True Generosity this Christmas
By the time you read this Christmas will be five weeks away! The Christmas Pageant has come and gone and Santa is now happily in residence in the magic cave. Santa Claus comes from the great tradition of St Nicholas who is known in the tradition of the church because, at the time of the celebration of the birth of Jesus, he went out giving gifts to the poor. He was not some red suited guy with the white beard that takes over this season. He was a godly man who saw that one of the greatest qualities a person could show in response to God’s gift of a Saviour was generosity. St Nicholas gave us the great tradition of generosity.
I can’t help but feel saddened by the way our world has taken this wonderful tradition of gift giving to the poor in response to God’s gift of a Saviour and turned it into a huge commercial venture with the primary aim of making money. Each year the obsession of the retailers is, “Will we sell as much as last year?” This kind of thinking is so far removed from what St Nicholas intended, when he gave gifts to the poor many centuries ago.
So how can we begin to recapture the tradition of generosity that St Nicholas began? The first step is to realise that much of what we call generosity at Christmas is giving gifts to people who will return it through their gifts. Now there is nothing wrong with that, but the true spirit of generosity as modelled by our God through Jesus and by St Nicholas is giving to those who cannot give in return. This is true generosity.
The interesting thing is that our hearts need these acts of generosity as much as the people we give the gifts too. We see so much of the needy in our community and overseas that we become desensitised to it. It becomes easy to forget them. When we choose to give to the needy our desensitised hearts are softened and we become more responsive to the needs of those who have so little.
Yes there is only five weeks to go before Christmas but that is plenty of time to choose how you can give to the poor this Christmas and act on it. Why not include your children in this and together as a family you will experience the joy of true generosity this Christmas.
Pastor Noel Kluge
Prayer Requests For privacy the prayer list is not included in this Blog but if you would like to view the current requests refer to the e-mail that alerted you to this site. If you have a prayer request or wish to be covered by prayer please email churchenquiries@paravista.org.au with your request.
This week. Today is the last Sunday of the Church year, which means that next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent… after which we have four weeks till Christmas! Today is also the last Sunday of our current series on the parables of Jesus: Stories that Stir.
So it's most fitting that we look at one of Jesus' stories about the last things - namely his return.
Bible Reading: Matthew 25:1-13Podcasts available at www.paravista.org.au
Come along this Sunday for our last week of Christmas Electives. Last week the kids were involved in clowning, dance, music or craft and have been doing a sensational job getting ready for our 2011 Celebration Service.
Final dress rehearsal – Celebration service 2011
PARENTS/CARERS – please bring your children along to Kingdom Kids on the 27th November to the 10:30am service for our final dress run through of our end of year service. We have been working really hard to pull this together and are looking forward to seeing the final product. The rehearsal will be run in the School Gym and we ask that parents don’t pick up their children until 12:00pm . This will give us a few extra minutes to go through the entire service. Children will leave for Kingdom Kids during the service as per usual and it would be great if everyone could bring their costume. A note will be given out on Sunday outlining everything you need to know about costumes.
2011 Celebration Service – 4th December @ 10:30am
ATTENTION ALL : Kingdom Kids have spent all term preparing for this special event and would love you to join them on the 4th December for a truly special service about the true meaning of Christmas. We will be having a shared lunch after the 10:30am service and hope to see you all there.
Please note there will be no kingdom Kids at the 8:45am service on the 27th November or the 4th December. Instead we encourage all 8:45am families to come along and be a part of our celebration service. There will be normal classes on the 11th and 18th December.
Baby Zone
Baby zone will be finishing for the year on the 27th November. We would like to invite all baby zone families to our 2011 Celebration Service and look forward to starting up again in January 2012. We are in the process of finalizing the team for next year and currently need 6 new volunteers. Please consider joining the team and helping out in baby zone once or twice a term. We need you!!
Kingdom Kids Drama Team – I would like to invite all members of our Christmas Drama Team to come along to rehearsals at the church on Thursday nights between 5:30pm and 6:30pm . We will be using this time as extra practice for our celebration service. It is optional but we would love to see you there.
Play group
Term 4 sessions are well underway and we would love to invite anyone with young children or grandchildren to come along and join in the fun. Play group is a great way to build connections with other families and also provides a safe and fun environment for children to learn and play. Play group also gives us adults the chance to share life with other adults in a non-threatening and inviting way. Play group runs each Wednesday morning from 9:30am -11:30am in the church hall. Finally, I am still looking for 1 or 2 more people to join our team in 2012. If you are interested please contact Laura ASAP on 8263 5087.
Laura Carson
Children and Family Team Leader
IGNITE YOUTH IS BACK!
