Friday, April 24, 2015

What’s on your mind?

This Sunday at Good Shepherd
Last Sunday, we started our new series: Balancing Life’s Demands.  We're using the image of a wheel to talk about balance.  We need a right centre in life: Jesus.  And then we need to work out how our priorities - the spokes - fit into the Centre. 

This Sunday we're exploring the theme: ‘What’s on your mind?’

For better or for worse, whatever you most think about is what you will become. We need to take care what goes into our minds - for that determines our beliefs, values, character, and behaviour.

Paul writes: ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’  (Romans 12:2a NIV)   How is doing life with Jesus renewing your mind: changing how you think about God, yourself, others? 

Bible Readings: Mark 12:13-27; 2 Corinthians 10:1-5
Podcasts of weekly messages are available at www.paravista.org.au

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 churchenquiries@paravista.org.au with your request.

Kingdom Kids
There will be no Kingdom Kids this week as we are on holidays.  Activity folders will be available for the children and Personal Journals available for the older children for use during services.

Parents and Carers – have you noticed the “Ideas and Encouragement” sheet in the front of the children’s activity folders especially for you?  Here’s a snippet:-

Explain
There will always be something for you and the children to discover what God is saying to you.  Here are some ideas to help you.  Ask the children the following:-
  • The Pastor is talking about ………  Can you draw me a picture of ……..
  • If the child in your care is old enough to read, “write down” questions for them to answer throughout the service about what Pastor is saying. Open ended questions are great!
  • Ask the children to keep a tally of the number of times an important word in the Bible is said throughout the sermon (e.g. redemption, hope, love).

Faith at Home
May booklet out now!  Pick up a copy of the May booklet at the Kingdom Kids Sign In desk, parenting room and children’s activity folders.

Step Up
Step Up is our first communion course for children in Year 5. 
Our course this year begins on Sunday 3rd May with a lunch for children and their families at the school.  Over the following four Friday nights 8-29 May, our facilitator Mary Jo Zwar will lead the sessions.  Letters have been sent to Year 5 students of the Good Shepherd community.  If you did not receive a letter, please contact the church front office and we will send one out to you.
If you would like to participate please advise by 27th April. Thank you for your co-operation.

‘Parenting in a Sex-Saturated World’
with Melinda Tankard Reist 7.30 pm Wednesday 29th April at Concordia College Chapel
$10 per person. Sponsored by Churches of Christ in SA & NT
Registration 8443 7572 or reception@churchesofchrist-sa.org.au

Kathy L.
Children and Family Support Worker

Women’s Fellowship News
SA/NT Lutheran Women's Convention
This is an invitation to all women to attend at 9:30 am on May 16th at Saint Pauls Lutheran Church, Audrey Avenue, Enfield for our day long annual convention. We hope that many people will represent our fellowship and we welcome congregation members to also attend. The baby clothes that we are collecting should be brought or sent on that day so that they can be dedicated before distribution. Our thanks to all who are contributing.

Annual Fundraising Lunch
You are invited to attend our annual fundraising lunch in Good Shepard Lutheran Hall, on June the 2nd at 12:00 noon. Guest speaker is Mal Thiel sharing his experiences with football and Sudanese Australians. Cost per person is $12 which includes two courses and table wine. To register for this lunch please ring Ruth Oster on 8265 0221 by the 26th of May.


Noticeboard

Adelaide rebuilds Vanuatu fundraising event
Adelaide comes together to help support the beautiful people of Vanuatu in their time of need! A fun day for the whole family with Stalls, Performers, Artists, Music, Children’s Entertainment, Food & More! Saturday 2nd May, 2015 10am - 4pm at the Salvation Army - Ingle Farm, corner of Bridge and Maxwell Roads, Ingle Farm. Entry Gold Coin Donation


“Every word of God proves true.”
Proverbs 30:5

Friday, April 17, 2015

Balancing Life’s Demands

This Sunday at Good Shepherd
It seems that life in our culture is becoming more demanding all the time. With our technology and mobility, we are constantly tempted to fit a bit more in.  Keep doing that, and we find ourselves overloaded and stressed.  At what point do we say: “Enough!”

This Sunday we're starting a new series: Balancing Life’s Demands.  Think of a wheel.  If a wheel is out of shape, it's out of balance… and it doesn't function properly.  Likewise, if our lives are out of balance, we end up with break-downs, bust-ups, and burnout. Come and find out how God can help you find balance in a busy world!

Bible Readings: Luke 2:41-52; Colossians 1:15-23
Podcasts of weekly messages are available at www.paravista.org.au

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 churchenquiries@paravista.org.au with your request.

