Church Find welcomes St John's Pro-Cathedral in Parramatta, who are engaged in a revitalisation journey enriching the community, for all their latest times and information including times.
very church is different. St John’s is a highly diversified church. We have ages 0 to 100. We have 9 congregations meeting in 4 different languages, or 5 if you count the monthly Gujarat meeting. We have people from a vast number of different national and racial backgrounds. We have people who come out of a traditional Anglican background, people who have moved from other churches and traditions and people who have been converted into our fellowship. As a city church we draw on people from a wide variety of suburbs in Western Sydney but we have to remember that God has put us in the heart of Parramatta. The diversification is a wonderful strength. And yet, at the same time, it is a weakness. For it would be all too easy for us to be going off in different directions, assuming everyone else was on board with us, aiming for a hundred things and hitting nothing. It is so important that we are united around a common purpose which is clearly and easily understood.
We could ask ourselves this same question about our own lives. What is my purpose in life? What is yours? If you asked this question of people on the street it isn’t difficult to imagine some possible responses. To be true to myself! To make a pile of money! To enjoy every moment! To give my children a start in life!
Of course we find our purpose in God. The Westminster Confession says our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. This is a beautiful statement. And yet at the same time this is really the purpose of all humanity. As believers and as a church we need something in addition to this. We need something that focuses our attention on Jesus and clarifies what we should be doing.
Jesus gave his disciples a very clear statement of purpose after he rose from the dead and moments before he ascended to the throne of heaven. Jesus’ last instructions were: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matt 28:18f)
