Throughout this week I’ve been scouring the scriptures attempting to find someone – anyone – who actually seemed to be comfortable in a faith that was sedentary, immobile or passive. I couldn’t find one – even Judas, who betrayed Jesus, seemed to be doing it from a faithful-(unfortunate)-force-his-hand-position. From the very beginnings of the Bible, from Adam, to (especially) Abram, to Moses, Esther, Mary; all of them were not allowed to remain static in their journeys, because faith is a living, breathing, ambulatory thing. We were never meant to sit still, whether physically or spiritually.
And yet in the majority of churches, the reason people seek out a congregation, or a worship service, is the fact that they feel comfortable. They like the comfortable music, the comfortable sermon, the comfortable friendship, etc… Now, when I write this, it’s not as if I’m trying to shove spiritual splinters under fingernails, but when we look at the scriptures with regards to what faith does, we’ll notice many beautiful and frightening things:
People step onto the water from a perfectly comfortable boat.
People have children when they are comfortably situated in old age.
People encounter Jesus in joy and suffering from a comfortable place of power.
This is the leap of faith. Not the leap of comfort.
This week we’ll be dissecting two heroes of the faith; one a steadfast believer in God, the other a Gentile Roman soldier whom Jesus marvels about his faith that has no need for eyes. Come and experience the dis-comfort of faith, but also hear the story once again from the voices of young and old people alike, how faith changes life!
Bible Readings: Luke 7:1-10, Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16, Genesis 12:1-9
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 is now on holidays. We will resume on Sunday 6th August at 10.30am.
Activity folders are available for the younger children and Worship Journals available for the older children for use during the services. Please help yourself to them just outside the parenting room.
Growing Faith at Home
Now available on our church Facebook page! To encourage families to keep growing in their faith at home each week.
Little Lambs Playgroup
Playgroup is now on a break. We will resume on Wednesday 26th July.
SOUL Crew was held last Friday, last for the term, and we finished the last in our series of “Jesus – Who is He?” We finished on Jesus – The Miracle Man. We talked about His miracles but in particular focussed on the Feeding of the 5,000 and how even in today’s society that miracle is still very relevant. We also realised that little – and sometimes big – miracles happen everyday in our lives and around us, but sometimes we are so busy or self-absorbed we fail to see them. It was a good night as we had some fun games to reinforce how to share the good news of Jesus.
Next week sees the start of many CLW camps around the state. We have a lot of campers and leaders heading over to Port Hughes over the next two weeks. This includes myself, as I have been allocated “Head Chef” for week 1 of camp so I know I am up for a busy week looking after the campers. BUT I also know it will be extremely rewarding watching these young people grow over the time they spend at camp. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those “prayer warriors” for coming forward and volunteering to pray for us – it is totally awesome going away knowing that the power of prayer is behind us.
Looking forward to another exciting term ahead as we tackle “Jesus-Who am I?”- learning about ourselves and what is expected/asked of us as a follower of Jesus. Term 3 flyer is attached so mark these dates in your diary.
Further details regarding youth contact Margot Mertin 0401 850814 or mmertin@paravista.org.au
From the Office
Ignite the Future building update
We have good news this week as we are able to move back into the hall and have fresh brewed coffee from our well known barista. We continue to ask for your patience as there will be no services available so the paper cups will still need to be used. We have lights but no power to most power points or water to the new sink area. So the staff kitchen will still need to be used for water and clean up point.
You will all see plenty of changes to the rear wall of the narthex. As this will be classed as part of the building site this week it is requested that all members refrain from entering this area unless you are a worship host and are required to turn on lights or access the AV room. All efforts will be made to have the information normally supplied in this area set up in a temporary location. (See where you can help below)
Again this week a number of volunteers have offered time at short notice to assist in various preparation of building project. This week the new store floor was ground back and a number of sealing coats applied ready for use. After hours structural steel rectification of the current building was also undertaken by Eric Hofmanis to ensure structural integrity.
This is where you can help
If you have a couple of hours to spare in the next week please email Stephen on szanker@paravista.org.au or call him on 0403 180 814 or email John Dolling at jdolling@bigpond.net.au to discuss your availability. Assistance will be required for the following:
• assisting to relocate the library into the new meeting room from the front foyer
• temporary reset the narthex
• to set up the shelving in the new store
• moving items into the store from the hall
• relocating the items from the temporary shipping container
• spraying weeds in the garden and perhaps weeding where spray cannot be used
• assist in cleaning the donated chairs for use in the complex
• moving furniture back into the hall and store
As you can appreciate the more assistance given the greater the ability of the ministry groups, and you as members, will have to use the facility.
Social club
The Social Club will be up and running again from Thursday 13th July at 1.00pm. Why not come along and enjoy a game of carpet bowls on a green that has its own secret, or be a team player at cards.
Parking lot safety reminder – One Way Traffic
Reminder our car park is now permanent one way to all traffic. Entry only permitted from Montague Road and all vehicles are required to exit onto Hillary Crescent. Traffic signs indicating flow of traffic are in place. Please note this is a shared area and speed is restricted to 10KPH
Notice Board
Dried apricots
For sale in the church office at $12 per 500gm pack which will help support ministries in Cambodia and Tonga.
Adelaide: Op Shop Volunteers Needed
LCC is in need of volunteers to help in our Op Shops at Blair Athol and Smithfield. We are also looking for volunteers to help sort donations at the Blair Athol shop. If you want to contribute to the community and be part of a friendly team, contact Di for more information: 8269 9300 or dgerrie@lccare.org.au
Professional Standards
The Professional Standards Department of the SA/NT District was established by the LCA to assist all those who engage with our church to care for one another.
There is now a Professional Standards Officer in every District of the LCA.
Caring for one another requires a little effort from us. It's something we need to choose to do. It's love in action. It's what we are called to do as Christians.
The LCA and its districts have policies and procedures to help us know appropriate ways of behaving and responding to matters that life throws at us. We need to take special care of the vulnerable people, the frail, the sick, the sad and especially our children. In the past we may have tried to ‘fix things up’ after an incident occurred, but our new focus is on the prevention of harm.
The LCA offers a number of different types of training and workshops to help congregations meet their Health and Safety, and ChildSafe obligations.As part of this Good Shepherd will host two opportunities to participate in the Professional Standards Workshop (PSW) on Sunday 6th August and again on Sunday 10th September commencing at 12.30pm and finishing at 6.30pm. You only need to attend one.
This workshop focuses on the prevention of harassment and abuse (including Safe Place) and ChildSafe team member combined into one workshop, removing the need for congregation members to complete two types of training.This is the foundation training which must be completed before other levels of training offered by the LCA.
The workshop numbers are capped at 35 people. This is due to the interactive nature of the sessions so early registration is recommended. Registration is via online system and is accessible here: https://goo.gl/Zanktk and also via the SA/NT District website. If you do not have computer access please contact the church office and they will assist in registration.
Cost for each participant is $40.00. If this is prohibitive for you please contact the church office or Stephen on 8263 5087 and some concession can be arranged.
This workshop is required by all church leaders and recommended for all adult members. A luncheon will be provided for participants directly after service on Sunday to enable the workshop to commence and finish on time. Please see the notice board and slide adverts for further information.
“God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