Huge thank you to everyone who contributed towards the Visual Arts display over Easter. This is always a HUGE job and a lot of unseen work goes on behind the scenes. Thank you to the children and families who made the flowers – they were a beautiful addition.

Finally – thank you to the amazing Visual Arts team who made this all happen; meetings, planning/designing, prep work, supporting the flower making, assembling the display Thursday night after church and again on Saturday morning. (Then comes the pack up)

This kind of event doesn’t happen without the very generous gift of your time and talents.
You are an amazing group of people and I feel very blessed to work with you all.

God Bless – Andrea Brooks

Kingdom Kids
There will be no Kingdom Kids this week as we are on holidays.  Activity folders will be available for the children and Personal Journals available for the older children for use during services. 

Parents and Carers – have you noticed the “Ideas and Encouragement” sheet in the front of the children’s activity folders especially for you?  Here’s a snippet:-

Relax
God loves that you’ve brought children into His presence to worship Him.  He loves each one of them – wriggles and all! “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  Matthew 19:14”

Faith at Home
April booklet out now!  Pick up a copy of the April booklet at the Kingdom Kids Sign In desk, parenting room and children’s activity folders.

Step Up
Step Up is our first communion course for children in Year 5.  Year 5 children will be invited to attend.  Our course this year begins on Sunday 3rd May with a lunch at the school for children and their families.  Over the following four Friday nights from 8-29 May, our facilitator Mary Jo Zwar will lead the sessions.  Letters have been sent to Year 5 students of the Good Shepherd community.  If you did not receive a letter, please contact the church front office and we will send one out to you. If you would like to participate please advise us by 27th April. Thank you for your co-operation.

‘Parenting in a Sex-Saturated World’
with Melinda Tankard Reist - 7.30 pm Wednesday 29th April at Concordia College Chapel
$10 per person. Sponsored by Churches of Christ in SA & NT
Registration 8443 7572 or reception@churchesofchrist-sa.org.au

Kathy L.
Children and Family Support Worker

Maranatha Health Clinic open for business!
The latest Maranatha Health news is here.
The new clinic in Fort Portal, Uganda is open for service, patients are being treated and lives are being changed.

Read about it here!

Noticeboard

Organists Meet and Swap
Cost: $12 payable on the day
Light lunch, refreshments, participants ‘packs’
Registrations due by Friday 24th April to: joymildren@hotmail.com
or post to 8 Cambridge St, Vale Park, 5081
Enquiries: Joy Mildren 8367 9969/ 0458 650 135 or Barb Mattiske 8365 3033
A fantastic networking opportunity for all who are passionate about music in worship

Early bird was 17th April 2015 - Now extended to 30th April 2015. Cost: $35.30

“We love because he first loved us”
1 John 4:19

Friday, April 10, 2015

Believing is seeing

This Sunday at Good Shepherd
This Sunday at Good Shepherd we are looking at those times in our faith journey when we experience doubt. Faith requires us to believe in things that we cannot see and this does not always come easily to us. It’s normal to have doubts about who God is and how he is at work in our lives.

Our theme this week is: ‘Believing is seeing’ and we will be looking at the story of Thomas who doubted the disciples story that Jesus had risen from dead. Thomas’ doubts turned into faith and we can learn a lot from this story about dealing with our doubts.

Bible Readings: John 20:19-31

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 churchenquiries@paravista.org.au with your request.

Kingdom Kids
There will be no Kingdom Kids this week as we are now on holidays.  Activity folders will be available for the children and Personal Journals available for the older children for use during services.

Faith at Home
April booklet out now! Pick up a copy of the April booklet at the Kingdom Kids Sign In desk, parenting room and children’s activity folders.

Step Up
Step Up is our first communion course for children in Year 5. Year 5 children will be sent a letter of invitation to attend. Our course this year begins on Sunday 3rd May with a lunch for children and their families at the school. Over the following four Friday night’s 8-29 May, our facilitator Mary Jo Zwar will lead the evening sessions.   

If you do not receive a letter within the next couple of weeks, please contact the church front office and we will send one out to you. Thank you for your co-operation.

Novo! 2015
17-20 April 2015 at Cornerstone College, Mt Barker for School Years 7-12
For more information and to register go to www.blueprintministries.org.au/camps/novo

Kathy L.
Children and Family Support Worker

From the Office

Thank you

Thank you to all the members who gave the gift of parking in either the Mattiske car park or on the school oval for the Easter services and allowing our visitors to park close to the entrance of the church.  Your assistance was appreciated. 

Budget 2015
January thru March 2015
Total Offering - Budget $127,800    Actual $122,010. DEFICIT $5,790

Notes to report
  • Offerings in March were under budget by $2,690. 
  • Plate offering was again in line with budget while REG was below budget by $2,670. 
  • Total offering below budget by same amount that REG is below budget.
  • January & February expenses are slightly below expectations except for Plant.