For a printed copy of the timetable please see the youth notice board at the back of the church.
More information about Ignite youth can be found at http://www.paravista.org.au
Our next youth event is Friday the 25th of November. We have invited other youth groups from the northern suburbs to join us for a night of fun, games, worship and community! See the flyer left.
Ignite Youth camp is happening from the 4th- 6th of January. This year’s theme is ‘Indescribable’. We will be exploring how indescribably huge God has created the universe; and how intricately and uniquely He has made each of us.
Ignite camp is a few days to have fun, develop friendships, grow closer to God and discover His awesomeness. There will be worship, small group time, the same incredible leaders from youth, lots of games, good food, new friends, a chance to get to know old friends better, and heaps of fun!
For an enrolment form and more information please contact Sophie- sgerrie@paravista.org.au
Sophie Gerrie
Youth and Young Adults Team Leader
Women's Fellowship
The end of year Christmas breakup luncheon will be held on Tuesday 6th December 2011 at 12noon in the church hall. For $8.00 donation (or if you are feeling generous $10.00) come and enjoy hot BBQ chicken and salads followed by plum pudding, custard and ice-cream.
Pastor Noel Kluge will give an address/bible study and the Good Shepherd School Choir trained by Therese Abraham will give items. A beautiful doll, donated by Edna McDonald, will be raffled - proceeds to mission projects. Men Welcome. RSVP Venie phone 8262 5285 by 27th November.
Continuing our acknowledgment for the work of many of the teams who contribute to the life and smooth running of our congregation:The sign at the front of the church is a window into our church. People often comment on looking for the message as they drive or walk past. Some have even come in to investigate,intrigued and motivated by the messages.
We thank Helen and Trevor Bridge and Rod Gallasch (+ Stephen Zanker and John Dolling in an emergency) who faithfully change the sign twice weekly.
Full information for both the school and church, including reports and budget for the church are available in the members section of our web site. (Please call the office for details on how to access this area or refer to the email that alerted you to this blog) and in hard copy from the member’s information area in the foyer from Sunday 20th November.
Facilities
A walkway has been developed for safe access to the hall and church, for village residents using walkers and wheel chairs. For this to function effectively we will need the cooperation of those using the disabled park. If vehicles move forward till tyres touch the curb there is enough room to move behind the parked cars. To assist in this the large rock has been removed from the garden and the soil level lowered.
Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.
The high quality 2012 LLL calendars are now available. These are in the member’s information section in the foyer as well as on the shelf under the pigeon holes. Apologies re running out of stock last week but supplies have been replenished.
Available from the same location is a very informative booklet about the great work of the LLL .
Facilities
Reflectors have been installed in the family room to prevent the lights from reflecting onto the sloping glass wall and making it hard to read the screen. Thanks to the Tech Team for supplying the reflectors, Peter Schlenk for having them cut to size and painted and Andrew Buxton for installation. A great team effort.
Mission news
Sausage Sizzle and Steak Sandwich Day
Cebu Missionary Foundation fundraising team will be selling sausages after the 1st service on Sunday 27th November....at last year’s prices! $2/sausage. After the 2nd service we will be selling sausages, and steak sandwiches for your lunch, so that you can then attend the Half Yearly Meeting. Steak sandwiches will be selling for $3.50....also last year’s prices! Thank you for your support.
Christmas cards will be available for purchase in the Hall from Sunday 6th November til mid December. Packs of 10 are available for $3 and packs of 25 available for $6. All proceeds go to Cebu Missionary Foundation in the Philippines.
Last time for this year! Sue’s cards available on the 27th November. –Proceeds supporting Cebu
A BIG Thankyou from the people of Kamwenge
Maranatha Health and the People of Kamwenge thank you for your generous donation of $1853.00 which will go a long way in providing much needed support, medical supplies and treatment for the women and children of Kamwenge.
Update from Maranatha Health Uganda
“The construction process is in its final stages. It has been a challenging yet exhilarating and rewarding time. We have also been preparing the grounds for use. The property has been fenced (to keep wayward cattle/goats/chickens out of the clinic!) We have cleared parts of the land ready for landscaping.” See more news in the Maranatha Health Update at www.maranathahealth.org.au
THE CONTAINER IS HERE AND UNPACKED!!!!!!
“To all our lovely supporters, The container of medical supplies sent from Australia has arrived and is unpacked! Thanks to everyone who packed it, prayed for it, willed it here and unpacked it. Everyone here is very excited to see it here and we are now very close to opening!” The container packed and ready to leave Adelaide in May 2011
Don’t spend your time; Invest it.
Church Office Hours: Monday - Friday 9.00am – 3.45pm
Church Web site: www.paravista.org.au
