Guy Mason - November 2011
02 Nov 2011
City on a Hill turns four!
Recently I was on a flight with my wife Vanessa and our three children. Next to me, on the window seat was my four-year-old daughter Summer.
It was amazing to watch as she looked through that small airplane widow and took in the wonder of God’s creation. One of my favourite moments is when a plane arrives at a new city and slowly begins its descent. At night-time it’s spectacular because out of nowhere lights below begin to appear. The closer you get the brighter and more frequent the lights become, to the point where the whole landscape is lit up like a Christmas tree.
Cities are like this. They stand out as light in the midst of darkness. They are places of activity, growth and community.
I love that Jesus has this vision for the church. In Matthew 5 he says: “You are the light of the world, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.” Like a city on a hill, we’re made to be men and women who, in the midst of darkness, emanate light. As people, we are known for the brightness of our love, generosity, strength and sacrifice
In October 2007, we launched a new church, now called City on a Hill. Starting with a small team and a big vision to build a city that would make a difference for the glory of God …
This October we celebrate our fourth birthday – and we have so much to thank God for.
It was our first full year at Hoyts Melbourne Central, plus the launch of a new venue for our evening service, at Arrow on Swanston. By God’s grace our community – which was once just a small group, meeting in a Docklands apartment – is now upwards of 500 people, growing by over 30 per cent in the last year.
A real highlight for me was Easter Sunday when we gathered to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and baptize a bunch of men and women who had given their lives to Jesus.
All this growth has led to the planting of new connect groups, our mid-week communities where people study the bible, pray and share life together.
Some groups helped out with flood recovery in Victoria, another was involved in “Live below the line”, to fight against extreme poverty. We’ve also got a group looking at ways to care for women impacted by sex trafficking and another group of DJs mixing it up with the Melbourne dance scene. Whether it’s workers, youth, students, families, married, singles, it’s encouraging to see people doing life together for the glory of God.
We also kicked off a host of mid-week courses including Introducing Jesus, which attracted upwards of 50 people to hear about the man, mission and message of Jesus.
We launched The Fight, in which 30 blokes from across the church stepped into the ring and went head-to-head with porn.
This paved the way for a big year for men, our blokes battled on the footy field and had a night away for the inaugural Band of Brothers conference. It was also a great year for our women with wins in netball plus the inaugural women’s conference Draw Near which is just around the corner.
Our media presence is also expanding with website and podcasts receiving hits from over 50 countries.
We appeared on Sunrise, in The Age, Docklands News and Triple J’s Hack program, where I was asked what my thoughts were on polyamory and love with inanimate objects.
Speaking of love, wedding bells have been ringing all year. 12 people said I do, with another 12 about to walk down the aisle. We also had 13 new babies born, plus a bunch of babies dedicated …
All of this has led to boom in City Kidz, which in the last 12 months has grown phenomenally. Another ministry going from strength to strength is Many Rooms. Launched a with a vision to care for Melbourne’s homeless, it now runs a kitchen offering meals and friendship to upwards of 70 people every weekend with a further 80 volunteering to for the cause.
And friends, all this is just the beginning.
In the next six months we’re looking to plan our next service, expand ministries, launch our music team’s first album, take Introducing Jesus online and give it away to other churches, and send out our first couple for oversees mission.
We’re also hosting a leadership conference with Acts 29 and one huge city-wide event in May, where Melbourne churches are coming together, to proclaim Jesus and bless our city.
And so as we enjoy this fourth birthday we want to celebrate and take this opportunity to look out from our window seat through the window and see the lights of this city that God is building. One by one they are beginning to shine and day-by-day they are getting brighter.
On behalf of my wife and family, pastors and leaders at City on a Hill I want to thank Docklands News and this great community for being part of our journey. We love this city, love the people and indeed love our God.
Guy Mason is the pastor of City on a Hill. Services are on Sundays at 10am (Hoyts, Melbourne Central) and 6pm (Arrow, 488 Swanston Street).
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