May NewsMay 2017 The Good Shepherd Artist: Michelle Sanders Painted at St Thomas 30 April 2017

Transcription

1 May News May 2017 The Good Shepherd Artist: Michelle Sanders Painted at St Thomas 30 April 2017

2 From John All my fountains are found in you. - concludes the Psalmist in Psalm 87. This Psalm is a remarkable psalm, in that there is an anticipation that many non-israelites will, not simply come to Zion, but be recorded - by the LORD - as her children. This concept is prevalent in the New Testament, in regards to gentiles coming to faith, but is seldom seen in the Old Testament. Those occasions where it does occur are rich with imagery, anticipating the light that will shine upon people who are far from God and living in darkness. It is these non-israelites (all of which were enemies of Israel) that the Psalmist says will make music and will sing, All my fountains are in you. (Ps 87:7). It is not difficult to understand the meaning, a fountain is something refreshing, thirst quenching, cleansing, cooling and most welcome. These pilgrims declare All my fountains are in you, what is meant by All? I do not think it is a wild stretch to say that these pilgrims see that all their needs are met in the city of God. For us, it is to Christ we say, All our fountains are in you. The Apostle Paul writes, Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption 1 Cor 1:30. In others words, every facet of our lives that is in deficit, incomplete and wanting, is fulfilled in Christ. What we lack in virtue, Christ has in abundance. As Christians we are constantly learning to drink deeply from Christ that our lives might be full of His abundance. I read a Psalm daily, and only recently read Psalm 87. On that same morning I also read Philippians where Paul unashamedly writes, God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus, Phil 1:8. What a remarkable thing to express, yet he is not glorifying himself, rather Paul has learnt to drink so deeply of Christ that he now shares in our Lord s affection for others. Where are you lacking in your life? Where are you thirsty? I pray that you will see in Christ that He, not only has everything you don t but also, gives it to you like a refreshing fountain to a thirsty traveller. John

3 Corroboree William BARAK - Wurundjeri people ( ) Acknowledgement of Country In the spirit of reconciliation, St Thomas Burwood acknowledges the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations as the original custodians of the land now known as Whitehorse. We pay our respects to the Indigenous Elders past and present. Reconciliation prayer Lord God, bring us together as one, reconciled with you and reconciled with each other. You made us in your likeness, you gave us your Son, Jesus Christ. He has given us forgiveness from sin. Lord God, bring us together as one, different in culture, but given new life in Jesus Christ, together as your body, your Church, your people. Lord God, bring us together as one, reconciled, healed, forgiven, sharing you with others as you have called us to do. In Jesus Christ, let us be together as one. Amen. Reconciliation Prayer from A Prayer Book for Australia

4 Sermon Series & Sunday Readings We will be starting a new sermon series based on the book of Esther. This book is an excellent piece of literature and has a gripping story. There are four main characters and each of will be explored. Series Date Title 1st Bible Reading 2nd Bible Reading (Sermon based on) Psalm (for 8:30, Cantonese, Mandarin) Preacher 8:30 / 10:30 Preacher Ch 10:30 / 2pm Hope Food Drive (Combined Service) 7 May Eager to do Gal 2:1-2, 9-10 Ps 9:1-2, 7-10 JC - Transformation 14 May Baptism Service Acts 7:55-60 Lk 19:1-10 Ps 31:1-5, JC KL Messy Church Esther Series 21 May Xerxes: I m God - Es 1:1-2:4 Adam Ch ng TC Prayer and Praise Night 24 May Ascension Day Esther 28 May St Tom s Admin Staff Esther: I m God s servant Es 2:5-11, 4:15-16 RN KL

5 Half year appeal In the recent Treasurers report to Parish Council it was announced that St Thomas is $6000 behind budget. You may remember that late last year we ran a Mission Appeal as we were $20K below budget and needed to keep to our obligations for our link Missionaries. Back then we made the decision that we would avoid waiting to the end of the year to run an appeal. We would track how we are going quarterly and, if needed, run smaller appeals to rectify having a larger appeal. $6K So here we are seeking to raise $6000 so we can remain on target for the mission of St Thomas. If just 120 people give $50 we will get rid of the dread thermometer. We have currently raised $1685, which is a great effort. Let s finish it off. If you haven t contributed yet, here are the ways you can: $3K Direct Deposit Acc Name: St Thomas Burwood BSB: Acc: Reference: Half Year Appeal Credit Card Use the Tithely App or logon on to elvanto Member s page and click Give Reference: Half Year Appeal $0 Cash or Cheque Appeal Envelope available at Welcome desk. Drop the envelope into the offering bag during the service

