The development of schedules and plans, and the following of what we hope are carefully thought out steps are a part of life. They give shape and order to things that need doing. They themselves are shaped by the principles of those things we believe and hold important. Priorities are ordered, goals established, and the steps to reach those goals are defined. Essentials needs are identified and non essential desires are hopefully kept in a balanced perspective.
All of this is an unavoidable part of life. Even the most disorganised and unscheduled person will be involved in some form of planning. Planning not to plan is still a plan, if you get my drift.
Every so often though, God steps into our plans to remind us - it seems - that He is still the Master planner, and His plans take precedence over ours.
The last several weeks have been rather odd for us as a couple. We were given a chance to stay living and working here, or start a new venture in Christchurch. At first I had to put it into the back of my mind. There were a few other things that needed priority attention, but when a congregation reaches out trusting in God’s guiding and honours you with a call to come and serve the Lord with them, such a thing is never far from your thinking.
Of course, there has also been an affirmation of a very strong call from the congregation here, to stay and continue to serve the Lord with you. We have lived in a kind of limbo. Certain plans had to be put on hold until a decision was reached, and the Lord's Word comes to mind about only being able to plan anything in accord with God’s will (James 4:13-17) In the end a decision had to be made, and reaching it has been a terribly difficult process because in the end one congregation was going to either be or remain without a pastor. Each have sincerely asked God for His blessing, and we have also sought the Lord’s guiding hand to lead us into a decision which would best serve Him.
Please remember with us the Christchurch congregation as they reassess where to go from here, and all those congregations without a full time pastor to bring them the Word of God in both the preaching of Scripture and pastoral care.
We got word last week that Rev Terry Flanagan of the MacArthur (NSW) congregation has decided that he can no longer in good conscience serve in the CRCA as a result of the continuing direction and decisions of the last Synod. This is a great loss to our churches. Two congregations in Queensland are without a pastor, two in Tasmania, one in Victoria, one in Western Australia, one in South Australia, and NZ has four. Please also bring, Terry, MacArthur and these congregations to the Lord in prayer. On the table in the foyer several copies of a report of Synod by Noel Weeks, an elder in MacArthur and delegate for NSW to Synod, have been made available. The report covers the following five headings: The Campolo Affair; The Top Heavy Church; Pictures of Christ; Joining the Ecumenical Mainstream; and NHK (NRCSA). Please take the time to inform yourself of the state of our churches, and pass the paper on once you have finished with it. It was my intention in late April to describe for the congregation the plans Session has been considering for an actual work for the West of Melbourne. The Lord decided we needed to put those ideas on hold, while some other issues were decided first. We may now return to that. Because of travel to West Melbourne and the need to make special efforts to make contact with people, a work there will not be possible without some support and adjustments in my work load. The plan is to release me for one day per fortnight to travel to the west. In order to make this possible, Rev’s Martin Geluk and Ben Aldridge have agreed to conduct two worship services per month between them (am first Sunday, and pm third Sunday of every month) Currently Joseph and Dana Becsei conduct a small Bible study in their home and I will initially join them in this. As the Lord blesses this initiative by Joseph and Dana, we will seek to develop it into something larger. Classis will be asked to support this venture by supplying possible contacts on that side of the city. Ultimately, under the Lord's blessing and as we seek to follow His leading, we would like to see this grow into a new church.
Please hold this in your prayers as well. We do not want to presume at any point that we have any power or that by force of hard work a church will eventuate. We must work hard, but trust in the Lord’s blessing as He chooses to give it. What we want to do is reach out as a first priority to those who are not currently part of a church at all, and bring the Word of salvation them.
Costs of this outreach will be minimal - fuel cost for travel, one day per fortnight of time, perhaps some Bible study material, guest preachers in Box Hill as necessary and perhaps in time the hire of a meeting venue.

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