July 5th, 2017

Today the National Office made a visit to Pastor Roslyn Connors, who is ministering to the Aboriginal Community in Inverell NSW. 

Please join us in continual prayer for the work in this area, for the Lord to give wisdom and strength to Pastor Roslyn as she continues to visit and encourage people in this region. Also pray for God to raise up co-labourers and ministry supporters for this new work.

From Jacqueline Kesner
Church of God Australia - National Office
​

The ministry work in Inner-West Sydney with Pastors Seru & Eseta Rasaubale together with their sons continues after more than 30 years in the Lakemba area.

We are thankful to the Lord for the faithfulness of both Pastor Seru & Pastor Eseta who have laboured much and God is their reward.

May you be encouraged by the ministry of Church of God Australia in Inner-West Sydney.

​

It was such a blessing having Pastor Walter and Josh minister to us at our grand opening day. His presence really made a big difference especially for our church partners who have never heard about COG. Josh was also very encouraging and praying the God will open opportunities for him and the rest of our COG family here in Australia to support our newly-planted ministry here in Melbourne! 

From Pastor Ramon Maglaya - Melbourne Community Church of God

Dr. Blayne Waltrip & team ministered at the Richlands Church of God. 

On the 19th of December we met up for Fellowship at Morayfield. We had a great time together, catching up with fellow ministers in the area. Rev. Walter ministered a powerful word from Luke 15:8-10, on the importance and urgency of the Great Commission.



The Parable of the Lost Coin8  “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one.  Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”


The next QLD Minister’s Meeting is scheduled for late February 2016. More information will be sent from the National Office.

Blessings!

On the 14th of November 2015 we met together for the Church of God (Australia) Ltd Annual General Meeting. This was not just a typical business meeting, but also a time to update and to report what has been happening in our churches and ministries around Australia and in the Australasia Region.
 
Our fellowship was exhorted by a passage of Scripture, extolling the blessings of unity in the body of Christ as we extend His church: coming together against the works of the enemy and the spirit of control; lifting each other up and releasing each other to good works.
 
Psalms 133: 1-3
 

1. How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
   
2.  It is like precious oil poured on the running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.
   
3. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.
   

 
For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
 
There were numerous reports of the Churches of God throughout Australia reaching out into the community and to our neighboring countries by way of missions outreaches in Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Samoa and Fiji.
 
The AGM not only served as a time of updates but also a time of celebration, where nine (9) ministers received their International Credentials from Church of God HQ. It was also a great time of fellowship among the ministers and lay-workers of the different Churches of God in Australia.


Dates to put in your Calendar:

• July 19 to 22, 2016 - Church of God General Assembly– Nashville TN USA
• September 2016 – Papua New Guinea – Women’s Conference – organized by Macarthur Worship Centre
• November 2016 – Church of God (Australia) Ltd – AGM
• May 2017 – Short Term Missions – Thailand & Laos – organized by New Heart
• Church of God (Team will attend HOSEA IV)
• May 2017 – Harvest of South East Asia (HOSEA IV) – Chiang Mai, THAILAND

We had the privilege to be ministered by Rev. Simon Valenzuela, a Church of God Missionary from the Philippines to Laos and Cambodia.

A great time of refreshing was experienced by all who attended and it was a great time of fellowship at Morayfield QLD.

INTEGRITY IS A TERM used frequently in reference to leadership in our society. For example, we often hear it used in campaign speeches: “Elect a man of integrity.” Integrity, however, is a word that is overworked and under-lived. The educational goal, or dream, that was to produce an acceptable code of ethics or standard of behavior has failed us. Corruption is evident in all circles of leadership. Justice is obstructed; expediency is the order of the day; honesty and integrity are trampled underfoot. In the words of Isaiah, the statesman prophet: “Truth is fallen in the street . . . Yea, truth faileth” (Isaiah 59:14, 15).

Integrity implies an incorruptible soundness in moral character as displayed in fulfilling trusts. It embodies sincerity, honesty, and veracity with all of their nuances of meaning. It denotes a wholeness of character. For the purpose of this presentation, I am defining integrity in terms of sincerity, honesty, and veracity.

SINCERITY
The word, sincere derives from the Latin word sincerus which means “clean or pure.” It means literally “without wax”—sin (without) and cere (wax), which refer to the ancient custom of using wax to fill in hairline cracks in pottery or to hide flaws in cloth. These flaws would not be revealed until exposed to heat or sunlight. This is the meaning of the word as used in Philippians  1:10: “That ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.” God wants sincere leadership which is the same in actual character as it is in outward appearance—genuine and
without pretense. 

This was demonstrated when Samuel went to the home of Jesse to select a leader for Israel from among his sons. When Samuel saw Eliab, the eldest son who was tall and handsome and had some of the characteristics of Saul, who stood head and shoulders above his peers, he said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart”
(1 Samuel 16:6, 7).

David, the youngest of his sons and the least likely candidate in the eyes of his brothers, was chosen. Later, the Holy Spirit records, “And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them” (Psalm 78:72 NIV). Woodrow Wilson once said, “A man must be something before he can do anything.” This is especially true in the ministry. In no profession is the man behind the profession so important as in Christian leadership. A man may perform some tasks well with an impaired character, but not so in the ministry. What one is, to a great extent, determines what he produces and the effectiveness of that production. One cannot divorce lifestyle from leadership.

I have been quite amused at political candidates who plead,
“Do not judge me for what I am; judge me according to what I can do and according to my talents.” Although every leader is a man of like passions as others, more is expected of the leader because he has accepted the responsibility of leading. Not only is more expected of him: he will also have the greater judgment.

“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48). James says, “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation
[judgment] (James 3:1).


Engage / FALL 2015

Text: Mark 7:5-7 (NLT)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our
age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

It's quite easy for church leaders to get wrong views of people. Someone that regularly attends church, gets involved in the ministry, is generally pleasant and cooperative; is more likely assumed to have a vital personal relationship with Jesus. Flip the coin around and we find ourselves coming down hard on the awkward and shy believer who was trouble fitting in and exhibits very unorthodox ways of doing stuff and interacting with others. But we later find out just how wrong we were to misread the situation, the person; 'having judged the book by its cover.'

Our nature tends to lean on what is rather easy; to exist on a sort of autopilot spirituality. Living by faith, on the other hand can be exhausting.  A lazy faith makes us live off the spirituality of others. This is not to make a judgement about whether or not others are Christians by their outward appearance. That's the point exactly, not to rely on a superficial and often shallow, hurtful assessment of others.  Rather, it is to accept the possibility that in all their sermon hearing and rostered duties and robust singing, there might not be much else going on at a deeper level.

Is this concept a bit too cynical? Probably not, if we avoid forming firm conclusions and simply look at the possibilities. If church members are not forming deeper personal relationships with God, then all the other activity is at risk of falling into the category described by our text.  

Encouraging people to be more involved in the church is a good thing but that must be accompanied by another good thing: encouraging them to go deeper into the life and love of Jesus. This applies to both leaders and congregants. It is so easy to live off the buzz and activity of church life, and sponge off from the faith-walk and leadership of others. There is always much more work involved, so much more to work out for ourselves.  

But we are admonished in Scripture to work out or salvation, not for it, then coast through the remainder of our earthly journey on the faith steam of those around us. As a royal priesthood, each individual believer is responsible for their personal walk and relationship with their Saviour and with their fellow priests in the Lord.  

May our spiritual goal not just to want to appear to be a follower of Jesus, but to desire to truly follow Him.

May your week be blessed,

In Christ's service,

Frederick Kesner