6 News and Events Craft and Food Fair The St Thomas Craft and Food Fair is next Saturday 13th May from 10am to 3pm. Please invite your friends, family, neighbours, work colleagues. Perhaps invite them for lunch to enjoy a variety of fantastic food. Many craft stalls to visit for last minute Mothers Day gifts. Buy your weekly fruit and veg from the St Thomas Stall. Craft activities for the kids and a jumping castle for the tiny tots. It would be great if you could do some baking for the cake stall, and/or put your name down to help on a stall on the day. This is a major fundraiser for St Thomas so we are hopeful for a fantastic turnout!! See you at the Fair!! Sue, Annette, Janet, Kirsten.

7 SimConnect Event - Radical Grace! Jacqui serves with Project Radical Grace Thailand, a holistic ministry for people living with or vulnerable to HIV. Focusing on prevention, care and support, and capacity building, Radical Grace invests in relationships in order to see transformation in family, church and community responses to HIV. Jacqui is Assistant Project Manager and Health and Community Development Advisor. Date: Thursday May 18th Time: pm Venue: Neil & Lisa s, 151 Station St, Burwood Speaker: Jacqui Croxon RSVP by 17th May to assist catering Neil: or neil.sim@sim.org Vacuuming Volunteers The Vacuuming Roster needs some fresh faces! We ve had some dedicated volunteers helping out for a long time, so it d be great to give them a break. If you can help out by vacuuming the Lounge area after morning tea on a Sunday once a term, please let Ellen or John know, or admin@sttoms.org.

8 Clay Camp Dates nd July to 5th July Every year CLAY has our annual camp! And ALL high schoolers are invited! It is such a fun camp, with great food, lots of games and good bible studies. Get excited!! Save the Date!! Invite Friends! 12/5- MINI GOLF Meet at church at 7.30pm and we are heading off for a great night of minigolf!! Invite Friends! 19/5- Science & Christians Do lots of people say Christians don't trust science? Why do they say that? What does the Bible say? Come along and find out!! 26/5- Letters & Numbers Camp Fundraiser CLAY Camp is soon and to raise money for the youth and leaders we are running a fundraiser that everyone is invited to... LETTERS & NUMBERS!! If you haven't played before, don't worry, it's a game show based around spelling and maths! With a whole lot of banter. Bring your friends and family :) ***Don t forget*** Keep inviting Family and Friends to the Camp Fundraiser: "Letters & Numbers on May the 26th. Everyone is welcome!! St Tom s Hope Thank you to everyone who has helped out with the Hope Food Drive - preparing, distributing, collecting and sorting the bags. It's been a great way to reach out into the community and help those in need. We will provide an update on how much food we've raised very soon.

9 Messy Church Welcome to Messy Church at St. Tom's God behind the scenes Sunday 21st May 10AM The theme for our next Messy Church service is "God - Behind the Scenes". We will be looking at how God shows love and care for his people through the book of Esther. Morning Tea and children's activities begin at 10AM. Visitors are always welcome to Messy Church at St. Tom's. Invitation postcards are available at the Welcomer's Desk. What's Messy Church? Messy Church involves creativity, celebration and hospitality. It includes a welcome, a long creative time to explore the biblical theme, a short celebration time involving story, prayer, song, games and similar. All elements are for, and should include, people of all ages, adults and children. Tom s Crew Tom s Crew, our Kid's Club, runs from pm on Thursdays, including dinner. The cost is $5 per child

10 Mid-Week Communion The Mid-Week Communion Service has moved to 11am on the 1st Wednesday of the month. EMERGENCY EVACUATION DRILL An emergency evacuation drill will take place on a Sunday at St Thomas' in the near future. In the mean time, please make sure that you are aware of the exit doors in the case of an emergency, and also the Emergency Assembly Point, which is in the North Car Park. Emergency Evacuation maps are displayed near the exit doors, and there is one also on the back page of this newsletter. Parents who have children in creche or Sunday Club need to be aware that in the case of an emergency evacuation or drill, the creche and Sunday Club Leaders will exit your children through the closest exit. Please reunite with your children at the Emergency Assembly Point. Thank you, St Thomas Wardens. Mike s Mates Eucalypts Mike s Mate s is meeting on the 10th May at St Tom s. Robin Pocklington will be speaking about The events which shaped his destiny. Robin is now a member of our parish and we look forward to giving him a warm welcome to Mikes Mates. A special welcome to all. Remember RSVP Gordon or Neville Eucalypt's speaker on May 17th will be Bill and Rosemary Brown, on Training Teachers in Cambodia. CMS Stamps Please place stamps that have been cut off envelopes, with an edge around them, in the box on the ledge in front of the office. Anglicare Food Drive Please put any tinned or packaged foods for Anglicare in the basket in the lounge.

11 Financial Update General Account Our goal this financial year is to breakeven, and so far in the first 6 months of the year (Oct to Mar) we are facing a $10k deficit. Our expenses line up closely with the budget, so the deficit is driven by a shortfall in giving (~$1.8k per month). ~95% of our income comes from the congregation, so the main way to move from a $10k deficit to breakeven is for everyone to increase their giving. The risk if we do nothing is that our deficit will continue to increase and thereby impact our ability to pay our staff, mission partners and daily expenses. Building Account We took out a $900k loan a few years ago to build the church and our loan balance currently stands at $807k, with a mortgage repayment of $6.1k per month. So far, we are meeting our monthly obligations with the help of large oneoff donations ($30k) from a select few. However without these donations, we are only giving $4.5k per month, meaning a shortfall of $1.6k per month. Overall Whilst we continue to receive generous giving from everyone, we do need to increase our giving into both the general and building account in the next 4-6 months to ensure we are able to breakeven.

12 Coming Up MAY Wed 10th - Mike s Mates Sat 13th - Craft and Food Fair Wed 17th - Eucalypts JUNE Sun 4th - Youth Service Wed 14th - Mike s Mates Sun 18th - Welcome Lunch Wed 24th - Prayer and Praise Night Wed 21st - Eucalypts Sun 28th - Faithfulness in Service and Child Safety Training Prayer Requests Briony Don Michell Muriel Gauder Betty Huston Ruth Mitchell Smith Family Xavier Thornton Nic Wong (Year of Discernment) Ministry team and families John, Susan & the Carrick kids Ruth & Andrew Newmarch Annette Ward Will Smith Jan & John Shattock Kian Gee, Stella, Jonathan, Joshua & Joseph Lim Missionaries Michelle, Brad, Tahlia, Bailey & Caleb Jackson serving in Japan Paul & Melody, Abigail, PJ & Robyn Kube serving in Siberia Yvonne Edwards serving in Nepal Luke & Jane, Ezra, Lily, Amy & Isaac serving in East Asia May Kwong Chinese Christian Mission, Ballarat Chinese Restaurant Evangelism Fellowship

13 Contact details Lead Minister John Carrick Associate Minister / Generations Pastor Ruth Newmarch ruthn@sttoms.org Youth Minister Will Smith wills@sttoms.org Cantonese & Mandarin Minister Pastoral Care Co-ordinator Kian Gee Lim kglim@sttoms.org Jan Shattock , jans@sttoms.org Wardens Michael Dowling Bessie Ma Sue Wheeler St Tom s Hope Community Outreach Officer Trami Truong hope@sttoms.org tramit@sttoms.org Church Office Ellen Kenner Tzeh Yi (Joey) Chan admin@sttoms.org joeyc@sttoms.org If you have an event or notice you d like to place in next month s newsletter please send to admin@sttoms.org by the 20 th of the month. Giving If you are a visitor today, our service is a gift to you. For those who are regular members we encourage giving electronically: General Account Building Fund Account Name St Thomas Burwood St. Thomas ADF Building Fund BSB Account Number Monthly amount required $28, $6,145.00

14 Our Sunday Services Traditional Holy Communion Service Prayer Book Liturgy (APBA) and Hymns Contemporary Worship Service and Kids Club Cantonese Worship Service and Kids Club Mandarin Worship Service Special meetings Prayer Meeting Weekly on Mondays at 12:30pm in Meeting Room 2. All welcome Mid-Week Holy Communion Service 1st Wednesday of the 11am, St Thomas