Regular Electronic Giving (REG)
Thank you for returning your Impact 2014 slips.  This assisted the finance team and board to ably formulate the budget for 2015.   For those who are altering their giving through REG or wish to start giving via REG the appropriate forms are available from the information rack at the rear of the auditorium or via this link http://www.lll.org.au/giving_through_the_lll/regular_electronic_giving_reg

Alternatively deposits can be made to the following bank account details
If transferring from an LLL account, use account number 52752S1, BSB 704942.
If transferring from another banking institution, use account number 100354939, BSB 704942

Name Badges
Wear your name badge this Sunday and introduce yourself to any new people or visitors.

Communications Folder
A communications folder is available 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 churchenquiries@paravista.org.au

Vacancy
An opportunity exists for a volunteer to remove the rubbish bins from the street on a Monday evening and return them to the bin store.  All expressions of interest please contact Stephen on szanker@paravista.org.au, the office on 8263 5087 or mark bins on your connect card.

Gardening
The gardens at our facility are low maintenance and require very little to maintain.  Assistance is required from a member/family that may be able to spend an hour a month at their leisure to maintain one small garden section to help keep our facility looking great. Please mark your connect card with ‘Garden Help’ or contact Stephen on 82635087 or szanker@paravista.org.au

Noticeboard

FoLA Film Festival 'Seeds that Sprout'
The next Friends of Lutheran Archives (FoLA) meeting is on Monday 20th April. To launch Lutheran Archives Film digitisation appeal, Archivists Rachel Kuchel and Janette Lange will show and narrate a series of films from the Archives collection. Please come along to Bethlehem House, Flinders Street in the city, 7.30 pm.  Supper & gold coin donation.

Organists Meet and Swap
Cost: $12 payable on the day
Light lunch, refreshments, participants ‘packs’
Registrations due by Friday 24th April to: joymildren@hotmail.com
or post to 8 Cambridge St, Vale Park, 5081
Enquiries: Joy Mildren 8367 9969/ 0458 650 135 or Barb Mattiske 8365 3033
A fantastic networking opportunity for all who are passionate about music in worship

“Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs”
Proverbs 10:12

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Easter Edition

This Sunday at Good Shepherd
This Sunday we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.  In a sense, every Sunday celebrates this.  It can become so familiar to us that we end up unmoved by it: “Hmm! Jesus’ rising from the dead?  Yeh, I know. So what?”

Those first disciples who encountered the risen Jesus were never the same again! They were transformed: from fearful people in hiding, to publicly proclaiming the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection to ALL!  They were so convinced that God had acted once and for all in Jesus, that they didn’t want anyone to miss out on the significance. 

How can the resurrection of Jesus be more like that for us - from information to transformation?

Come and join with us on Sunday to find out!

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 churchenquiries@paravista.org.au with your request.

This weekend at Good Shepherd
We have a great weekend of services planned to help you enter into the Easter story and celebrate the saving work of Jesus through his death and resurrection.

Maundy Thursday 7.30 pm with Holy Communion - Condemnation or restoration? 
Good Friday 8.45am & 10.30am - Would you die for you? 
Easter Sunday 8.45am and 10.30am with Holy Communion - Easter changes everything

Our Easter services attract a large number of visitors who we can bless in the following ways-
  • Make it easy for them to find a car park by either parking on the school oval or in Mattiske’s carpark.
  • Fill the church from the front rows so first time visitors do not have to walk all the way down the front to find a seat.
  • If you arrive early sit in the middle of rows so that people do not have to climb over you to get to a seat.
  • Bring a packet of hot cross buns on Good Friday to share at morning tea.
  • Smile and say hello to people, especially those by themselves.

We look forward to you joining us for this very special time in the life of our church.

Hot cross buns 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 plate of hot cross buns, cut, buttered and ready to serve, that would be greatly appreciated. Please put the buns in the kitchen before service so those people rostered for morning tea can serve them. Thankyou

Kingdom Kids
We hope you enjoyed visiting the stations after the Palm Sunday service and that you used this opportunity to prepare your heart for Easter!

There will be no Kingdom Kids this week as we are now on holidays. Activity folders will be available for the children and Personal Journals available for the older children for use during services.

Faith at Home
April booklet out now! Pick up a copy of the April booklet at the Kingdom Kids Sign In desk, parenting room and children’s activity folders.

Little Lambs Playgroup
Next Wednesday Playgroup will have their last session for Term 1 and will be making a “Jelly Bean Prayer”! Come along straight after dropping off your children at school for a morning of pre-school fun, coffee and a chat!

