St James' Church

Vicar Writes: His “Chesed” Love

Oh give thanks to the Lord… for his steadfast love endures forever! 1Chronicles 16:4

The Hebrew word ‘chesed’, which is often translated as ‘steadfast’ is such a big and unique word that Bible scholars have difficulties agreeing on how to translate it. It is a word which needs to be understood in the various contexts which it is used.

But putting scholarly ideas aside, the fabric of life is such that we know how important enduring love or faithfulness is. Where such love is present, there is shalom peace in a family for generations. Where there is unfaithfulness, broken promises and shifting sands, by experience or observation, we also know the lasting and often unimaginable pain that these bring.

We recalled how the sudden movement of the Pacific tectonic plate under the North American plate caused a massive earthquake and a tsunami in Japan in March last year. It triggered a series of disasters which is still affecting the region today. Many parties have since been blamed: local authorities, safety officers for the nuclear plant, the government and so on. The thing is, in human relationships, when there is a unfaithfulness, the repercussions can be deep and lasting. The fallout is such that those who are close to the fault-line will end up sharing in the blame, often unfairly. And sometimes this can go on for generations.

Growing into our Calling and Destiny

There are megachurches here which in the minds of some, sets the benchmark of what a church should be, much like how every brand of tablet computer is reference back to IPad. This is inevitable in a small competitive society like ours, where every person is encouraged to max their potential and to discern (through comparison) what is the best. Just read ST and you can see daily that there is a constant fixation on top ten lists. It is a part of our social psyche: How are we doing in comparison with others?  How can we be better?

A New Season

We are now into the third month of using our new premise. If you can recall, I have been speaking of a season of ‘tabula rasa’, where we seek the Lord for new wineskins as we desire to remain open to new ways which the Lord could use to reach our generation. Jeremiah 6:16 remain our anchor as we aim to be biblical in our values and always centering on the Lord Jesus Christ in all that we do. We need to keep to the essence of what church is all about: in our worship, our fellowship, our teaching, our outreach and so on…

Keeping and Changing

We had a wonderful Christmas Weekend. We had a Carol-filled Eve Service, and then, a full joyful house for the Christmas Day celebration. There are too many people to thank and I won’t attempt to do that here. Suffice to say that there was a family spirit as each serves and give off their best for the Lord. Pray for those who visited that God’s Word will continue to work deeply in their hearts.

Have a blessed Christmas

It has been our prayer that we will be able to celebrate Christmas this year at Leedon.

What a joy it has been to be able to come home this year. We remain grateful to our closest church neighbor, the Methodist Church at ACS International for their support during the past two Christmas.

A home is also about sharing the warmth, giving hospitality and blessing others. That is our prayer that SJC will be a blessing to many. 

In more ways than one, Christmas is about Home.

Jesus Christ became homeless, coming to a world which neither knew or received Him. There was not even a room for Him on that night.

He came that we may be brought home.

Let us continue to adore Christ, through whom we can look forward to our eternal home. What we experience here is at best a shadow of the reality which we will ultimately experience. 

As all Christians should, we live with eternity in our hearts.

Have a blessed Christmas