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We start a new series this week at Village Church, Annandale call Sex, Power & Money from the book of Genesis 39-50. God and Joseph from rags to riches, come check it out Sundays 9.30am & 6.00pm.

Introducing God Term 1 Starts this week on Thursday, 3 February 2011 for more details please phone us on 02 9660 2444 or via email at introducinggod@villagechurch.com.au

Tiny Teddy

It was a bitter sweet day  today.  Bitter because we farewelled little Edward Baylis far too early.  Sweet because I was privileged to be encouraged by watching some friends I’ve loved for a long time receive an extraordinary gift of faith in God.

Edward was born to Lil and Mike Bayliss at 24 weeks, 16 weeks early.  He lived for three weeks and one day, the whole time in the hospital ward.

The doctors told Edward’s parents nine days ago that the decision to keep Edward alive was now out of their hands – ‘Abscesses had formed in his brain and none of the drugs were having any effect on him.’

Today around 200 of us gathered at Macquarie Cemetery.  They had asked us to where celebratory clothes rather than funeral black.

I drove to the funeral with Ian Powell.  I had been Lil’s pastor in the early ’90′s and Ian was pastor to Mike and Lil until recently at St Barnabas Broadway.  An initial joy was that when we got out of the car we met Kate.  I had the privilege of baptising Kate in Lil and Mikey’s kitchen in Perth a few years ago and they became her godparents – so it was lovely to see Kate over from Perth to support them.

The service was simple, two hymns, two Bible readings, a prayer, a photo montage and a eulogy sermon.  What was remarkable was that the meeting was led by Bruce, Lil’s brother in law, the address was given by Mikey, and Lil read the Bible.

Lilian read the Bible reading, Isaiah 66:17-23:

¹⁹ I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.

²⁰ “Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
he who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere youth;
he who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed.

As Lil read she paused between verse 19 and 20 to let us know how much she loved verse 20 and I think everyone there got a new deeper grasp of the picture of heaven – a place with none of the pain that we were feeling today.

As Mikey spoke of his confidence in the resurrection of Jesus and seeing his son again – I had a sense of the dreadfulness of life without the Christian Gospel.  Mikey and Lil were able to cope in a sense with the death of their son because they trusted that the heavenly father is in control over all, working things for their good and that they have a hope of eternity with their father and their son.

I am so thankful to God for his work in the lives of Mikey, Lil, Karen and Bruce.  God speaks in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 of giving his people special gifts – to one this gift, to one another.  On first reading it seems strange that God gives as one of the gifts the gift of faith, because doesn’t every Christian receive the gift of faith.  My assumption is that God in his generosity by his Spirit gives the gift of special faith to certain people for a such a time as this.

I am praying that they would continue to trust in our heavenly father and continue to believe the great things that Mikey reminded us of today.