Sydney - 10 Years of Grace
In Matthew 18, Jesus looks at Peter and says,
‘And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’
Without doubt, it is Jesus Himself, who is triumphantly committed to building His church, and for the last ten years, we have seen that again and again at Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney.
Just a few weeks ago now we got to celebrate the ten year anniversary of our church. A church that we had the privilege of moving over from the UK to start in September 2010, and a church that has been an object of His unchanging grace throughout our whole story.
Our story as a church started in 2004, when God led Mike Pasalich to write to C.J.Mahaney to see if Sovereign Grace would ever consider planting a church in Sydney, Australia. This letter, through a long chain of God-inspired events, would lead to my wife and I, along with our kids, to relocate from Newport, Wales in 2010 to plant the church. A move that was so unexpected and unanticipated for us, yet a journey that God had so clearly begun, and a journey through which we have consistently seen His grace.
In the last ten years, we have repeatedly seen His saving grace, with so many people, people like Ange Eastwood, Jiy Lim, Celia Tan, Nick and India Beed, to name just a few, coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and whom we now get to worship alongside on a Sunday, for the audience of One. There’s also been His restoring grace, as so many of our folk have arrived at Sovereign Grace over the last ten years having previously given up on church or God, for a whole variety of reasons, and yet have been so gently and wonderfully restored by His hand, and whom we now get to serve alongside.
There’s been His sanctifying grace, where lives and marriages and families and workplaces, have been totally transformed by the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Lives that have been touched by the King, and people then who are being changed from one degree of glory to another by His gracious hand. Then there’s been His sustaining grace. ‘For as sure as sparks fly upwards, troubles fall’, Job tells us, and we’ve seen that. Health challenges, marriage challenges, relational challenges, parenting challenges, financial challenges, we’ve experienced them all... But what we’ve also seen time and again is people being carried in the grip of His grace, and never let go.
And then there’s His provisional grace. Since its very inception, God has provided for us as a church in incredible ways. Financially, we’ve rarely gone without. In facilities, He’s always provided for what we need, often in abounding ways. And in personnel, His provision has always been a wonder to behold – musicians, worship leaders, pa, media, graphic design, set up, hospitality, welcoming, group leaders, sphere leaders and pastors. He’s provided it all, even then giving us the opportunity to send out our first church plant, Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta in September of last year.
Without doubt then, He is building His church. He started it, it’s all come from Him, and He’s still building it today... And so may all glory go to Him.
Ten years on, it’s all the Lord’s doing, and so may it always be marvellous in our eyes.
Soli Deo Gloria
Below is a video that Abi Chavez, a member of Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta, put together for us, to help us remember the past ten years. Enjoy.