Step Up
Step Up is our first communion course for children in Year 5. Year 5 children will be sent a letter of invitation to attend. Our course this year begins on Sunday 3rd May with a lunch for children and their families at the school. Over the following four Friday night’s 8-29 May, our facilitator Mary Jo Zwar will lead sessions from 7pm.   

If you do not receive a letter within the next couple of weeks, please contact the church front office and we will send one out to you. Thank you for your co-operation.

Novo! 2015
17-20 April 2015 at Cornerstone College, Mt Barker for School Years 7-12
For more information and to register go to www.blueprintministries.org.au/camps/novo

Kathy L.
Children and Family Support Worker

Para Vista Women's Fellowship
On Tuesday, 7th April, we invite you to join our meeting in the Church Hall to hear about the Home Care Today services offered by COTA, Council Of The Aging, through the Commonwealth of Social Services. These services support and encourage people to stay in their own homes for as long as possible.

In July, 2015, changes will be made to these services. We have a guest speaker coming on that day to share her knowledge of the existing services and how they may be changed. Her talk will begin at approximately 1.45pm in the Good Shepherd Hall. You are, of course, welcome to join our whole meeting, which commences at 1.00pm on that day.

From the Office

A blessing for Easter
Please consider parking in either the Mattiske car park or on the school oval leaving the parks close to the entrance of the church as a blessing for our visitors.  These arrangements will be in place for both Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Parking signs will be in place and your assistance in following directions is appreciated. 

Vacancy
An opportunity exists for a volunteer to remove the rubbish bins from the street on a Monday evening and return them to the bin store.  For all expressions of interest, please contact Stephen on szanker@paravista.org.au, the office on 8263 5087 or mark “bins” on your connect card.

Daylight Saving
Remember to turn clocks back one hour as Daylight Saving Time finishes at 3am this Sunday morning.

First Aid
As part of providing child safe programs for our children we are required to have safety management systems in place.  To assist our leaders and teams, anyone with a current first aid certificate is requested to provide a copy to the office for recording.  Your services would only be required in the unlikely event that minor assistance is required.

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 your intention to be part of the “View Adelaide with a difference” team on your Sunday Connect card.

Noticeboard

LCC Foster Care - Upcoming information sessions
Wednesday 8 April 2015 6.30-8.30pm
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Cnr Second & Seventh Streets, Gawler

RSVP by calling our friendly staff at 08 8337 8787 or email fostercare@lccare.org.au

Position Vacant - District Administrator
The District Administrator ensures the business affairs of the Lutheran Church of Australia, South Australia and Northern Territory District are conducted in accordance with sound financial and management practices. Job and Person Specifications are available at http://www.sa.lca.org.au.

Enquiries to Michelle Storie via E: districtadministrator@sa.lca.org.au or phone 8267 5211. Please apply by email including a resume and covering letter addressing the Essential Requirements.
Applications close Friday 10 April 2015

Position Vacant - Resourcing and Support Coordinator
Blueprint Ministries, the Department of Children, Youth and Family Ministry for the LCA SA/NT
Based at the LCA SA/NT District Office, North Adelaide, SA
Part-time (0.2FTE)
Applications close 10 April 2015
For more information contact fiona.weckert@sa.lca.org.au or phone 82675211
 

Family First SA - Traineeship Vacancy 2015
The Traineeship is:
  • Open to school leavers and persons 17-24 years of age (inclusive), or persons under 30 years, however conditions apply
  • For 1 year
  • Includes 4 days in the office and a compulsory 1 day a week attendance at TAFE to complete a Certificate III in Business Administration
  • Remuneration: up to maximum $31,195 per annum
To officially apply for this position
Refer to application process at:  https://apply.sa.gov.au/jobs/Pages/JobsSA.aspx .
The Traineeship Vacancy Code is 2015-2607. 
Applications are open from 27th March and close on 10th April 2015.
Please do not send your application to Parliament House.

FoLA Film Festival 'Seeds that Sprout'
The next Friends of Lutheran Archives (FoLA) meeting is on Monday 20th April. To launch Lutheran Archives Film digitisation appeal, Archivists Rachel Kuchel and Janette Lange will show and narrate a series of films from the Archives collection. Please come along to Bethlehem House, Flinders Street in the city, 7.30 pm.  Supper & gold coin donation.

Organists Meet and Swap
Cost: $12 payable on the day
Light lunch, refreshments, participants ‘packs’
Registrations due by Friday 24th April to: joymildren@hotmail.com
or post to 8 Cambridge St, Vale Park, 5081
Enquiries: Joy Mildren 8367 9969/ 0458 650 135 or Barb Mattiske 8365 3033
A fantastic networking opportunity for all who are passionate about music in worship


“You killed the author of life,
but God raised him from the dead.
We are witnesses of this.”
Acts 3:15