Dear Cabramatta Anglican Church Family,

We rejoice that you have continued to give so generously through
the hardship of the past 18 months. We give thanks to God for you,
the Gospel, and the life we share in together. We know that many
of you have had to adapt to new circumstances to work and study.
Some have lost jobs. Some have lost hours.

As you can see below, our giving as a congregation has decreased
by $12,465.40 compared to the same period last year. Whilst we still
have enough money to pay for staff, property maintenance, and
fund various church ministries, it is largely due to the increased
giving from the Mandarin and Cantonese congregations. We give
thanks to God for all those in our church and their continual
generosity.

One of our roles as church leadership is to ensure that our
community encourages each other into generosity. Being
generous is one of the greatest gifts that God can give us. It means
we are being set free from the prison of worrying about money,
and the security, attention, and power that it promises.

A lot of what the New Testament authors say about money is
directed towards giving to the poor, especially those belonging to
the household of believers. That is the primary calling for our
generosity. The church has always understood that this kind of
generosity is not optional for followers of Jesus.

At the same time, giving is God’s plan for funding his work in and
through the church. We see this in Jesus’ teaching to his disciples
in Luke 10:1-9, and in Paul’s instructions to the churches in
Galatians 6:6 and 1 Corinthians 9:1-14.

Giving is one expression of our partnership in the gospel together.

What can you do?

Firstly, if you are in financial hardship, please let us know. The
gospel is good news to the poor, as we know our possessions are
not our own, but entrusted by God for sharing with one another.
We don’t like to see some go without while others have plenty.

Secondly, if you follow Jesus, are a member of Cabramatta
Anglican, have not yet begun giving, and are able to do so, please
start now. Church members give to their church. We really want to
maintain the capacity of our staff team, grow our ministries as the
city comes back to life, and support our mission partners. If you are
unsure where to begin, feel free to speak to us. We are happy to
share with you our family’s finances as well as our giving, and how
we got there.

You can find out more about how to give at cabra.church/giving

Thirdly, if you are currently giving and your financial capacity has
increased, would you consider directing a portion of that additional
giving to Cabramatta Anglican? If our current giving members
increased their contributions by $12 per week, we would cover our
present deficit of $12,465.40 by the end of the year. That would be
remarkable.

We would love to see our congregation not only become
self-sustaining in 4 years, but also grow to the point where we’re
able to bless others financially.

In all this, please take seriously our commitment to transparency
and integrity in all things financial. If you would like to see our
audited accounts, or know how much the Wardens pay our staff
team on behalf of the church, you only have to ask.

Our Partnership Series will begin on 10 October 2021 where we
celebrate God’s work in and through us, and present our
finances in more detail. We encourage you to take the time to
consider the Partnership Series.

Your brothers in Christ,
Will, Hien and Rob.

ADAPT…is how we would summarise the past two months of COVID. It’s been challenging, draining, and the ground keeps shifting. We have found ourselves swinging between being cautious and complacent. It’s been easy to be complacent with the low numbers of new COVID-cases. Yet at the same time we want to remain cautious as it only takes one COVID patient to infect a whole country. 

The NSW government has announced the easing of restrictions from Friday 15th May.¹ This includes:

• outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people
• cafes and restaurants can seat 10 patrons at any one time
• up to 5 visitors to a household at any one time
• weddings up to 10 guests
• indoor funerals up to 20 mourners, outdoor funerals up to 30
• religious gatherings/places of worship up to 10 worshippers
• use of outdoor equipment with caution
• outdoor pools open with restrictions.

We have discussed this as a leadership team and arrived at this current position:

1. We will continue to hold off meeting face-to-face in Growth Groups until further notice. We recognise that religious gatherings of up to 10 worshippers are permitted but we understand this as referring to a gathering in a ‘church’ building. The restriction of ‘5 visitors to a household at any one time’ still stands and our intent is to abide with the law. Technically, our Growth Groups could meet at church, but if many groups decide to do that, it becomes a bigger gathering. Not only that, the majority of our groups hover at (or above) 10 people. We hope to be able to resume face-to-face Growth Group gatherings when NSW reaches Stage 2 restrictions.
2. We will continue to hold off meeting face-to-face on Sundays until further notice. We recognise that religious gatherings of up to 10 worshippers are permitted. However, we feel that the right time to resume gathering face-to-face is at Stage 3, when gatherings of up to 100 are permitted. Our plan is to wait for this stage. However, we will continue to review and evaluate our situation and adapt accordingly.
3. We will continue to meet online for ACCESS, Kids, Creche, and Playgroup throughout Stages 1 and 2.² However, we intend to use this time to plan and prepare for restarting these ministries in-person during Stage 3.³  

