seek me with all your heart…

In our Exodus reading this week Moses pleads with the Lord to lead him and the people of Israel in person. “If your presence will not go with us, do not carry us up from here.” (Exodus 33:15) This was for the sake of the witness of Israel to the nations, for the sake of his own integrity in leading the people of Israel and for them to be able to recognise the presence of the Lord with them, which was so important for their developing faith. The presence of the Lord in our lives as Christians is given through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We have the Spirit if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, and believe in his death and resurrection. Yet we struggle to know that we have the Lord with us at times, especially when the road is tough. If we are suffering through a difficult time, depression, anxiety, grief, fear, fatigue and self-doubt can make the presence of the Lord hard to discern. We may feel that he’s there for everyone else but not for us, or that only the specially gifted ones can truly feel God’s presence, or perhaps that we are not worthy of being in God’s presence so why would he stay with us? I have often had faithful Christians who are in a dark place say, ‘I don’t feel like God is with me anymore. It’s like he’s left me when I needed him most.’ Yet Jesus said “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) and Paul tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. The fact is that he is there always. The bible also says, “If you seek me, says the Lord, you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) Even so, sometimes we seek and seek but feel like we hit a brick wall. Don’t despair, the facts are still the facts and truth is truth. The Lord is with us, even if we can’t feel it or discern it in other ways. We don’t have pillars of cloud or fire but we have the scriptures and the certainty of the truth that Jesus has died and risen for us. We are not alone, and feelings are not facts. Like Moses, my prayer for us is that we go nowhere, do nothing except the things that the Lord is going before us in. What we take up in this new season, what we renew and what we keep doing need all to be done in that light. Let’s seek the Lord for our future direction and ask for true guidance that we may walk in step with our heavenly Father.

Janice

This Week

Worship Times

Parish Contact Details

Notices:

Melbourn Prayer Breakfast

The prayer breakfast is on Friday 26th October in the city. For those of us not attending I have asked the office to forward me points for prayer to enable us to pray with them. These prayer points have not yet come through. Please pray for our city, country and world on the morning of the 26th, perhaps as an extension to your 9am prayer time. If you would like points to pray as outlined above (and I receive them in time), please drop me an email and I will forward them on to you Carolcopp@bigpond.com.

Annual Meeting…

Our Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday 12th November immediately following a combined 10am service of Holy Communion. Please submit your reports to Janice no later than Sunday 23rd October. Nomination forms for Parish Council will be available from 15th October, please prayerfully consider if you are being called to serve next church year. The electoral roll will be reviewed over the next two weeks. If you have not yet enrolled or wish to step off the roll please see Janice. If you are new to the parish and/or have not yet completed the Level 1 Safe Ministry Training and need to, please take note of the following dates: Orientation for new parishioners Sunday 29th October after the 10.30 service over lunch. Level 1 Safe Ministry training Monday 30th October at 2pm in the church. For details see Janice.

Parish Council Nominations…

Forms for nomination to Parish Council are now available in the Narthex as are forms to be placed on the Electoral Roll. If you are new to the parish there will be an orientation for new parishioners over lunch on Saturday 28th October at 12noon **Please note the changed date and time. If you have not yet completed the Level 1 Safe Ministry Training and need to, there will be a training session on Monday 30th October at 2pm in the church. For details please see Janice. It is important to note that we need to have all those who need to have done Safe Ministry Training to have attended by the 30th November. After that, no person is going to be allowed to perform their duties without having done the training, even if they have been doing so before that date. This includes all Op Shop volunteers and all who are on rostered duties or hold any office in the Parish. After 30th November, new volunteers will be required to first complete this training before they begin. The rules have changed so if you’re not sure whether you need to do this or not, see Janice.

Sharing Food and Stories – Community Lunch

28th October, 12noon to 2pm at the New Peninsula Baptist Church See the noticeboard in the Narthex for more details. Keith Thomas (0413319327).

Special Services 2023

This Week’s Prayer Focus

In our country and the world:

• For all in Israel and Gaza.
• 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. Anna has arrived in Kenya. Anna’s updated prayer letter is on the board in the Narthex. There is also an article about Anna in the October issue of the Melbourne Anglican.
• 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: Edna, Fred, Tahlia, Robert, Jan, David, Irene, Guy, Ruth.