Putting faith into practice

A living faith is a practical one

When in 1978 my family returned from Papua New Guinea to live in Australia, there were many adjustments that had to be made, and many new things to be learned. As a ten-year-old child, I was, for instance, largely unfamiliar with Aussie sports like cricket and football. I soon realized that I if I was to gain acceptance from my peers then I needed to learn to play with them. But that was easier said than done. It required much practice over a long period of time. Thankfully, I had some help. I remember one of my classmates, Andrew, giving of his time after school to teach me how to kick a football. That’s a gift I’ll never forget.

Practice is vital for growing in any area of life, and Christian discipleship is no exception. Following Christ involves engaging in various faith practices that frame or shape our lives. Such practices do not make us Christians, but for Christians they are essential for healthy life as God’s people. They are not demands that God places upon us, but gifts he gives to us to orient us towards him and to nurture us along the path of faith.

Some Christians reject any talk of faith practices as “works righteousness”. As we know, there was no greater enemy of “works righteousness” than Martin Luther. Yet again and again, Luther counselled his parishioners to practise their faith. He saw faith practices as blessings from God to his people, and he urged that they be received with delight. Piety — the committed and faithful living out of God-given spiritual practices — should be distinguished from pietism — trust in those practices (rather than the one who gives them) for salvation.

A book that I have appreciated reading over the last couple of years is Martha Ellen Stortz’s A World According to God: Practices for Putting Faith at the Center of Your Life. Stortz makes a number of excellent points about the value and significance of faith practices, listed below.
Our Church Council has recently committed to study together a book by Michael Foss called Real Faith for Real Life. Foss looks at six practices for ‘discover a faith that works in real life’. These practices are:

1. Daily prayer;
2. Weekly worship;
3. Daily Bible reading;
4. Serving in and beyond the congregation;
5. Nurturing relationships with others;
6. Generous giving.

Over the course of my next six Inside Story articles I will focus on each of these core practices (or “marks of discipleship” as Foss calls them) in turn. Next month – The Practice of Prayer.

8 GOOD THINGS
about faith practices

• Faith practices sustain intimacy with Christ, and allow his presence to pattern our lives. They offer ways of acting out our relationship with him and help us to see the world from his perspective.
• Faith practices shape us in ways that directly influence how we negotiate daily life. They inform and guide our responses to both the great and small crises we encounter.
• Faith practices confer identity. Initiated by these practices into a certain way of life, we come to identify ourselves, and become known, as people who do these kinds of things.
• Faith practices make our faith practical and concrete. They give a means of connecting our daily routines and experiences with our spiritual understandings.
• Faith practices give us anchoring points when life becomes chaotic or threatens to overwhelm us. They remind us of who and whose we are.
• Faith practices orient us away from ourselves towards God and our neighbour. They militate against spiritual individualism.
• Faith practices link us with the Christian past and the Christian future.
• Faith practices, Stortz writes, retrain our vision as followers of Jesus. They ‘help disciples locate the body of Christ in the world. They are not only places where Christ is present, but by engaging in them, we learn to recognize Christ when he is present. These activities, elaborated in Scripture and done in the name of the living God, make Christ present.’

Ministry News

Youth and Family Ministry position 

Eight applications were received for the position by the closing date (11 May), all from the USA. Three candidates were then interviewed by phone, each very impressive. The interview team is now in the process of exploring further the credentials of the shortlisted candidates, with a view to making an offer of appointment in the next few weeks. Church Council has been investigating the various immigration and relocation implications of recruiting a person from overseas. In the meantime, please keep our stand-in youthworker Cathy Beaton and our youth interns Jane and Steph in your prayers. Cathy is keeping our youth ministry ship afloat on top of her other staff roles in outreach and assimilation and small group ministry.

H2H news

In addition to the fortnightly Friday night H2H events, our confirmation young people meet in small groups on Sunday mornings on a monthly basis. The leaders of these small groups are Michael Coulston, Beth Gebert, Tim Gellert and Steph Pedersen. The purpose of these groups is to (a) foster relationships between the youth; (b) plan for regular contributions to worship; (c) engage in acts of service in the congregation and wider community. Every month some of the H2H youth will take various roles in one of our worship services. Please encourage and support them as they do so, and take the opportunity to get to know them. On another H2H matter, one of our group, Lexi McPhee, will be baptized on 17 June. This will be a very exciting event, not only for Lexi but for all of those involved with the H2H program.

Family services

Pastor Andrew and I have committed to addressing family life topics more directly in our monthly “family services” (held at 9am on the second Sunday of each month). In May, the sermon topic was family wellness (a look at what makes for a healthy family). In coming months, the sermons at family services will explore topics such as grief and loss in family life, families in mission, and discipleship and family life.

Taking Faith Home … and abroad

It is now two years that I have been preparing the weekly Taking Faith Home insert for the Sunday Paper. For the last 18 months or so, I have made the resource freely available to subscribers through my own website (www.formingfaith.com). The subscription list has grown to almost 600, including pastors and church staff members from across the world (USA, Canada, Singapore, NZ, Korea … even Madagascar!). Occasionally I receive feedback from users. Recently a lady called Michelle from Lancaster, Pennsylvania USA wrote: “These are fabulous studies. My daughter and I do these every morning at our breakfast and Bible time. It has added so much to our story time together. Thank you for writing and for sharing with the world.” As you use Taking Faith Home, think of the many other users right across the world and give thanks for their partnership in the faith with us.

Missions team

A gathering of interested persons was held on 29 April to think about how St Paul’s might become more engaged as a congregation in supporting and connecting with missions in central Australia or overseas. A new team is now taking shape, under the leadership of Bernard Chan and Lawrence Gebert. Pastor Andrew and I will provide staff oversight and support for this new team.

New members

A lunch and orientation session was held on 20 May for 24 people wishing to become members of St Paul’s. They were then received into membership on Pentecost Sunday. They are: Bridget and Paul Block; David and Michelle Hart; Kathy and Mel Jericho; Lloyd and Yokelan Machen; David and Emma Mattiske; Graeme, Margaret, Gerard and Devin O’Keefe; Zoe Pfitzner; Julie Reiter; Tim, Helen, Sam and Sophie Suke; Rod, Gabrielle, Dominic and Isabella Walkenhorst. Please make an effort to get to know them as your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ at St Paul’s.

Yours in Christ,