Fish & Ships: Part One

Lachlan Zammit

Jonah 1:1-16

Jesus has a lot to say about little children. So focused on growing up and what’s next, we can forget something that’s familiar to all of us, what it means to be a little child. In this sermon Pastor Lachlan shares a word about being like children before God, depending, hungering and being full of wonder before Him.

Intentional rest, or Sabbath is central to the Bible’s storyline, who God is and how he designed us to live. But in the midst of busyness, workaholism and restlessness it seems to be something we’ve forgotten is essential to the rhythms of our everyday lives and weeks. Guest preacher Mike Riddell joins us to explore the life-giving practice of Sabbath and how intentional rest can realign our calendars more in line with the life God planned for us.

What is the purpose of our work? Is it primarily so that we can earn a living and feed our families, or is there something more significant? Guest preacher Rob Martin joins us from City Bible Forum to explain the biblical significance and purpose to our work.

If our primary call in life is to love God and love neighbour then is there room for pursuing our own hobbies and interests? Yes. We are all made in the image of God, to delight, be creative and rest. Hobbies and entertainment are great ways of pursuing these gifts to enjoy God and his creation. These great gifts are terrible masters though and we must seek wisdom to put our hobbies in their proper place so that they are life giving gifts which spur on creativity, celebration and community. When these gifts become addictions and distractions our desires have been disordered and we love them too much. Listen in as Pastor Lachlan helps us to enjoy and engage wisely with our hobbies and entertainment.

Our friendships and social life play such a significant role in our everyday lives, so what is Jesus’ vision for this? We survey the life of Jesus in the gospel of John to see how he engaged in friendship and social life. Jesus was the truest friend there ever was. He models and empowers us to be a friend who delights in joy and generosity as well as feasting and celebration. He was also full of honesty and authenticity, service and sacrifice, initiative and intentionality. What would it look like to pursue this vision in our social lives?

How does our faith impact how we approach school, uni and learning. As Paul teaches the people of Athens, the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being. This has tremendous implications for the value of school. In this sermon Pastor Lachlan casts a vision for learning as a Christian, one where we learn to live well, contribute and collaborate in God’s good world.

How do I live as a Christian on a Monday? In particular, what does it look like to live out my faith at home and with my family? In this sermon we look at Jesus’ command to love your neighbour, and ask who our closest neighbour is and how we can love them well.

We are beginning a new series on what it means to be a Christian in all of the ordinary parts of our life and day. We want to break down divides between Sunday and Monday, the secular and the sacred and see how our faith touches all of our life.

Jesus’ story begins to influence and infiltrate the world through a rag tag bunch of disciples. The future of the Jesus movement will be shaped by followers of Jesus who have all sorts of different approaches to life, ways of learning, personalities and purposes. The way Jesus commissions Peter is very different to how he calls John, but the temptation to look sideways and compare is strong. How can we embrace the value of difference and resist a spirit of comparison as we walk the path that Jesus calls us to for the sake of the world?