SPEAKER_03 0:00

I want to get a show of hands. Alrighty. I'm going to walk this down. Show of hands. Who's been here? This is going to be a big number. Who's been here 50 years or more? Hands in the air. That's impressive. Keep your hands up. Let's take it to 55. Keep your hands up, 55. Do I see that hand? I see that hand. 60. 60? Keep your hands up. You've been here 60 years. 65 years. 70 years. Have we still got any hands up? 75 years. Who's been here from the very beginning? Amazing. They don't make them like they used to. So good. What a history. What a legacy. Amazing. The foundations of this church built over 75 years. You know that the quality of the things that are built determines how long they last. You know that, right? So the quality of the bill determines how long things last. And uh this church has been built on good things. I've I've learnt this uh the hard way. Uh another camping story for you. A number of years ago, uh, we were getting ready to go camping as we do on our summer holidays, and I was walking through Aldi and I was walking past a special buyer's uh bin. I maybe you've heard this story before, but there was a white, lovely gazebo there. And uh just a little note Aldi are a great supermarket, but they're not known for their camping supplies. But it looked amazing, so I bought it, thought it'd be an amazing addition to our camping uh equipment. So there we were, we arrived, we set up this white gleaming gazebo. It looked flimsy, but we thought it would be okay. I should have listened when the camping uh manager came past and said, there are some storms predicted over the next few days. Just telling you as he uh surveyed our lovely gazebo. Uh anyway, we lasted a week, it was wonderful. We went for a drive for lunch as a family, and then the warning came on the radio, heavy storms with hail. We thought, oh, we better get back home. And we're about an hour away and we're we're hot tailing it to get back to our campsite, and we can see the storm in front of us heading towards our campsite. Now, as Queenslanders, we know, uh, I don't know about Victorians, whether it's the same down here, but when you see a tinge of green in the clouds, you know it's hail. And there was plenty of green. And so we're fine. We did not manage to catch up, we were just behind the storm. We're calling our family. Please help, do whatever you need to do to save our campsite. We as we're driving in, there are fallen branches, bark has been ripped off the tree. It's clear that hail has come through. And we arrived to this scene. Uh, here is a photo of our campsite and uh our Aldi tent, guys. We got that for no, not that. Yeah, there it is, there it is. You can see part of our white gazebo tent, and you can see poles. It was absolutely devastated. We learn after that never to buy equipment from Aldi again. Not built to last. Hey kids, I want to ask you a question. Tell me some so just kid some old buildings. Can you tell me some buildings perhaps around the world that have lasted a long time? Old standing buildings. Anyone know any kids? Come on, yell yell it out, and there may be some chocolate on offer. The pyramids of Giza, correct? Some other ones. Where's that? Hawthorne. Yes, yes, I anywhere else? The leading tower of Pisa! Where was that? You are a long way away. Watch out, everyone. You ready? I I I don't want to go to jail for killing our elderly people who've been part of our church for 75 years. Oh, you did oh, there we go. I was kind of looking forward to throwing it. Yes, you yes, you've already had one, haven't you? Yeah, you can say another one. The Taj Mahal, love it. One more, one more. Anyone over here? Yes, at the back. The Statue of Liberty, that's a good one. Here we go. Pass it back. Be generous. Alrighty. I I think of the Great Wall of China. What a great fence that is to keep the neighbors out. I think of the Colosseum, which is kind of falling over. But anyone been to the Colosseum? Yeah, that's amazing. Mikapichu, I'd love to even say that right, Mikapic, Mishapishu, Meshapasha, Machapishu. No? Sorry. Anyway, it's old. And it's in the mountains. I'd love to go there one day. And so we heard it before, the pyramids of Giza. Do you know that they are built on foundations four and a half thousand years old? Millions of people go to look at these old buildings that were built so long ago. And they are built on bricks that are two and a half ton heavy. And uh, we've managed here at New Hope today to actually get one of the bricks from Egypt shipped here. Now, they are two and a half ton. And so I I've done my back. And so I need some help. Can I just need a couple of kids? Come on, um someone who hasn't get caught yet chocolates yet. I've just that lad in the white shirt. Yeah, can you come and help me just to move this brick? Somebody, someone over here. Yeah, yeah, you come, you come. Yeah, come on up. Come on up. Give these guys a huge hand. I need your muscles. Come on up. Now I've hurt my back, so it is two and a half ton. You get on that end. We're gonna need to really concentrate here, okay? You you get on this end here. Yep, that's it. Now I want you to bend your knees, okay. Just I don't want to damage your back. It's two and a half ton. Okay, do you think you can do it? You reckon you guys can do it? Okay, all right. Here we go. Oh, now you just lift it, lift. Okay, good technique. Come this way, come this way. I I just need you to put it here, facing everyone, a bit further, a bit further, a bit further. A bit this way, bit no, yeah, that, yeah. Um here you go, you can choose a chocolate. Give it up for these guys. Well done. Two and a half tonne. You know, the quality of the build and the materials determines how long something lasts. You know, we have been built on Jesus. Our lives for many of us here, the stories that we share, our lives have been built on Jesus. The firm foundation. And Jesus says in Matthew's gospel, right at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, many of you heard one of the great orations of all time, where Jesus stands up and he proclaims the ethics of the kingdom of God. We can read it in Matthew chapter 7, and he declares and he says, This is the way to live. And then right at the end, after he has espoused all these great teachings, he tells a story. He tells a story of two builders who build two houses. One builder builds his house on the sand, and the other builds their house on the kids. What is he what is it? Builds his house on the rock. And Jesus then says, when we got the verses behind me, he says, This, therefore, everyone who hears these words that I've said, these words of mine, and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. I'm gonna leave it there. Jesus says, Trust my word. Jesus says, My words are foundational. Build your life on me. Build your life on my truth. We are called to build our lives on Jesus. Jesus, as we've been uh looking at over the past few weeks, Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus is worth building our lives on because it lasts. His truth, his word, endures. It is that it has endured for many years, thousands of years throughout the history of the world, from the very beginning when God spoke creation into being. It endures to this moment and it will endure into the future. And I celebrate the fact that I'm surrounded by people, I'm surrounded in a church of people who have chosen to build their life on Jesus. And I celebrate the fact that this isn't just a past event, but to this day, people are still building their life on Jesus. I want to invite two people up this morning to share their story of how they have this year put their life in Jesus. Alex and Mingtong, why don't you just welcome Alex and Ming Tong to the stage? Welcome guys.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Hi.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Great to have you both with us, and thanks so much for sharing your story because you're part of a recent history here at New Hope for both of you. Um, Alex, why don't you start by just telling us, uh, all of us, your background. Did you grow up in a Christian faith in a Christian home? What did you know about Jesus?

