If you are anything like
me you have probably questioned God at some point, asking “God, what is your
plan for my life?”
We want to follow Jesus
but it is complicated. There are so many decisions which need to be made that
the Bible just isn’t clear on. We stress over missing God’s plan for our lives,
fearful of getting the small details wrong. Our questions are often about the
particulars: when, where and what? Where should I go to university, what should
I study, what career should I choose, when should I get married, how many
children should I have, should I buy or rent and when is an appropriate age for
the kids to move out of home?
While we may wrestle and
pray over these ideas, perhaps the “why” is more important.
Paul writes in Colossians
3:17
“And whatever you do, whether in
word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God the Father through him”.
Similarly in 1 Corinthians
10:31 Paul writes
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do
it all for the glory of God”.
God’s plan for us is
“whatever”. God is more interested in your character- the person you are
becoming- than whether you drink coffee or tea with your breakfast, as long as
we are doing it in His name and giving Him all the glory.
Obviously there are some
clear Biblical truths that God does care about: loving Him, loving our
neighbours, caring for the poor, not murdering or lying. But when it comes to
choosing between living in the northern suburbs or the north-eastern suburbs I
think God might say, “I don’t care, you choose”.
Whatever you do, God is
concerned about who you are and how you live your life. It
doesn’t matter where you go to university as much as it matters how
you live while you are there. It matters more to God why you show up to
work and who you are when you get there, rather than where you
work.
When you know God’s ways
He will lead you into His plan; and when you walk in His ways you will always
be in His plan.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he
will make your path straight”.
What is God’s plan for
your life? That you submit to Him. Then He will lead you into the plans He has
for you. God’s plan for your life is not so much about what you do, but about
who you are becoming while doing “whatever” you do.
Sophie
Prayer Requests: Not included in this newsletter, but if you would like to view the current
requests, refer to the e-mail that alerted you to this Newsletter. If you have
a prayer request or wish to be covered by prayer please email churchenquiries@paravista.org.au
with your request
This week we continue
in the series “You Got It! (Colossians)”.
This week’s message is “Being a Christian without being Religious” See to it that no one takes you captive through
hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the
elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. (Colossians 2:8 NIV)
Bible Reading: Colossians 2:8-23
Podcasts available
at www.paravista.org.au
Staffing Changes
Last week Laura Carson returned from
maternity leave to continue in her role as Children and Family Team leader.
Special thanks to Beth Einthal for very capably filling this role while Laura
has been on leave. With a new addition to their family Laura asked if her role
could be split to enable her to reduce her work time from 20 hours to 12 hours
per week. The remaining 8 hours would be used to create a support role within
the Children and Family ministry.
This new role was advertised before Easter and we are pleased to
announce that Beth Einthal has been appointed as the Children and Family
support worker. Beth’s experience in the ministry as both a volunteer and a
fill in staff person while Laura was on leave has well prepared her for this
role. Beth’s skills and gifts complement Laura’s leadership gifts and we
believe God is gifting this ministry to continue its amazing growth into the
future. Beth will begin her new role on 29th April.
Kingdom Kids is now in recess for the school holidays. We look forward
to starting our exciting program for term 2 on the 5th May.
Baby Zone would like to thank you for the donations that have already
been received. We are very grateful! There are still a few materials needed so
please have a look over the list below for any items that you may be able to
donate for our exciting new program.
- Small plastic watering can and toy gardening tools
- Colourful scarves for waving around (small ie. bandana size)
- A few animal puppets
- A few people puppets
- 1 set of plastic bowls (ie. Ikea ones), 1 set of plastic spoons, 1 set of plastic cups
- 1 set of large plastic toy food
- Several fake/plastic/silk flowers
- Several soft balls
- Unbreakable mirror
- 2 magnifying glasses
- 2 masking tape (thin)
- 2 clear sticky tape (thin)
- 1 pkt Blu tac
- 5 small glue sticks
- Blue and green crepe paper
- 1 pkt large paper plates
Playgroup is in recess over the school holidays. We will be starting
up again on Wednesday 2nd May.
Little
Lambs Playgroup is looking for a new coordinator. There is an amazing team of
ladies who run the playgroup together; we are looking for someone to oversee
and coordinate this team! Please consider if this might be you?
Laura Carson - Children
and Family Team Leader
Step Up 2013
Step Up is generally aimed at
children in grade 5 who are interested or have a desire to participate in Holy
Communion.
Our planned dates are:
Our planned dates are:
Sunday 5 May – Step Up lunch following the 10.30am
service.
Fridays 10, 17, 24, 31 May – probably at 7:30pm
Possible dates for Step Up to
receive Holy Communion: Sunday 9 June or 23 June.
All sessions will be held in the
Good Shepherd Primary School. Mary Jo Zwar is our Step Up facilitator – and she
is fabulous. We ask at least one parent to attend each session with their
child.
To register, please notify our
church office (8263 5087 or churchenquiries@paravista.org.au) with names (child and parent/s) as well as contact information (email
and phone).
Women’s Fellowship
Next meeting: Tuesday 7th
May, 1.00pm @ Para Vista Church Hall. The theme is “My Cup Runneth Over”
Bring your favourite cup/mug/glass
and tell us why it is special to you
From the Board
Left
is the unaudited outcome for the 2012 budget. The surplus indicated may change when we receive the audited figures from our auditor.
We have been blessed as the 2012 budget had a deficit of $ but through the generous giving of those who call Good Shepherd their church home there will be a small surplus for 2012.
