• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Finke River Mission

Est 1877

  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
  • Activities
  • Stories
  • Media
    • Videos
  • Is God calling you?
    • Testimonials
    • Employment
  • Contact Us
  • Donate Now

Where there is water, there is life

2 July 2014

by Pastor Rob Borgas

In Australia, the driest continent on earth, we know how precious water is. When visitors from overseas look at maps of central Australia, they are amazed at the number of rivers that flow through the desert. What they fail to realise is that almost all of these rivers only flow every few years, and in some cases they only flow every ten years or more.

That’s why maps warn us about taking enough water when venturing into the ‘bush’. Many travellers, from early explorers down to present day outback adventurers, have died from lack of water. No water, no life.

This is exactly why Aboriginal people memorised the location of every waterhole in central Australia. From one generation to the next, they  sang songs that were like maps of their country. In these ‘song-maps’ the precious water holes were prominent. They treasured water; it meant life.

Fresh water also meant life in the Hebrew Bible. It symbolised the life that God gave people in the present for their crops and livestock, and also the new life promised in the future. This was known as the ‘messianic age’, a time when the great divide between heaven (where God lives and rules with justice and abundance) and earth (where God often seems absentand there is much suffering and injustice) will disappear, bringing about something completely new. Revelation 21:1-6 envisages this time so vividly.

But as Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, this new life is not merely waiting for us in the future. God has already made us part of his new creation when he joined us to Christ in the waters of baptism. Even though we still have to endure many struggles and hardships, God’s Spirit is constantly changing our lives every day, making all things new through his word.

One of the specific ways God’s Spirit changes us is through the weekly divine worship services that are held in our congregations each Sunday. Wherever God’s word is heard and the sacraments administered, there our Lord Jesus Christ is present with the church on earth, bringing down God’s gifts of forgiveness and life from heaven. At our recent pastors course at Ntaria, that wasn’t the only gift that God gave us from the heavens. We also received around 100mm of rain in the local area that caused significant stream rises.

Regardless of the hardships we all had to endure travelling to, setting up, and even leaving the course, 20 FRM church leaders still attended to learn more about divine service. Pastor Linards Jansons from the Australian Lutheran College bravely led us over the four days, even though he must have wondered at times if he was ever going to leave Ntaria because of the persistent rain. Thanks be to God that we all arrived home safely, truly enriched by our time spent together, the teaching that was offered, and of course, the wonderful rain.

« Hermannsburg Historic Precinct news
What is the church? »

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Alice Springs
  • Alyawarr
  • Ampilatwatja
  • Anmatjere
  • Anniversaries & Celebrations
  • Areyonga
  • Art & Music
  • Asante Sana
  • Children & Youth
  • Communities
  • Docker River
  • Engawala
  • Haasts Bluff
  • Hermannsburg
  • Imanpa
  • Kintore
  • Kiwirrkurra
  • Kwala Kwala
  • Lilla
  • Mt Liebig
  • Mutitjulu
  • Napperby
  • Papunya
  • Partnerships
  • Pastors & Staff
  • Pintupi-Luritja
  • Six Mile
  • Stirling
  • Tara
  • Ti Tree
  • Titjikala
  • Training
  • Uncategorised
  • Uncategorized
  • Volunteers & Supporters
  • Women
  • Yirara College

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • December 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • December 2013
  • June 2013
  • June 2012
  • December 2011
  • June 2011

© 2020 Finke River Mission. All Rights Reserved.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Activities
  • Stories
  • Media
  • Get Involved
    • Is God calling you?
      • Testimonials
  • Contact Us

Footer

Contact Info

  • 51a Gap Road, The Gap NT 0870, Australia
  • (08) 8952 4666
  • admin@finkerivermission.org.au

Warning: This website contains images of people who have died.

Copyright © 2023 — Finke River Mission • All rights reserved.