Tag: Maddy Svoboda

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Transformational Community

Transformational community

by Maddy Svoboda

The Year 1996

The year is 1996. Atlanta hosted the Olympic Games, and the Nintendo 64 was unleashed upon the world, bringing great joy as you lay proximity mines in the facility level on Goldeneye 64. The Spice Girls released ‘Wannabe’ and Tickle Me Elmo was created. It was also the year that I started high school at Queechy High School (Queechy is quality with a capital K…a real-life quote from someone who went to Queechy) and I connected with a group of people who would drastically alter the direction of my life. 

The group of people that I started hanging out with were a group of Christians who took their faith seriously. As someone who had given Jesus absolutely no consideration in my life, I remember simultaneously being impressed that these guys enjoyed basketball and heavy metal music and intrigued that they seemed to have something that I didn’t have that I couldn’t put my finger on. They were kind, patient and genuinely seemed to care about me, despite the constant tirades of profanities that exited my mouth. 

These guys stuck with me right up to the moment that I was baptised five years later. I remember talking to one the night I was baptised, and he shared with me that this group of friends had met together every week for one hour, simply to pray for me and that I may come to know Jesus. For five years, they prayed even though there were many times it looked as if my life was on a progressively more destructive trajectory. I am, literally, eternally grateful for their heart and commitment to Jesus and myself. 

1996 Transformational Community

A Safe Space

Now absolutely, this story speaks to the power of prayer, but what strikes me profoundly is the depth of community that I unwittingly stepped into back in 1996. I entered a group of friends who lived out their faith in Jesus publicly and privately, who lived life alongside me in my best and worst moments and refused to walk away. They gave me a safe space to ask questions if I had them, express doubts when I had them, to share from my depths in deep and meaningful conversation moments and to be myself, even though I’m sure they didn’t agree with the choices I was making. 

Right from day one, my life was marinated in the beauty of deep, transformational community. As my faith has progressed, being a part of this level of sharing and caring has been part of forming me into the person I am today. As someone from a broken home and family, I longed for a level of acceptance and welcome and when followers of Jesus are at their best, this is a natural overflow of our connection to the true vine.  

‘One Another’ Commands

In the eyewitness account of Jesus life written by John, he records Jesus saying:

I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. John 13:34-35 (emphasis mine).

As we are in community with the Trinitarian God and receiving his love, the overflow should be that same love shown to us, shown by us for each other. 

This is why there are so many ‘one another’ commands; this is what the life of love looks like on the ground. Outdo one another with honour. Forgive one another. Confess your sins to one another. Encourage one another. Bear one another’s burdens. Bear with one another. Admonish or reprimand one another. Pray for one another. This is what the life of Jesus looks like lived out. 

If we are wanting to develop and cultivate intergenerational churches, we must become places and people who love like this. I truly believe this type of community transforms lives, as it did in 2001 when I entered the waters of baptism, responding to the love of Jesus that was shown to me through my friends.

Maddy Svoboda

Rev. Maddy Svoboda is the pastor at Summerhill Baptist, and represents the Greater Launceston churches on the Tasmanian Baptists Mission Leadership Team.

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The Most Important Five Percent

By Maddy Svoboda

The Work That Has No End

Postured Well

There is a saying from the Babylonian Talmud (everyone’s go to source for Instagrammable inspiration) that I have found helpful. In the Avot D’Rabbi Natan, you will find the words ‘do not fear the work that has no end’. It is a call to embrace the continuous and liminal nature of endless tasks in the same direction. 

Our theme as Tasmanian Baptists this year has been ‘Intergenerational’. Our hope and desire is to see all generations come together in vibrant faith and mutual discipleship (learning and sharing), worship and mission. Just in case you were wondering, this would fall smack bang into the category of ‘work that has no end’. 

At the beginning of this year, my wife Immi and I welcomed our fourth child and third son, Benjamin, into the world. It has been a whirlwind of elation, emotions and exhaustion, but as we were welcoming Benji into our family, there were articles coming out saying that our global community was welcoming a new generation: generation Beta.

Who knows what is going to come to fruition with this generation; they are coming into the world at the height of AI’s powers and into a chaotic maelstrom of cultural, economic and political forces but it hit home to me how much this work of being intergenerational has no end. 

It will require the best from us as we yield to Jesus so that when my newborn son turns 18 in 2043 (writing that sentence was not a fun one to write), we are postured well to equip him to abundant life and faith in Jesus. So how do we posture ourselves in that way? I shared some of my thoughts with the Baptist pastors at our muster in June, however, I feel that it is not just helpful for pastors and church leaders, but wisdom for us all wherever we are at on the journey of life.  

