Church Billboard
At the front of St Mark's building there is a billboard which normally gets changed each month.
People may wonder what the meaning of particular posters are.
Every month we will provide an explanation so there is no confusion.
Living forever - is that something that appeals to you?
Perhaps we could divide the world into the type of people who would do anything to live forever and those who couldn’t think of anything worse. The entrepreneur billionaire Bryan Johnson is in the “would do anything” camp. He has the goal of being the healthiest and longest living person on earth. In pursuit of this Bryan has created (and sells) a Don’t Die protocol. He adheres to a strict sleep, nutrition and exercise regime while constantly measuring his biological health and aging markers. It takes a great deal of money, effort and commitment on his part but for Bryan delaying aging and death is worth the sacrifice.
Perhaps you’re in the second category, life has knocked you about so much, living forever sounds tedious if not cruel.
Eternal life, according to the Bible, is something far greater than a never ending slowed aging existence on this earth. It is a blissful, harmonious state of being in God’s loving presence where death, suffering and decay no longer exist. Living forever with God is the perfect peace and happiness we are all so desperately longing for. And the sacrifice required to get it is not ours to make.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
The sacrifice required to secure our eternal life was far greater than a strict health regime. Indeed it was the greatest sacrifice ever made. God gave his one and only precious son Jesus to pay the penalty for our wrong doing. Through Jesus’s great sacrifice on our behalf we can receive forgiveness and enter into God’s glorious and good presence for eternity. That is living forever!
What would you do to gain this eternal life? Will you do the only thing God requires - believe in Jesus? If so, pray to God today, declare your trust in Jesus, and you will live forever.
PRAYER
Dear God, You promise eternal life to all who believe in your son Jesus. I acknowledge my wrongdoings before you and accept Jesus’ sacrifice on my behalf. Please forgive and let me enter into the eternal life you promise to all who believe. Amen
Even if you’re not a football fan, the FIFA World Cup probably captures your attention in one way or another. Held every four years, it is the most watched sporting event in the world, attracting an even larger audience than the Summer Olympics. Out of more than 200 national teams, only 48 qualify for the final tournament, and after 104 matches, one team is crowned champion.
For billions of players and fans across the globe, World Cup victory is the ultimate achievement. Certain moments have become etched into the hearts and memories of nations, such as Maradona’s “Goal of the Century” against England in 1986, or Messi’s brilliant strike against Mexico in 2022. To share in such a victory, whether as a player or a fan, is exhilarating. And if we are honest, this kind of glory and success is something we all long to experience in some way.
Yet Jesus Christ — God himself in human form — pursued a very different kind of victory. Jesus willingly went to his death: death by crucifixion, cruel, shameful, and completely undeserved.
On the night before the cross, he explained to his disciples over dinner why he chose this path: “Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” Matthew 26:27–28
Jesus took up the cup of suffering and poured out his own blood for the forgiveness of sins. His victory was not winning a trophy, but paying the price for our forgiveness. And if we choose to drink from his cup — to trust in him — we can be fully assured that complete forgiveness has been won for us through Christ.
The World Cup comes and goes. Champions rise and fall. The cheers of the crowd eventually fade. But the victory of Jesus endures forever. Through his death and resurrection, he offers something no sporting triumph ever could: forgiveness, peace with God, and eternal life. The question is not whether Christ has won, but whether you will share His world cup victory?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, thank you for willingly giving your life so that I could be forgiven. Thank you that your victory was won through love and sacrifice. Please help me to trust in you, receive your forgiveness, and follow you each day. Amen.
“Blessed are the warmakers” - this may ring true as we look at our world today. War-makers make money. War-makers gain land. War-makers dispense fear and accumulate power. Blessed are the war-makers as they shall be called the winners, the victors, our leaders.
Jesus Christ, however, challenges what we may see in the here and now, he broadens our gaze. He says, “Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9
Jesus’ call to be peacemakers in this broken and corrupt world is radical. Being a peacemaker does not mean remaining quiet, going with the flow, or avoiding conflict. Peacemakers cherish and strive for reconciliation between adversaries; calling out injustice, naming inequality, speaking inconvenient truths. It is often a dangerous and lonely calling. Yet a peacemaker’s blessing is beyond earthly riches and human glory. A peacemaker’s blessing is to be personally named as God’s child. To be identified by the Almighty God, maker of heaven and earth, as one of His very own. And to therefore be the heir to His kingdom.
