Go Well and God Bless
Dear Friends and Families,
I’m sure that most of us have attended the MCG, either for a sporting event, a concert, an open day, a rally, or even a memorial service.
For anyone who has ever ascended the stairs up to the members’ dining room – something I’m blessed to be able do once a year when I’m invited to a dinner with some old friends – you may have seen the 2m x 7m tapestry that graces the wall in between the dining room entrance and the Long Room (see the photo below).
It is an impressive piece of cloth, which has had woven into it hundreds of pictorial representations of many key moments in the life of the sporting ground, over a period of 150 years.
In the middle of the tapestry stands a solitary figure in a suit in front of a microphone: the American evangelist, the Reverend Billy Graham, who, in 1959, led a series of very successful missions across Australia, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ over a period of four months. It is estimated that approximately 3 million citizens (out of a population of just 10 million at the time!) came to hear Graham speak.
Graham’s presence on the tapestry is due to the fact that the final night of his Melbourne mission holds the record for the greatest crowd attendance at the MCG – approximately 145,000 people! When Billy Graham finally left Australia to fly back to America, hundreds gathered at Mascot Airport in Sydney to wave him farewell, and it is his departing sentiments which I wish to echo.
After nine years of contributions, this newsletter article marks my final reflection, as I prepare to move on to a new Anglican school venture in Term 4. I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to engage with the students, staff and parents in different arenas of relationship – at school, at Auskick, at the local shops, through Craigieburn Little Athletics, and even at some of your homes! In everything I have said and done, I do hope that you have experienced something of what the apostle Paul affirms in his farewell address to the Ephesian elders as his main goal in life: to ‘complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.’ [Acts 20:24]. I too have had this as my goal at Hume.
When Billy Graham was about to board the plane home, he remarked to the crowd that while he hoped that the Australian people would, in one sense, fondly remember him and his ministry team, in another sense, he hoped that they would not! Rather, he wanted people to only remember Christ and his forgiveness; after all, Graham was simply Christ’s ambassador. I also wish to make this my departing wish.
I will never forget the experiences, laughs and happy times here at Hume (the chaos of Carols on the second-last day of the year was always a highlight!) and the many life lessons learned. However, it is my hope and prayer that, in due season, you too will forget me, and remember only him – the Lord Jesus Christ. In the words of Hebrews 13:8, he is ‘the same yesterday, today and forever.’
That is surely worth remembering!
If you would like to speak further, or have questions about the Christian life, then do please contact either me or Reverend Sheela Pandhare (our Associate Chaplain) at the respective email addresses below:
Reverend Peter: waterhousep@humegrammar.vic.edu.au
Reverend Sheela: pandhares@humegrammar.vic.edu.au
I also encourage you to pray the prayer for the week below and sing the song at the weblink (it’s one of my favourite Colin Buchanan songs!).
If you would like to explore the certainty of Christ further, the two local Anglican churches listed below lead regular Sunday gatherings.
St Peter’s, Craigieburn (meeting at 10:30am on Sundays in the Chapel at Hume Anglican Grammar: 100 Mt Ridley Road, Mickleham)
Minister: Reverend Sheela Pandhare
Mobile: 0451 973 733/03 9308 2452
Email: sheelapandhare@gmail.com/humeparish@gmail.com
http://www.humeparish.melbourneanglican.org.au
Redemption Church Craigieburn (meeting at 4:00pm on Sundays in Building 12 – the Year 5/6 Centre at Hume Anglican Grammar: 100 Mt Ridley Road, Mickleham)
Pastor: Reverend Akhil Gardner
Mobile: 0400 021 381
Email: akhilgardner@gmail.com
https://www.rccraigieburn.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/rccraigieburn/
A Prayer for the Week
Creator God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you:
teach us to offer ourselves to your service,
that here we may have your peace,
and in the world to come may see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Song (Little by little – Colin Buchanan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPN2B07ZLi8