Our suggestions at this point are:

1. Sunday gatherings: We encourage you to consider watching  the livestream on Sunday together in small groups with no more than 5 visitors at a household. We understand this to be 5 visitors (adults and children) in total.
2. Mid-week share & pray: We’d also encourage you to consider informally catching up, to share and pray with other brothers and/or sisters in Christ. God’s given us each other as a way of encouraging each other to persevere in living for Jesus. 
   

We believe these next steps are the best way forwards for our community as God’s people at this stage. We recognise it’s tiring to keep adapting to the changing circumstances. But thankfully, we have a God who comforts us in our afflictions. He’s given us an imperishable hope. He will raise us from the dead. Our afflictions (as hard, challenging, draining, excruciating they may be) are light and momentary compared to the eternal weight of glory to come! (2 Cor 4:17). 

Our Gospel is unchanging and we hope that this edition of Cabra PHO will add fuel to your prayers, hope amidst your afflictions, and encouragement to your souls.

Your brothers in Christ,
Will, Hien and Rob.

¹https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/what-you-can-and-cant-do-under-rules/changes
²See the Government’s 3-stage plan here: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/update-coronavirus-measures-08may20
³See Sydney Anglican Diocese’ 3-stage recommendations for our churches here: https://sydneyanglicans.net/covid19

Dear Cabramatta Anglican Church Family,

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made an announcement today banning all enclosed gatherings of 100 or more people. In light of that, Archbishop Glenn Davies has issued a statement to suspend all public church gatherings until further notice. You can see the statement here.

Our priorities
We are committed to continuing to proclaim Jesus as Lord, trusting in Him and sharing the love He has for us with others. In this challenging season we will continue to grow in God’s word together; sharing our lives with each other and serving those inside and outside the church. With the move to church online the logistics behind how we do so may look differently, but with the help of technology we will still meet with one another to stir up and encourage each other to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:25).

We will continue to monitor the situation and adhere to updated advice issued by our Government and the Anglican Diocese. We have been urged to act now and take social distancing (reducing the rate of physical contact with one another) and hand hygiene seriously to reduce the risk of community transmission. As a church, we want to be proactive in loving our neighbours and adopting the measures we can to slow the transmission, thereby helping to protect the most vulnerable members of the community and reducing the impact on essential, life-saving health services.

What does this mean for our 11am Service?
We will live stream our services online which can be accessed on our website. Our services will be live at 9am (Chinese), 11am (English) on Sundays and a recording will be made available if you cannot join us while we’re live on Sundays.

What does this mean for Access, CACTUS, Creche and Playgroup?
We will put them on hold until we resume normal Sunday services. Our leaders will be in touch with parents to distribute age appropriate resources/activities to assist with reading the Bible. A kids talk will be part of the live stream.

What does this mean for our small groups?
Small groups will be meeting online via conference calling software. You should be contacted by your growth group or other small group gathering leaders to confirm the new arrangement. If you’re not already in a group, please contact Rob on roberty@cabra.church if you would like to join a small group.

Pastoral care
With the shift to church online, we would like to take this opportunity to work together in caring for those without access to the technology many of us take for granted. If you’re able to help please contact us for how we plan to care for those who may be more vulnerable, isolated or have limited mobility in our midst.

Outreach
Our Mobile Community Pantry (MCP) ministry will continue to operate at a reduced capacity adhering to all necessary precautions under the direction of Anglicare until further notice. It has become especially critical at this time in providing affordable pantry items to our community which they may find difficult to access elsewhere.

We are also planning to letterbox drop cards to those in self-isolation in our local community to let them know we are here and available to help (whilst following the necessary health precautions) with gathering urgent supplies, posting/collecting mail, praying/talking through any questions they may have and inviting them to our online services.

