Have you considered how caring for the environment and Christian faith might be linked?
 
Christianity is unique in its view of creation. Many other belief-systems advocate an ‘escapist’ mindset - where the world is a broken and evil place that should be transcended. But in Christianity, the world is good. A quick read through Psalms will show that the earth was created with care and intention, full of unmatched beauty. 
 
Later in the biblical story when Jesus prayed ‘your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt 6:10), he touched on God’s ‘masterplan’ for humanity. That we might partner with God in the restoration of all things. That is, the restoration of hearts, minds, families, marriages and all of creation. 
 
It raises the question - why does caring for creation feel so unnatural at times? And in a developed nation marked by greed and materialism, how do we make environmentally-conscious decisions while still functioning effectively in society?
 
There is no easy answer to these questions. 
 
As a church, we are taking the first steps in becoming more aware of our environmental footprint. As we ‘Come Alive’ in Jesus, we recognise that caring for the environment is a natural outworking of a vibrant relationship with Jesus. 
 
We don’t have all the answers, and we are aware that environmental issues are deeply complex. 
 
What we want to encourage is small, simple steps towards reducing our environmental footprint - one of these ways is through the reduction of our use of single-use plastic coffee cups. It is clear that the use of plastics is having significant negative effects on our environment. Many scientific reports are recommending the immediate cease of single-use-plastics.  Interested in finding more about the impact of plastics on our environment? https://www.ciel.org/plasticandclimate/ 
 
For some context, here’s some quick stats that you might find interesting:

• New Vine Lakes uses 2080 coffee cups at our Sunday morning services every year
• Every 4 coffee cups made creates 0.5kg of CO2 emissions
• Virtually every plastic ever created still exists today

We would like to encourage you to invest in a (sealed) keep cup as a simple, cost-effective way to make an environmentally-conscious decision. Keep cups are available at reasonable prices from all major department stores.
 
You might have seen, heard or jumped on board with the ‘keep cup’ revolution. You might have asked yourself “is this worth my time and money?”, or even questioned whether it was worthwhile at all. While using a keep cup may feel insignificant, we believe that this simple act of making a life-decision that is environmentally conscious will be a significant action that will lead to life-giving conversations with your family and community, and ultimately a greater awareness of how caring for the environment is an act of worship to God the Creator.

​You can never know what it is like to ride the roller coaster of parenthood until you are right there in the moment. All of the ups and downs, the pain, the joy, the hurt, the guilt, the sleepless nights or the beautiful smiles on their faces.  I have been asked to share 5 keys to fathering that I have discovered over the last 7 years and although they won’t be the same for everyone, hopefully these will be a good reminder of what successful fathering can look like. I actually looked up some tips and advice pages on what to say when giving this presentation, but they were mostly pretty lame and they were all about how to raise young babies, so I had to think of these for myself.

​Being a great father really starts in the way that you care for your wife. I am always trying to show my wife that I love her and care for her. In Ephesians 5: 25 it says “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her” 

Being a great role model really has to start at this point, because the foundation for a great relationship with your kids is a strong and loving relationship with your wife. This doesn’t just mean saying “I love you” but by acting it out. Constantly. And yes it can be hard. We want the best for our kids, I think we can all agree on that but you can’t expect them to be the people you want them to be without acting it out for them. They need a role model to follow and they are constantly watching us. This means for us as Fathers and men, we have to be the best version of our self, to the best that we can, day in day out.

​As a Christian, Grace is defined as “The free and unmerited favour of God”. This means God has showed us favour, even though we didn’t deserve it. We can’t earn it, and we are chasing the wind if we think we can. This has to be a daily occurrence for us in our fathering lives as well. I don’t know if it is just my family ( or just my kids) but I constantly find myself having to take a deep breath and just trying to let it go. Whenever people ask for my advice of being a dad, or being a husband, this is always the first thing that I think of. When I think of having grace, I constantly define it as believing the best in the other person. And we all need this in our families. We need someone to believe the best in us. I need someone to believe the best in me because we don’t really have that kind of relationship outside of our 4 walls at home.

his is probably the hardest topic that most of us face. I know, love and grace are some pretty big topics to cover but for me, I know that my kids just love spending time as a family. Now I can’t speak for everyone here, I can only speak for my experience. There is probably a few people in the room that couldn’t disagree more with the whole “my kids want to spend time with me” idea. But you are probably quite a few steps further down this fatherhood journey than me. 

Social Media love it or hate it, it is a distraction. It can be fun, it can be addictive, it can be harmless as well. It is all about finding the balance. But it isn’t just social media; our phones in general are a huge distraction. Maybe it is making sure the house is in clean and tidy, or watching Netflix. Watching sport or I don’t know doing whatever it is girls do with their free time. I’m not quite sure. Usually because I’m watching sport or looking at my phone. 

But we have to prioritise our kids and I know that I have to take the role of being a father seriously, because I’m only going to get one go at it. If my kids grow up and they never feel nurtured and loved, if they never feel that their father wanted to spend time with them and never cared about what they cared about, well first of all, how devastating would that be to know as a parent, but how detrimental would that be to our kids life and how they treat their family and their kids as well. We must make them a priority. We have heaps of time. Every day! We just need to find out what is taking up our priorities. I’m no expert in this but I did quit my job so that I could see my kids more and make them more of a priority. I gave up the 1 thing that I was good at because I knew that being a father meant more to me than having a good career. And to be honest, kids don’t care what job their dad has, they only care about if he is around, and if he loves them and if he wants to spend time with them. ​

​Mum's need help, because being a mum, is hard. And it isn’t a woman’s job to do all the housework, just the same as it isn’t a just the husbands role. But the appreciation that you show your family by helping out will shoulder the burden and it will help form more of a team mentality throughout your family. There isn’t too much more that needs to be said. Just jump in and make sure that helping out around the home is a priority of yours. I just want to add, that these are keys to being a good dad. Being a dad isn’t easy at many times, but these are tips to try and help stay the course, so that you can have a life that God intended for us.

​In our family, it is in everyone’s best interest that when it is time for the adults to take a break, that they actually do so. For us this could include a date night, going for some time out at the movies, for my wife it is going to netball on a Wednesday, for me it is bible college on a Thursday or soccer on the weekends. It’s OK to take a break from the kids, and it is healthy to take a break from the kids as well. It is good for your relationships everywhere! Coming back from a break always leaves us feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Ready to take on the daily grind of parenting duties again. It makes you just that bit happier to get up and pack school lunches or ask for the 100th time to do the homework. It can even give you strength to persist in that battle of getting the kids to finish the vegetables on their plate.