Dear Friends

On Sunday 10th November, Defence Force Sunday, at 8:30am and 10am, the Church of the Good Shepherd will be conducting two services to remember and honour the contribution the Australian Defence Force and its members make to our country. In particular, we will hear of the work and role of Defence Force Chaplains. Chaplains serve in all three branches of our armed forces. Our preacher for this occasion is Rev Byron Steele, Chaplain RAN, currently serving as chaplain to HMAS Creswell. Byron will outline the role of Chaplains in the Defence Force during the service.

Published 1st October 2024 By Andrew Heron
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This year, the day after Defence for Sunday is Remembrance Day, the eleventh day of the eleventh month. On this day we are called upon to observe a minute’s silence in remembrance and commemoration of those who died fighting in all wars to protect the freedom and security of our nation.

World War 1 was called the war to end all wars. Sadly, it is a title that has been shown by history to be in vain. As we read the newspapers, listen and watch the news programs on radio and television it seems that, more than ever, war abounds. The Middle East, Ukraine and Russia, Sub Saharan Africa dominate our consciousness of the conflicts that are happening around the world. Even the most graphic of news broadcasts cannot communicate the horror of war. 

Countless thousands have died in war. Countless more have had their lives devastated as they deal with injury, grief, displacement, loss, guilt and the many other destructive consequences of conflict. These hurts continue to plague the lives of those caught up in conflict on every side, long after the fighting has ceased. We have all encountered family and friends who have been caught up in conflict and seen first-hand the damage that war inflicts on those we label survivors. 

As we gather in church on Defence Force Sunday and at 11am on Monday 11th November we remember the fallen and the broken. In prayer and in silence we will honour their memory and commemorate their service, their courage and their sacrifice. We may even ask ourselves, as we consider the incalculable cost of war, “where is hope?” 

Hope is essential for life. A Jewish prisoner in one of Nazi Germany’s death camps remarked that one can live for weeks without food, a few days without water but without hope, people will lay down and die. The philosopher and psychologist Victor Frankl, who was also a prisoner of a concentration camp wrote “The prisoner who had lost faith in the future – his future – was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold. He let himself decline and become subject to mental and physical decay.”

The importance of hope for life is found throughout the pages of both the Old and New Testament. The hope of the bible is not only an individual hope but a hope for all of creation. We all hope to see the end of war. But, like the hope that WW1 would be the war to end all wars, our hope to see the end of conflict may seem a forlorn or vain hope. And yet we still hope, not as an antidote to despair but as an expression of a longing that one day conflict will cease. For those who believe in the Jesus of scripture, our hope is bound to our faith. We believe in Jesus and the salvation he wrought through his sacrifice and so we have hope that one day the lion will lie down with the lamb, swords will be wrought into ploughshares and all conflict will cease.

We warmly invite all members of the Kangaroo Valley community to join us on Sunday 10th November at 8:30 am or 10 am as we pay tribute to those who serve in our armed forces and hear of the work of defence force chaplains. We will also in faith and hope pray for an end to war and a lasting peace in our world. Morning Tea will be served after both services and we will be joined by personnel from HMAS Creswell if operational conditions allow.

Yours in Christ,

Andrew

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