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Well, I grew up in a household where religion and God was just never discussed. And I did go to a Methodist school for six years and I walked out of that education with a very superficial understanding of Christianity. I was lucky enough in my 30s to find my higher power, who I akined more to God and the Holy Spirit. But Jesus and scripture and religion just didn't play into that. I saw myself as spiritual, whether that was because of ignorance or whether it was because of a long-standing prejudice that I had against religion and the church.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

Yeah. So obviously something's happened. For you to be standing here at New Hope on our 75th birthday. How did you end up making a journey to New Hope?

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Well, it's a fun story. I used to go to play, I still go to Play Place regularly with my son. And one time I came in and the auditorium was full, and there was a car outside that had its lights left on. And I came into the conference just to give the organisers the uh registration plate because I didn't want anyone to go outside and find that car dead. And when I walked in, it was full of worship and my higher power and my soul just sung, and I asked if I could stay, and I stayed as long as I could with my son, who was one at the time, so he was a bit wiggly, so I didn't get to stay as long as I'd like. But that was about a year ago, and for about eight months, I just felt really cool to come to New Home. I knew that I wanted my son to go out, grow up with the faith and the freedom of my higher power and connection through his teenage years, but I didn't know how to achieve it. And I had been to church just a handful of times with my husband to a Catholic church just to support him, and it never really called to me like it did that day in that conference, and I just kept feeling guided to get here, and I wanted to thank Miranda and Megan, who were my final push out in the community. And then one Saturday night I just said to my husband, I want to do something really random tomorrow. Can you please just support me and come? And that was about six months ago, and we've been here ever since.

