7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.REFLECTIONSWritten by Monica LyIn this passage we see Jesus teaching us the importance of persisting in prayer. He encourages us to have confidence in our Heavenly Father who delights to give good gifts to his children - it’s as simple as just asking and it will be given!  But what are these good gifts that Jesus is referring to? Jesus tells us we have inherited the Kingdom of God and so these good gifts are whatever is needed to help us live out our identity as God's children. We are called to seek the norms and values of his Kingdom as described by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. These things include being pure in heart, possessing a compassionate and non-retaliatory spirit, living a life of integrity and so forth.  But as we think about it, these things can seem almost impossible. It is for this very reason that Jesus urges us to seek our Heavenly Father in prayer and to keep on praying, because it is only by His grace that we are able to do these things. In fact, we depend solely on His grace: it is by God's grace that we are called into the Kingdom and it is by God's grace that we can live out his Kingdom on earth!This passage makes me wonder about my prayer life: How do I approach our Heavenly Father in prayer? Am I confident in knowing what the good gifts are that my Heavenly Father desires to give me? Is my prayer life shaped by asking our Heavenly Father for those good gifts? Perhaps I am afraid to confront those issues of the heart that stand opposed to His kingdom. Perhaps I am not longing for God's kingdom as much as I should be. My prayer for all of us is that we will have confidence in approaching our Heavenly Father to ask and keep on asking Him for those good gifts, so that we can continue to live out his Kingdom on earth.ABOUT THE AUTHORMonica is part of our Fairfield Morning Church with her husband and 2 little girls.

 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.REFLECTIONSWritten by Ken WongJesus paints an incredibly absurd picture! Try drawing a plank and compare it to the size of an eye. Jesus is exaggerating to make this point: the failings the Pharisees saw in others (the speck) were often much smaller than those they perceived in themselves (the plank). Please don't take this as Jesus saying to never speak up against anyone, in fact, there are many instances where it is right and loving to speak up (Galatians 2:11). But Jesus does ask us to pause and reflect on our motivations before we speak up. Firstly, do I judge like a Pharisee? Do I judge people by their accomplishments? Do I judge them by how much we are alike? The Gospel should ground us. With a Christian brother or sister, if we are tempted to treat them differently, the Gospel reminds us that our salvation is accomplished by Christ alone. With an unbeliever, if we are tempted to see them in a poor light, know they too are made in the image of God and worthy of honour. And what causes me to see other’s flaws so clearly but be oblivious to my own shortcomings? Have I believed the lie that the Pharisees believed, that perhaps I am good enough, or that I am better than others? The Gospel should remind us that we are all equally sinful, and apart from God’s grace we are all condemned. It is a hard task reading verse 6. Jesus is telling us that the Gospel is a precious message, but it is also a message that may offend and cause aggression. Jesus reminds us to use discernment as we hold out the good news, and there may be times where it’s wise to walk away for the benefit of further kingdom work. It will take a lot of wisdom to wrestle with the tension between loving the lost and advancing the Gospel (Matthew 10:14).So let’s ask God to give us the wisdom to discern and act in ways that most glorify Jesus. Let us not turn righteousness in Christ into self-righteousness, and pray that God will help us to encourage one another from a pure heart.ABOUT THE AUTHORKen is part of our Fairfield Evening Church.

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.REFLECTIONSWritten by Keng LioWhat are you chasing? Is your career at the top of your list? Are you wanting a better car or a bigger house? Are you trying to prepare for retirement? Are you looking for a spouse? How about love from your kids? Are you chasing a relationship that seems to elude you? What are you spending your energy on? If you find yourself chasing or worrying about these things, it's likely that these are the things you're devoted to.Jesus told us not to consume ourselves with trivial questions that seem to consume the world today - the material things. He mentions questions of “what will you eat or drink or wear”, but it goes much further than that. These are basic necessities of life God that knows every person must have for survival, yet he says don’t even worry about these things. So why should we spend so much energy worrying about things that are much less meaningful than food, water, clothing, and shelter? Why should we listen to the world and chase the shiny baubles that society proclaims important, when all of them are fleeting? Jesus tells us that we should seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all the other things will come into place. Living faithfully is a large enough task. It takes a moment to begin the chase for God’s kingdom - a decision to live for him. Yet it takes a lifetime to chase after God’s kingdom. I thank God that he never leaves us in the state we are in. God is moulding us each day, more like him as we delve into his word and learn more of him with each conversation we have with him.There are times in our lives when we have some legitimate concerns about where things are headed, either for us or those we love. We can take comfort knowing that God "... will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19, NIV).ABOUT THE AUTHORKeng attends the Bossley Park service with his wife and 2 kids. He misses the church coffee brewed with love and a nice firm handshake.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?REFLECTIONSWritten by Chris BransdonThere is great blessing in growing up in a place like Australia. Even though south west Sydney might not be considered ‘rich’ I’ve always believed, even as a student who was receiving Centrelink payments, that I was exactly that. Jesus’ listeners had a slightly tougher time. Providing food and clothing for themselves and their families was not always a given. They would have worked the land and been dependent on it. There were no government safety nets to help bring them through if it was a bad year.For the 21st century Australian, the anxiety around food and clothes seems to be more an issue of keeping up with the Joneses. For the 1st century follower of Jesus, it was whether these things would materialise at all. But I think Jesus’ words are an encouragement and rebuke to both: do not worry. At first glance, these words might seem pastorally insensitive. It seems like the worst advice you could give someone who is feeling anxious or worried would be to say ‘stop!’But Jesus’ command not to worry is based on a promise that he is absolutely qualified to make: depend on your heavenly Father instead, and he will give you the food and clothing you need.We pride ourselves on our self-sufficiency. But Jesus points us to the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, who do nothing but exist, and yet they thrive, according to the grace of the Father. Jesus reminds us that the Father has an even greater love for his people, and delights to give them good gifts. We are not, nor have we ever been, in perfect control of our circumstances. But what a blessing to know that I can depend entirely on the one who is. ABOUT THE AUTHORChris attends the 10:30 Fairfield morning service with her husband Thom and by God’s grace is a control freak in recovery. 

