Francine Laker

It is such a blessing to welcome you all here today in celebration of all that God has done for us over the past 31 years. Of course, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for some significant people who started off our little church, and with that, I would like to honour and thank all of our Pastors and foundation members.

Our Pastors have been:

Ian Whitley (our foundation pastor) 1987-1992

Chris Leech 1993-1995

Frank Cuthbertson 1996-2002

Rod Benson (Interim) 2003

John Smulo 2003 -2006

Rob Petrini (associate) 2004 -2006– who is also blessing us today with the message

James Ramsay 2006-2015

Bronwyn Struthers (youth) 2013

Peter Jones (Interim) 2016

Brad Blacker (our current pastor) 2017-

I’d like to read Ephesians 4:11-12 for our pastors who have used their gifts to equip us:

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”

Foundation members were:

Carolyn Whitley

Harley Chapman

Keryn Chapman

John Derbridge

Mark and Leeanne Driver

Gwen Garner

Trudi Harper

John and Uriel Jackson (Both Deceased)

Sandra Lothian

Craig Lutton

Donelle Lutton

Tim McAleer

Josephine McAleer

Margaret McKinnon (Deceased)

Edwin and Yvonne Morgan

David and Carol Parnell

Peter and Jenny Sherratt

Mark and Elizabeth Sweet

Fae Verdich

Michael Whitley

Ian and Edythe Wilkin (Ian Deceased)

Jeff and Christine Wright

We would like to acknowledge that the following foundation members have now passed away, and are with their Lord.

With all those I just read out, and of course the guidance and strength from our Lord Jesus Christ, we continue to remain a faithful Godly church today.

I would like to finish with these two verses, also from Ephesians chapter 4, verses 15-16

“Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work”

May these verses be the continued prayer for our church.

Ian Whitley

Who am I and why am I here? This is at least in some respects the fulfilment of my vision which started in 1986. I had left a lucrative, well-paid position as Senior Biochemist in Pathology at Wollongong Hospital and started at Morling College as a hopeful ordination candidate. Part of that required me to gain some idea of what pastors actually did and so I also became an intern at HEBC. I was not really expected to do all that much except attend services, pastoral team meetings and preach occasionally (though they had two full-time pastors).

At one of those meetings they were talking about the future of HEBC, and the fact that growing further in that location was going to be very expensive. A cheaper and possibly more effective way to grow was to plant a daughter church. After some discussion I was given a project, looking at the possibility of starting a church at Helensburgh. After visiting all the contacts I could find, spending time with other local pastors and meeting with various community representatives I wrote a report that said it was worth a try. They offered me the opportunity to head up this ministry, supported by HEBC.

My vision for this church was that we are a Christ-centred church, enmeshed in the community, meeting the needs of that community and offering informal Sunday services and other things as required.

Our first service was on 1st March 1987 and I preached from John 4:27-42 where Jesus talks to the woman at the well in Samaria, my notes say that I said something like this:

"Many of the town believed, through the testimony of one woman who simply told of her encounter with Jesus then brought them to him. The most unlikely witness had been used to reap a great harvest, while the well trained professionals (the disciples) merely stood on the sidelines, scratching their heads saying 'We've never seen anything like this before!' If we are committed to Jesus Christ and allow Him to work through us, we too shall see a great harvest in this place of Helensburgh! 'I tell you open your eyes and look at the fields - they are ripe for harvest!"

Your predecessors put up with my lack of experience, my limited time as I continued my studies at Morling, and my faltering leadership, believing that it was not about programs but seeking the Lord to build HIS church. Yes, God is faithful and that small rather mixed group became a recognized Baptist Church at the beginning of June 1991. Thirty-one years later you are still here, therefore let us thank Him for all His blessings.

Let us pray:

Father, we praise you for this world, our home and for every sign of your presence within it.

Today we especially thank you for this church community celebrating 30 plus 1 years of your blessing, even through the ups and downs of church life it has continued to be a sign of your presence.

