Rejected or received?
The Jewish religious leaders went to a lot of effort to kill
Jesus: conspiracy, kidnap, an illegal trial at night. False witnesses faltered
and proceedings stalled. So the High Priest jumps in: “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us
if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” (Mt 26:63 NIV)
By law, Jesus must answer truthfully. As soon as Jesus
answers the question, he is a dead man walking! (Mt 26:64-66) Once daylight
arrives, they “rubber stamp” the death sentence.
Unable to carry out the death penalty, they bring Jesus to
Pilate. Pilate is not sure what to do with this king of the Jews.
In spite of accusations made by the chief priests and elders, the evidence is
flimsy. Although Jesus is not found guilty of any crime, Pilate capitulates to
the crowd.
There’s irony. Jesus is the promised Messiah. But the
religious power-brokers don’t want a Messiah who exposes their hypocrisy. They
don’t want a Messiah who “lifts the lid” on their heart condition before God …
and calls them to repentance.
They are faced with two choices:
- Repent, receive Jesus as Messiah, and follow him (later, many did – Acts 6:7).
- Reject him.
2000 years have passed, and human reactions to Jesus are
still the same.
Which of these are consistently yours and mine?
Pr Rolly Stahl
This Sunday at Good Shepherd
This week’s message is “Responding to injustice” as we continue
the series ‘Choices on the way’. Podcasts of weekly messages are available at www.paravista.org.au
Bible Readings: 1 Pet 2:21-24; Matthew 26:26:57-68, 27:11-26
Last Sunday Kingdom Kids celebrating Easter with four
stations journeying through the Easter story and learning about what Jesus did
for us at the first Easter! It was a God filled morning filled with fun, faith
and community! It was amazing to see so many children, youth, parents and
grandparents doing the stations with the children, with around 90 children and
adults learning together; Praise God!
Kingdom Kids (including Baby Zone) will not be running during the school holidays. There will be lots for kids to see, do and be involved with in church over Easter so come and enjoy church together as a family!
We Praise God for the average of 50 kids who have attended Kingdom
Kids each week this term.
Baby Zone averages 5 babies/toddlers per week (with a
maximum of 8 babies/toddlers)
Kindy Zone averages 13 kids per week (with a maximum of 17
kids)
Kids Zone averages 15 kids per week (with a maximum of 22
kids)
Kool Zone averages 16 kids per week (with a maximum of 23
kids)
Baby Zone
The new Baby Zone room will be painted THIS SUNDAY 13th of April after church.
The new Baby Zone room will be painted THIS SUNDAY 13th of April after church.
Please let Beth know ASAP if you are able to help with the
painting or if you have any painting equipment we can use!
Thank you to everyone who has already donated items for the
new Baby Zone room! There are still lists of things that we could use for our
program for the whole year below. If you have any of these things and can spare
them, our little ones will make good use of them!
·
Packets of seeds of herbs or flowers
and small pots - “God Makes Growing Things” is the theme for April.
·
Dolls (babies
only, i.e. not Barbies)
·
Doll blankets and other baby doll
accessories
·
Toy people (too large to
swallow, i.e. “Little People”)
·
Toy cash register
·
Toy picnic basket and toy
picnic set
·
2 small torches
·
Stuffed toy animal sheep, cow,
donkey and camel
·
Variety of plastic or washable
play/dress up hats
If you have any of these items that you would be happy to
donate to the room, or are happy to purchase them for the room, please leave
them in the Baby Zone room by the shelves or pass onto Beth Einthal or Tanya
Harrison, Baby Zone Team Leader.
Kindy Zone Team Leader
We are still praying for someone who would love to lead
Kindy Zone and be part of a passionate and fun team! Please consider if this
might be you and get in touch with me (beth.einthal@paravista.org.au)
for a chat!
Step Up
Is running again this year in May for children now in Year 5
at school. The Step Up program helps to prepare children for admission to Holy
Communion. The first session will be a shared lunch held on Sunday 4th
May with four sessions on Fridays May 9, 16, 23 and 30, all held in the school
library. Please contact the church office on 8263 5087 or email Beth (beth.einthal@paravista.org.au)
for further information, or to register your child.
Beth Einthal - 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.
Easter Service Times
Maundy Thursday - 7.30pm Service
with Holy Communion
Good Friday - 8.45am & 10.30am Good
Friday Experience
Easter Sunday - 8.45am & 10.30am Celebration
service with Holy Communion
Hot cross buns needed for Good Friday
As part of our Easter celebrations we will be serving hot
cross buns for morning tea on Good Friday. If you are able to bring a bag of
hot cross buns, cut and buttered that would be greatly appreciated. Please put
the buns in the kitchen before service so those preparing morning tea can get
them ready to be served.
