First Loved Loving
Minister’s Letter - 10 April 2026
Image courtesy bible.com
Dear Friends, “we love because he first loved us”.
So says the Apostle John in his first letter, chapter 4, verse 19.
In context, ‘he’ is God. Just earlier, John has brought Christmas and Easter together, when he wrote:
“This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10-11)
It’s on the rock solid foundation of God’s love, expressed in costly action, that we are called and motivated to love others.
We are called to love one another, within our Christian fellowship.
We are called to love our neighbours, but never narrowly defining who is my neighbour.
We are even called to love our enemies, even though how we do that can sometimes take considerable wisdom.
Today, in Eastertide, I want to alert you to two opportunities to love others.
Number 1
Please note the Street T & Community Chaplaincy – Winter Clothing Appeal.
As the months get cooler we’d like to be able to help our needy neighbours in the CBD, who are sleeping rough or otherwise on the margins, with some warm and/or water-proof clothes and bedding.
Would you be able to donate:
a warm coat/jacket, jumper or rain jacket,
a warm blanket or sleeping bag?
All secondhand items should be clean and in reasonable condition. New is also gladly received.
Larger sizes of clothing are generally preferable, as are hard-wearing or plain materials.
Unfortunately, we don’t have space to store other items.
You can leave the above with a member of staff, or on the table in the ‘corner chapel’ (north east corner of Cathedral).
Number 2
Please note the Anglican Aid Emergency Fund appeal for the Lebanon Crisis*. In recent weeks, many families from the conflict zone in south Lebanon and Beirut have fled north seeking safety. Some have now set up makeshift tents in the village where Anglican Aid’s long-term partners, Reem and Emil Bourizk, live and serve through the Good Shepherd School.
Reem and Emil are responding with extraordinary compassion. They are providing mattresses, clothing, food, and other essentials to families who have lost homes, livelihoods, and any sense of stability.
As they do, they are also offering the hope of Christ. Said Emil:
“This war, as ugly as it is, gives us an opportunity to reach out with the love and mercy of Christ… Pray that the Lord will really enable us to reach as many as we can for his Kingdom at this moment.”
Reem added:
“May God give us grace in their eyes — the right words to intervene and talk to them. We believe that the Prince of Peace will allow us, as his soldiers, to do this through our actions and words… We pray that God will use us as a pure channel to spread his love.”
The scale of need is growing by the day. More people are arriving with nothing but the clothes they escaped in, and the supplies on hand simply won’t stretch far enough.
To continue providing mattresses, clothing, food, and other essentials, Emil and Reem urgently need increased funding support.
Your gift will help them extend compassionate, practical care to every family who seeks refuge in their village – ensuring that no one is turned away, and that each person encounters the love and hope of Christ through their actions and words.
*Please note that Anglican Aid’s Emergency Fund also assists in other crisis zones that our media almost never covers. For example, help was recently sent to Madagascar after a destructive cyclone, and Mozambique and Malawi are also asking for help to care for victims of flooding, while in Burundi, Congolese refugees need help.
You can donate to Anglican Aid’s Emergency Fund today, tax deductibly. I have taken this step this morning myself.
Warmly in Christ,
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney