Beran
I find the things that you do will make me feel alright
You know I work all day to get your money to buy a thing
And it's worth it just to hear you say
You're gonna give me everything
So why I let you not move?
Cause when I get you alone, you know I'll be okay
When I'm home, everything seems to be alright
When I'm home, feeling you holding me tight, tight
It's been a hard day and night
And I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day and night
I should be sleeping like a log
But when I get home to you, I find the things that you do will make me feel alright
So why I let you not move?
Cause when I get you alone, you know I'll be okay
When I'm home, everything seems to be alright
When I'm home, feeling you holding me tight, tight
It's been a hard day and night
And I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day and night
I should be sleeping like a log
But when I get home to you, I find the things that you do will make me feel alright
You know I feel alright
Applause
Well, thank you, thank you, thank you the Beatles
Laughter
Well the Bucks
Welcome tonight to this, which is a great celebration for us at Bethel Christian Centre here in Waila
40 years of ministry here in the town, in the city
Started by John Ridley those 40 years ago
And we're just delighted tonight that we've got most of the pastors that have been part of this work down through the years
And we will be presenting them to you this evening
And tonight I just want to thank those pastors that have made such an effort
That have travelled such a long way to come and be with us
And one or two that couldn't make it here
One of them has prepared a video, another one has sent a tape recording
And so it's, we've just had in one way or another a 100% response from all the pastors from down the years
And so that's just tremendous
I want to thank other folk from out of town too
There are various faces, one or two that I don't recognise
Some of them I do recognise from looking at archival photos and the life of the church
And so it's great to have you here tonight
The people from locally here within Waila
We're just glad that you're here
And if you haven't, if there's one or two of you still standing around hoping you'll get a seat
We're still working on it
We're pushed to the maximum tonight
But thanks so much for coming
And our celebrations are going to roll on tomorrow
Both morning and evening as well
And so we're just looking forward to a tremendous program this evening
And as we move into our program tonight
We're going to be led through the program by two narrators
So narrator number one is going to be Naomi Wilson
And narrator number two is going to be Alan Parker
Thank you
Thank you Pastor Dario
Ladies and gentlemen we'd like you to welcome Pastor John Ridley
The founding pastor of Bethel
And John's wife Elizabeth would like to have been here with us this evening
But unfortunately she was too ill to travel
Please welcome Pastor John
Our story begins in the early 1960s
With a radio broadcast being heard in Waila on 5AD
Hour of Deliverance with Pastor Leo Harris
His message was salvation and healing through Jesus Christ
There was a very sick woman in Waila named Eva Babbage
Who regularly listened to the radio program and believed the message
When she was diagnosed with cancer and sent to Adelaide for surgery
She decided that first she would go to Pastor Leo Harris for prayer
He prayed for her and God healed her without surgery
Back in Waila she in turn prayed for another woman, Nan Walker
Who also had cancer and she too was healed
When the Ridleys came to Waila, Nan opened her home for meetings
Waila was rapidly growing
The population had reached 14,000
The Waila shipyards were producing at least one ship a year
And the new BHP steelworks and shipyards were employing over 3,500 workers
In 1961 John Ridley, fresh out of Bible school
Felt the call of God to come to Waila to pastor the group
Who had begun to meet as a result of the radio ministry of Leo Harris
But what does a textile sales manager do amongst steel and shipbuilding?
He sells Watkins products
The next year Leo Harris flew to Waila to visit the Ridleys
This was in the days when big planes used the Waila airport
By the end of 1962 13 people had become Christians
And 100 people packed the hall for a Christmas presentation
Without a meeting place of their own the group is the top H-Hall and a CWA
But by 1963 enough money had been raised to purchase the land in Bicounceling Avenue
Although the fellowship was growing it was not able to fully support its pastor
And John took up photography to supplement his income
Meetings moved to the Bicounceling Hall in 1965
At that time John was also holding meetings regularly at Kimber
And it was largely due to the sacrificial giving of these Kimber farmers
A new crusade hall was able to be completed and opened in February 1967
By this time the population of Waila had reached 22,000
The Westland Shopping Centre was opened and the Pella plant began operations
The Ridleys ministry in Waila also included outreaches to Iron Knob and Port Augusta
And well attended film evenings and in 1970 a three month tent crusade here in Waila
And so what today's Bethel Christian Centre was up and running
John Ridley would you like to come forward to the microphone here please
John as we mentioned to you when we were getting ready for the occasion
We'd like you to share a memorable moment from your time here in Waila
A memorable moment, how long will that take, just a moment?
Well it's not exactly one memorable moment but the thing that stands out most in my mind
Is the many miracles that we experienced in those days
Within a few days of my arrival, within three or four days
An ex-hypnotist had been set free with the deliverance minister who was in the hospital
We took him home to where I was staying, we had to carry him in
Within half an hour he had been totally set free of a demon power
And that sort of launched the miracle ministry that we had in those days in Waila
Now there's a man of his word, that definitely was a memorable moment
Not twenty moments, that was fantastic John
John I guess in going through the history and everything
It just makes us tremendously aware of the great privilege that we have
Of having had you and the other pastors that have followed you in preparing the way here
And John tonight we've just got a little presentation that we'd like to make to you
To take back to Elizabeth as well and just as a token of our appreciation of what's been done
In the life of our work
Able-y assisted by my pretty young assistant here
Here we are John, here is a little plaque for you to put on your mantle face
And that's your Bethel Christian Centre, 40th Annabergistrism, Pastor John and Elizabeth Ridley
And this is for Elizabeth which unfortunately of course we can't present to her but you'll have to take home
I'll take it home
There you go
Well thank you very much
God bless you
Thank you
Come back in
Come back in time to the 60s when these songs were top of the pops here at Bethel
Amen
All things are possible with Jesus
All things are possible with Jesus my Lord
All things are possible with Jesus
So take him and his word
All the lame shall walk and the blind shall see
The deaf and the dumb they shall be set free
So don't be fabulous let no one let go
Praise his holy name
So long I have delivered
The Christ that liveth in me
It's not living in me
Ladies and gentlemen please welcome to the stage Pastor Bruce and Gwen Lee
In 1972, the same year the passenger rail line between Port Augusta and Waila was opened
Waila's population was still climbing with the shipyards and BHP in full production employing around 7,000 people
The Department of Lands was now doing preliminary planning for a city of 100,000 people
The Housing Trust had built over 250 new houses
In 1973, Bethel and the Baptist together ran a coffee lounge outreach which attracted a number of bikies
Many of them were saved with one being baptized in the sea by Bruce
Another successful outreach that year was at the Waila Show
Bible clubs in the primary schools were popular with many children joining Bethel Sunday School
More space for ministry into these children was needed so a large shed was erected on the church grounds
Bruce's itinerant ministry took him to Broken Hill, Cowle and Alice Springs
He conducted a tent and crusade at Port Augusta, Port Piri, Waila
which caused such a stir it was reported on the local TV news
In 1976, the population of Waila had peaked at 33,000
This was a couple of years before the shipyards closed
With Bruce's background in the building industry, he was the ideal person to tackle the huge task of extending the original building
A lot of people gave sacrificially of their time and money to see the building opened in 1979, almost debt free
Bruce was one of the crucial pioneers who helped to establish this church
A rugged man, intrepid, unable to put his hands in other things
The Boomer Weed
Boomer Weed
Ladies and gentlemen, let's have Bruce and Gwen lean to the microphone
Bruce and Gwen, welcome this evening, it's just great to have you here
and we're going to ask Bruce to share his memorable moment right now, thanks Bruce
I think that's asking for ten meaning miracles to say one moment
I was thinking about a whole stack of funny ones but I hadn't been to do that
But I can remember Johnny Northwell getting bashed over by Mrs McBain with his Bible from Mr Mountain, I bring it to the church
I think the great memorable moment was ultimately getting this place locked up and going to me
Wendy, do you have anything that you'd like to share?
