“Coming
– ready or not!!!”
So shouts the seeker
when kids play hide ‘n seek. Those not ready are caught out - sometimes
in between hiding places. Children soon learn to hide quickly so they can be
ready when the seeker finishes counting… and comes a-lookin’.
There’s another
countdown happening: not just the number of shopping days to Christmas. It’s
the countdown to Jesus’ return. Jesus is coming again - ready or not! Jesus doesn’t want to “catch us out”. He wants us to be ready!
In
Advent, we not only look back to Jesus’ first coming as a baby, but we also look
forward with anticipation to Jesus’ return as the end time judge and king over
all.
Christians throughout
history have expected Jesus to return “soon”. In St Paul’s earlier letters, he
seems to be expecting Jesus’ return within his own lifetime.1 But
towards the end of his life, his letters express hopeful anticipation of
meeting the Lord at his death.2 To his friends at Philippi, Paul
writes: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Phil.
1:21). Paul was ready!
How is it with you? Does
Jesus’ return bring a sense of joyful anticipation? Or something else?
Friends,
one day each of us will come face to face with Jesus. That is our hope, our
destiny, our future. And Jesus wants you and me to be sure of it, glad about, and
absolutely confident in it. It happens in hearts where Jesus lives and rules.
The joy of the Lord is their security and strength!
Come Lord Jesus! Come
to us today as we live for you and look forward to your coming again!
Pr
Rolly Stahl
1 Romans 13:11, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31.
2
Philippians 1:23 , 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
This Sunday at Good Shepherd
This
week’s message will be “God’s promise of
a Saviour King” as we start a new series ‘God’s promises in Jesus’ Podcasts
of weekly messages are available at www.paravista.org.au
Bible Readings:
2 Samuel 7:11b-13, 16; Isaiah 35:3-6; Luke 1:26-38
Celebration Service:
Dear members and friends of Good Shepherd Lutheran
Church Para Vista,
Kingdom Kids Children’s Ministry would like to
personally invite you to worship with us this Sunday 1st December as
we Launch Advent with our 2013 Celebration Service Jesus – The Promise of
a Saviour King. Please join us for a creative retelling of the
Christmas story at the 10:30am service, followed by a yummy morning tea in the
Hall. Please feel free to invite your families and friends, everyone is
welcome.
Baby Zone:
There will be NO Baby Zone this Sunday 1st
December. Instead we’d like to invite everyone to come along to our Celebration
Service. Normal lessons will resume on Sunday 8th December and will
conclude on the 15th December with our 2013 Christmas Party.
Playgroup: The things
we love about Christmas!
Come along to playgroup this term to help us
celebrate “the things we love about Christmas”. Each Wednesday from
9:30am-11:30am the church hall is transformed into an inviting play area with
loads of fun and interesting activities for everyone to take part in. Our theme
for next week is The Nativity Story followed
by Carols and Community (a
joint celebration with the receptions at GSLS from 9-10:30am on the school
playground and oval. Please bring a plate of morning tea to share). $2 per child or $3 per family. Please bring a
piece of fruit to share. All welcome. Please contact Beth Einthal for more info
0438 233 671.
$100 to go!
It has become a tradition at our church to give the
children a Christmas pack as they enter church on Christmas Day, as a way to
include and bless them in the service. To help cover the cost of this expense,
we would like to ask for small donations from the congregation. The total
expense of making 150 of these packs is $230, so if you feel led to make a
small donation towards this gift we would be thrilled. Please place your
donations in the ‘Kids Christmas Packs’ money house located on the Kingdom Kids
sign in table in the narthex. Thanks in advance for your support in this way.
Just over $130 has been donated so far. Thanks to everyone who has contributed
so generously.
Laura Carson – Children and Family Team Leader
Prayer
requests
Prayer
requests are not included in the weekly news. If you would like to view the
current requests refer to the email that alerted you to this weekly news. If
you have a prayer request please email churchequiries@paravista.org.au with your request.
