On Sunday our church gathered together to celebrate our namesake, St. Andrew’s Day.
St. Andrew’s Day is normally celebrated on 30th November for various reasons across different Christian traditions and countries, particularly Scotland where it is a public holiday. For our church it served as a good excuse to get our whole church family together!
The day is named after Andrew the Apostle, who is the first disciple to have recognised Jesus. Previously he was a disciple of John the Baptist, however after he met Jesus, John records that: The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ John 1:41
From that moment on he became a follower of Jesus and a fisher of men, leaving his job of being a real fisherman.
Oak Flats Anglican is also known as St. Andrews, and just like the Apostle, we also want to follow Jesus and help others come to know him too.
Our day together on Sunday was a celebration of the unity we have in Jesus, with all our congregations, and children and youth ministries joining together in fellowship, from our youngest to our oldest, our newest members to those that were there when the church was built. We sang together, prayed together, shared together and celebrated our Saviour and King. We listened to God’s word and were reminded of all that he has done and is doing amongst us.
St Andrews day is traditionally a feast day, and we wanted to live up to that tradition, with a slow-cooked spit roast that was massive and delicious! It really felt like a family meal, which, in Christ, is exactly what we are!
A huge thank you to all who made the day such a joyful occasion. But most of all we are thankful to God for keeping us together as his people at Oak Flats.
Simon Chaplin.