Well my memorable moments were the children's crusades that we ran
and the great team that backed us up
I can remember that we used to expect to start off our crusades with at least 100 kids
and we used to expect the meetings to grow to 250 maybe 300
and the kids would be all sitting on the floor and the tent would be packed to the gunnels so to speak
with just a sea of young faces and I found that very exciting
and I unearthed one of those kids in Port Augusta, she works at Wadlanda
As with John and Elizabeth, we certainly hold a great deal of gratitude to Bruce and Gwen
and we're now going to present them too with a plaque in appreciation
I found a new way of living, I found a new light to burn
I have the fruit of the Spirit, I'm abiding, abiding in the mind
Abiding in the light, abiding in the love, love, joy, health, peace, peace, praise and love
I have the spirit to our victory, abiding, abiding in the mind
Ladies and gentlemen, we have pleasure in presenting to you, Pastor Kevin and Jackie Hodges
Kevin and Jackie arrived in 1980
In June of that year, Kevin was already running outreach crusades
past a church that could only seat 140
In August of that year, Kevin launched a seating project
which provided a church with comfortable, professional orange seats
But by this time the shipyards had closed, the population had dropped
but the housing trust was still building houses, 120 in 1980
and that same year the YMCA hostel was built on Nicholson Avenue
It was during Kevin's time as pastor that resource music began producing their chorus books
and a singing group was formed to learn the new choruses and teach the congregation
This was a time of evangelism and outreach
In one year more than 100 people were saved
Kevin was also involved with crusades in Port Augusta where 20 people were saved
This was not achieved without hard work
10,000 advertising leaflets for the crusades were hand delivered
Crusades were conducted in Port Augusta, Waila, Bullaroo, Alice Springs and Port Curie
A lasting legacy from Kevin and Jackie's time is the landscaping of the property
and of course, the orange seats
I wonder if somebody down on the light stick could we have a couple of banks of lights from the centre there at the moment please
It came to our attention recently that of all the seats that everyone sits on here
there is actually a seat that has Kevin Hodges' name on it
and somewhere amongst this vast crowd tonight some people are sitting on that seat
Now it's a shorter seat so therefore it has to be in the centre block here
and if anyone cares to sort of just stand up and lean your seat back
if that name Kevin Hodges is on the bottom of the seat
we will see to it that you receive a special prize this evening
It's found, it's found everyone, I'm sorry
the rest of you have missed out on the new car
So could I please have my wonderful assistants
would the people on that seat please stand up
There we go, three people sitting on that seat
Here you are, a presentation for you tonight of your sitting on this seat by Mr. Hodges
Kevin and Jackie come across to the microphone
It really was discovered recently that one of those seats really does still have your name on it
and he can't remember doing it
Old age
Well Kevin and Jackie, fantastic to have you here tonight
Now for your memorable moment
I guess the thunder's already been stolen
my memorable moment was those 300 people
but just leading up to that what had happened was the church here had really quite dwindled in numbers
and when we came here there was about 28 people
and so the church had been through some fairly tough times
but we connected up with Pastor Clark Taylor and Christian Outreach Centre
who used to sponsor their TV program on the local network here with all the churches
and so Pastor Taylor came down for some crusades
and we ran one in Port Lincoln and Wai'ala in the same week
so we had some evening services in Port Lincoln
and then had a Thursday morning meeting here
I think it was supposed to start about 10 o'clock
so we're driving up the highway from Port Lincoln in a borrowed car
and I forgot to keep my eye on the gauges and a water hose broke and I cooked the motor
so here we were stalled about 40 kilometres out of Wai'ala
and I can't remember what kind of car it was
but someone pulled up, we waved somebody down
they had this great big car, I think it was a big black LTD or a Rolls Royce or something like that
and they very kindly towed us all the way in
and Clark Taylor's laughing his head off
he said he'd never been taken to a crusade in that manner before
so we finally got here about 10 past 10
and we really had no idea what would happen
we thought that maybe we might get 50 or 60 people might turn up
and we were just stunned, we could hardly park anywhere
there were cars everywhere, there were people everywhere
and we ended up going out to the Sunday School room
and there was a whole bunch of little kiddies chairs
covered in cobwebs and dust and we dusted them off
and cobwebbed them off and put them out
and we counted up and 300 people turned up for that service
it was just absolutely stunning
and what really was the most memorable thing of course
many many people got saved and I think some of them are probably here tonight
and still going on with the law and that is really fantastic
so that's our little memorable moment
applause
Kevin, do you want to share something with us?
I just want to say that the thing I remember is
I can't remember who did it
but one of Kevin's birthdays someone made him a beautiful big Bible cake
is that you?
that was lovely, that's my memory
probably the only one I ever made
I understand
fantastic
alright well once again we have a little presentation for Kevin and Jackie
so here they come now
he gets one for putting his name on the cake
there you are Kevin
a little piece of iron ore from Wyella here to remind you of the place
passed to Kevin and Jackie
applause
as with all good theatres
we are now going to break for intermission
I don't know about you but I get back far enough to remember the movie theatres
when they used to have the lolly sellers walking up and down the aisle
and so we are going to provide that for you during this intermission
so if you need to move out please feel free to do so
if you are content to sit in a moment or two
our lolly sellers are going to come forward
and you have been given a ticket this evening
you may use your ticket to purchase a bag of lollies from our lolly sellers
so we'll be taking a break for a few minutes
and then recommencing again in a little while
thank you
music
I'm sorry that I can't be with you on this weekend of celebration
but I'm certainly happy to be able to speak to you through the video
and one of the advantages of me not being able to be here with you on the weekend
is that you can actually get to see my family and to have them talk to you
so I'm going to introduce my family to you
many of you will remember Cheryl of course
and she's going to come and say hello before I speak to you
and our two children who when we left Wai'ala we're only five years old and two
and so Michelle and Ben are also going to speak
so g'day my name's Ben and I'm 18 years old
and I'm at the moment I've just finished year 12 last year
I'm doing a one year Bible college course
and I've deferred to university next year I'm going on to do public relations at RMIT
a bachelor there and I can't remember anything about metal
bye
Hi I'm Michelle and I'm 21 years old now I think I was about five years old when I left Bethel
and from what I can remember it was pretty much church Nana would hang out with me
and that's about it I would have tea parties with my little friends
at the moment I'm actually studying a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations
which is what Ben will be doing next year
this is my final semester which is very exciting
and I actually hope to go overseas next year at the start of the year
and then I will actually be a Public Relations Practitioner
and I will hope to be working for quite a few years to come and travel as I go
see you later
I'm also a worship leader at Cross Bay which is the church that I attend here in Melbourne
and I'm just wondering to say that to you so I'm still a Christian
Hi I'm Cheryl and I'm the mother of those two children
I remember a lot about Bethel I remember spending time with people there
enjoying those years as children were growing up
and at the moment I'm lecturing at Table College and have been for the last ten years
I'm also doing some research for a degree that I'm doing
and I'm researching for CRC and I have good memories of Bethel
good memories of all the people that were there
good memories of people looking after my daughter when I was in hospital waiting for Ben to come
and I've looked back on that time with great fondness
and I was pleased to be able to meet with some of the people
some of the women at the camp that I was at in the earlier part of this year
and I want to wish you all a great celebration time
sorry we can't be with you it's a long way from Melbourne
and there were other things that we had to be involved in
but I really hope that you have a great weekend and hi to everyone there
Hi it's Jim back again I know what you're all saying by now
gee they're looking old at least I've got my hair
it has gone a bit grey
Pastor Dario asked me to say a couple of things
the most memorable moment at the church
and I've thought long and hard about that
and there's two things that I'm not going to do
one is to start naming all you wonderful people that were there
some well almost 20 years ago now when we were there
because I know if I start naming names I'll miss someone out
and then everybody is going to get offended
so I'm not going to name names but just remember
I've got you all in my collective memory right now
I just want to say from a personal perspective
at time at Waiata it was very formational for us as a family
and I have very fond memories of that time
and I think if I have to choose an overall memory
it's the community of Waiata
I think part of that's the country feel
the sense of being isolated perhaps
but also I think particularly back when we were there
the workers used to work shift work morning, afternoon, evening
so you always had a good mix of male and females
in any home group we had
and so there was always I think a very holistic community whenever we met
and I really appreciated that
and particularly when Cheryl was in hospital
when Ben was threatening to come early
he's never been early since I can assure you
when she was in hospital I can remember having more casseroles in the fridge
than I could ever eat in a lifetime
and that just I think epitomized the caring and loving community
that Bethel is and I'm sure still is
and so I guess that's my fondest memory
is just all of you particularly when I was just starting out in ministry
a lot of the water's gone under the bridge since that time
and as many of you know our whole family went to the States for six years
and we studied and now we've been back in Melbourne for over ten years
ministering in training young people and older people I might add
at Table College in Melbourne
and we've seen the college grow here in Melbourne from
well under a hundred people, a hundred students when we arrived
in mid-91 to well over 450 students today
and so we thank God for that
it's an exciting ministry to be involved in
but I have to say I often use illustrations from our time at Bethel
and I thank the Lord for that time there
and for all of you
Pastor Dario also
Now sit back and enjoy a couple of songs popular at Bethel in the 80s
I'm so glad to be a part of this great family
브라rics
and you were being laughed.