SPEAKER_03 12:39

So good. Mean Tom, for you, what's your background? Did you grow up in church? What was your understanding of Jesus?

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Um, I didn't grow up in a family that believed in Christianity either. Um, I feel like I really didn't know about Christianity and Jesus at all, but I kind of knew about it through the media, through the culture I grew up in, and through the very little Christian friends I had. But I didn't know what it meant to be a Christian or have a personal relationship with Jesus. I in the beginning, I saw New Hope as just a church beating next to my house. But um, one day I just started getting very curious as I grew up about life and trying to understand it on a deeper level. So I think I was at the start of this year when I stepped through the church doors one morning to listen to your service, and then I just started coming every day since. So that has been really good and it's changed my life and made a bigger difference than I ever thought it could have.

SPEAKER_03 13:47

So you just you just decided to walk through how old are you, Ming Tong?

SPEAKER_01 13:50

15.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

You're 15 years old, yeah. And you just decided to walk through the doors of the church.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:56

Um by yourself with your family?

SPEAKER_01 13:59

At first it was by myself, and then I brought my brother Ming Chang here.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

So And he's younger than you, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Yeah, he's in grade six. He's probably like out there somewhere from a Chinese family? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

You need to say hello to all our Chinese. Come on, just say say hello to some of our Chinese congregation.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Yha!

SPEAKER_03 14:21

So good. Um when I come back to you, Alex. You've been on a spiritual journey and encountered Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

I have in this very room.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

Um, how did it happen and how has he changed your life?

SPEAKER_00 14:35

Well, I was sitting out the back there, I'd been here for about four weeks, and I asked a question of a lovely lady named Ruth, who I'd met here a couple of weeks earlier, and she very uh simply explained to me the Holy Trinity. And as I was sitting there, and that made complete sense to me. Apparently, it's a hard concept to understand, but to me it a little bit later. It made complete sense. And as I was sitting there through my first baptism, and it was a sermon that Andrew was giving about Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross, um, Jesus spoke to me and he just said, It's me. My higher power spoke to me and told me that it was Jesus. And he told me that he would sorry He told me that he had walked with me in a way that he knew that I would allow. But I was now ready. And he asked me to come to get to know him. So I knew in that moment that that was absolute truth. And what did it change? Absolutely everything. It changed my past, my present, my future. It changed my identity, it changed how I saw the world. Um, but more importantly, it told me that I was exactly where I was meant to be, when I was meant to be, and where I'm meant to stay.

SPEAKER_03 15:53

How good is that? Yes. Come on, we can celebrate that, Alex. So good. And Ming Tong, it's been a joy just to watch your journey from walking in the first first uh time to where you're at now. Tell us a little bit about your journey.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Uh so yeah, I'm not sure. Um, uh the chin tea, new hope I yesu, her guan sing, shambian and the chin tea, which all yesu the Li Liang Janho Wakando at some guy being maker in the Shungho.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

Amazing. Give us I heard New Hope, I heard I heard Yesu, I heard Alpha.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

That's that's close.

SPEAKER_03 17:35

That's a give us give us give us a quick translation.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Um, so my journey with faith and with my spirituality hasn't always been an immediate one. It wasn't like one moment where I just knew. It was kind of a slow build-up over the year. And I started as walking in one Sunday. The next, before I knew it, I was being invited to youth on Fridays. And last term I attended Alpha, where I got to meet so many people who guided me about my faith, and I also got to learn more about my spirituality and about Christianity. And throughout the year, I've been know I've been getting to know this wonderful community who loves Jesus and the people around them, and that have really inspired me to change myself, and now I just feel acceptance and into Jesus guiding my life, basically. So that has been really good, and it's changed my life in a lot of ways because now I know about Jesus' love and how he's guiding me through my everyday life and even my everyday troubles. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 18:48

