Our theme in this video will centre around the care of God’s creation … prompted by the marking on June 5th of the UN world environment day.
Humans have a particular place in creation and that is to care for it … that we have a responsibility to be good stewards … so generations can enjoy the blessings of this wonderful planet and universe.
And we as Christians … who take this stuff seriously have a role in this …
The UN website for World Environment Day speaks about “restoration” and I think that resonates with plenty of Biblical concepts such as healing, renewal, new beginnings …
The website includes this statement which I found helpful:
We cannot turn back time. But we can grow trees, green our cities, rewild our gardens, change our diets and clean up rivers and coasts. (World Environment Day)
For a little more of a deep dive into the Genesis readings for today, you might like to take a look at this video from “The Bible Project”:
You can find out more about “A Prayer, a Plea, a Bird” from Julie Perrin at her website here:
St Luke’s is having a quieter Easter this year, as we absorb the new requirements of COVID safe gathering and try to balance the need for worship with the needs of our helpers to not burn out!
Good Friday
Our Good Friday service is online this year – find it below, premiering on YouTube from 7am.
Right now, in this video, our focus is on the dark events which ended with Jesus dying in a most terrible way and the meaning of those events for us today, 2000 years later.
Have you ever stopped to ponder what Jesus and his arrest and crucifixion mean for you?
How does the cross of Christ impact on you and your life today?
A meditation for the waiting time:
Easter Sunday
Our Easter Sunday Service will be in-person and livestreamed from the church at 9:30am on Sunday morning.
Hello friends. This Sunday is Palm Sunday – a day we celebrate Jesus triumphal welcome into Jerusalem in the lead up to his death and resurrection.
As it looks like it will be fine we’ll meet up the back of the church site – near the old bluestone chapel. Be there by 9:30am.
Like Jesus, we’ll be walking – and reflecting and singing – to end up in the church to finish. There will be two stops on the way for about 5 or so minutes, and the walk is less than 250m and all down hill.
Please bring a portable chair if you need to sit down when we pause. We’ll have some chairs for those who need a rest, and people to quietly walk with you if you need a companion.
This is an all age event, so you could invite family and friends. As we are outside, we won’t be streaming the St Luke’s service this week to Youtube. If you can’t come, you can find other services online to watch.
I’m also looking for a quiet, calm dog to be part of the walk so if you have one who meets that description – let me know.
The Uniting Churches across the Greater Geelong area are joining together in a celebration service for Pentecost on May 23rd at 3pm. The Venue is to be advised.
This will be a service for all ages and an inspiring time to allow the Holy Spirit to revitalise and empower us all.
We will be having a Combined Choir for this service so if you like to sing then please sing up through this trybooking link https://www.trybooking.com/BPVSP
or phone Rev Amanda Nicholas on 0413 617 469
There will be 6 rehearsals for the choir and we are offering rehearsals on Tuesday nights AND OR Sunday Afternoons. You can come to both rehearsals if you would like to.
Once you register you will be sent the music and some recordings of the songs so you can practice at home and get your congregation to learn some new songs.
If you would like to help out with the Afternoon Tea on the day then please contact Rev Suzie Castle at suzie.castle@gmail.com
We will need some help setting up and packing up so if you can help with that on Saturday May 22 and or Sunday May 23rd then please contact Rev Narelle Collas at narelle.collas@ppw.victas.uca.org.au.
Messy Church is one place we can mark special transitions. Photo credit: Elizabeth Stoel
From Barbara and the Messy Church Team:
Welcome Back to Face-to Face Messy Church at St Luke’s Highton!
We really can’t wait to see you all again as it has been a while since we met in person and had fun at Messy Church! We are starting cautiously due to the ever-changing COVID restrictions regarding numbers allowed inside.
So ….here are our plans so far…………
Messy Church in February
Friday 19th February 5-7pm At Drewan Park
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID RESTRICTIONS
Our first meeting will be outside at Drewan Park, City View Drive, Wandana Heights – just up the hill from St Luke’s and where we had our picnic last Sunday. It’s a great park with a good view and plenty of facilities.
Theme: The Good Samaritan- we will be planning our usual bundle of fun Messy Church activities outside amongst nature. BYO food and chairs.