There was a period between Jim and Cheryl leaving
and the next pastor coming along, where we didn't have a pastor.
And that time went on and on and on until about eight months had passed.
And I was just reflecting on that today.
It was a time when amongst the leadership we would face Sunday with fear and trepidation
as we had to share out who was going to give the word
and all the other partial bits and pieces.
But it was a time also that the church itself grew stronger, I believe,
because we didn't have someone to give seed for us with God.
We had to do that on our own sum and we were stronger for it.
As we move through the history of this church we come to 1986
and the arrival of Roy and Kaylain Halla from Mildura.
They also send their apologies this week as they're overseas on a missionary trip.
At this time Bethel became the centre of outreach to many places in the north and west.
Ministry trains went out regularly to Minnipah, Haslam, Kankultabee, Putjara,
Smoky Bay, Woodna, Andamooka, Cook, Jamestown, Port Pirri.
Many people were saved, healed and baptised in the Holy Spirit during his ministry trips.
And we were praying for a plane.
Several teams also went to Papua New Guinea in the late 80s.
Three assistant pastors were appointed during this period.
Mark Orcasu during 1988 and 1989, Brian Howard Jones during 1989 and John Poiser in 1990.
Roy has sent us a short taped reading which we'll play for you now.
Praise the Lord. Hello and greetings from Roy and Kaylain Halla.
We are truly sorry we can't be with you to celebrate this 40th anniversary of Bethel Christian Centre.
We have very fond memories of our wonderful time with the saints in Wai'ala
and the tremendous things that God did in us and through us.
We were greatly blessed to be able to be part of a truly great church.
There were such changes and such a hunger in the hearts of the people.
It made it so easy to minister.
Our time at Bethel was the launching pad for what we are doing today.
When we first arrived in Bethel, we were given a prophecy by one of the ladies in Bethel, Gladys Hobbs.
Gladys told us we would be in Bethel for a season.
We would then go to the edge of a metropolitan city for a season, which we did to the city of Gawla.
And then the Lord would take us to the world.
How true her prophecy has become because we are now going into Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and up into the islands.
Plus right across Australia and all the states of Australia.
So we give praise to God for the great time that he gave us with you.
Some of you, all the saints who would have been there long before we came to Waiola, would remember the wonderful things that God did.
And we were greatly blessed to be with you and be part of you.
And we pray, Kayleen and I pray, that your next decades, several decades until God sends his wonderful savior back to take us home,
will be far more profitable than all the decades of the past.
We greet you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and give you our love.
And we praise him.
And thank you so much for this opportunity.
Amen.
Now here is another song, popular when the Hallas were here.
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.
Glory, glory, glory to the King of Kings.
Glory lift up your name, with a house filled with praise.
Glory to the Lord and God, glory to the King of Kings.
At this time there was a lot of musical talent in the church from the pastor down,
with a number of worship teams providing music for church, children's church and outreaches.
As there was a choir director among the musical people, the church was able to produce several musicals during that time.
During John and Jackie's ministry here, the wall behind the stage was curtain and the stage was permanently fixed in place.
Shining John.
It was permanent.
Up till then the stage was movable, north, south, east and west, up and down.
But Jackie's talents in decorating stopped short of changing the orange sheets.
One of John's great strengths was his ability to teach.
Various classes and seminars were run during that period, and a number of people were encouraged to attend the pastor's training classes in Adelaide.
John worked cooperatively with Keith Edwards from the Baptist Church to launch combined gatherings for prayer and celebrations under the title of
Friends of Change and Sunday Night Live.
So John's here, time here, was a good time.
John and Jackie, would you like to come and join us at the microphone?
Well, here we are.
We are.
Yeah, fantastic.
And waiting for this memorable moment that you've been thinking about.
Oh, absolutely.
Jackie just said as she was looking at those things, she said, do you look good there, John?
I said to Dave Smith when I saw him this evening, I'm going to hang around him for the rest of the night.
He makes me look not too bad, actually.
Actually, I have a couple of memorable moments that I can just share too.
And one is just having spent nearly five years here, the people left an indelible mark on Jackie and I.
And I want to say to all of you that knew us and that we just held you in the fondest of memories.
And you were just so good for us during the time that we were here.
The other thing that I would say is that I can remember a year and a half before Jackie and I left to go to Adelaide,
Keith Edwards and myself and the associate pastor of Banyara, we began to meet together and pray
and ask the Lord as to how what we might do to start to heal some of the rifts that had existed between us and the Baptist Church here in Wai'ala.
And the Lord encouraged us to meet together and have combined meetings.
So as we continued to pray, we felt very strongly that we should hold a combined meeting here in Bethel.
And the first meeting we had, we actually filled this place and we were wondering where we were going to go from there.
We went to Banyara and I think our first meeting at Banyara, there were nearly 400 people in that meeting.
We then decided to go to the Middleback Theatre and that was really quite an exciting time for us.
It was quite expensive for us to rent that building.
The first time that we met there, we actually had a ceiling of the number of people that were able to get into the building and that ceiling was 497.
And as people began to pour in, we got to 497 and then they started to put people outside and put some TV screens there.
So in a very, very short period of time, the Lord began to do some amazing things in the life of this local church and also in the church of Banyara.
And I believe that went a long way to establishing the type of rapport that needs to exist between churches and the body of Christ today.
So that are my two greatest memories.
Jackie, have you got something that you'd like to share with us?
Not any, just one thing, but mainly I think as a mother of three teenage children at the time when we were here,
just being able to come from the country, from Jamestown to here with teenagers and not having many friends back there that were Christian.
And to all these young people that were here at the time, it was just a fantastic blessing for us to have so many young people that they could relate to and grow in God with.
And it was just tremendous.
Thank you, Jackie.
If I can have my attendance now with our little presentation.
Ladies and gentlemen, the presentations that we're giving this evening are fantastic little things.
I think they're really wonderful.
It is actually a piece of iron ore to remind them of Wai'ala, the Iron City and the Steel City.
And with a little plaque on the front with the pastor's name on it, Bethel Christian Centre, 40th anniversary, 2001, pastor John and Jackie Poiser.
And so John and Jackie, we trust that you'll be able to put this somewhere at home and remember your time here.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
So here we are in the era of our current leadership with Dario and Lynn Noonan at the helm.
One of the people who made a significant contribution to the earlier part of this period was Vanessa Leen.
Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome to the platform Vanessa and Phillip Leen.
Vanessa pioneered ministry outreach amongst our Filipino community and saw the work grow from one Filipino lady in our congregation to a thriving fellowship group.
Vanessa's ministry involvement led to two trips to the Philippines and as a result we currently support a national Filipino pastor and his wife in San Fernando.
Vanessa went on to become an assistant pastor at Bethel before moving to Adelaide.
The Filipino ladies would now like to give them a proper Filipino welcome to this special anniversary weekend.
Thank you.
And as you'll see on top the word mahuhae, it is a common form of say mahuhae to all of you.
Thank you.
Vanessa, I'm disappointed. You've been away from this place too long because you're not crying.
