Adelaide (the City of Churches) trip 2020 Australia Day long weekend: A New Identity

Randomly walked into the Edge Church on Australia Day (didn’t know this church existed until we drove past it and saw lots of people there, so we went in for the Sunday service). This church happened to be next to St Francis Winery Resort, where we stayed for our first night.

A New Identity (Edge Church Reynella 11am service Australia Day 2020 Ps Geoff Woodward)

Mission statement of Edge Church:

1) Know Christ

2) Be the Church: The church is the people, not the institution.

3) Serve our Community

Our identity is not confined by our geographical location.

The Spirit of God on us is the same no matter where or what culture we are.

It's about what the Holy Spirit wants to do in the life of the church.

We have to make decisions about things we will release out of our life: Respond now, not later.

Come and deploy. Come and be a part of the answer for another.

The church is a body of people celebrating for a divine purpose.

The speaker not here to flatter us, like we don't try to flatter our family.

But the thing is, you incredibly matter! The speaker doesn’t think about his retina or flatter it. He noticed it when it felt weird. Then it became the only thing he thought about when it went wrong.

Sometimes we don't see you but when you're missing we miss you!

Scriptural reading: Joshua 2:1-11

Walking in to a new identity means it is no longer about what we used to be, or how we are defined by others. Even though the Pharaoh called the Israelites his “slaves”, they were no longer the slaves of Pharaoh. At this point in the Scriptures, we see that the Israelites are:

1) The people of God.

You have not exhausted God's highlights for you in your life. Peter walked on water. It doesn’t end here. Then he made the lame walk. Then he got taken out of prison by the angel (Acts 12). It's not just about what had happened to us before.

2) The people of leadership: a royal priesthood.

They are willing to represent, rather than just exposing carnal leadership. Carnal leaders have died in the desert. They are not just to follow Moses out but to lead others in. We are under an authority (Matthew 9): To be lead and to lead.

3) A people of miracles.

Joshua 3:15-16. It wasn't Moses with a stick here. It is not about who lays hands on me, but I got hands and the same power can flow through me.

4) The people of personal and public testimony.

Joshua 4:5-7. As we move along forwards, you and I aren't meant to point at what used to happen, about a story that's hidden in the past. And it is not just about a story of what someone else did. You have your story, so use your story. It's not about whether it was my hands or someone else's hands that made this sick person better, because if God really wants to do something, He can do it through anyone He wants, and it's done by God. What matters is that God is moving, moving the people of God along.

5) A people of fresh commitment.

Joshua 5:2-9. The people were made vulnerable when they were commanded to get circumcised. They obeyed. The only yes is not the yes you made before, or the yes you say when you become better, but the yes you made now. If we are willing to empty our hands, God will fill it with more than we will ever hold. How up to date is your yes? Who will take the first step? Not so that we can look good, but so that He can be lifted up.

As the people of God, we are to carry the message of faith, hope, and love.

It is not about how great the program is, but about how great the people are.

Henley Breach, Glenelg Beach.

McLaren Vale: D'arenberg (an iconic cubed architecture), Chapel Hill (a church that turned into a winery), Kay Brothers, Woodstock (a winery with an animal farm).

Mount Lofty Lighthouse.

Hahndof (German Town).

Barossa Valley: Penfolds Barossa Valley, Two Hands Wines (recommended by my cousin, who is currently studying wine business in Adelaide. Great tasting wines!), Peter Lehmann winery (the wine we used for our wedding), and Jacobs Creek visitor centre.

The Sun Moon Lake Church of Christ

During the Christmas trip to Taiwan, Chris and I visited the Sun Moon Lake. My last trip to the lake was four years ago, while Chris was 29 years ago.

28Dec 2019

Went to the Sun Moon Lake today. Encountered quite a few incidents, eg. missing our high speed train, a long wait for the bus. So it was very late by the time we got there. When we took the last bus to Ita Thao, there was suddenly a loud metallic noise, and Chris thought a metal had broke in the wheels and was prepared to knock open the bus window in case the bus plunges into the lake! Turns out it wasn’t the wheel, but the door that broke. We all had to exit through the emergency exit when we got to the destination. Despite these incidents, we give thanks to God, as we got to hear a beautiful string concert at the Sun Moon Lake Church of Christ, and a friendly fried tempura stall owner called a taxi for us so we could get back to our accommodation at Shuishe Pier. The driver is a Thao, and he told us the tribal name “Ita Thao” means “we are human.” The Thaos used to live on the Lalu Island, which was originally not an island, but a piece of land. The Sun Moon Lake used to be a river, but became a lake when the Japanese modified it into a dam. (I looked up more information afterwards and found that the Sun Moon Lake was originally a lake, and the surface area of the lake increased from 4.5 km2 to 7.7 km2 after the Japanese modified it. Water flooded the land where the Thaos used to live. In other words, their land was taken away from them.)

We stayed at the Sun Moon Lake Teachers' Hostel, which is actually great value for money. However, Chris googled this place up and saw there are many ghost stories about this place in relation to the ship accident 29 years ago in Sun Moon Lake. Many people reported hearing heavy pounding on the glass in the middle of the night, like people stuck in a boat pounding the glass for help. That made him very scared. Fortunately, we slept peacefully that night, and there were no weird noises.

29Dec 2019

It’s an amazing grace to visit the Sun Moon Lake Church of Christ. Chris had become very obsessed about violins lately so I bought one for him as a Christmas gift for him to learn himself. He enjoyed the string orchestra concert at the church very much. On Sunday, we received great hospitality from Sherry, the preacher and other co-workers in the church as well as intercessory prayer. Sherry even gave us “almond coconut pineapple cake” (in Mandarin, these words sound the same as “serving Jesus”) and milk nougat candies. Chris loves pineapple cakes! What an amazing place to visit!