On Sunday 24th in our services, I made use of some of the resources offered by the organisation ‘Common Grace’. Common Grace is, to quote, an
‘online Australian Christian movement for justice. We exist to inspire and organise Australian Christians to think, speak and act like Jesus for a more just world.’
As part of this movement there is a desire to mobilise the wider Australian church in building relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Island peoples who themselves are following Jesus. Key Aboriginal Christian leaders, including Aunty Jean Phillips who we heard from through video in our services recognise that true reconciliation can only be found in Christ.
This message resonates with Verity and I as we have been facilitating prayer across the Greater Bunbury region over the past few years. When we unite before our Father in heaven, recognising one another as the body of Christ and pray in the Spirit we know that God will command His blessing. We have been very aware that there has been no representation to date of brothers or sisters from our Christian Aboriginal communities locally. We were finally able to meet with some of our Aboriginal Christian sisters recently and hope that we can walk together and learn from one another as we all seek the Kingdom of God on earth, something we pray for in the Lord’s prayer.
Our first identity as Christians is just that , we are ‘in Christ’, we are His body. One of our roles may well be to prayerfully seek a greater reconciliation and peace among all the peoples of Australia, starting with local relationship building and prayer together.
There is much to celebrate about Australia. We are blessed to reside here. We continue to pray for Australia that the kingdom Jesus announced would come increasingly here and that God’s will would come here as in heaven.
As we walk close to Jesus, we walk close to those who are walking with Jesus-.
Shalom
Jamie