The Most Important Five Percent

The first thing is to discern, prioritise and invest in our most important five percent. In his book ‘Leading on Empty’, Wayne Cordiero has a theory that 95 percent of your life can either be done by someone else or you can train someone to do. There is only five percent of what you do that only you can do. No one can be trained and you wouldn’t want them to be; No one else is responsible for my intimacy with God. Nor can anyone can be a husband to Immi or a father to my kids. No one else can cultivate my friendships and family relationships, physical fitness, mental health or invest into the God given calling that is mine. 

I have heard the analogy that all the responsibilities you carry are juggling balls. Some balls are rubber; you drop them and they can bounce; they can survive. There are others that are crystal. You drop them, it will do damage. They will break. Drop them enough and they will be irreparable. These ones are the most important five percent. 

In a world that is increasingly turbulent and where people of all generations are wrestling with questions of identity, purpose, meaning, belonging and where is the good life found, if we have done the work of investing in our five percent, we can walk alongside people through those complex times and share out of the richness of a life well lived alongside Jesus.  

So, do you know what your most important five percent? What does good stewardship in those areas look like?

Maddy Svoboda

Rev. Maddy Svoboda is the pastor at Summerhill Baptist, and represents the Greater Launceston churches on the Tasmanian Baptists Mission Leadership Team.

The Work That Has No End

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I Am Not OK

I Am Not OK ReCharge blog header

Theology and Culture

Rev. Maddy Svoboda looks at not being ok, but embracing the quiet optimism of longing for a new world and to be new creations.

I am not ok

I In May 2024, an American rapper turned country and western singer (yes, you read that correctly) named Jelly Roll (you also read that correctly) released a song called ‘I am not OK’ at the season finale of American Idol 25. The song took with his raw, vulnerable and authentic lyrics centred around the challenges of living life in this day and age.  

Jelly Roll. PHOTO: Facebook @therealjellyroll

The chorus offers an open invitation to the listeners to join him in this modern version of a lament: 

I know I can’t be the only one who’s holding on for dear life. 

But God knows I know when it is all said and done 

I’m not ok, but it’s all going to be alright. 

It’s not ok, but we’re all going to be alright.

The quiet optimism of the hook

One article I read spoke of the “quiet optimism of the hook…building to the crescendo of ‘I’m not ok, but it’s all going to be alright/it’s not ok, but we’re all going to be alright”. What stood out to me as I listened to the song was the word ‘but’. It is a word that displays mystery and hope for me all at once. Mystery because I think we are living in an age where there is a prevalence of ‘I’m not ok/it’s not ok’.  

Justin Brierly, in his book ‘The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God,’ says younger generations are living through an ‘identity and meaning crisis’. We have an abundance of personal freedom (in our part of the world), but when our freedom cup runneth over, it leaves the cups of meaning, community and even identity depleted.  

We live in a world for our younger generations where mental health issues are pervasive, environmental issues and climate change leave people wondering what the future holds not in ethereal way, but in a tangible sense of danger and ominousness, and injustice appears rampant in most systems within our world.

Tolkien based Rivendell on his 1911 visit to Switzerland. Photo
By chensiyuan – chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
How do we get there?

In the midst of all this, the “but” speaks to a way of hope. I am not ok… “but”. It’s not ok… “but”. Things don’t have to stay here. I feel as though we have the longing for a new world and for us to be new creations but we are unsure of how to get there.  

Like the hobbits in the Prancing Pony at Bree, we need to get to Rivendell without knowing the way. We need a Strider who knows the way through the wilderness. Someone who has been through brokenness and come out beautiful. 

The story of Jesus is the story of someone who goes through death and comes out into new life. The story of someone who knows deeply who they are and because of that, they can serve with a subversive, self-sacrificial love and they set us an example to do the same (John 13:1-17). May we become people who become like Jesus, willing to die to ourselves and be raised to new life for the sake of others. 

Maddy Svoboda
Rev. Maddy Svoboda


Rev. Maddy Svoboda is the pastor at Summerhill Baptist, and represents the Greater Launceston churches on the Tasmanian Baptists Mission Leadership Team.

I am not ok

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Deep Thought April 2023

The God of Bethel

Deep Thought – A bi-monthly feature in reCharge

The God of Bethel

While Maddy Svoboda was away on leave over Christmas, God used the time to help him recall some moments of big impact in his life.

In the Scriptures, there are familiar beats and rhythms that get hit on a regular basis. Examples include: “The Lord is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”, and “Do not fear”.

Another one of the regular rhythms and sentences that comes up throughout the narrative of the Hebrew Scriptures is this refrain, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. It comes up in some significant places.

