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Dear Friends,

(a) Today we welcome to the church and staff our new youth worker/minister/pastor and his wife – Nathan and Katrina Lee.

This morning Nath (rhymes with “faith”) and Kat (rhymes with Kat) are on the St Thomas’ youth “Summercamp10” with 85 high schoolers (!) and 20 leaders – tonight they will be at the 7pm service.

Nath (28) has been working with the Department of Lands but was so effective in youth ministry at his home church that they sent him to the two-year course at Anglican Youthworks College. Kat (24) is doing some teaching and also some study, and is also gifted with young people and keen to help Nath. They live in Wollstonecraft and it is a great answer to our prayers to have them with us at St Thomas’. Nath will focus on:

– outreach to the youth of our area (including involvement in High School Scripture)
– oversight of our High School groups (TOMS — Years 7–9 and BASIC — Years 10–12) and lead the TOMS group
– training and care of leaders and initiating encouragement to other churches in our area as they also seek to reach and disciple young people.

I hope you will meet them, pray for them and support this vital work.

(b) Many of us are back from camps, beach missions or the CMS Summer School. The speaker at Katoomba Summer School was Mike Raiter and on a day when we meet a Pharisee in Luke 7:36ff (at 10am and 7pm services) I thought I would pass on to you Mike’s very searching advice on killing off the “Pharisee virus” that lurks in all of us …

(1)  Preach the gospel of grace to yourself and to others. The gospel produces faithfulness in a way that proud rules never do.
(2)  Find a heart specialist — that is, a good friend who will help you answer the questions, “Can I receive criticism?” and “What do I myself need to know?”
(3)  Practise humility which (in the wisdom of C.S. Lewis) does not mean thinking less of yourself as much as thinking of yourself less!
(4)  Think well of people. Pharisees normally assume the best of themselves (and slant everything in that direction) while thinking the worst of others (and pile up their reasons).
(5)  Survey your bank statement to see if you have (in faith) been generous — or are all too selfish. Notice that preachers can tell people to be generous and fail themselves.
(6)  Pray with much thanksgiving — which will be the end of much pride — and with much confession — which will be the end of more pride!
(7)  Be an encourager — you would be surprised how little blank stares and silence can do and how much kind deeds and words can do!

In fellowship,

Simon Manchester

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