day with focusing on Jesus' agenda for disciples. Although this was the second time I heard this message
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Sunny skies welcomed around eighty men, women, and youth to the first Advance Together State-based gathering for the whole church. This event was held on Saturday, 16 March, in Willetton, WA. Every church from Classis WA was represented, including people from the Forrestdale, Baldivis, and Wilson church plants.
The opening message by Murray Capill focused on Jesus' agenda for disciples. He pointed out how Jesus wanted his followers to live the radical values of the kingdom of heaven here on earth. It was a great start to the day and set the tone for the rest of gathering.
A highlight of the day was to witness a wide representation of all congregational members. This meeting was not just for pastors and elders. There were men and women, younger and older members. It was fantastic to see teenagers interact with senior members. Women were able to talk openly with men about issues of making disciples and church health. One elderly woman commented to me: "I was not sure if I should have come to this gathering." so I asked her: "Well, now that you are here, what do you think?" She did not hesitate to tell me how much she appreciated being there, being challenged to join in with everyone else in thinking about how we can make disciples together.
In the morning, participants chose one of four electives to attend. Jonathan Vandenberg, the denominational youth worker, explored the area of small groups. Ray Rus, the denominational children's worker challenged people to re-imagine pastoral care for the whole church. Ollie Heggers, one of the local pastors, considered discipleship in light of the mission God has given us to reach the lost for Christ. And I spoke on leadership, encouraging everyone to see themselves as a vital link in multiplying workers in God's harvest field. Each of the electives were well attended. A unique aspect of the day was when each church gathered together after lunch to de-brief and discuss how they could implement key things that they learned at this gathering.
In our planning for this event, we knew how important it was for churches to apply what they gleaned from the talks to their local setting. We promised to follow up with all the churches to keep encouraging one another in the gospel work we are doing. Our denominational vision is "to equip our church members to be disciples of Christ and multiply the number of well-trained leaders (ordained, non-ordained, full time, part time, voluntary) who are actively involved in God's mission." We believe that this gathering will advance this vision becoming a reality.
We looked forward to similar events in the future:
27 April (Dandenong, VIC)
18 May (Bray Park, QLD)
15 June (New Life, NSW)
We hope to see an equally similar response and outcome in these other state events.