Over my recent time of long service leave, I was reading through Genesis and came to another phrase in Chapter 31 that, for the first time in my life, stood out to me: “I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.” (Genesis 31:13 NIV)

I was familiar with the refrain of “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”, but not so much “the God of Bethel”.

What was happening here?

Yahweh is speaking these words to Jacob, a man who had an incredible experience of him in a place he would name Bethel.

In this place, he had a dream that there was a ladder or stairway going up to the heavens. There were angels going up and down the ladder. God reaffirms the promises made to his grandfather and father and they are made to him.

When Jacob wakes, he cries out: “Surely the Lord was in this place, and I was not aware of it’ (Genesis 28:16 NIV). He anointed the rock he slept on as a pillar, and called the place Bethel or ‘house of God’.

Moving right along

Fast forward to Genesis 31, and we see God identifying himself as The God of Bethel. All of this is deeply personal to Jacob. Yahweh meets him where he is at, in order to call him to the next step of obedience.

This is the beauty of the incarnation of Jesus: he meets us where we are at by becoming one of us and dwelling among us (see John 1:14).

For me, he encountered me on the banks of the South Esk River in Hadspen after a horrendous 18th birthday party. Again, he encountered me at a Christian group camp shortly after where I was overwhelmed by the love of God.

Questions for you

As you reflect and pray, have a think about the following questions. You could even use your journal to write down your immediate responses.

Perhaps God will meet you with the next step of obedience, as God did with Jacob.

  • How did God meet you where you were at?
  • What does this mean for your involvement in the mission of God?
  • What does this mean for those in your life, who Jesus loves and you are in relationship with?
  • How might God be wanting to meet them where they are at?
Maddy Svoboda

Maddy Svoboda is the pastor at Summerhill Baptist, and represents the Greater Launceston churches on the Tasmanian Baptists Mission Leadership Team.

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The Sound of Silence by Denise Stephenson
A Change in Thinking for Changing Times by Laurie Rowston
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Painting a Picture of Jesus

Crossover spring appeal

crossover update:

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The Crossover Spring Appeal

BY Crossover National Taskforce rep, Maddy Svoboda,
Maddy wonders about altering friends’ perceptions of Jesus, and how the “Crossover Spring Appeal” will help!

In the 2006 movie ‘Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby’, Will Ferrell’s character Ricky Bobby and his family, as well as his NASCAR teammate Cal Naughton Jr, are having a meal.

Ricky Bobby gives thanks for the meal of KFC, Dominoes and all manner of food. It makes me wonder how effective a prayer is when asking God to bless this food to our bodies, as Ricky prays to Baby Jesus. He prays over and over to tiny baby, infant Jesus (8-pound 6-ounce baby Jesus who is so cuddly and omnipotent) before his wife stops him.

Will Ferrell and Ricky Bobby, Crossover Spring Appeal
Will Ferrell as Ricky Bobby

Everyone has a picture of Jesus

What impacts me about this scene (apart from the absolutely ridiculous nature of it) is the implicit truth that we all have a picture of Jesus, or God. This picture shapes us – and is an image of Jesus that we gravitate towards.

Part of our work of evangelism is telling the story, or painting the picture of Jesus, as accurately as we can. This means we can invite people to know Jesus as he is, rather than how we imagine him to be.

What is Crossover?

Crossover Spring Appeal

The ministry of Crossover has richly blessed Tasmanian Baptists. Before COVID-19 struck, Crossover ran conferences for people with a noticeable gift of evangelism. Crossover funds covered the entire cost for each attendee. This meant people who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity attend an event like this, could be there.

Why Crossover’s Spring Appeal?

In Tasmania alone, 15 people have attended the Emerge Evangelism Conference over the years. As I look back over the list of attendees, I see people who contribute to our life in significant ways. I’m so thankful to be part of Crossover, and to see the fruit from our investment into evangelism and mission.

Crossover Spring Appeal, As we move towards our vision of seeing Tasmania infused by the kingdom of God, it involves the proclamation of the good news of Jesus

That’s why Crossover is running a Spring Appeal over the next few months.

For Crossover to continue to provide resources, and equip the church to proclaim the good news of Jesus, we are asking churches around Australia to commit financially to Crossover. There are multiple ways you and your church can do this.

Please check out your options at www.crossover.org.au/church-contributions/. You can also visit the Crossover website to discover resources, including Christmas resources, so you can share Jesus well.

If you would like to engage in a conversation around the content of this article, please feel free to email me!

Maddy Svoboda
Rev. Maddy Svoboda

Maddy Svoboda
pastor@summerhillbaptist.org.au

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