This week Heartland has been challenged to write “It’s Gonna Be Okay” somewhere on their property for passes by to see as they are out of their homes for their daily walk. The words are a title to a song that was written by The Piano Guys and we had it performed for us at the Yarra Glen Christmas Carols 2019. At the Carols we spoke about the tough times we all go through and that there is a way to be stable when our world is rocked and that is by trusting in Jesus.

Jesus was a man who performed many acts of kindness, healed people and said some pretty profound things. He claimed to be God and his followers and friends believed him.  Then he was killed.

If the story ended there we wouldn’t know much about Jesus today. We wouldn’t have Christmas Carols at the end of the year, we wouldn’t have Easter and we wouldn’t even have a weekend! The whole reason we are still talking about all of this is because he came back! He walked out of the grave!

It seems a ridiculous story to believe in our modern world. Why would you? You are intelligent and know a lot about how things work and you also know one thing for sure everyone you know who has died has, well, stayed that way. The thing is, Jesus friends and followers didn’t believe it either!

The day Jesus died they figured they had wasted the last few years of their lives. They had left their jobs and family, their way of life to follow this guy thinking he was something special and then at the peak of his fame he was killed by the government in the most cruel death possible, even criminals didn’t suffer that much!

It was three days after Jesus had died that his friend Mary and a few other women went to visit the grave. When they got there they noticed things weren’t right. The guards posted to protect the grave were gone and the huge stone that blocked the entrance was rolled back, the body was gone! They were so confused by this, who would have done this? Then a man spoke to Mary, she thought he was a gardener until he said her name, there was only one person who said her name like that, Jesus!

Jesus brings hope. This story may seem unbelievable until you consider how it was written. There was no way a man of that time would have a woman as his main character of his story if it wasn’t true, because women in those day were not valued or even considered people, and the guards would never leave their post because they would have been killed for that. That is just the beginning of evidence that points to Jesus really being God.

So, if Jesus really is God then what does that mean for us? There is so much bad stuff happening in our world how could a loving God that has the power to come back to life allow this to happen? A lot of that has to do with our choices as humanity, the way we treat others and our planet. What Jesus brought on the scene was a story of HOPE. A way for us to understand who God is, a way for us to have relationship with God. If you choose to believe that Jesus really is God and choose to allow a friendship between God and yourself to begin that hope will be revealed. When your world is rocking there is someone who can hold you firm, all you need to do is accept the help.

We are hosting a clothes swap on June 21st at the Members Lounge at the Yarra Valley Racing Center.

A clothes swap is an event where people have the opportunity to free themselves from any unwanted clothes in their wardrobe and replace them with something they like better!

The Members Lounge is located above the main office building in the racing centre, there will be plenty of parking in the under cover area, we will have signs up to guide you around the site.

Basically as you enter the Members Lounge there will be a table where you can present your goods to be donated and they will be checked over by one of the team members to see if they are of good quality (no holes or stains please!) if you don’t have anything to donate no stress! We ask that everyone pays a $5 entry fee just to start up the fundraising. We will start the night off with a presentation about the global slavery crisis in the fashion industry just to bring awareness to the situation and the part we play. All the funds raised on the night will go towards the work of Baptist World Aid. Baptist World Aid has developed the Ethical Fashion Guide we are excited to share with you how it is making a difference in communities around the world.

Following the presentation we will have a raffle, tickets will be $2 each and there will be three hampers filled with ethically sourced products.

Then the Clothes Swap will begin! You will be able to choose clothing in exchange for your tokens, extra tokens will also be available at the cost of $2 each from the table in the entry. Finger food will be served at this time. Tea, coffee and champagne ($2 a glass) will be available at the start of the night and during the clothes swap time.

If you would like to donate clothing prior to the event please contact Sally by email sally@glen.org.au

Clothes Swaps are a fun way to find new clothes while spending time with friends and the community without hurting our planet or it’s people. We hope you can come!!