I remember the first day I walked into church with our firstborn, Levi. It was our first outing as a new family. Needless to say I was excited and proud, of our new born son but also of our new British Racing Green Emmaljunga Pram. Today they have ‘Jeep’ and ‘Peg Perago’ but in my day it was The Emmaljunga! I still cringe at the mind numbing hours looking at basinets, change tables, high chairs, sterilisers, the list goes on. However one walk along the pram aisle I knew I had more to offer to this season of shopping than just my Visa Card, amazed at the options and the engineering, I was committed to purchasing the perfect vehicle for my coming child.

That Sunday we headed for the ‘parents with children’ section for the first time, my wife checking the new nappy bag while I tested the Emmuljanga’s steering and suspension. Then it happened, my first ‘pram bingle’, I ran into the back of a friend’s Emmuljunga (the previous model). There was no denying my accountability, he was stationary and I hit him from behind. As my friend settled his startled and now crying two year old, he turned to me with a genuine and warm smile and said ‘Learner driver!’ We laughed! But I knew he was right in more ways than one. We may have felt prepared; the nursery was painted, the cot set, we had read books and been to classes but we still had much to learn about being parents. It is often life’s little ‘bingles’ that remind us we all need help.

As I look back I feel it is significant our first outing as a new family was to our church, not for any religious reason but because amongst these families and friends is where we have learnt and continue to learn how to be parents in the house of the Lord. There are many models and avenues of learning but when it comes to being a parent we need to know the way of the Lord. It is a higher way, not because Christians are better than anyone else, but because it is life that literally comes from above, life from our Heavenly Father.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”(Isaiah58:5-6)

Parents will often pray for their children. I have known ones who will rarely offer up a pray for themselves but if strife or sickness touches their child they will cry out to God. It is good to pray and I believe God hears our prayers and honours them, the bible says ‘The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective’ (James 5:16). So please pray, but as a parent I have found merely prayer for my children is not enough. Consider the scripture Isaiah 2:3, parents need to go up to the house of the Lord and then He will teach us his ways. As we actively seek God He will equip us to provide a pathway for our children. This happens when we are in the Lord’s house.

“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

To the house of the God of Jacob;

He will teach us of His way,

And we shall walk in His paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

(Isaiah 2:3)

The word of the Lord is the key, this is God’s teaching and can only be found in His house. Today the house of the Lord is the church, not a building or a particular leader or even denomination, a church is a community of people committed to a relationship with Christ and one another. It is in these relationships that the word of God can transact from text on paper to a living word able to direct us in the pathway of righteousness. Certainly there are seasons of teaching in the church, seminars or conventions were gifted individuals may equip us if we will receive their offering. But just as important is the word we share with each other, from one house to another, one parent to another and one friend to another.

I am thankful for the many friends, young and old, who have taught us by their example and have also had the courage at times to sit us down and ‘tell us straight’ were we may consider change for the better. The bible says ‘God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble’. As we humble ourselves and acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers God is able to help us. By grace he will give to us all we need and more to help another, our children and our neighbours.

I trust you will enjoy the articles in the month’s magazine. These articles contains the living testimony or words of those who have shared them; parents, newlyweds,  youth and seniors sharing their lives in the hope it may encourage and minister to others who may be facing similar issues. This is the spiritual reality of breaking bread from house to house, may they be words to nourish and strengthen you.

Rick Jackson

It’s important to note that Christ’s concept of His church is not a building of bricks and mortar, but of people. What people? Whosoever comes to and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and is built upon Him as the chief cornerstone. I love these clear and personalized statements of the word of God – ‘You are God’s building’ (1Co 3:9), and ‘… you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house…’ (1Pe 2:5).

I have another story one that illustrates how crucial, foundations are, it has to do with the steps taken by Councils to ensure strict adherence to r e g u l a t i o n s . Have you ever had a run-in with your Council over building a house or adding a room? I can almost sense the exasperation! I recall the time when we wanted to add a large room to our family home in Melbourne. The Council required a foundation of ten concrete pillars of two meters in depth. They sent an inspector on three separate occasions to watch over the work. First, to inspect the holes when they were dug, then to see that the iron mesh had been placed correctly in the holes and finally, to make sure that the right amount of concrete had been poured. ‘I kid you not’. The whole process took a long time, and anyone who’s been subjected to the excessive demands of Councils will empathise. Until however, you learn that my house was originally built on a disused garbage tip. Maybe we do need Councils after all.

Let’s go back to what Jesus said about His church prevailing against the powers of hell. His church will indeed prevail, but take note that it is being built in a world full of decay, refuse and corruption. That’s why absolute care must be taken to lay the right foundation no matter how long it takes or the obstacles that are met – for ‘what will the righteous do if the foundations are destroyed’. Obviously they will not prevail against the gates of hell.

You may also have read about the foolish man who was in such a hurry to build a house that he built it on sand without a proper foundation. Not surprisingly, when the storm came his house collapsed. The same storm with the same ferocity also battered the worthy home of a wise man.

His house was worthy simply because he took the time to dig deep until he found a rock. What was his link to the rock? He heard the ‘sayings’ of Christ and practiced them. The foolish man also heard the words of Christ but found some of them ‘hard sayings’ and so he chose to ignore them – and lost his link to the rock. It is sad but true that if we reject one word of Christ it’s not hard to reject another and another until we have no word other than our own projections and imaginations.

That rock is special and it is also significant. It is set in place by God and not man; it is a tried stone, tested by every agency – demonic, human and divine. It is a precious cornerstone; the stone above all others yet one of many stones. It is a sure foundation in any realm heavenly or earthly. He that really believes all of these facts will not make haste in building his/her life on any other foundation than that which is set – carefully and with precision. Don’t forget this foundation is laid where everything that can be shaken will be shaken.