Being adopted as God’s child is an immeasurable blessing only made possible by the ultimate peacemaker Jesus Christ. Because our greatest problem is not the conflict around us, it is the separation between us and God. The Bible calls this sin: living apart from Him, going our own way. And this is where Jesus stands apart. He does not only call us to be peacemakers, he is our peacemaker. Through his sacrificial death, he makes peace between us and God.
As it says in Colossians 1:21–22: “At one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies in your minds, because the evil you did was against him. But now he has made you his friends again. He did this by the death Christ suffered while he was in his body. He did it so that he could present you to himself as people who are holy, blameless, and without anything that would make you guilty before him.”
This is the good news. While we long for peace in our world, there is a greater peace we all need -- peace with God. And this peace is offered to you. Turn to Jesus. Trust in him. Ask him to make peace between you and God and you will find a peace no conflict can take away.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I see that I have been living apart from you. Thank you for dying to bring me back to God. Please forgive me, make peace between me and God, and lead me in your way. Amen.
History is peppered with both political and religious leaders knowingly and willingly lying to the public for their own gain, glory and purposes. Julius Caesar reportedly lied about the Gauls and started a war with them to redirect attention from his own debt and corruption. Hitler famously used his “big lie” technique to gain the popular support and persecute the Jewish people. Much evidence has come to light that when George Bush cited Hussein’s “massive stockpile” of weapons as the reason they were invading Iraq he knew they did not exist. Then we have the even more tragic ever-growing list of Christian leaders who have been exposed as deceitful - embezzling cash, sexual misconduct, extramarital affairs.
The week leading up to Jesus Christ’s crucifixion is also a story of political and religious conspiracy, deceit and power grabbing.
On Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem surrounded by a cheering crowd. They were jubilant. They hailed him as the long awaited King. The next day he returned, entered the temple and denounced what he saw as a commercialisation of worship. He called out the religious establishment as dishonest and dishonouring God. And those in charge did not like it. So they plotted. (Matthew 21:45-46; Mark 11:18; 12:12; Luke 19:47-48; John 11:45-57; 12:19)
They knew the people loved him so they had to find a way to bring him down behind the scenes (Mark 14:1-2). On Wednesday, they sent people undercover to try and provoke Jesus to say something subversive about Caesar (Luke 20:19-26). If he did, they could have him arrested by the Roman soldiers.
When that didn’t work another plan fell into their lap. One of Jesus’ very own disciples came to them offering to give Jesus up. An insider, who was himself stealing from Jesus and motivated by greed, was now part of the plot (John 12:6). Judas would tell the religious leaders where they could find Jesus alone so they could take him without the crowds knowing (Luke 22:1-6).
On Thursday night, while Jesus and his closest friends were having a private moment in a garden, Judas gave the religious leaders the signal. They came, a mob carrying swords and clubs, and secreted him away under the cover of night to the home of the chief priest (Luke 22:47-54). There he was questioned and beaten throughout the night. This was not an official hearing. This was a violent abduction, a private torture and a backroom deal among the religious elite to protect their own political might.
On the Friday morning they presented Jesus before the Roman authorities with the intentionally false charge that he was a political usurper (Luke 23:1-2). They wanted Jesus dead and they wanted the Romans to be the ones to kill him. They roused the crowd against Jesus (Mark 15:11).
Pilate knew the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him purely out of self-interest (Mk 15:10). He believed Jesus was innocent and undeserving of punishment. Yet out of his own self-interest he pandered to the rabble and handed the innocent over to be tortured and executed (Matthew 27:19-26; Mark 14:14-15; Luke 23:1-25). Another leader murdering truth for their own agenda.
We see it in our world today - state sanctioned killing of those protesting the powers that be, behind the scenes corruption, self-serving leaders, deliberate mass deceit. The evil that led to Jesus’ death is an ancient, perennial story that reverberates throughout history. But the Easter story is unique. As Jesus unjustly suffered, just like we may, due to corruption, lies, greed, violence, selfish ambition, he did so willingly, even powerfully.