Oh, we've missed you so much Vanessa. Couldn't you spare a few tears for us here?
During Vanessa's ministry time here one of the things we're very used to was having a whole team of Filipino people up on the stage here ministering to everybody and crying their eyes out.
Well Vanessa, that memorable moment.
There's so many memorable moments. I just liked I guess one of the most wonderful memorable moments to me was the part of baptizing the beautiful Filipino ladies that are such special close friends to me.
And to just the absolute privilege to be part of their lives for seven years. I guess it's been a time we started the fellowship and in a very intimate way and to see their growth in God and to see the love and the passion and heart for Jesus.
And to be part of seeing them walking through the waters and saying I'm going to follow Jesus no matter what.
That was one of the most tremendous highlights for me and I really do love Waiata and I'm still shedding a few tears Dario.
So thank you very much. Thank you.
Phillip, a memorable moment for me.
Well, I wonder if there ever was a pastor who didn't shift any walls in the church.
When the last one came we sat back and we wondered is he going to shift a wall, a billboard wall? And he did.
I think what I find that I remember is the times that we had the family camps.
When we came here in 72, I think we were here a week or two Dad, and off we went to a family camp.
Same week actually.
Same week. And we had a few of those and then we had one up in I remember Wilpena Pound. We took the tent up, the big tent they did the school things in.
And I don't know whether you've been to Wilpena at Easter time, but you can't swing a dead cat around.
They're all close packed in and all these teenagers we went up with. I don't reckon the whole camp slept all weekend.
But one of these camps out through the bay, there was this young lad, he had this nice new green Suzuki.
He was racing along the beach and he turned it over. I don't know who that was, but that was very memorable.
Well here's this wonderful moment where we present our presentations.
Now there's some protocol that we observe here. You've noticed this through the evening. The pastor receives the plaque.
So Vanessa and the spouse gets an orbit pin.
But with a special exception for Philip, we thought we'd make it up to him by giving him a box of chocolates.
Dario and Lynn Noonan have pastored Bethville Christian Centre for the past six years.
And three and a half years ago an illustration from a book about surfboard riders became a dominant theme for Pastor Dario and the church.
And the major points can be summed up as follows.
We cannot create waves. We simply learn to ride the waves. God sins.
The sea is seldom calm. The waves are constantly rolling in. We need to recognise the waves of the Holy Spirit and move to follow him.
When a wave comes to an end, we don't sit in discouragement, but we begin looking for the next wave to ride.
But as God is moving now, we need to look for his plan, not the plans that we create.
If everybody had a boat across the USA,
Then everybody'd be surfing like California A's.
Museum World near Banyan, where Aussies send us to.
A bushy, bushy bond here, surfing USA.
You'll catch a surfin' in jail, you enter a county line.
Santa Cruz and Penn, are the therapies.
All over the man-hand, and I've been meaning waves.
Everybody's got surfin'. Surfin' USA.
We'll all be planning out a route we're gonna take real soon.
We're waxing down our surf. We can't wait for June.
We'll all be gone for the summer. We're on safari to stay.
Tell the teacher we're surfin'. Surfin' USA.
We'll be sailing on a boat across the USA.
All over the man-hand, and I've been meaning waves.
Everybody's got surfin'. Surfin' USA.
Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you, Pastor Dario Noonan.
Or is it?
Well everybody, welcome to Church. And isn't this fantastic?
Just before we go any further, I've just got a few notes.
As we look back over the last six years, we see some significant events.
Each year Pentecost weekend is celebrated, and a visiting speaker comes for the occasion.
In 1996, a fortnightly Friday evening program was started for 9-12 year olds.
And it now runs very successfully with children coming from other churches and the community at large.
In 1999, the Griff counselling ministry was commenced by Ruth Parker.
Today people are being referred to this ministry by doctors and government agencies in the town.
Last year, Don and Heather McLean left for Papua New Guinea to work with Wycliffe Bible Translators.
So we now have our very own missionaries.
Just 12 months ago, four of our young people and two adults went on a missionary trip to Poland.
What an exciting challenge, as we saw $22,000 come in in just under a few short months.
2000 was really quite a year for the church.
Under Pastor Dario's ministry, the church was really on fire.
In fact, the damage was nearly $20,000 worth.
And this year we've had the joy of starting a new church in Muta on York Peninsula.
And finally, the seats were recovered.
Bethel Christians Centre, 40 years of ministry, but as you look across the city, there is still so much to do.
Ladies and gentlemen, let us introduce to you Pastor Dario Noonan.
The real Pastor Dario Noonan.
Ladies and gentlemen, Len and I are not going to be sitting in the frame this evening
because our desire has been to honour those who have pioneered down the years in this wonderful church.
Running a successful church is very dependent upon having a wonderful team of people who deeply love God and desire to serve Him.
Today we still have a church full of people just like that.
In a few moments I'm going to ask our official team, if you like, to come and join me on stage.
Our team exists of almost every member of this church, every person who attends this church.
But tonight, just to introduce them to you, we'd like to invite our innermost team, I suppose, to come forward right at the moment.
So, as in I've been forgetting during the rehearsal times, let me introduce first of all my wife, Lynn.
Then Grant and Anne Wilson.
Ruth and Alan Parker.
Bob and Betty Storr.
And Richard and Gloria Storr.
I have no idea that I'm supposed to be introducing a presentation at this point, am I?
No. Yes.
On behalf of the church, I'm officially hijacking the evening.
And as a church we've got some presentations that we would like to make.
And a fair thank you to Lynn for all of her hard work.
And we also just have some floral gifts that we'd like to give to the ladies on the platform.
Just in honour of the way that they support their husbands or in the way that they fulfil leadership positions themselves.
Because as a congregation we know that it's the solid faith of our leadership team that enables us the opportunities and the ministry that we have.
So to my mum, Anne Wilson, and to Ruth Parker, and to Betty and Gloria Storr.
Thank you.
There are two other people that we'd like to just call up onto the platform.
They don't know this is happening so they may have to run from different parts of the church.
But we're wondering if Mike and Didgeridoo Coppins could please come up onto the stage.
Sorry Mike, you didn't know.
Mike and Didgeridoo have put in a lot of time and a lot of effort into the presentation that you've seen tonight.
They've put a lot of their programme together and coordinated a lot of the practices and a lot of the rehearsals.
And so we just wanted to give them a present just to say thank you.
And because we feel that Lynne doesn't have enough flowers yet, we wanted to give her some more because Lynne has also put in so much work to this whole weekend,
to what you've seen tonight and to the plans and the preparation for tomorrow as well.
And we just wanted to thank them once again.
That ends my hijacking of the evening and now we'll go back to the programme and have our final song.
Thank you.
As we mentioned this evening, although we've got I suppose the topmost team of our church here on the platform,
the rest of our team are scattered all out there amongst you and you've seen many of them tonight, all ages,
and fulfilling all sorts of roles in the life of this church.
We're going to bring our evening to a close in a moment or two and there'll be supper served afterwards.
The rest of our programmes will flow on tomorrow.
Could I just mention also that we will have available tomorrow for sale the history of the commencement of Bethel here in Wai'ala.
That was compiled by John Ridley and so there'll be some copies of that on sale tomorrow and you can inquire about that thing.
But we're going to finish with a song, a modern present day song which we just think is absolutely fantastic,
Days of Elijah.
And as we sing this song together it's our way of bringing that final exhilarating climax to our evening
and the rest of the team are going to join us up on stage and down the aisles etc.
And so you can just join in in this closing song for the evening.
Thank you for coming, may God richly bless you all.
Thank you.
These are the names of Elijah, just declaring the word of the Lord.
And these are the names of yourself and of all the saints, righteous as we are so.
And though these are days of great triumph, of light and darkness and cold,
still we are the voice in the
And though these are days of great triumph, of light and darkness and cold,
still we are the voice in the answer, by preparing the way of the Lord.