Lutheran
Women of South Australia RETREAT 2014
Located at the Australian Lutheran College - Ward Street,
North Adelaide
From 17th to 19th January 2014.
RSVP required by 8th January 2014.
For enrolment forms or more information, please
contact Ruth Oster on 8265 0221 or email kroster@senet.com.au
From the Board
Half
Yearly meeting
At the Half Yearly meeting on Sunday:
· 2014 budget was passed as
presented with $25000 increase in offerings. This was based on pledges made in
the Stewardship campaign in October.
· It was agreed in 2014 to
support Maranatha Health in prayer and when their present issues are resolved
to also support them financially.
· It was agreed to continue
support for Cebu Missionary Foundation.
· It was agreed to conduct
a Stewardship campaign in 2014 to ascertain financial support available for the
Connect Project. If the outcome is positive, construction should commence in
2015.
The following members were elected to the Board:
John Dolling (chair), Keren Sutton (vice chair),
Simon Janetzki (Finance Team Leader), Keith Kemp, Helen Bridge and Erika
Kaesler. There are still several vacancies on the Board. If you are interested,
please contact John Dolling or Keren Sutton.
Relocation
of Baby Zone
The first stage in the shift is nearing completion.
The storeroom in the Education Centre will be completed early next week and
materials in the current storeroom behind the library will be relocated next
week. Next step is to relocate the library into the Education Centre before
Christmas. If we have a dozen members who can volunteer just 1 hour we can
get this done. If you can spare an hour, please contact John Dolling. The
baby zone materials will then be relocated to their new home in the present
library. The final step is to secure the new baby zone area with an entrance
door.
From the office
Christmas
Whirlwind
Last year a number of volunteers attended the church
complex on Christmas Eve and did a general clean of the grounds and exterior
surrounds of the building. I am again looking for a small team to assist in
creating an inviting appearance to our church facility for Christmas.
In order to do this I am planning to hold a
whirlwind of the church grounds and facility exterior on Tuesday 24th
December starting at 9am. Now the more helpers we get the bigger the whirlwind
and the greater the effect. If you have someone else in mind that you could
bring along, do so and it will all be blown over in a jiffy.
If you have a petrol driven blow vac that needs a
dust out bring it along with safety equip and we can have a dust off comp. Last
year’s winner was a blow in who only led by a short puff.
Please mark your welcome card whirlwind, let the
office or Stephen know your availability by 9am Wednesday 18th December.
Thanks.
Security
of church
Request that members who lock our facility do a
complete building check prior to setting the alarm. As you move through the
building, please shut all the doors. 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.
Christmas
Stalls
Available after both morning services on the
following dates: 8th and 15th December. All
proceeds to Cebu Mission. Thank you for your support.
Christmas
Trees from Holy Cross, Birdwood
We have high quality Christmas trees at $30 each available for purchase
again this year. Delivery to the church will be on Saturday 14th December.
Please email churchenquiries@paravista.org.au or contact the
church office 8263 5087 or write your order on your welcome card by Wednesday 4th
December. It will be helpful if you can state a preferred height of tree.
The
Singing Christmas Tree
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Loxton presents an outdoor evening of
music, drama, lights and the power of the Christmas story. 8pm, December 6th,
7th, 13th, 14th, 20th and 21st.
Students
commencing Tertiary Study in 2014
Please see Church notice board for further details
Notice
to LLL Depositors
Our congregation has received a “Notice to LLL
Depositors” advising that the interest rate on LLL interest bearing saving
accounts will be 3.5% from 1 December 2013. This notice has been placed on the
church notice board for your information.
Research
on conversion to Christianity
Researchers from Flinders University (theology department) are seeking
participants for research on why individuals convert to Christianity. If you
are aged over 18 years, from an English speaking background, have begun
considering yourself a Christian in the past two years and are willing to be
interviewed about your experiences, they would love to hear from you. More
information on the noticeboard or from Lynne Taylor
Mobile: 0488 497 881
Phone: 08 8358 2149 or
“In all circumstances, we can give thanks that God has not left us on our
own”