Amazing, guys. It's a joy to watch your journey and to see how Jesus is changing your life, and thank you so much for standing in front of all of these people and sharing your story. Why don't you thank Alex and Ming Tong again? Bless you guys. We build our life on Jesus who changes our lives, and I celebrate the fact as I hear stories of Ming Tong, of Alex and others who are encountering Jesus here at New Hope. We are a church community that is built on and around the truth of Jesus. Ephesians chapter 2. We read these words from Paul. He says, This consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. We are built as a church drawn together on Christ as the cornerstone. Now, a cornerstone was the first stone, the first brick that was laid, that guided every other brick. When you build a wall, you build a structure, you'd lay one brick that then would navigate where the other bricks would go. Paul is saying to us as a church, he's saying to us as individuals, we are being built in alignment to and around Jesus Christ. And I celebrate the fact that we as a church over 75 years have been built and been building around Jesus Christ, who is Lord. And I'd love to take a few moments to symbolically and visually celebrate ministries and people who have uh who and which have been built around Jesus for the last 75 years. So we're gonna celebrate and we're gonna cheer ministries, we're gonna cheer people uh for a few moments as we build our wall. You ready to go? A big beautiful wall. Here we go. Uh 75 years ago, it started uh with a ministry, um, Charles Hemming riding his bike, then his bus to children. And we've had a kinder and a preschool and an outreach to children for our whole story. We've still got a preschool out there. So would you give a huge cheer for Mrs. Dot? Dot Henshore as she comes to lay our first brick. Well done, Dot. Who's been present and worked? You know what you're doing. There we go. Put it, I'll I'll let you do it. On behalf of our kids, come on, give it up for Dot. Bless you. Well done. On behalf of our kids' ministry, and they're going to keep coming. Michaela's gonna come. We've been having our kids' ministry ever since. Who came? Who's been part of our kids' ministry at New Hope over the years? Come on, give it up. Well done. How much of it are you? Back in the day. Well done, Judge. Come on. We've got an amazing young adults program. And many of our youngest of them grown up through our kids and our youth into our young adults ministry. Our building continues to grow. We've had many different buildings built over the years. And uh Aaron Collins is coming. He was part of our committee for our latest build. But this church, this building is an absolute blessing, isn't it? We are in a place in a space where many people have invested their time and their money over many years. We are so blessed. Miranda Lucis is coming, someone who served with Coach Our Community Care Ministry, caring for those who are most in need. Well done. Miranda and Marilyn Burke as part of our community ministry. This building is an incredible space where people come. Fridays, hundreds of people come to our learn English. Marilyn has done a great job with that. Thank you. Well done. We've had the gift of many great preachers and teachers over the last 75 years. I know many have been blessed by the ministry of our great pastoral team. So on behalf of those who have preached the gospel faithfully, Sally Agostina was going to bring a brief for all those who proclaim the good news. And as part of that, our music and our worship, John Fernwan, is coming as well. Our great choir master. Two and a half time there, John. As we've gathered in this place, as we've worshipped and we've said in his word, we've sought to disciple people into maturity. We've got uh Carrie and Janine Schuman, who've been part of our church for over fifty years, and some of our faithful small group leaders. Well done, Carrie and Janine. As part of that pastoral care has been a key part of who we are, caring for those who are in need and Leslie Cole. Well done, Leslie. Leslie does an incredible job in uh in serving our elderly and going and meeting weird. So have you been? How long have you been here? Over seventy years. Nearly since the beginning. I think that's worth praying. Shall we just keep chatting here? Catherine DeWitt's gonna come. Prayer ministry is absolutely key to who we are as a church. Grateful for all of those who have led our prayer. Well done, Catherine. You know, one of the things that this church is known for is its raising up leaders. We have had the great joy of seeing uh leaders raised up and sent out to bless the church far and wide. And one of those who's been part of our church for 20 years is still with us, but uh someone who uh symbolizes our uh leaders who have raised up his land life. Why don't we just celebrate all of those of our leaders who have ministered to us? This wall is looking very stable. We have sent them out to get it up. Here we go, here we go. Well done. I want to honor Sorette, she's been on staff for twenty years. She's our executive pastor, she also knows how to build a wall that doesn't fall over. Well done. Thank you, Sorred. An incredible blessing to us. And finally, we've all already had an opportunity to celebrate our various congregations throughout the years who have ministered in our languages other than English. And so Sam Farb is going to come who represents our pastor of our Persian community, our pastor speaking congregation. Well done, Sam. And you know what? I'm sure I've missed many ministries. Well done, mate. Well done. I've missed many ministries. But I also know that there's many more ministries to come by faith. And uh the wall isn't quite complete, but I need three young people to come who represent the future who will continue to build a new hope as we move forward. Are there three kids? Are there three kids? Yeah, yeah, you can come up. I need two more too. Up the back there, yeah, you can come. There we go, we've got our three. Awesome. Come on up, guys. Come on up, come on up. Here we go. Over here, over here. What's your name? I'll help you, mate. You reckon we can lift it up.

