Rebecca St. James - My Australia

Good day everyone! I'm Rebecca St. James and welcome to MY AUSTRALIA!
I'm so exicted to be able to introduce you to my hometown Sydney,
show you some of the places I grew up in, and I'm also gonna show you some of the most
beautiful places in the world. I'm a little buzzed, but it is amazing and
I think you see what I mean. So come with me and join me on this awesome
adventure and you gonna LOVE it!
Over the years when people have found out that I'm Australian
they either ask me, "OK, Talk for me, Rebecca" or they'd say "What's some cool little phrases
that are uniquely Australian" And one the ones I love the most is the phrase
"No worries" which means "No problem", or "Sure, I'll do it" - It can mean acutally
a lot of things. But the thing that I like so much about that
is because I think it's actually a very biblical kind of idea, and that is that God doesn't
want us to worry. I mean, Jesus talked about not worring and
sermon on the mount And really trusting him and giving things
to him. I come from a generation of worriers, and so it's kind of a challenge for me to
really give things over to God. But that particular phrase really reminds
me to trust him completely. It's been such a challenge to me that actually
a few years ago I wrote a song called "Don't worry", to kind of remind myself to really
give things to God and trust him and so I really want to encourage
you in your live to completely hand everything over to God because He is completely trustworthy.
NO WORRIES, mate!
ADVENTURE! Just that word for many of us puts a sparkle
in our eyes, a big smile in their faces and I know it does for me.
This last year on my sabbatical I got to go on a very adventurous trip.
YES! Haha, I didn't stall it! Yey!
Yeeeeey! Score!
I think a lot of people, they don't understand Christianity. They think that the Christian
live has to be boring and all boggy, and it's never fun.
But actually I believe that the Christian live is THE most incredible adventure.
Because: Think about it: We've nothing to worry about, our future is in God's hands,
we're safe, we're secure, we're forgiven, we are free.
And that's something to really celebrate. That's something to get excited about. And
we can truly live the adventurous Christian life because of that freedom.
There is one word for that: Invigorating.
[PEACE] Hi everybody I am here on Golbore Creek, on
of the most idyllic and beautiful and peaceful spots on the whole of Fraser Island.
And it reminds me of my Sabbatical, when I was just recently having this time off.
One of the main objectives of my time off was to learn the art of just being,
not having to do things all the time, but just be.
And I really came to realize that our culture has no idea of what it means to just be still,
because we are always on the go, we're always busy and
got hundred and one things pulling out us.
And so I really felt like God gave me a definition too, of what it means to just be and that
is Psalm 46:10, "Be still in knowing that God is God".
And so I really want to encourage you just to take some time out soon, just to discover
that art and that new place of just trusting in God and knowing that
He has everything in his hands and can just be completely at peace with him.
And it reminds me, too, of one of my favorite bible stories. It's the story of Mary and
Martha. And, Martha is busy in the kitchen and she's doing all these things,
and Mary's just sitting at Jesus' feet. And Martha's complaining: "Why, Jesus, is Mary
sitting, doing nothing and I'm working, I'm slaving away?"
And Jesus said, "Mary has chosen what is right and it will not be taken away from her."
And so what a challenge that is for us to just sit at Jesus' feet and hear from him.
For me, when I come home to Australia, there is such a sense of joy and peace and just
excitement, because you kind of just breathe a sigh of relief: "I'm home."
And when I imagine heaven I imagine heaven being the same way: Seeing Jesus face to face
and having longed for that for so long. Is's just gonna be so amazing, that joy and
that absolute freedom and knowing: I belong.
I'm here at a place that is very, very close to my heart and very special to me because
this is the church that I gave my life to Jesus at.
And, many years ago now, I was eight years old when I became a Christian, and it was
right here in this little church. It looks a lot littler than what I remember
it that ... I wanna take you on a walk and show you this
church because it means so much to me! I remember right here in this little area,
in this court yard, hangig out with my family and different friends and chatting to them
after church and then ... In the gym right here we would have girls
briggade meetings, which is kind like a Christian Girls Scouts and it was actually at a girls
bregade meeting when I was eight that I became a Christian.
I remember really vividly our pastor put out a call to the young people there, the young
girls, to give their lives to Jesus. And I really felt God's tug on my heart.
I was kind of nervous of getting up in front of everybody. And so I had a friend sitting
next to me and she said to me, "Rebecca, you need to give your life to Jesus".
And so, because of that encouragement and because of Jesus' tug on my heart, that night,
here, in this little church I gave my live to Jesus,
and, remember coming home afterwards and just crying out my little eyes out. My mum told
me later that I've said, "It makes me cry when I realize how much Jesus loves me."
He loves me so much that he would dye on the cross for me and rise again.
And that is absolutely the best thing I've ever done in my hole entire life.
I really want to encourage you to give your life to Jesus if you haven't. Because this
is the best thing you can do ever.