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A Great Light
Isaiah 9:1-7
Israel once thought King Hezekiah was the answer to its hero problem. He was a descendant of King David, and he was a profoundly good king where his contemporaries failed. Where others - such as King Ahaz, had chosen badly, Hezekiah chose wisely, and seemed to be the prophesied child God's people had been waiting for. Yet, near the end of his reign, Hezekiah began to boast in his achievements, and all he had accomplished was eventually lost to Babylon.
Hezekiah was not the promised child nor the hero of humanity. Jesus is. Jesus is the one who is truly profoundly wise, the one who secures wholeness and peace (shalom), who is the mighty God, and the ever-caring eternal Father in flesh. However, when he came, Jesus' people turned against him because he was not the hero they wanted. Israel wanted someone who would take down Rome, but Jesus came to rescue Israel from an even greater enemy: themselves, under the wrath of God for sin. Israel didn’t want to hear that the needed rescuing, so they killed their Rescuer.
Yet, through his death, Jesus rescued humanity from sin and death. We were his enemies, but his death made us his friends. He gave his strength to the weak, becoming nothing - because we were something to him.
We cannot be the hero of our own story; we need Jesus to rescue us. May we live in his peace, submit to his strength, follow his strategies, and find love in the arms of the Father.
SELECT A CHURCH
29 Nov 2020
Luke Nelson
Luke is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne West. He joined City on a Hill in its early days, serving as the Community Pastor in Melbourne, before being asked to lead a new church plant. Having grown up in Melbourne’s western suburbs, he has a deep knowledge of and passion for the area, and a great desire to see the gospel bring transformation. A gifted communicator, he loves the work of pastoring a church, opening God’s word each week and seeing the Spirit work. Luke graduated with a BA (Hons) from Melbourne University, has a Grad Dip in Divinity and a Masters of Ministry from Ridley College. He is an ordained Anglican minister in the Diocese of Melbourne.
29 Nov 2020
Luke Nelson
Luke is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne West. He joined City on a Hill in its early days, serving as the Community Pastor in Melbourne, before being asked to lead a new church plant. Having grown up in Melbourne’s western suburbs, he has a deep knowledge of and passion for the area, and a great desire to see the gospel bring transformation. A gifted communicator, he loves the work of pastoring a church, opening God’s word each week and seeing the Spirit work. Luke graduated with a BA (Hons) from Melbourne University, has a Grad Dip in Divinity and a Masters of Ministry from Ridley College. He is an ordained Anglican minister in the Diocese of Melbourne.
29 Nov 2020
Luke Nelson
Luke is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne West. He joined City on a Hill in its early days, serving as the Community Pastor in Melbourne, before being asked to lead a new church plant. Having grown up in Melbourne’s western suburbs, he has a deep knowledge of and passion for the area, and a great desire to see the gospel bring transformation. A gifted communicator, he loves the work of pastoring a church, opening God’s word each week and seeing the Spirit work. Luke graduated with a BA (Hons) from Melbourne University, has a Grad Dip in Divinity and a Masters of Ministry from Ridley College. He is an ordained Anglican minister in the Diocese of Melbourne.
29 Nov 2020
Nick Coombs
Nick is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne East. He loves Jesus, is passionate about connecting deep theology with everyday life, and eager to make a difference in the time he has by helping plant as many churches as possible. After Jesus, Nick loves his wife Jules, and his two kids, Axel and Aria. He holds an MDiv from Ridley College, is an ordained Anglican minister and gives too much of his time to fantasy sports.
29 Nov 2020
Dave Miers
29 Nov 2020
Andrew Grills
Andrew is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Geelong. He has spent most of his life as an officer in the Australian Army. Graduating with the Sword of Honour from the Australian Defence Force Academy, he served in Infantry and Intelligence, including operations in East Timor with the commandos. He holds a postgraduate degree in International Relations from Oxford University and an MDiv from Ridley College. Andrew later became an Army Chaplain at the Australian Recruit Training Centre at Kapooka, before leaving the full time Army in 2013 to plant City on a Hill Geelong. Andrew has been married to his beautiful wife Danna for over 20 years and has five young children. He loves the ocean, traveling, camping, playing with his kids (including attending their innumerable sporting matches), and reading military history.
29 Nov 2020
Luke Nelson
Luke is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne West. He joined City on a Hill in its early days, serving as the Community Pastor in Melbourne, before being asked to lead a new church plant. Having grown up in Melbourne’s western suburbs, he has a deep knowledge of and passion for the area, and a great desire to see the gospel bring transformation. A gifted communicator, he loves the work of pastoring a church, opening God’s word each week and seeing the Spirit work. Luke graduated with a BA (Hons) from Melbourne University, has a Grad Dip in Divinity and a Masters of Ministry from Ridley College. He is an ordained Anglican minister in the Diocese of Melbourne.