We thank you, our Father for those of us who had the vision to establish it, and who had the audacity to believe that you could use it and grow it to become what it is today.

We acknowledge that at no time has the task been an easy one, and while we seek to serve you, it never will be.

For this reason, we praise you for every person whose perseverance has brought us to this day. We thank you for every person who has devoted energy, time, imagination, money and their gifts of leadership, music and vision to make it what it is today.

Most of all, our God we thank you that, in spite of our failures, disappointments and loss, you have been among us, disturbed us with your presence, and encountered us with your Son, calling us to be thankful for our past and hopeful for our future,

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN

(Adapted from ‘We do not take the travelled way’, Be Our Freedom, p69)

Susanne Derbridge

We are all family; God is our Father, no matter how far we are from each other.

We are united through the Blood of Jesus.

Jesus is our Cornerstone, the Church is His Bride.

And Jesus told Peter, that on this rock, He would build His Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Thank You, Lord, that You are our Rock.

Your grace is enough, nothing can keep us apart.

So remember Your people,

Remember Your children,

Remember Your promise O God.

Your grace is enough indeed.

O Lord, You are our God, we will exalt You.

We praise Your Holy Name, For You alone have done wonderful things, plans formed of old and faithful and sure

Ancient of Days.

In Your great mercy, You have given us life, so now we can be called the Children of God.

Praise to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our God, our King to Him, we will sing.

We are the Church, the Body of Christ.

Jesus, You are our Head, our Chief Cornerstone, our Rock, our strong foundation.

Your promises still stand. Great is Your faithfulness. We are still in Your hands.

This is our confidence, You have never failed.

You promised us that You will never leave or forsake us.

Thank You that You have been here for Helensburgh Baptist Church during all the ups and downs

and kept Your promises to Your family.

You remembered Your Church, planted here in this corner of the world.

A place that tradies said was too far to come.

But not too far for You to care and nurture for over all the years; from Ian to Brad and everyone in between.

We are Your children, and I thank You for all present today and pray for a blessing on those who were unable to attend due to sickness, COVID or distance or reasons that only You are aware of.

We want to exalt You alone Lord, in this place today.

On behalf of all gathered here, I thank You for Your steadfast love that never ceases and that Your mercies never come to an end.

They are new every morning.

Great is Your faithfulness, O Lord.

Amen

Louise Everitt

To start anew, we chose to look back.

Lord, we are sorry for any hurt or conflict that caused pain or hurt in people’s lives.

This church has had many seasons, people have left and been planted elsewhere, and new people have come.

We pray especially for those who no longer have a relationship with you or the church.

We pray for Helensburgh Baptist Church for the future, to be a safe haven for the lost and hurting.

Genesis 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant for good to bring about, that many people should be kept alive as they are today.

In the story of Joseph in Genesis, there were two sides to the story. Most importantly, there is God’s purpose and victory over spiritual battles.

At the beginning of 2022 Helensburgh Baptist Church decided on a prayer verse Isaiah 25:1

O Lord you are my God, I will exalt you, I will praise your name. For you have done wonderful things, plans formed old, faithful and sure.

You have plans for Helensburgh Baptist Church now and in the future, we thank you for those who call HBC home.

For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

For the postcode of 2508 and beyond, the ministry of The Cupbearer touches many lives and offers opportunities for God conversations and to share the gospel. We praise and thank you for all the volunteers, staff and ministry of HBC.

The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest Matthew 9:37

May we build on the prayers of the past, all the activities and missions. May HBC today reap the harvest of the seeds sown.

Please bless the seeds sown by those here today and represented in this anniversary book. You haven’t finished writing the chapters of HBC. We praise you for your faithfulness to us and know you have plans for a future and a hope for your church.

Today HBC celebrates its 30+1 milestone proclaiming God’s faithfulness.

The church remembers this day of Pentecost. Jesus promised – You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

May HBC and those with us today and from the past be blessed anew with your Spirit to be witnesses.

In your name Lord Jesus

Amen.