In an increasingly anxious and individualised culture, a shift is happening. We are collectively realising that the answers to our biggest questions are not being delivered through economics, technology or politics. Australia is becoming increasingly spiritual, albeit in a self-constructed way and, in response to our loneliness epidemic, people are seeking meaning-making community.
If there was ever a time for our Church to reveal Jesus as the hope for humanity, it’s now. If there was ever a time for the Church to embrace and model meaning-making community, it’s now. OneVoice27 and Australia for Christ 28 are not just slogans to rally us towards outward mission. They are calls for our church family to embody and reveal a beautiful picture of God—a God whose love stirs, compels and overflows in communities of hope.
The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, outlines the difference the gospel makes, including how it shapes us to be “made alive in Christ”—a “new humanity” (Ephesians 2:15). Paul describes this new community as one where the gospel changes everything.
In an increasingly fractured, polarised Australia, where social media can divide and monetise anger, what would it look like for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to model a “better humanity”? Ephesians 4 describes a loving, kind and forgiving community. In this “new community”, the distinctions that divide us are swallowed up in Christ-centred relationships. What would it look like for our congregations, schools, aged-care facilities and various ministries to be communities of hope, shining light into the broken parts of our culture?
On a more personal level, what does it look like for you to make space for God to work in and through you, making you an agent of hope in your sphere of influence? Do your neighbourhood, workplace and digital networks see a beautiful picture of God reflected through you?
As we focus on OneVoice in 2027 and Australia for Christ in 2028, may we be communities of hope that point people to a loving God. May we model the better humanity to our community and our nation. May your community and your nation be blessed through God’s “new community”.