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.REFLECTIONSWritten by Annie Davies"You cannot serve God and money"This verse may seem obvious: you can't be on both teams. Yet in our wealthy nation with comfortable standards of living, it is easy for us to slip into serving money like everyone else around us. We work and gain money so we can have the things and experiences that other people have. Nice shoes, a car, overseas holidays (although not at the moment). Not that these things are wrong, but have we slowed down to think, what are our motives for wanting these? To be liked by others? To be secure? To gain momentary happiness? As we have been reading, Jesus has been teaching us what it looks like to live for him and to be "blessed" (Matt 5:3-12). Being “blessed” doesn’t mean we look the greatest now, but it means that we trust Jesus and know that we are secure with God for eternity. When we have that eternal perspective, there is no point storing up money and material things now on earth. We know that it’s not important! Note the footnote after “eyes are healthy” in v22, which explains that the word "healthy" here implies being generous.Let’s pray that we would have God as our greatest treasure and be generous to others with what we have: with our time, our abilities and our money.ABOUT THE AUTHORAnnie and her husband Adam attend Fairfield evening church. Annie is looking forward to when church can meet in person, and do church dinners together!

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.REFLECTIONSWritten by Trung NguyenJesus focuses on fasting here, and he gives us a two-step recipe: first, what not to do and why, and then what we should do and why. Jesus starts by saying not to be like the hypocrites who disfigure their faces when fasting. It’s hypocritical because fasting is essentially saying that the things of this world hinder me from being satisfied in God, and I want God to be number 1. So it doesn’t make sense when we do things such as fasting so other people can see how good or holy we are, because then we’re putting people’s praise as our number 1. For you, the issue might not be fasting, but can you think of a time when you’ve secretly served the god of man’s praise (or even personal praise) instead of God himself? Step two of Jesus’ recipe tells those who fast to put in effort to make sure that the effects of their fasting aren’t seen by other people and are only for God to see. This is right and good because when we cry out to God asking him to be everything, then it’s God and only God who should be able to see it. I am challenged by Jesus’ words here. Although I haven’t intentionally fasted before, it made me reflect on why and how I serve God. Am I doing it for God, or so that others can see me? It’s a deep reflective question that I encourage you to think through, and if I were completely honest with myself, I’d say I have both motivations in there.  What about you? Pray that God would be our audience of 1, and that everything else in this world would be seen as garbage in comparison.ABOUT THE AUTHORTrung is married to his beautiful wife Tramanh and has two amazing dogs Zoey and Apollo. Trung is an extrovert who has thoroughly enjoyed weekly grocery shopping as this was his only reasonable excuse to be outside and recharge for the week.

