At our AGM in November the church affirmed Jonny Lush into the role of elder. We are very excited to see what the Lord might do in and through him as he serves in this role.  We thought it would be great to let you know a little bit more about him and commend him to you.

Jonny was born and raised in Sydney, the second of three boys, in a Christian family.  His parents were actively involved in the local evangelical Anglican church which Jonny attended till after his marriage.  Though he attended church and youth group, it wasn’t until he was 20 that he realized that he wasn’t a Christian and came into a personal relationship with Christ.

After leaving school he completed a two year aeronautics course and then trained as a pilot.  Because work was hard to get as a young pilot at that time, he commenced a carpentry apprenticeship and subsequently qualified in this trade.

In 1996 he met Liz and they were married the following year.  For 5 years they were actively involved together in ministry at their church……youth work, discipling teenagers, and leading music.  In 2003 they moved to Queensland.  Over that time they have grown their family to four children  -  Isabella, Sophia, Isaac and Samuel.

Over the past 6-7 years they have been attending City North where they have served in many different roles.  For Jonny this has meant heading up Chileramps for most of its existence, discipling young men, and helping in the music area.  For Liz it has been helping lead the Tuesday Womens Bible study, Women of Purpose, and teaching/discipling teenage girls and young women.  Together they enjoy a hospitality ministry.

Last year they moved to live on the campus of Crossway College where Jonny holds the position of Property and Construction Manager.  They are busily involved in the life of the college and the interaction they have with the students and staff there.

Jonny has a love for Christ and for the local church.  His gospel witness outside of church is clear and unambiguous.  His passions are discipling young men and helping/leading in music ministry.   Together with Liz we believe they will have a strong and positive influence through this new role.  If you don’t know Jonny and Liz make sure you get to know them and look for ways to support them as they take this next step in their journey as a family.

Last week in our evening series, Sexual Healing, we looked at the topic of sexual assault.

I wish this was a topic we did not have to address, but the reality is we are sinners living in a sinful world and many Australians are sexually assaulted each year. Australian statistics indicate that as many as 1 in 5 women and 1 in 20 men are sexually assaulted from age 15. This is a shocking reality and therefore highlights the need for us as a church to address this topic, especially when we believe the Bible offers hope for those who have been victims of sexual assault.

I thought I would share, by way of this blog post, an excellent resource for working though what the Bible has to say on this topic. Justin and Lindsey Holcomb’s book Rid of my Disgrace expertly addresses the topic of sexual assault from a Biblical perspective. The book sets out to address what the gospel has to say to the victims of sexual assault and shows that “the gospel applies grace to disgrace and redeems what is destroyed,” that “one-way love heals and replaces the destruction caused by one-way violence.”

Here is a video you can watch with the authors:

Are you satisfied with God? Is Christ your treasure? Do you praise Him out of duty, or is your praise the natural outburst of a heart that is thrilled to know and love Him?

John Piper put these questions (and many more) before us at the Engage conference in Katoomba, 2-4 Sep. A group of City North young adults made the trek together. John spoke very powerfully about God’s passion for His own glory (ie. how God seeking His own glory is actually loving) and God’s passion for us to have complete, lasting, unbeatable joy in Him. It was intense, but rewarding.

The second speaker Rory Shiner spoke of different facets of eternity (from 1 Cor 15). It’s amazing how little we think about eternity! We tend to live in the now; we forget about the glorious hope stored up for us. We forget that Christ has been raised. We forget that Christ will return and raise us to be with Him. As a result, we get impatient. We compromise. We strive for petty gains and comforts. And we sin, because we subconsciously think that ‘now’ is the only time we’ll get!

Seriously, when you consider eternity and the offer of full and lasting joy in God, what a joke our decisions to sin are! It just doesn’t make sense. As Rory said, “sin is just bad eschatology”! (Translation: “a bad understanding of end times”.)

To conclude with more of Piper, Psalm 16:11 says of God: “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Is this the God who you know and treasure and love and adore? How long will you attempt to manufacture your own joy apart from Him?

It was worth the trip. Solid spiritual food. Time well spent.

Check out John Piper at desiringGod.org

Ed: This guest post was written by Young Adult, Scott Taylor.