Before we come to the riding on the clouds, to the shining light of the sun,
and descending the light of all the men and the daughters,
And we are neighbors in our own backyard
We've learned to grow up alone before we come
Riding on the clouds, shining like the sun
And we're talking home with your voice
In the year of duty, and now we're dying till salvation comes
There is no God like Jehovah
Before we come, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun, and we're talking home with your voice
In the year of duty, and now we're dying till salvation comes
Before we come, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun, and we're talking home with your voice
In the year of duty, and now we're dying till salvation comes
Before we come, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun, and we're talking home with your voice
In the year of duty, and now we're dying till salvation comes
Before we come, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun, and we're talking home with your voice
In the year of duty, and now we're dying till salvation comes
Good night ladies and gentlemen, enjoy some supper together and we'll drink you all down with us.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen, enjoy some supper together and we'll drink you all down with us.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord reigns.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord almighty reigns.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord reigns.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord almighty reigns.
He has broken chains that bound us, He has set the prison free, By His own right we'll see where He has been.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord reigns.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord almighty reigns.
He has broken chains that bound us, He has set the prison free, By His own right we'll see where He has been.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord reigns.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord almighty reigns.
Amen, yes Lord.
We want to acknowledge this morning, family God, that the Lord almighty does reign.
Reigns in our hearts, reigns in this place this morning.
Hallelujah, yes indeed.
Hallelujah, I've watched my little list of what I'm supposed to be doing, no it went fine.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord almighty reigns.
Jesus, Jesus we thank you for what you've done in this place.
We thank you for what you're going to do in this place.
Well good morning to everyone, I'm not going to get up here and give announcements anymore after last night.
Or anything else.
You get worried when you've got imposters in the church.
Well it's just great to see you all this morning and so many faces,
the faces that we saw last night and back again etc.
And what a great weekend.
Man did we have a fantastic time last night.
Amen, amen.
I sat at the breakfast table this morning and it was all passing before my eyes.
And I could see Jean Harvey up here in Home Among the Guns please and Phyllis and the pastors
and their mobile phones.
There we go.
What a great time.
It was just fantastic.
We've got various bits and pieces of announcements that I want to make here that are particular to our weekend
and our Sunday morning.
We have photographers obviously looking after the program throughout the weekend
so that we can continue to capture some of these memorable shots.
And so all those visiting pastors that have come in from out of town,
I've been requested by the photographer if she can catch up with you guys after the morning service
so that she can get your photos.
We need to do that after the morning service as some are unable to stay through to this evening.
But pastors and wives, we want to get your photos afterwards.
So we'll attend to that.
Where is Leanne?
Give me a wave, Leanne.
There's Leanne.
Would you like to just stand up?
Alright, guys, that's the lady that's going to be coming in and putting the hard work on you.
Alright, good.
Thank you for that.
I've been asked to mention that also out in the dining room we've got a video monitor set up out there
with a PowerPoint display of loads and loads of photos from the past.
I'm sorry, guys, for all of you who are longing to see your own photographs who belong to this present era.
But the plain fact of the matter is that we're running out of time.
We've got about 87 slides out there turning through on the video, on the computer monitor.
So you may like to pause a few minutes later on.
There are only five seconds of time until they whip on through.
And some of you who have come visiting will be able to see some photos that you recognize from days gone by.
The video of the weekend is going to be on sale.
And there is a little sheet of paper stuck on the back wall just near where you come in.
Near a rack there's got a whole lot of leaflets on it.
If anybody wants to order one of those videos, you can put your name on that.
Also, I've been asked to mention that with the PowerPoint from last night, we're happy to do that for you as well.
And also, John Ridley, two years ago now, we had a great celebration in regard to the building of this section of the church that we're now in.
Two years ago we celebrated 20 years since this part of the building was built.
And on that occasion, John Ridley worked really hard and put together quite a history of the commencement of the work here in Wairar.
And we've got copies of that history.
They're on sale also at the back for $5 a copy.
And they're just sitting on the table at the back there.
If we run out of them, we're more than happy to take orders and we can then post them to you.
You can see they're sitting on the back there, an A4 size with a spiral binding down the back.
Have a look at those and see if they're of interest to you.
Also, John's brought with him three, I guess, almost in a sense diaries of statistics and notes that he made in those very early years.
And he put them on the table at the back.
If anyone wants to just have a flip through them and see some of the meticulous detail that John has kept for us for all of that time.
Well, that have worked in this place down the years, starting with John Ridley and moving through the line.
And here we are this morning.
We just want to take the opportunity of celebrating another lot of people that have contributed to the life of the Church down through the years.
And that is those people who are still here in Bethel.
Now, I know we've got so many people with so many memories that have come in from near and far and we really are grateful to have you.
But there's a sense in which we want to honor too some of those people that are still here after all of those years.
And so in a few moments, we're just going to be honoring those people.
Ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate greatly that here are two of our pioneers that are still very much here in the life of the Church.
And we've got a little presentation that we want to give you today to mark this occasion of the 40th anniversary.
And from way, way back many years ago, here you are still today with us.
So ladies and gentlemen, we've got a long stemmed glass with a gold fleeting around the top and it's been engraved.
And this one says, Grace Holmes, Bethel Christian Center, 40th anniversary.
Now, Grace, thank you very much. Now, what is one with your name? Thanks very much.
Now, Grace's daughter, Elaine, also should have received one, but she was unable to be with us this weekend.
Now, who have we got next? Find out who's the next one. Who's the next longest serving after Grace and Todd?
Confusion, right? Nobody's sure. Nobody wants to own up.
Jane Harvey. After her and the Gunstreams last night, we want to give you two.
Mix it with the famous stars. So there we are, Jane. There's one for you to keep in memory of this great weekend.
Thank you. Where do we go from there? Who do we dob in next?
She doesn't qualify anymore. Come on down, Norma.
There we are, Norma. One with your name on it.
Is Jane serving with us today? Yes? To come on out here and receive hers as well?
Thank you. Here we are, Jane. You've been in this church a long time. You have.
There's a famous Anderson here. Where's Phyllis?
Another one of these long serving pioneers. There you are.
There's Marslin. I think I saw him speaking somewhere. There he is. Come on.
You didn't see me. You didn't see me. There you go.
They are made after all of these years. It's just fantastic to still have him around.
And then finally, because we've got to draw the line somewhere, we have Brian and Barbara Hayes.
Thank you.
Come over here for a photo.
All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you.
Neville, give them to come forward as much as they can, because otherwise they can't film when we're back here.
Thank you.
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
It already comes, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun.
And so it's all in your blood, and here on duty,
when Mother Tide of two salvation comes,
And the Cabaret of Stillness
Howling
I'll tell you when fine And learn about you
LMAO
There is no other name for which men can be saved.
There is no other name under heaven.
There is rest for my soul when the wounded lay low
And the captive set free and quivered.
There is no other name for which men can be saved.
There is no other name under heaven.
There is rest for my soul when the wounded lay low
And the captive set free and quivered.
Such love as I have never known
Have found in the grace left low to me
In my unrighteousness.
This is why my heart is so I will confess
There is no other name for which men can be saved.
There is no other name under heaven.
There is rest for my soul when the wounded lay low
And the captive set free and quivered.
There is no other name for which men can be saved.
There is no other name under heaven.
There is rest for my soul when the wounded lay low
And the captive set free and quivered.
Such love, such love as I have never known
Have found in the grace left low to me
In my unrighteousness.