We understand that this may be an unsettling time of change and uncertainty for many of us. As followers of Jesus Christ we can trust in His sovereignty and bring our anxieties to Him in prayer and petition. Let us hold out the hope of eternal life we have in Jesus who has conquered death. May we come together in strength and unity, in love and compassionate care for each other and the hurting community around us. If you have any questions or concerns, or need any assistance practically with supplies please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Your brothers in Christ,

Hien, Rob and Will

In the time it will have taken you to read this article, 15 new cases of COVID-19 (or the 2019 coronavirus) will have been reported around the world. By this time tomorrow, 100 more people will have died from it.

These numbers aren’t minor, but you might think they aren’t a big deal compared to some of the other things out there that could kill us. Lung disease, traffic accidents, and even suicide kill people at a far quicker rate than COVID-19. And yet, the world is gripped in coronavirus panic. 

Just look at our own country, where people are going crazy over toilet paper – two women ganging up on another over a packet, and Big W staff in Tamworth calling in police to taser a man who assaulted them over the lack of TP in the store.

It might be fun to laugh at these people, but it’s a sobering moment when you realise this is nothing more than human fear made manifest. These people are trying to protect something they care about, perhaps someone close to them.

The COVID-19 outbreak is a textbook example of how people respond to uncertainty. What if I run out of toilet paper? What if I can’t go to work for the next few weeks? What will I do with my kids if our schools close down? Fear is what drives us to take precautionary measures – and yes, even to the point of violence.

This isn’t exactly news. There’s an entire genre of entertainment focused on what happens when humans face disaster: the apocalypse movie. Mad Max, The Walking Dead, The Last of Us – these are well-known, even seminal works of art that reflect what we know about fear. It motivates us to seek safety, control, and certainty.

In these stories, fear often leads people down a path of destruction. The Bible is full of such examples as well. In 2 Samuel 11, King David sleeps with and impregnates Bathsheba, a married woman. When he finds out that she is pregnant with his child, he panics and arranges to have her husband Uriah killed in battle. God sends Nathan to rebuke him, and strikes down his newborn child.

Yet, this is the same David who called upon the name of the Lord when Saul caused him to fear for his life. He writes a song in 2 Samuel 22:

“I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
   and have been saved from my enemies.
The waves of death swirled about me;
  the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me;
    the snares of death confronted me.
“In my distress I called to the Lord;
    I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice.” 2 Samuel 22:4-7

Of course, God does not guarantee that we will be granted release from fears that come from ungodly places. He allows David to murder Uriah in his fear, just as he allows panicked Australians to raid supermarkets for necessities, leaving medical staff and the needy empty handed.

But these legitimate, godly fears that we experience when something like COVID-19 takes over the world have an answer in the Scriptures. It is right for parents to worry about their children. It is commendable for us to worry about our elderly parents and grandparents. It is good and holy to be concerned about burdening others by passing on disease.

The contents of our fear matter far less than how we respond to them. Are we doing our best to evaluate our fears and seek a godly response? Are we bringing our godly fears to the one who is sovereign over death and disease?

1 Peter 5:7 commands the young people in the church to “cast all [their] anxiety on him because he cares for you”. All the problems of the world which trigger legitimate and holy fear in us are to be thrust into God’s hands. Why? Because he has already conquered that which fuels our biggest fear – eternity. 

In the same passage, Peter writes to the church to remind them that “the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” Through Jesus, our true disease – sin – is healed. He has broken its hold on us, and now he carries out the work of restoring us to our true, image-bearing glory day by day. 

When we come to believe in this truth, there is nothing that can stop us from continuing on to walk in step with Jesus. He knows this, which is why the Bible is full of stories in which he commands his followers to not be afraid.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” John 14:1

“Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27b

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

“So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:31

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Mark 6:50

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32

We are not commanded to forget about the things of this world entirely, not as long as we’re still living in it and carrying out God’s mission. Please wash your hands. Remember to sneeze into your elbow. But don’t do anything until you first cast your anxieties and fears upon God. He has shattered sin, and one day his Son will return to shatter death and disease finally. Including COVID-19.