Promises of God stand forever….

What a pleasure it is to be returning to work this Sunday after a wonderful holiday, albeit followed by illness. I’m looking forward to being back amongst my church family again. I won’t be up to full time work straight away, but with God’s grace that won’t take long. Which brings me to our reflection. Our Old Testament reading for today is from Job 23. Job is suffering with a terrible illness and has lost his family and his home through the process. He begins with ‘My complaint is bitter,’ and how he wants to go to God to present his case before him. Job is convinced that God would not contend with him, but listen to him, because he is an upright person. Yet he can’t find God in his illness and feels that God may be hiding. So often this is the case when we are faced with real difficulty in our lives, whether it be illness or job loss or broken relationships, or something else. The depth of our hurt tends to bring a sense of loneliness which makes it hard to believe that God is anywhere to be found. Yet God does not forsake us, it is not in his nature. God is faithful and remains with his people, it is despair that hides him from us. In Psalm 22, the psalm for today, we have the words of Jesus from the cross, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’. Jesus does not quote these words randomly out of his pain, but deliberately out of his faith. Just as Job believes in God’s integrity and knows that if he could speak to him, God would listen, so Jesus quotes the opening line of Psalm 22 because it is a psalm of suffering and deliverance which prophesies exactly what he is going through for us. Every Jewish person who heard those words would know where they came from and what the psalm says. It begins in despair in the face of death and ends in rejoicing in the gift of life with the words, ‘He has done it!’ That we suffer is a part of life which we cannot deny and which often is not caused by our own actions. The point in these readings is not the suffering, deep and difficult as it is. It is the faith which turns the face of the one who suffers to the Lord knowing that in his integrity he is always faithful. For Job, for Jesus, for you and I, the promises of God stand forever.

Janice

This Week : 25th August to 1st September

Regular Worship Times

Parish Contact Details

Notices:

Men’s Breakfast

The next breakfast will be Saturday 19th October at 8.30 – 10.30 in the Narthex. John Rogers will speak to us about Hope25. $6 per head for bacon and egg roll, coffee/tea and conversation. Please bring your own gluten free bread if you require it. RSVP to Steve Parkinson 0437984679

Alpha…

The next Alpha course has commenced Are you able to bless us with some food ? Please contact Carol Parkinson if you can assist.

Church Fete (Saturday 2nd November)(Melbourn Cup weekend)…

Times 10am – 2pm.  Stalls – Cakes, Preserves/Jams, Plants, Craft, BBQ, Morning Tea & Scones.  Start thinking of what you make or add to the day. Cakes = Jen Watson, Preserves = Ellen Brindley, Plants = Robyn Falconer, BBQ = Mens Thursday Group, Morning Tea = Carol Parkinson, Craft = Craft Group. Kids – crafts and Face Painter, Music – Ukulele Group Invited.

Opp Shop…

Our Op Shop is still in need of helpers. If you can assist for a few hours and have your Police Check and Level 1 training, please talk to Cheryl King.

This Week’s Prayer Focus

In our country and the world:

• For those facing homelessness, hardship, anguish and despair amid rising costs.
• For all in Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine and Myanmar.
• 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 Archdeacon Rev’d Sam Bleby, in the Frankston Archdeanery.
• In our Deanery, we pray for the Parish of Mornington & Mount Martha Church, and their Vicar Rev’d Colleen Clayton.
• For the work of the Church Missionary Society and Wei-Han the Victorian Director.
• For Anna Radkovic our CMS Link Missionary in Watamu, Kenya.
• 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 next Alpha program, the leaders and all who will attend.
• For the 9am at home prayer time for the Parish, Dromana & Mornington Peninsula.
• For our Op Shop staff and all who visit each week.
• For Rev’d Janice, Pat, Lorna & Peter, Keith S, Harry, Jen, Bernice, Mike, Joan R, Chloe, Ted, Monica, Jessica, Audrey, Backy, Fred, Robert, Jan. David, Guy.