This is why my heart is so I will confess
Jesus, Holy and the one true one
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Is an every salted one, Jesus
Your name is like money on my lips
Your spirit like water to my soul
Your word is a lamp unto my being
Jesus, I love you, I love you
Oh Jesus, Jesus
Holy and the one true one
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Is an every salted one, Jesus
Your name is like money on my lips
Your spirit like water to my soul
Your word is a lamp unto my being
Jesus, I love you, I love you
Lamp unto my feet, light unto my heart is you
Jesus is you
This treasure that I hold is more than man
By the sun it is you, Jesus is you
Oh my heart forever more, praise forever more
Lord every day I need you more
On the wings of heaven I will soar
With your love
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Oh Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
You are the sun
You are the moon
You are the sun
Oh Jesus, you are the sun
Truly, truly, Lord, we sing the treasure that we hold is
So much more than the finest gold, it's you Jesus
Oh, what is your word describing the kingdom of heaven
In terms of a pearl of great price
Knowing Jesus as saviour and lord
Oh, it is you Lord
Lamp unto my feet
Light unto my heart
It is you Jesus, it is you
This treasure, this treasure that I hold is more than
Man by the sun it is you, Jesus it is you
Oh Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Let the blind say I can see
It's what the Lord has done in me
Let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Let the blind say I can see
It's what the Lord has done in me
To the Lamb that was slain
Hosanna to the Lamb that was slain
Jesus died and rose again
Into the river I will wade
There my sins are washed away
From the heaven's mercy streams
Of the Savior's love for me
I will rise and I will rise on water's feet
Into the saving arms of God
I will sing salvation songs
Jesus Christ has set me free
Hosanna, Hosanna
To the Lamb that was slain
Hosanna, Hosanna
Jesus died and rose again
Hosanna, Hosanna
To the Lamb that was slain
Hosanna, Hosanna
Jesus died and rose again
Hosanna, Hosanna
To the Lamb that was slain
Hosanna, Hosanna
Jesus died and rose again
Let the beast say I am strong
Let the wolf say I am free
Let the wolf say I am strong
It's a spectacular evening where we really just look back
on all that God had done from 40 years ago
coming down through the annals of history in a sense
and what God had done through each of the pastors
because it was only just a very thumbnail sketch
and yet you can't help but sit and just be absolutely mesmerized
at how God just works through each individual pastor
the tremendous contribution that they've made into the life of the Church
and what God's done for the Church and what God's done in individual people
down those years
So here we come to today, to Sunday
and we're aware that with all that has gone behind
the story is certainly not complete
because stretched out before us now is all of our future
and certainly for the people who live here in Waiella
who still live here in Waiella
and for the people who are going to be continuing on here Sunday by Sunday
week by week for the days ahead, for the years ahead
man, we've got before us such a tremendous potential in God
and God just does something so wonderful in our midst
I don't know why God has blessed this Church the way He has
down the years in relation to young people and in relation to musicians
but for some reason or other God has put a specific blessing upon this place
and almost every Sunday night we have loads of young people in this place here
We have, you saw last night so much of our stage production
included young people, they're the very life of this Church
It's almost impossible to run youth services here
because every service has got an element of youth in it
and so much lies before us for the future
It's been such a tremendous privilege to have all of these pastors in town
and so you kind of have got the problem of which one of them do I ask to preach
and as we sort of waited before the Lord on the whole matter
and really thought and prayed and so forth
one of the things that we really felt was particularly appropriate
for having looked back last night and looking forward to the days ahead
with the pastors that we've got here this weekend
we've asked three of them to share this morning and three to share tonight
share specifically some sense from God in the prophetic
Now if you're visiting this morning and you're not quite sure what I mean by the prophetic
what we mean is that we believe that God's got something to say to us
about the future that lies ahead for us
and some of the intention he has for us as a Church, as a group of people
as inhabitants of YR, what God's got intended for us in the days ahead
and so we've asked our pastors to give some reflection on that
and to share something with us that will just inspire us
for what lies ahead and where we go from here
and so this morning in a moment John Ridley is going to be coming
and then following John Ridley is Vanessa Lane
and following Vanessa Lane is Kevin Hodges
Now if you normally come to these kinds of Churches
if you know that these pastors speak for about 40 minutes each
but relax
we've only given them 10 minutes each today
Ha ha ha ha
They've gone longer and got a chat off the microphone
You're rehired Luke
We get priesthood out like that Luke
and then this evening
this evening we're going to have Jim Catford speak via a video
that Jim has prepared for this evening for us
and then we're going to have Bruce Lean
and then we're going to have John Poiser
so that's their fare for this entire day
and one or two pastors do have to leave this morning and get back to Adelaide
but I really express my grateful thanks for those of you who have just been able to squeeze that little bit of extra time in
it's been a tremendous help to us
So let's just bow our heads for a moment of prayer
Father
this week
has been a week
that most of us will never forget for the rest of our lives
Father this week
many of us will be able to remember
late at night just before we went to bed we heard the news coming from America
or the next morning as we woke up
or maybe even during the day because we've been a little bit more isolated
but Father we have images
imprinted upon our minds
imprinted upon our hearts
that will never go away
and Father we know
that what that has brought home to us
is that there is a devil
that there are
evil forces
but Lord at the same time
we just remind of the fresh that God is real
that God is love even though the devil is hate and destruction and war
God is love
and Father as we contemplate what we can do to change our world we know
that in one sense
we sort of feel helpless and there's not a lot
yet on the other hand Lord
we believe
that God is light
and light pushes back the darkness
and Father we want the glorious light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to shine forth in our hearts
to shine forth in our churches
to shine forth in this community
to shine forth in this state, in this nation
so that this nation will become a nation
and Father we just pray
that before us
in the days that lie ahead
we will see countless numbers of people from wider being brought through the doors of this church
countless numbers of people opening their hearts and their lives to Jesus
God I want you to come and forgive me
I want you to come and wash me clean
Father I want you to change my life
Father I want you to give me new hope and new direction
and Lord we will see that kind of light
that kind of thing pushing back the world of darkness
and so Father we pray now
that as our speakers come this morning
Lord that you would drop something into our hearts that we can take away this morning
to say God has left this deposit with me
this is something from God that is just for me
and I don't want to lose it quickly
we ask it in Jesus name
Amen
Amen, thanks John
Thanks Jerry
Well what a wonderful weekend we're having
Isn't it?
It's so wonderful to be here
and to be able to look right back to the very beginning
I remember when Jean first was saved
and she came round to our house one day and she said to Elizabeth
she said, I've been reading the New Testament
and it is bloody and sexy isn't it?
I was very pleased last night, I must have to tell you one story
I was round in the little chapel, the little church there one morning
and a fellow came round who was in the Christian bookshop
his name was Hathew
and a lady had come to them in a taxi
she asked for a bookshop and they took her to the Christian bookshop
turned out that she was a witch
so they ministered to her and brought her round to me
and I pointed out to her the error of her ways
she gave her heart to the Lord
she was immediately baptised in the Holy Spirit
and then she fell over on the floor
and she went as stiff as a ramrod
and I cast a demon out of her
and by that time it was lunch time
so I took her home for lunch, we had a sandwich
and we took her round to Mary's mates who had a swimming pool
and we baptised her in water
so she had a wonderful morning, didn't she?