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.REFLECTIONSWritten by Christine MacgeorgeJesus’ conclusion to this segment of teaching about prayer seems to be a very sombre warning and I’ve struggled with it. Here are some thoughts.At the very core of our lives as Christians is our identity as forgiven sinners. We become Christians when we acknowledge that we can’t earn God’s love by anything we do. We need him to forgive us for not living the way he created us to live. And that is only possible because Jesus died for our sin. Our sins. All of them. Once and for all.So, we receive God’s forgiveness by grace, apart from any good works. Done. Surely? Yet here, Jesus seems to say that forgiveness of our sins is conditional upon us forgiving people who have sinned against us. Woah! I can forgive the lady who was very apologetic after running into my already-sore-and-probably-broken toe with her shopping trolley. Just. Through gritted teeth. But the boss who bullied and humiliated me and was never apologetic? And many of us have suffered far more awful, seemingly unforgivable, things at the hands of others. Is Jesus really saying that God won’t forgive us until we’ve come to a place where we can forgive those who have sinned against us?Absolutely not! God’s forgiveness really is 100% by grace alone.Jesus is taking aim at people who think they can receive God’s forgiveness, but still cling onto their own grudges. He’s saying that if you refuse to forgive others, if you think it’s OK to seek payback, then you probably haven’t understood or received God’s forgiveness at all. (If you want to hear Jesus explain this more fully, you could read Matthew 18:21-35.)None of this means that forgiving will be easy or quick for us. For most of us, it’s a life-long struggle! But it’s a struggle that we can bring to God, along with ALL our hurts, doubts, fears and brokenness – and we can trust that he will forgive us even for the times we don’t succeed in forgiving others.So I think we can pray, “Forgive us our sins and work in us to forgive those who sin against us”.ABOUT THE AUTHORChristine is a member of Fairfield Morning churches and is enjoying post-restrictions time with her children and grandchildren and longing for time with our church family.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done,     on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts,     as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,     but deliver us from the evil one.’REFLECTIONSWritten by Thuy-Anh HaAfter criticising those who pray wordy and long-winded prayers in order to impress God and others, Jesus teaches us to present six requests to God, known as the Lord’s Prayer. Though short and succinct, it is jam-packed, profound and quite challenging to pray. Regretfully, I have recited this prayer on auto-pilot on countless occasions, not fully grasping its depth and meaning each time. Let’s pay closer attention to what we are actually praying. We are invited to pray to God as our Father. We can relate to our gracious yet all powerful God as adopted sons and daughters through the work of Jesus. What an undeserved privilege to speak to Him personally as his children.The first set of requests focus on longing for God’s glory and kingdom. We ask that God “hallows” his own name - making His character and reputation known and treated with the highest respect. We pray for God’s kingdom under Jesus’ rule and his purposes to be fulfilled in our lives and in the world. This might cause radical changes in our own lives as God brings about his kingdom and honour to His name. I definitely need to take to heart the magnitude and awe of this request. The second half directs us to request things for ourselves in light of the coming kingdom. We are to entrust our physical and spiritual needs to Him who provides. We can confidently ask for forgiveness based on Jesus’ righteousness as we continue to falter and fail in this life. Finally, we can ask for protection from temptation and sin as we respond to life’s circumstances. How I often ask God to take away my trials when I should be asking for help to overcome temptation that may arise from it! This prayer has challenged me to reorient my priorities and gear my heart towards godly eternal things. Will you let your concerns and yearnings be shaped by Jesus’ priorities when you pray too? May this be the basis of all our prayers as we walk through many of life’s seasons, looking forward to His coming kingdom. ABOUT THE AUTHORThuy-Anh is part of our Fairfield Morning Church. She loves all things cheese and being a mum to her two boys.

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.REFLECTIONSWritten by Mei ChanIf a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If you go into your room, close the door and pray, and no one is around to hear it, does it count? I find Jesus’ words in this passage such a challenge to my proud, vain heart, which craves the adulation of those around me, my heart that loves to hear “nice job”, “good work” and “wow, you’re really gifted at that!”. I wonder if you struggle with this too? I love that we are reminded in this passage that when we pray, we don’t just pray to a God who is distant and removed, minding his own business above the clouds. Jesus says that we pray to our Father. The God who created the universe is the one we have the joy of knowing so intimately, and not only that, but he knows what we need even before we ask him. He knows our deepest thoughts, he has numbered every hair on our heads, and he has sent his Son so that we can call him our Father. What a God we serve! When I remember these truths, it feels so foolish to desire the praise of men, rather than the praise of God. Would you pray, along with me, that our fickle, wandering hearts would long to please God alone?ABOUT THE AUTHORMei is part of our Fairfield Morning Church.

1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.REFLECTIONSWritten by Stephen SheadI wonder if your heart is as vain as mine? So often, when I’m doing something behind the scenes to serve God – like cleaning the church – I find myself secretly hoping that someone will walk in and see how self-sacrificial I’m being. It’s pathetic.What’s even worse is when I deliberately do my “good works” in a way that other people will see me and be impressed. It’s sobering to hear Jesus say, “you will have no reward from your Father in heaven” (v. 1).But the scariest part is what he says about the “hypocrites” in verse 2. These are people whose whole way of life is a pretence: they look like they are living lives of love for God, but they don’t really care what God thinks. Their real motivation is “to be honoured by others”. Jesus says that “they have received their reward in full”. That is, the only reward they will get is human praise in this life. They won’t hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”Our hearts are so deceitful! How can I know what my real motivation is? Often I can’t – which is why Jesus’ instructions here are so helpful. Do your good works – or at least, as many as you can – in secret, so nobody knows. That will help keep your heart from slipping into hypocrisy.Jesus must know this is a big danger area for us, because he applies it to three different practical areas in this chapter. The first one is generosity and giving, in verses 2-4.When we were in Chile, I was horrified to discover that there are some churches that publish how much all the members give to church! I’m so thankful that at St Barnabas, we don’t do anything like that – that would be too big a stumbling block for my heart.But the thing I found most comforting in this passage was the last sentence. It turns out that, even though we’re so vain and we deserve nothing from him, God loves rewarding us anyway! He does it simply because he is our Father through Jesus, and he loves us more than we can imagine.And this passage has reminded me that the best reward by far is to please my heavenly Father, without another soul knowing. Why don’t you pray, with me, that God will help you to remember that, believe it and live by it.ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen is our senior minister, and his heart is still very much a work in progress.