Carry Children in Cambodia to Jesus Appeal
God has given our Lutheran church family a unique
opportunity to expand our mission work in Cambodia. Working together with other
Lutherans form around the world we plan to buy land next door to our existing
mission project Rainbow Hostel, to build a Lutheran pre-school and
Bible-training centre. This facility will help the Lutheran Church in Cambodia
grow and go to families needing the good news of Jesus. Appeal information
packs are in your pigeon holes and additional copies are available from the
brochure rack in the foyer.
Cebu Fundraising Event
Advance notice of our Sausage Sizzle and Steak Sandwich Day, Sun 25th May. As always, there will be sausages available after the first service and sausages and Steak Sandwiches available after the second service. Come and enjoy some lunch and then attend the AGM for the School, The Village and the Church at 12.30pm. There will also be freshly baked Cupcakes for sale.
Many thanks to all who bought Pancakes at our last fundraising day; we raised the amount of $202! All monies raised go to the 'Inayawan Project' in Cebu, Philippines.
Major Fundraising Night
A few weeks ago, I said 'watch this space' and gave you a date to put in your diaries! Unfortunately, the date had to be changed, so can you please put Saturday 23rd August in your diary, for a great night of music and fun!
Keep 'watching this space'.
Advance notice of our Sausage Sizzle and Steak Sandwich Day, Sun 25th May. As always, there will be sausages available after the first service and sausages and Steak Sandwiches available after the second service. Come and enjoy some lunch and then attend the AGM for the School, The Village and the Church at 12.30pm. There will also be freshly baked Cupcakes for sale.
Many thanks to all who bought Pancakes at our last fundraising day; we raised the amount of $202! All monies raised go to the 'Inayawan Project' in Cebu, Philippines.
Major Fundraising Night
A few weeks ago, I said 'watch this space' and gave you a date to put in your diaries! Unfortunately, the date had to be changed, so can you please put Saturday 23rd August in your diary, for a great night of music and fun!
Keep 'watching this space'.
From the Office
A communications folder is in the kitchen
to the right of the door as you enter from the passage way. Instead of
approaching staff on Sundays, please use this folder to communicate things
like: misplaced items, minor maintenance issues, cleaning products or kitchen
supply shortages. This will allow our staff to worship and not feel compelled
to carry out duties on their day off. Alternatively, you can email the Church
Office.
The SA/NT District Convention
of Synod will be held at Endeavour College from Friday 2nd May to Sunday 4th
May. The congregation will meet all the costs of the delegates. We are entitled
to 5 lay delegates and still have one vacancy. If you are interested in
attending as a delegate and representing our congregation or would like more
information please contact John Dolling
A view of Adelaide to be experienced could be gained while assisting in the cleaning of the
gutters. The task only involves an hour of time while 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 Connect card your intention to be
part of the “View Adelaide with a difference” team.
Car parking attendants
are required to assist with traffic and parking on Good Friday and Easter
Sunday. Assistance would be required between the 0845 and 0930 service. Please
contact Stephen or the office on 8263 5087.
Budget 2014
- Income through February was under budget mainly due to Offerings.
- Expenses are $3,000 under budget.
- Offerings in March were $1,143 below budget
- for the same period in 2013 REG is approximately $4,000 up and plate offering approximately $3,500 up.
- We are $2,370 behind budget after March.
Noticeboard
Friends of Lutheran Archives (FoLA)
To give them a future & a hope – Lutheran Mission work among Aboriginal people in SA 1838-1853,
& the differences in expectations between the SA Colonial Authorities &
settlers, the Dresden Mission Society & other Christian bodies. Christine
Lockwood will be the guest speaker at the FoLA meeting on Monday April 28th 7.30
pm, Bethlehem House, Sudholz Place, City. Supper. Gold coin
donation. All welcome!
Emerge Leadership Conference
Encouragement, connection and inspiration for emerging leaders developing
their skills to serve God through youth and young adult ministry
- Emerge is a one day leadership conference run by Blueprint Ministries for leaders aged 16 years and above.
- Australian Lutheran College, Saturday 17th May, 10am – 4pm
- Cost $10 registration plus $8 for lunch (or BYO)
- Keynote Speaker Chris Mann and stacks of workshops to choose from!
- Register at https://events.blueprintministries.org.au/
Neighbourhood watch
The next general meeting will be 14th April
2014 @ 7.30pm in the church hall.
The Guest Speaker will represent the Police
Bomb Response (Explosive coordination Section) and talk about explosives and
what to do if you find any.
Why not attend a meeting and find out how you
can help keep our area safe.
“Love is the soul’s beauty”