and then we had to let her go back to her defector
we said, if you need help, do give us a ring
she gave us a ring a couple of days later
and said, I'm leaving my defector
and I've got nowhere to go
so I picked her up at the caravan park
and she left her black cat, a horrible looking black cat
and she brought a little white fluffy kitten with her
and a few days later she had bad toothache
and I said, oh you know, God can fill teeth
next morning I came back from my rounds
and discovered the ladies in the kitchen
they're looking into her mouth and she had four gold fillings
so that was another of the events
it's hard to know which one to share
Hanger Aksu 9 says, the glory of this present house
will be greater than the glory of the former house
says the Lord Almighty
and in this place I will grant peace
declares the Lord Almighty
I believe that the glory of God that's been here in the past
and is with us now will be far greater in the future
because first of all
40 is the number of probation, trial and testing
40 days of it rained at the time of the flood
40 years in the wilderness
40 days Jesus had in the wilderness
so in the 40 years since we first began here
you have gone through trials and tests
but one thing is common through those 40 years
is the Spirit of God has sustained you all
through human weakness and platters and so on
Jesus has been here
but I believe the glory of God that's been here
in the past 40 years is nothing compared to the glory of God
that will be here in the future
today is the doorway into the future
secondly, during these years
there's been a maturing in the body of Christ
and an understanding, greater understanding
of the ways of the Spirit
Solomon's temple was glorious
it was coated with pure gold
and it glistened in the sunshine on the top of the hill
in Jerusalem
yet the temple that's referred to by Haggai
was far greater than the glory of Solomon's temple
although actually when it was built
Esau's temple was quite dull and not attractive
and people wept when they saw it
yet it was more glorious because Jesus came
and ministered in that temple
it was also later his herit temple
he extended it
so the latter house was greater than the former house
because Jesus was there with his resurrection life
and his miracle ministry and his preaching to the people
40 years ago we were birthed in revival
even our name, Christian Revival Crusade
or Commonwealth Revival Crusade as it was called in those days
so everything focused around revival and power
my favourite scripture was
you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you
and so on, so we had a lot of talk about power
but then things were gone
and the Spirit of God ministered in the body of Christ
and we came into scripture singing
the Garricks of New Zealand introduced scripture singing
and then there was the resource people came along
and then there was dancing as supposed to be in the Spirit
there was dancing and singing in the Spirit
we didn't do anything of that in those early days
we used to sing redemption hymns out of the old hymn book
and the hymn choruses
and we used to sing stop and let me tell you
and so that was where we were then
but the Spirit of God opened up new dimensions to us all
and we progressed in the ways of the spirit and understanding
and then the Temple Trust came along
and the table and other charismatic conferences at Wayville
and then great teachers came along
Derek Prince, Bob Mumford, David Pawson and others
wonderful ministers into the body of Christ
and we were learning all the time
and there was maturing happening in the body of Christ
and overworked scripture was
2 Chronicles 2, 17
if my people who are called by my name
will humble themselves and pray and seek my face
and turn from their wicked ways
then I will hear from heaven
forgive your sin and heal your land
so we were always praying for power and for revival
and it hit me a few months ago
that I believe we were
that was in the past but it hit me
it says if my people will seek my face
and seeking God's face speaks of intimacy
and speaking of intimacy as we draw close to Jesus
we come into His glory
and I believe God wants to reveal His glory to us
more and more in the future
glory not just in miracles and revival
and that's what we gloried in then
the God who said out of darkness the light shall shine
is the same God who made His light shine in our hearts
to bring us the light of the knowledge of God's glory
shining in the face of Christ
2 Corinthians 4, 6
so when we seek His face He reveals Himself to us more and more
and the more we seek His face in intimacy
in purity of heart
the more His glory will be seen in us
and His glory will shine through us
when you attend a Christian wedding
they go through their vows
and then the bride removes her veil
and the congregation waits gogol-eyed
kiss
and they kiss
and so when the veil is removed
it reveals intimacy and a kiss
God is longing for a greater degree of intimacy with His people
He's just longing for it
listen to this from the Song of Solomon
He says, how beautiful you are my darling
He's talking to you and to me
Oh how beautiful, your eyes behind your veil are doves
Show me your face
Let me hear your voice
For your voice is sweet
and then she removes, must have removed her veil
because He says your face is lovely
Psalm 45 verse 11
The king is enthralled by your beauty
and she responds back to the Song of Solomon
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth
for your love is more delightful than wine
and we know that Christ's love is more delightful
than anything the world can offer
and what the Lord is calling us to today
I'm sure, is a greater degree of intimacy with Him
and so He asks us to remove our veils
remove the sins that keep us away from our God
get rid of those things in our lives that grieve the Spirit
the blemishes
He wants a bride without any spot or blemish
doesn't He?
waltz and wrinkles, let's get a clear complexion
as we come face to face with Jesus
and so He's calling us
when you said seek my face
my heart said Lord, your face will I seek
so He's calling us to be still before Him
and we get so busy, busy, busy with our lives
organising a weekend like this
there's so much work, so much pressure
but then God is calling us to be quiet before Him
to be intimate and to renew our relationship with Him
that's what He's looking for
the world is in turmoil as we've been hearing this week
with Anset and with the disasters in the States
people don't know what to do, they don't know which way to turn
but we know, don't we?
and God is calling His people into His presence
to love Him, to worship Him and to be renewed by Him
and then as we do that
it says and we who with unveiled faces
unveiled all reflect the Lord's glory
and we are being transformed into His likeness
with ever increasing glory
so the past has been good
but there's an ever increasing glory for all of us
which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit
God will heal our land
as we His people reflect His glory
we don't need to drum up revival
that's the thing of the past
it wasn't just drumming it up but God was doing something
what we need to be doing is seeking His face
and as we live our individual lives
and as we come together
His glory will be upon us
and people will come and they'll fall down on their face
they'll say surely God is in this place
because the glory of God has been revealed amongst His people
and they'll be healed, they'll be delivered, they'll be saved
they'll be set free
and then as we go out
we'll take that glory with us
and we'll be able to witness and share His glory wherever we go
and Haggai said in this place here He will grant peace
Thank you Vanessa
Thank you Dario
A couple of months ago Dario asked me
whether I'd be able to come and share a prophetic word
and this weighed very, I guess quite heavily on my spirit
and I just really spent time in prayer and little by little
I felt that God began to open up a prophetic word
specifically for this church and for you His people
and the word, I have some scriptures throughout this word
and it begins in Isaiah 41 verse 17
and God says that the poor and the needy search for water
but there is none, their tongues are parched with thirst
but I the Lord will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them
and it goes on in Psalms saying he opened the rock
and the water gushed out like a river, it flowed into the desert
and I will make rivers flow on barren heights and springs within the valleys
and I will turn the deserts into pools of water
and the parched ground into springs
so what I felt God give me was a vision
and what I saw was a river surging forward like waves after waves
just paving away through the desert
and as it did the sand parted and the banks were made
which gave depth and direction to this river
and Isaiah said, see I am doing a new thing
now it springs up, do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and the streams in the wasteland
God is saying that he is making a way
and his call is to gather by the river of life
and he says this way, this way is birth through prayer
this way is birth through praise
this way is birth through the worship of my people
and this way is birth by hearing the cry of the heart of his people
prepare ye the way of the Lord
you see people will come
people will come from the deserts
people will come from the wilderness
those who have forsaken me God says
those who dug their own cisterns that held no water
they will come and they will come covered with ash of mourning
and they will come blinded by the storms of the desert
and his word is to say lead them to the river of life
and with joy they will draw water from the river of salvation
and baptize them in my name
and they will come foreseeing Jesus Christ has set me free
and as you gather by the banks of my river
reach within and you will find my seeds of promise
plant them in my garden by the river
and look and behold and see how they grow
even the tiniest and the smallest of seeds will grow into a large tree
fruit trees
and in Isaiah it says that fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river
and their leaves will not they will never never wither
nor will their fruit fail
this is a promise that God is giving you
every month every month no matter what the season is
they will bear fruit
because why because the water from the sanctuary flows to them
and their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing
what a beautiful promise to you
for the time of healing has come for our wounded people
God is saying and in Jeremiah he says that the trees planted by the water
sends out its roots by the stream
and it does not have to fear when he comes
he may come but you do not have to fear
because the promise is that your leaves will always be green
and there will be no worries in the year of drought
and you will never fail to bear fruit
the first fruits from my garden bring me great joy
do not pick the fruit too soon
or they will be green and sour to taste
do not leave the fruit too long upon the branches
otherwise they will be cast aside
wait for my point of time so the seeds from my first fruits
will supply the sowers and feed my people
eat and drink from my fruits in the courts of my sanctuary
for it is a time to rejoice
and many many sowers will come forth
and they will gather the seeds from the trees
that are planted by the river of life
and there will be an increase of the seeds
and your store room will be full to overflowing
can you see that vision?
can you see the seeds and the store room full to overflowing?
and these precious seeds from my first fruits
will go out into the desert and plant them
for the soil beneath your hands will become fertile
God is saying that I will cause the river
to divide into streams across the desert
and I will satisfy your needs in this sun scorched land
you will, every one of you
you will be like a well watered garden
like a spring whose waters never fail
and as the deserts become a fertile field
and the field a harvest
the time of sowing has passed
take the sickle and reap
and listen to the songs of praise throughout my land
for the time of reaping has come
prepare ye the way of the Lord
thank you
applause
wow this is getting better and better isn't it?
well good morning everyone
good morning
first of all I'd like to bring greetings to you from the church at Gawla
we serve there as the associate pastor
and they're having fun without us this weekend
it's great to be here with you
celebrations are very important aren't they?
it's good to celebrate the past
I believe if you read the Bible you'll find that God is a great party animal
have you noticed that?
always throwing on celebrations and times of rejoicing memorial
we celebrate communion to remember the great events of the past
yet for those of us who were here in the former days
those days for us were very much the present
we can look back now but when we were here doing it
it was very real for us wasn't it?
it was a very special time and a very special season
during those seasons there were a whole range of events and beliefs and fashions
and songs and ways of doing things
ways of talking and thinking
and in that environment we lived and we served the Lord
and we did the best that we could do with what we knew, the best we knew how
I'm not sure if we tried to do some of those things again today
would they actually work today?