At the moment of Jesus’ illegal arrest his disciple Peter begins to defend him with a sword. He slashes the ear off of one of the mob. But Jesus stops him and he says: “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
Matthew 26:53-54 Jesus was never an unsuspecting victim to the ploys and deceptions of the powerful men who wanted to kill him. He not only predicted it, he planned for it Matthew 17:22-23; 20:18-19; 26:2; Mark 9:30-32;Luke 9:43-45; John 12:23-27. This is the ultimate plot twist.
It looked like the self-serving leaders had won. Jesus died on a cross. His lifeless body was put in a tomb. But what the religious and political leaders intended for evil, Jesus Christ and God the Father planned and used for the ultimate good. Jesus chose to suffer evil in order to conquer it. His innocent death and suffering was the only worthy sacrifice of atonement for human sin. In direct contrast to the leaders who had him killed, Jesus is a leader who used and still uses his power to serve his people. He said after predicting his crucifixion “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28
This is what Christians celebrate at Easter - Jesus’ death and resurrection is the conquest against death and evil and the means of our forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus is all powerful, all good and all loving - that is the leader we all want. Will you submit yourself to the loving, powerful self-sacrificing leader Jesus Christ?
PRAYER
Dear Jesus, I believe you are the ultimate, loving, giving leader I’ve been longing for. I accept your sacrificial death as the ransom for my sins and I submit to you as my perfect leader. Amen.
For most Australians today literal darkness isn’t much of a problem. We have artificial light at our finger tips and as such can do almost any activity we wish day or night. But the metaphorical darkness of evil still plagues us. We witness political leaders using their power for their own gain at the expense of others, civilians being killed for disagreeing with authorities, money being siphoned into leaders pockets while populations are hungry and homeless. The rich protect the rich without reference to truth or justice. Self service, corruption, greed, deception, violence, this is the kind of moral darkness we can feel powerless to repel.
As Martin Luther King, Jr. famously preached “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” This is the tragedy of the unfolding events in the USA. When I see images of understandably angry crowds verbally abusing ICE agents I feel their anger with them. However, I also see hate fighting against hate and doubt it will bring positive change.
The problem is, if we are honest with ourselves, we aren’t full of the love and light needed to drive out evil. If we are really honest with ourselves, we are also guilty, at least to some degree, of self-service, deception, greed, hostility…
Jesus speaks into this when he says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
When we despair of the evil in the world, the pain and suffering humans are causing other humans, and feel powerless to change, not only the system that has allowed it, but our part in it, Jesus’ promise brings us real hope.
Jesus doesn’t fight the evil in the world, or the evil in us, with hate but with love, self-sacrificing, pure, unfaltering love.
This is further explained in this Bible passage: “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:5-9
The light of Jesus – his sinless life, his sacrificial death, his triumphant resurrection from the dead, is the only thing that can truly repel the darkness in the world and the darkness in ourselves. Eradication of evil won’t come to full fruition until Jesus comes back to earth to consummate his eternal kingdom. Until then moral darkness will always plague our world. Yet we can walk in his light, we can confess our sins and be forgiven. We can repel the darkness within us with his pure light, and shine that light to those around us. Step into the light of Jesus and repel the darkness today.
PRAYER
Dear God, I look at the state of the world and grieve the evil I see. Yet I confess there is also sin within me. Forgive me. Purify me with the blood of Jesus. Help me to walk in your light and repel the darkness around me. In Jesus name I ask this. Amen.
I remember Christmas eve as the peak of childhood excitement. I could say it was about family or feasts or celebrating Jesus’ birth, but the truth is it was all about the anticipation of presents. It was a magical feeling falling asleep on Christmas eve… the scent of Christmas pine, the glow of twinkling lights, the promise of presents.
But as the years pass, the excitement declines. As a teenager getting gift cards is preferable but not quite as exciting. As a young adult Christmas starts to hold more responsibilities and less magic.
As the excitement of presents dim over the years and the awareness of stress and conflict grows, that little figurine of baby Jesus in the manger starts to seem more important.
I want to take you back for a moment to the first Christmas evening. It was an ordinary night. There were no Christmas preparations, no gifts bought and wrapped. Ordinary shepherds were doing their ordinary thing watching their sheep. Then something truly remarkable happened. An angel in dazzling light appeared to them. The angel announced that the promised saviour had just been born in Bethlehem. And to highlight the magnitude of such news the whole sky was set ablaze with a multitude of shining angels singing glory to God. Read the original account in Luke 2:8-15.
