News

You're welcome

Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Matthew 10:40

We’ve had a very different experience of worship over the last three months. We’ve welcomed worship into our homes. We are thankful to God for the people and the technology that has made this possible.And thankful too for your hospitality in welcoming us into your home.

Today Jesus tells his disciples that people will welcome the message that they are bringing. Sometimes it will be with the hospitality of sharing a meal, giving an ear to the message, or receiving the good news with joy. Jesus’ disciples need to remember that the Holy Spirit goes ahead of them, preparing the ground for the seed of the word to reap the harvest of faith.

Thank you for welcoming us into your home, into your life today. May the good news bring you joy today and always.

Have you got questions about life, faith and meaning? Explore these questions through Alpha Online, beginning July 20.

Click on the Welcome button to register.

On 12th July 2020 St John’s will begin a sermon series which will help us all to live as people who share Jesus love through caring conversations, faithfilled relationships and prayful engagement.

The Sermon series will be based upon the Book: Shepherd of Souls by David W Anderson. Each week’s sermon will be supported by a purposefully written Taking Faith Home page to guide your personal or household devotional life in the following week.

Alongside of the sermon series we invite you to consider going deeper and discover for yourself how shepherding one another and being shepherded is as essential to life as eating three meals a day!

If you are part of an existing small group of any kind, your small group is invited to consider adjusting your plans for Term 3 so that you can gain the greatest blessing from the sermon series by meeting weekly as a small group and engaging in one of the small group options below. Small group leaders: please discuss this opportunity with your group and let our Spiritual Life Coordinator, Paula Meyer at paula.meyer@lca.org.au know if your group will be participating in either of the options.

If you are not yet part of a small group you are invited to become part of a new Life Group and engage with one of the small group options below. These groups would consist of women and men, younger and older who meet together to connect and grow in their faith and in their friendships with one another. Supporting and encouraging each other on their life and faith journey.

Please email our Spiritual Life Coordinator, Paula Meyer at paula.meyer@lca.org.au if you would like to be a part of one of these groups or if you have any questions.

The two small group options are:

1) A reading group. Where you purchase or borrow a copy of the Shepherd of Souls book and read the chapter for the week and together discuss some of the questions at the end of the chapter. There are at least 30 hardcopies of the book already in circulation in the congregation that could be borrowed. The electronic version of the book is available to purchase from https://store.milestonesministry.org/product-p/sosouls-down.htm for US$12.95

2) A Taking faith home group. Whereby your group explores the themes of the sermon of the week by using the Taking Faith Home Page. Together you will learn to practice what it means to shepherd oneanother through caring conversations, faithfilled relationships and prayful engagement.

Please register by emailing paula.meyer@lca.org.au if you would like to be a part of a Shepherd of Souls small group.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31

Don't be afraid

We are all afraid of something; the future, our health, COVID-19, the wellbeing of our families. We try all kinds of ways to push our fears down, but they always bubble up.What do we do with our fears?

God’s word encourages us to take them to him. Today Jesus says, Don’t be afraid…afraid of those who oppose God’s church, afraid of those who can hurt us physically.

Remember that we are worth so much to God that he sent his Son Jesus to die for us, and to share his risen life with us. This is the good news that reminds us that our lives are secure in God.

God bless your St John's Worship@Home this week.

Pastor Andrew Brook & Pastor Nigel Rosenzweig

Hoping faithfully and gracefully

When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’ Matthew 9: 26-28

How are you sleeping at the moment? According to a recent news report, many of us aren’t sleeping all that well. We are waking more often during the night, and waking up feeling tired. That’s because these last months have been an anxious time.

God knows what we’ve been going through. And we know that he cares for us because we see the love that his Son Jesus displayed.

What’s been harassing you over these months? What’s been getting you down? What are you fearful of about the future?

Knowing Jesus, trusting him changes the way that we look at life. We’re not left to our own devices. We have peace with God through Jesus. We are not alone when we suffer. We have hope because God’s love fills our lives.

This is the good news that God shares with us today through his word.

God bless your St John's Worship@Home this week.

Pastor Andrew Brook & Pastor Nigel Rosenzweig

In this time of COVID-19 restrictions, we have all had to do things differently. We have been producing our St John’s Worship@Home weekly videos. You can view these [here](https://bit.ly/2wOdI3l).

Exciting news! These 30 minute worship videos are being shown on Adelaide TV, on Channel 44 - each Sunday at 2.30pm. This means that anybody with access to a TV (Channel 44 in Adelaide) can view our weekly worship. That is great news for those who are socially isolated, and technologically isolated (without a computer/internet).

Pass the good news on to others who may benefit from this service.

NOTE: This Sunday 28 June, the Worship@Home service broadcast on Channel 44 will be from Sunday 21 June. To watch our weekly worship video for Sunday 28 June, you will need to go [here](https://bit.ly/2wOdI3l).

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20 NIV UK

This weekend we will be reflecting on these well known words. As we disciple one another in our everyday life, God is at work growing his eternal community. His community is to include people of all nations and will reflect the very nature of God himself. The scriptures speak of God as Triune – meaning three in one. One God who has revealed himself to us in three ways: as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

At a recent St John’s confirmation ZOOM session we spent some time discussing what we believe about life and God. Participants created their own simple bumper sticker pictures to present a snapshot of their belief in God.

The picture above was created by Jasmine Chew. It visually depicts our Triune God and how God comes to us to bless us in three persons: the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (Cross), the love of the Father (Heart) and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (the Warm fire). These are the three ways God has made himself known to us, yet God is one – like a rope made of three chords is one rope. And so the scriptures declare: God is love. In my mind, God is the example of the perfect community where three distinct persons are united as one.

A short glimpse of this week’s news reveals that we live in a broken community in a broken world. As people who have come to know that God is love, how will we live in this world? How will we disciple? What sort of community do we desire to build or rebuild in this ever changing world in which we live? This weekend may you ask God, to show himself to you and you will discover the answer for God is love.

God bless your St John's Worship@Home this week.

Pastor Andrew Brook & Pastor Nigel Rosenzweig

St John's leadership seeks your prayers for God's wisdom as we chart our course with the government's easing of COVID-19 restrictions. We want to hear from you about your experience of these months as a church community in isolation, and how we can move forward.

At this time of social distancing and other restrictive measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we encourage you all to stay connected with your family, friends, neighbours, and your Church Community.

The Pastoral Care Team at St John’s have established a Care Call Ministry . This will enable us to make phone contact with all in the St John’s community, to stay connect, and encourage each other in this time of physical isolation. This Care Call Ministry is still being rolled out, so bear with us. Through this Care Call Ministry we are excited about the opportunities to stay connected.

Our worlds have seen so much disruption at the moment – we are all adapting to many changes. The one thing that remains unchanged is God’s love for us all.