I'm not sure John whether the sort of things you did would work today
I'm pretty sure the things I did probably wouldn't work today
and so this is a new season
whilst it's good to look back and reflect and celebrate
which is really really important
it's also very important to look to the future
and so that's what Pastor Dario has done with us
and asked us to contemplate and see if we could hear a word from God for the future
and I think we're hearing a little theme starting to develop
don't you?
and what I have I think will possibly add to that
there is one thing of course that did happen in the past
that I think probably would still work today
and that is orange seats
yeah
applause
cheers
I was deeply comforted last night by several people who came up to me and said
well what's wrong with orange seats?
Pastor Lee I notice has still not recovered from the shocking way they've treated his doors
and put this platform in
I wish they'd do something with the carpet don't you?
sure man, why do you in 1980 obviously, that's not something we can count on
ok so here we are today
it's a new congregation
said to Bruce last night, goodness me I hardly know anybody here
it's wonderful to see how this church has continued on and on
and it's been exercising my mind of late
what are the things that make a church continue on over the years
and some of our churches don't
and that's very sad when that happens
and I'm just really researching that a little bit at the moment
haven't really found the answers to that, I've got a few ideas
but this is one church that has continued
and has thrived and done well and will continue to do so
it seems to me that there's a thread that has woven through the life of this church
there are many things of course, ingredients that go to make up a church
it seems to me there's one thing that has happened here with all the pastors that have been
and that is that you've always had good teaching and good preaching
there's been a depth of the word here
not every pastor's a teacher but every pastor that I know
that I know all of them and know them reasonably well
have a depth in the word that isn't found everywhere
and the preaching and the teaching has always been very good in this church
and it seems to me that's a thread that has caused a lot of fruit and success
so Pastor Dario, that's my word today hinges around that
and the scripture I have for you and I'd like you to take this to your leadership team
and just sift it through and think it through
but it's from 2 Timothy chapter 3
Paul's instructions right towards the end of his ministry
as he looked back and is now training Timothy and other pastors even today
and in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1 he says
but mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days
now how many of you know that the last days have actually been going for 2000 years?
it started back on the day of Pentecost
Peter said this is what Joel said, in the last days
so the last days stretches out, could be another 2000 years, nobody really knows
but we do know we're in this time of the last days
and he says there will be terrible times, terrible seasons in the last days
people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive
disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous
without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited
it's almost like reading the advertisers isn't it?
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power
and so I reckon we're in times like that today don't you?
some of those tragedies that are happening in the world and serving in our own country
and we live in a totally different culture than what we did 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago
there's a lot of things that are terrible
so what does he say to us?
in verse 14 he says
and then Paul gets very solemn and he says
this is getting pretty serious
so Paul says all these terrible things are happening
but I want you to remember the scriptures
that have been able to teach you and make you whole and equip you
now he says I give you this charge, preach the word
be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction
for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine
instead to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear
they will turn their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths
but you keep your head in all situations
endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist and discharge all the duties of your ministry
Pastor Dario I believe for you and your team as you lead this church on
preach the word, reflect on the word
sounds like there's a lot of hard work ahead, there's hardship
do the work of an evangelist
a lot of churches always done the work of an evangelist hasn't it
people are still getting saved, that's fantastic
a lot of churches, nobody's getting saved
and discharge all the duties of your ministry
so what I sense God was saying was there is no magic wand that is going to wave
there's not going to be suddenly some event or some wonderful thing that will just happen and great revival will break out
I believe revival is already here in us
that's the whole ethos of our denomination, that's what Pastor Harris taught us
but as we labour, as we commit ourselves to the work on a daily basis
we often think of the past and with great nostalgia
and sometimes we say oh they were the good old days
but I can tell you when we're going through them we often call them these trying times
and there will be trying times ahead
but if you hold fast to the word of God
and to reflect upon the teaching that is done
what people need in this chaos that is around the house
is sound teaching from God's word
and I believe there's a great deposit of that in our denomination and in our pastors
and so my word to you is to encourage you to do that
and to be prepared in season and out of season
endure hardship, keep your head in all situations
do the work of the evangelists, discharge all the duties of your ministry
and God is going to continue to give fruit for us to this church for years to come
Amen
Applause
Just before we come back to saying the last few words
before we bring our service to a close this morning
a couple of little announcements I suppose in a way
one is that the National Chairman of the CRC, Pastor Neil Mill
has sent his greetings and his congratulations to us as a church
and his thoughts are with us today
so I just wanted to pass that on to us
also here right in Wyallup
one of the young people of our district
also partly fellowships with us here
Lemp-Browham has been named as a chaplain in the high school
most of you who are part of here know that
but there's a commissioning, that's the word
a commissioning for Luke today
it was supposed to have been held several weeks ago
and that fell through because of the Sunday Night Live not taking place
but that's going to be this afternoon at the Baptist Church
can anybody tell me what time?
3.30
3.30 this afternoon for Luke
and we just want to encourage Luke
it's not going to be a long service
but we don't want him to feel that nobody remembers him or anything
so if you're going to at all make your way to the Baptist this afternoon
for 3.30 for that short commissioning service
whoops, can't do that
just before we close this morning
I want to just bring us right back to something that's
that really comes close to home for some people
we've got a whole crowd of people in this church this morning
a lot of visitors
so a lot of you I don't know
and you've sat through this service this morning
and something's stirring inside you
for some of you it's been nice to come back
for some of you who are part of here
it's been such a fantastic weekend
and you'll remember it for years to come
but for some of you that are maybe visiting this weekend etc.
something's been stirring inside you as you sat
listen to the service this morning
as you saw our children come up on the stage
I hope you got some feel that we love our kids
and this is family here
you know something's been stirring in you
as you heard the preachers preach
just my mind keeps on going back to
the program put on by the Filipino people this morning
there were depths in that
that I personally find hard to talk about
one of the ladies, a short lady, elderly lady
that was one of the center people of that whole group
just a few weeks ago lost her son in a tragic fire
in the Philippines that killed
and whole convention center of Christians gathered together
and to see them perform that dance today
and when they sort of went under those waters
and came up transformed
for me it carried a special meaning
special meaning for Nana, for Loretta
because one day that's going to be kind of our experience too
that we're going to pass through waters that are called death
and we're going to come out the other side shining in light
just like what was displayed for us
if we have that hope settled
and set there deep inside
if Jesus has come to live his life within signs
this morning John Ridley talked about God desiring intimacy
God wants to be close with you, so close
I'm sure there are one or two scattered around this place this morning
where there's been times in your life where you've been closer to God than what you are now
it's time to come back, it's time to come back
come back to God, don't care whether you live in Adelaide or whether you live in Waiai
it's time to come back to God
Vanessa talked about
the needing that are going to come to us
you know, Jesus says, I'll not extinguish your smoking flax
I'll not break a bent reed
wherever you're hurting at this moment in time
Jesus standing there saying, come on back
I'm ready, I can wipe my hands of you
and Kevin Hodges talked about us doing the work of an evangelist
today you may be not really sure whether Jesus lives on the inside of your life
or whether he lives on the outside
may today be a moment of decision for you
why don't you just tap me on the shoulder later and say, pastor
how can I be sure?
how can I be sure? that's all you need to ask
how are you?
Hi Joan, how's it going?
oh, I'm good, thank you
don't play around please
no, no, no
this is for 300 people
thank you
music