CMS & Summer School

Written By Sandy Grant

Minister’s Letter - 12 January 2023

Friends in Christ, along with a number of other members and staff of the Cathedral, and Christians gathered from all over Sydney and NSW, I have been able, with Karyn, to enjoy the CMS Summer School up at Katoomba this week.

Vaughan Roberts, from St Ebbe's Oxford, has done a magnificant job preaching his way through the whole of the book of Hebrews in seven sermons. (One to go tomorrow morning, as I write). It's impossible to summarise in a newsletter, but here's a couple of things that have stood out to me. 

Firstly, the theme of hope has struck me. In the 3rd talk, Vaughan drew attention to Hebrews 6:19-20.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. 

He said we can be sure of this hope – of the heavenly city to come – because it's what God has promised. And you can bank on what God promises, since as v18 says, "it is impossible for God to lie".

But secondly, Jesus has died for our sins, risen again, ascended to heaven (the "inner sanctuary" in heaven), and is seated at God's right hand. He is our "forerunner" and provides an anchor for our future hope!

When you think of an anchor, you normally think of boats and oceans. But this Scripture made me think of rock climbing, like you sometimes see people doing in the Blue Mountains. Rock climbers need to insert metal anchors firmly into secure spots on the rock wall face, so you can attach ropes, and support climbers as they ascend or abseil back down. 

But imagine one of those massive vertical rock walls that has never been climbed... like in that doco "Free Solo" (streaming on Disney +) featuring Alex Honnold climbing the 3,000ft El Capitan in Yosemite National Park – without ropes! No one had done it before. But once he ascended, he could hammer in the anchor points, so others - without his unique abilities - could follow. (I realise I am probably over-simplifying rock-climbing details!)

Jesus could ascend into God's presence, because he was perfectly holy, without sin. And because he had offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for sins on our behalf, we too can follow him - as our forerunner - into God's presence, confident that we are forgiven and cleansed. 

This hope in what Jesus has done is an anchor for our soul. 

Today the great chapter of old heroes of faith, Hebrews 11, emphasised those Old Testament characters were looking forward to "the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God" (v10). So they lived as "foreigners and strangers on earth" (v13), "longing for a better country – a heavenly one" (v16).

I was challenged to ask if I was getting too comfortable in this world. Or was I longing intensely for heaven? 

In passing, I was also struck by this quote from J.I. Packer that Vaughan shared:

"The only proof of past conversion is present convertedness." [Keep in step with the Spirit, p70] 

We also heard from Leonardo De Chirico, an Italian Protestant pastor and theologian based in Rome, who explained why we still need gospel missionaries in Europe. He was so evidently full of love and respect for Roman Catholics, but noted how unhelpful their offricial doctrine is when it asserts the authority of the church over the Scriptures, and then it rejects the biblical idea that we are saved and justified before God by faith alone in Christ, and not at all by our works.

This made me look forward to the course being launched later this year, aimed at helping us share Jesus with our Catholic friends. Our link missionary in Italy, Simon Cowell, is a contributer and presenter of this course. 

Another encouraging snippet was to hear of the Anglican Church at Blayney, a small town in NSW centrsl west in the Diocese of Bathurst, was about to have their first ever link missionary!

If all this is new to you, I should explain that CMS is short for the "Church Missionary Society". CMS is a missionary agency, through which Anglican churches (and some others) send people as cross cultural missionaries. You can read more information about our current link missionaries as follows:

At the Summer School, we were reminded that CMS Values are:
GOSPEL PRIORITY… Grounded in God’s word, the Bible, we strive to be faithful gospel witnesses in all that we do, so that people might repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal salvation and grow as his disciples.

CROSS-SHAPED... The cross is both the message we proclaim and the life we live. Therefore, we serve in the power of the Holy Spirit, humbly laying down our lives in weakness, vulnerability and dependent prayer, for the sake of others and God’s glory.

LONG-TERM... We go long-term because we are committed to developing cultural understanding, learning language, and investing in long-term relationships for the sake of effective cross-cultural mission. We value Bible-based theological education, excellent pastoral care, specialised training for mission, and lifelong learning.

IN PARTNERSHIP... We partner with churches in Australia to set apart and support missionaries. Around the world, we partner with and serve under the authority of local leaders and at their invitation, wherever possible.

These are terrific commitments. And so I encourage you to sign up to receive our missionaries' prayer emails and to support them financially (see links above). 

Warmly in Christ,

Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney

Sandy Grant
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