Offerings for 2013 - Offerings to the end of March
2013 are $122,145 against our budget of $123,200. This is a year to date
deficit of $1,055
News from the Board - Joey
Pietsch, who has been a member of the Good Shepherd Board since 2012, has
commenced work at Immanuel Lutheran Church Novar Gardens and transferred her
membership to Immanuel so will no longer be a member of the Board. We thank
Joey for her contributions during this time especially in the area of policy
writing and wish her God’s richest blessings in her work.
From the Office
A view of Adelaide to be experienced - I am seeking the assistance of a couple of
members to assist in cleaning the gutters here at Para Vista. The task would
only involve an hour of spare time whilst being able to gain a view of the
surrounding area not normally seen by others. Please contact Stephen or the
office on 8263 5087 or put on your Sunday welcome card your intention to be part
of the “View Adelaide with a difference”
team.
Security of church complex - Request to members
who lock our facility to do a complete building check prior to setting the
alarm. Please take note of the keypad near the office entry and if there are
staff names on the key pad please do not set the alarm.
Soft
Dividers For Sale/Donation - The church has a number of soft room
dividers surplus to requirement. The
dividers are self-standing in various colours and in good condition. Each divider is approximately 1200mm wide X
1800mm high. Please contact the church
office or Stephen on 8263 5087 churchenquiries@paravista.org.au
Member
for the Village board - There are currently still 2 vacancies on the Good Shepherd Village Board
for 2013.
One is minute
secretary- role is to take the minutes of the Board meetings. Other secretarial
duties of the Board are fulfilled by other Board members. Each member of the
Board is allocated a portfolio for which they are responsible. This does not
mean that they actually do the work. They keep in touch with the Teams
responsible for that portfolio and report to the Board at the monthly meetings.
If you interested or
want additional information contact Board Chair Faye Godfrey – 8264 7415 or
Stephen Zanker 8263 5087 szanker@paravista.org.au
For
Sale - The church
still has three professional table tennis tables for sale. Please contact Stephen or the front office
on 8263 5087or via email szanker@paravista.org.au for further information.
Storage
of items in the church facilities - Over the past few months a number of
functions have occurred where bowls and containers have been bought into the
kitchen and have remained. Members are
requested to make sure they have their name on items and then remove them from
the kitchen after the function. Items
remaining for greater than 3 weeks will be disposed of in the community bin or
other.
Staff
Leave
Noel from 18th April to 1st May
Emma from 15th April to 22nd April
Helen from 17th April to 6th
May
Notice Board
Making Disciples of All
Faith Connections for Adults with Intellectual Disability
Saturday,
18th May, 2013
9.00am
– 1.00pm
Venue:
Golden Grove Lutheran Fellowship
Address:
Corner of Sunnybrook & Richardson Drive,
Wynn Vale
Venue: To get
there: Bus Stop 57 on the M44 bus route
Cost: $15, payable on the day, includes materials
and morning tea
RADIO
Listen to FACE
TO FACE
21st
April O
My God Noel
Due
Waltzing Matilda, the well-known and unofficial
anthem of Australia, tells of an interesting part of Australian history. We
sing it today even though we may not even know the original meaning. Noel Due
will be talking about another connection with our past, the phrase, OMG. What
does it really mean?
28th
April Anxiety Interview
Anxiety is a
term that covers many fearful conditions such as phobias and obsessive
compulsive disorders. A certain amount of nervous energy and fear is actually
healthy and quite normal. But when these feelings take over and rule our life
they need to be explored. Join us this week as we discuss anxiety and find hope
for managing it.
MOBILE
You may now
also access the Face to Face mobile website through your mobile device.
WEBSITES
TELEVISION
ON
MAIN STREET, a half hour talk show tackling socially relevant issues
11:30pm Saturday (AEDT) on the Australian Christian Channel AUSTAR DIGITAL 182, FOXTEL DIGITAL
182, OPTUS 49 / Digital 182, TRANSACT (Canberra)
FREE
WORSHIP SERVICE DVDs And/Or CDs
If circumstances should prevent you or someone
you know from attending church, please order FREE LCA Worship Service DVDs /CDs
by contacting Lutheran Media. FREECALL 1800 353 350 or luthmedia@lca.org.au
Barmera Parish Dried Apricots Missions Fund
Raising
Each 500gm bag is
sold for $10.50. The apricots are grown without any sprays, but do have Sulphur
preservative. They come straight from the grower so have not been
rehydrated as have those which are commercially available
in Supermarkets. MORE apricot, LESS water for your money, so
good value.
Except for a quite
small amount retained for maintenance, the Funds raised this year will be
forwarded through the Lutheran Board for Missions to Projects we have already
supported in Cambodia and to the Mango Tree Rehabilitation Centre for the
Disabled in Tonga, via NazCare Australia Inc.
Apricots are now available from the church
office. Call in during office hours 9am – 3.45pm Monday to Friday. Orders: phone 8263 5087 or via email: churchenquiries@paravista.org.au
WANTED Cleaner for Lutheran
Archives. 3 hours per week during the day, preferably on Wednesdays.
Contact Archivist Lyall
Kupke, 8340 4009.
Lutheran Church
of Australia, SA/NT District Job Opportunity DIRECTOR FOR CHAPLAINCY MINISTRIES
Up to Fulltime Position (negotiable) Commencing July 1, 2013
The LCA, SA/NT District has a created a new Department for
Chaplaincy Ministries to support and grow chaplaincy ministries in the
District.
We are seeking a suitably qualified person to fill the position
of Director.
Contact Kate Hampel 8267 5211 Email: Kate.Hampel@sa.lca.org.au for the position description
Applications
close Friday 17th May, 2013
You see much more of your children once
they leave home. ~Lucille Ball
Church Web site: www.paravista.org.au