SPEAKER_02 27:33

Here we go.

SPEAKER_03 27:38

There we go.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

There we go.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

We know how to build a wall here in New York. We are all put together built on Christ as the cornerstone, and we celebrate the fact that Jesus is the center. Let me go back to Ephesians chapter two, that last verse that we read together. Guys, can we get that on the screen? Just verse 22. I'd love to read this together because we are being built together. Can we get that on the screen? And in him, you two are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. We are built in and around the person and the work of Jesus Christ. It's on Jesus Christ that we are built, and as his presence and his spirit fills us, as his presence comes around us, as we're surrounded by one another, encouraging one another, we are filled with his presence and we declare his goodness, his grace, and his power. May we be a church, just as we have for 75 years, may we be a church that continues to proclaim the name of Jesus, that we may proclaim his death and his resurrection. May we be a church that points to Jesus, who is the author and the perfecter of our faith. May we be a church that shines Jesus Christ in everything that we do. Jesus is the same. Yesterday, today, and forever. Come on, why do we stand? And we're gonna worship, and we're gonna sing, and declare that here's the cornerstone in which we stand, here's the life in which we find heart, present, and forever. Come on, let's begin with our voice. For all that he is. We praise his name. Hey, let me say, if you're here, you're visiting, you're new. This isn't a normal service. I hope you figured that out. Uh, but we love, we love to rejoice in all that Jesus is. If you want to find out more about who Jesus is, please go and connect with one of our team who's wearing a green shirt. We'd love to journey with you. Our prayer team would love to chat with you down the front as well if you'd like uh to uh to to just make yourself available for that. Oh, I've I've got one more thing to do, one more person to invite up. Uh, who is one of those bricks uh in our wall, and it's Alan Damond.

SPEAKER_05 38:25

I'd love to uh welcome Alan up, I'm gonna go a God of new things. Ever changing in us, unchanging himself. You have been faithful through the leadership, you have been faithful in so many ways. We cry to the future. You want to put an amazing vision in Yann An Incredible Dream Hearts, awaken us, reveal our universal and help us to imagine and to prophesy, all that declare is true. Lord the future that we see when we flip through social media is not exciting. But the future that we see when we flip through the pages of your scripture, and when our hearts are open to the life of your Holy Spirit is incredible. A world, Lord, characterized by a new Jerusalem, a wedding feast, a tearless, powerless, painless. Loving God, fill our hearts with such a vision and imagination and beauty and wonder and gospel hope. And let us declare it wherever we go, and let us live into it and pray for it, and let us loving God be the kind of church that makes it real, that makes it real in every day of our life. Lord, we love you to celebrate your love for us, and we ask now that you would do more than we can think or imagine. To your glory, to your honor, to your praise. God bless you, Holy Baptist Church, for all the years before her. And Lord, the future that comes from your heart is glorious. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, we pray. Your glory, honor, and praise. Amen.