Cathedral Winter Appeal
CATHEDRAL NEWSLETTER - 24 June 2023
Friends in Christ, the church E-Newsletter comes late this week, after illness delayed production of orders and service.
Tomorrow we complete our series in the early parts of Genesis. Over following few years, Lord willing, I expect we will complete further series in Genesis focussing successively on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the finally Joseph. There is so much more to learn in this foundational book.
Soon we will commence a series from the first of the letters of John. In 1 John 3, the author writes these striking words of challenge:
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 John repeatedly says here in v16 that we only really find out what true love is by looking to Jesus Christ and what he did for us at the cross. (So see also 1 John 4:9-10.)
The same letter also repeatedly says that God's love provides the model and motive for our love. See here in vv16b-18, but also 1 John 4:11.
The Bible couldn't really be clearer, could it? We need to experience God's love at the cross we we receive forgiveness and cleansing from sin. And we need to display the same kind of sacrificial love to others. So please never think we can outgrow our need to go deeper into the love of Christ, perfectly expressed in his atoning sacrifice for us.
By the way, I noticed that the special focus for our love in 1 John is "a brother or sister in need" (1 John 3:17). I take it this refers to fellow Christians. The same language ("brother or sister") is used in James 2:14-17 in regard to practical welfare.
However, Galatians 6:10 urges that "as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Likewise, Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan urges us to be a neighbour to anyone around us who finds themselves in need, even if they are from a different group from your own.
So I write with a simple request. Could you donate the following second-hand items in decent condition:
a warm winter coat or jacket (especially for men);
a warm blanket?
My reason for asking is that this winter we have seen an increase of the number of people coming to our Cathedral and its office doors seeking not only a toasted sandwich or cup of soup or coffee, but also asking wherther we have any blankets or coats, because of the very cold weather. More generally, I have noticed an increase in the number of rough sleepers in the CBD commpared to the previous year.
If you have a decent blanket or warm jacket you can spare, please CHECK WITH OUR OFFICE by phone - 9265 1551 - or email BEFORE BRINGING YOUR DONATION IN. This is because we do not have room to store a large amount of such goods. Therefore we would prefer to compile a list of people with a spare blanket or jacket at home, and we will call on you when our supplies run low.
Here is the second way you can help. With high inflation, Anglicare advises that some of the clients they work with are being forced to make the difficult decision between food or medicine. So donation of non-perishable food will greatly assist Anglicares work offering some food relief.
We will be collecting the following kinds of food over the next three weeks:
packets of pasta & pasta sauce
chunky soup
tinned protein (fish, tuna)
long-life milk (1 Litre)
tinned fruit & vegetables
baked beans & tinned spaghetti
Please bring your donation by the end of the school holidays. That is, by Sunday 16th July. (By the way, if you come by public transport and it's too hard to carry heavy tins into the Cathedral, then before church, you could always buy a few cans or packets at Woolworths just over the road from Town Hall.)
Warmly in Christ,
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney
