I rest in God alone…

‘I rest in God alone, from Him comes my salvation’ Psalm 62:1. How do you find rest? Where is your favourite place to rest? We can often find ourselves in a place of busyness. Our world is good at information overload and the instant way that communication can happen has a tendency to make everything feel urgent. The tireder we get, the more we become sensitive to the urgent and this can narrow our perspective until we lose track of our place and time. This is where burnout happens. We are not designed to live in a place of constant stress. We are designed to walk in the cool of the evening sharing our day with the Lord our God. We are designed to worship and pray as we connect our lives deeply into the faithfulness of God. We are designed for work and rest in balance. When these are out of balance we cannot sustain our focus. This is the purpose of the sabbath rest. The Lord made sure we were commanded to have a day of rest each week, and that rest is for our restoration and our worship. Sabbath is time given over to the Lord. It’s not for running around doing the housework or trying to get the lawns mown. Sabbath rest is the place of physical, mental and emotional rest in the Lord. In Sabbath rest we enjoy those who are on our journey with us through life, we spend time with the Lord in prayer, worship, praise and listening to what Father has to say to us. We do what is going to feed our souls rather than just our bodies and minds. It’s a discipline I’m working on, but it isn’t easy to do. The world around intrudes very easily, but we have some control of that if we choose to use it. In the end, rest is found more completely in intentional space with the Lord than anywhere else. Our psalmist tells us this. Even when he is under pressure from the plots of enemies around him, he is unmoved. ‘Nevertheless, my soul, wait in silence for God, for from Him comes my hope’ vs5. Whatever your days are like at the moment. Whether you feel you have the balance right and rest is easy, or the days seem to blur into busyness and rest is hard, it takes only a few minutes to wait in silence before the Lord and let Him minister to your heart. Why not go and spend those 5 minutes walking with the Lord today? Or maybe even block out your diary for sabbath.

Janice

This Week

Regular Worship Times

Parish Contact Details

Notices:

8:45 Service Media Team…

We would like to be using the screen for our 8.45am services and Joy Clayton is learning the system to do this. It would be good to have a team to work with her. We need people to run the slides on Sundays and to prepare the order of service through the week. Please speak to Joy or Janice if you would like to help. Full training will be provided. Likewise Anne Cranwell is learning to set up orders of service on the system for 10.30am. It would be good to have a second person assisting with this. Please see Anne or Janice if you would like to help. Full training will be provided.

Australia Day Activities

As we have done for over ten years, St. Marks is going to be involved in the Australia Day Activities on the foreshore on 26th January with the Dromana Australia Day Committee. Once again we are doing a children’s activity and helping with the Free Breakfast 8.30 – 10.30am, then doing some fundraising for St. Marks with a BBQ. We need a few helping hands beforehand and on the day.

• Prep work for our cutouts for kids;
• On the day help with the craft stall and BBQ;
• Setup the day before;
• Controlling the carpark on the day.

Please call Cheryl, ASAP, on 0490 664 830 if you would be available to participate. The event runs from 8.30am – 1.30pm. Parking will be available for those helping on the day in our church carpark. This is an important outreach opportunity for us as a faith community to be involved in a wider community event. Many hands make light work. Please help.

Alpha 2024…

Our next Alpha course will begin on Thursday 1st February at 6pm at the home of Steve and Carol Parkinson. Please consider who you can invite to join us as we learn who Jesus really is and answer some of the questions of life together. Contact Carol 0411405597 or Steve 0437984679 for further information.

This Week’s Prayer Focus

In our country and the world:

• For all affected by the storms and floods in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.
• For all in Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine.
• For all ADF and rescue teams as they help in the Queensland storm and flood cleanup.
• For those facing homelessness, hardship, anguish and despair amid rising costs.
• For families affected by violence.
• For those affected by natural disasters in around the world.
• For King Charles III, the UK and the Commonwealth.
• For peace and unity in countries around the World.
• For aid agencies such as “Save the Children”, Oxfam, CARE, UNICEF, World Vision.

In our community:

• For teachers and students.
• For doctors, nurses, paramedics, Coast Guard, the CFA & SES.
• For local community outreach groups such as the Dromana Community House and “Food for All”.

In our Diocese and beyond:

• For Archbishop Geoffrey Smith’s ministry as Primate of Australia.
• For Archbishop Philip Freier’s ministry in the Diocese of Melbourne.
• For the ministry of Bishop Paul Barker in the Jumbunna Region and for Archdeacon Helen Phillips in the Frankston Archdeaconry. Give thanks that Archdeacon Helen is now well and beginning to return to work.
• In our Deanery, we pray for the Parish of Mornington & Mount Martha Church, their Vicar, Ven. Helen Phillips, Assistant Priest Rev’d John Phillips, and Children & Families Minister, Rev’d Liz Rankin.
• For the work of the Church Missionary Society and Wei-Han the Victorian Director.
• For Anna Radkovic our CMS Link Missionary.
• For Christian churches around the world to be free to worship and be witnesses of the love of God as shown through the coming of His Son.

In our Parish:

• For our leadership and ministry teams.
• For Rev’d Janice O’Gorman our Vicar.
• For the finances of our Parish.
• For our Parish, its people and those we reach out to every week.
• For the success of the new Family and Children’s Ministry.
• For the 9am at home prayer time for the Parish, Dromana & Mornington Peninsula.
• For: Helen R, Jessica, Audrey, Joan, Christine, Backy, John R, Margie, Fred, Robert, Jan, David, Guy.