That first Christmas the ultimate gift was given - the gift of peace with God. Jesus Christ came into the world to reconcile God’s rebellious children to their loving heavenly Father. Jesus was born, lived and died to be a peace offering between us and God. This ultimate Christmas present, given over 2000 years ago in a little town over 14,000kms away, is still available and being received today.
What would it mean to you to have peace with God? To know through Jesus’s life and death you are completely forgiven and accepted by God; you are completely known and loved by God, you are right with the author of all creation and even after death you are going to enjoy peaceful friendship with Him forever.
Forget battery operated toys and gift cards, the gift of peace with God is like all our Christmases have come at once.
PRAYER
Dear God, I accept the gift of peace with you through Jesus Christ. Thank you. Please show me how to live in this peace from now on. Amen.
Do you know that throughout recorded history there has never been a period of complete global peace? Though some consider we have been in a state of “long peace” since the end of WW2 that isn’t the reality for the millions who have lived in Myanmar, Rwanda, Nigeria, Congo, Somalia, Libya, Vietnam, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Ukraine, Palestine and so many more countries.
Then there’s our own homes. It’s rare to meet a family where there isn’t an estrangement, an ongoing conflict, or a renegade somewhere in the family tree or even sitting around the dinner table.
Getting even more personal there’s the conflict within us -- the uncertainty, the arguments with ourselves, the double guessing and anxieties.
Peace… world peace, family peace, inner peace it all seems unattainable for any length of time. But Jesus said: “What is impossible for people is possible for God.” Luke 18:27
When Jesus said this he was answering the question “who can be saved?” Another way the Bible speaks of salvation is having peace with God. With the wars around us and the conflict within us we often overlook our deepest need for reconciliation and peace - peace with God.
If we can’t garner peace amongst us or within us how can we possibly secure peace with God? We can’t! It is impossible for us, but is possible for God. That is exactly what Jesus came to earth to do, earn peace with God for us. He paid the penalty for our rebellion and warring with his undeserved crucifixion. His death bought our everlasting peace.
Can you imagine everlasting peace? Being in God’s beautiful, all loving presence for eternity in heaven. No more arguments or slammed doors. No more weapons or funerals. Nor more sickness or anxieties. Tranquility, contentment, everlasting peace. This is what God has made possible for all us through Jesus. It is everything you’ve ever really wanted. Accept this gift from God today.
PRAYER
Dear God, I can not find peace on my own. I am distressed by the wars and conflicts around me and inside me and I know I don't have the power to stop them. Forgive me for my own rebellion against you. I want the everlasting peace you offer through Jesus. Amen.
Have you ever felt you can’t take anymore? Difficulty after difficulty, hurdle after hurdle, loss after loss seems to have overcome your ability to cope. Overwhelmed you simply want to collapse in a heap and give up. It’s a hopeless feeling. And sadly a common one in this world of corruption, deception, disappointment and danger.
Yet as difficult and dangerous as this life really can be, the Bible speaks of a gentle, comforting God who offers us rest and refuge.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge. Psalm 91:4
Like a baby bird cosy and sheltered under the large strong wings of its mother, this verse creates in my mind the image of God as a soft, safe, warm place I can simply cuddle up in and rest without worry.
This doesn’t mean the world is safe or easy. We still need to go out and experience the storms of life. And the storms can really hurt. The storms can cause damage. But with God I am safe. In my relationship with God I can rest in his love and care. I can depend on his faithfulness. I do not need to strive or be on guard with Him. With Him I can simply be.
Refuge in God is seen most clearly and only made possible by Jesus Christ who declares “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). When we come to and trust Jesus, his death and resurrection has secured forgiveness for all our wrongdoings and prepared a safe and everlasting home for us in God’s presence.
Are you looking for this rest and refuge from the storms of life? Come to God through prayer now and you will find it.
PRAYER
Dear God,
I need rest. I need refuge. Life seems more than I can bear sometimes. Please help me. Please forgive me. I trust Jesus’ death and resurrection has secured my forgiveness and eternal safety with you. Let me rest safely under your wings. Amen.