Here’s a kid-friendly version of the story:
And here’s a perspective on the Good Samaritan parable from one of the First Nations Christian Leaders – Brooke Prentice of Common Grace – and where she sees the situation of Aboriginal people in this story.
Messy Church Dates for the remainder of 2021 – put these in your diary!
Friday 19th March– Back at St Luke’s Church , 5-7pm- Easter themes including a Labyrinth and New Life activities- sounds intriguing! Stay tuned!
Friday 16th April -St Luke’s Church , 5-7pm
Friday 21st May -St Luke’s Church , 5-7pm
Friday 18th June -St Luke’s Church , 5-7pm
Friday 16th July -St Luke’s Church , 5-7pm
Friday 20th August -St Luke’s Church , 5-7pm
Friday 17th September – St Luke’s Church, 5-7pm
Friday 15th October -St Luke’s Church, 5-7pm
Friday 19th November– St Luke’s Church, 5-7pm
See you soon!
Love from your Messy Church Team: Judy, Shaghek, Paul, Barbara, Jean and Robyn xxxxx
The Sunday Service at St Luke’s Highton will be at 10am and we hope to Livestream to our Youtube channel
This is the Sunday (before Australia Day) where we join with our sister churches in a Day of Mourning to reflect on how God is calling us to respond to the ongoing challenges faced by our First Australians – the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We’ll be using the Uniting Church Assembly resources, with more from Common Grace who have provided resources to churches and faith groups around Australia to share in Aboriginal Sunday.
There is also a prayer service of reconciliation on Monday night (25th Jan) at 7:30pm – Victorian time – led by Aunty Jean Phillips – see www.commongrace.org.au/tunein Some of us may gather at St Luke’s to participate.
This morning’s in person worship service will be livestreamed for those of you who cannot be at the church buildings. In the coming weeks we will be working on linking you in live from Zoom for those who would like to join that way.
And the service will commence at 10:30am. We hope you can join us one way or another!
Blessings,
Robyn
Christmas Bowl
Third Sunday of Advent Helping refugees rebuild with joy in Sri Lanka Joy is that soaring feeling in your soul when Christ’s gift first enters your life. But joy is hard to find when civil war forces you from your homeland for decades and then a pandemic threatens your resettlement.
This Christmas, please help returned Sri Lankan refugees overcome their challenges and help them build a safe, happy future.
It’s been 30 years since Rashan* and his wife Pamodi* fled conflict in Sri Lanka with their eight-year-old daughter. But he’ll never forget their terrifying boat journey to India: “The boat was overloaded with people and so heavy it barely peeped out of water… We made our daughter lie on top of our luggage box. A boat ahead of us was damaged by gunfire. We were scared and doubtful if we would reach our destination.” The family found safety in India, but life was difficult. They spent 27 years in a refugee camp surviving on food rations. They longed to return home.
After peace had settled in Sri Lanka, Rashan and Pamodi travelled back to reclaim her family land. But they were starting all over again – with no jobs, no money and nothing to prove their rights to their land. People like Rashan and Pamodi were already struggling to rebuild in their homeland after decades of displacement. Now COVID-19 has made that task even harder. Through your gift to the Christmas Bowl, you will bring them the support they urgently need to build new homes, livelihoods and futures. Your kindness makes it possible for Act for Peace’s partner, the Organisation for Eelam Refugees’ Rehabilitation (OfERR), to support returned Sri Lankan refugees at this difficult time.
With help from OfERR and caring Christians like you, Rashan and Pamodi were able to take back their land and build a temporary home to live in. OfERR also helped them to install a bore well and water pump, so they could grow and sell food. Today, their thriving farm even provides work to other families.
After decades of fear, hardship and uncertainty, Rashan and Pamodi have finally found joy again. They are reconnecting with long-lost relatives, and hope their daughter and her husband and children will join them soon from India. Rashan summed up the difference you can this Christmas Bowl: “If I had stayed back in India, I wouldn’t have found this kind of life. There, we had to depend on the government for food. Here we have our land, our farm. The joy we got when we escaped with our lives to get here was unimaginable.”
*Names changed to protect identities as returned refugees.
St Luke’s Nativity – photo by Abigail Hodge McAvaney
Dear Friends,
This is the last in the current series of services specifically produced for watching online.
On December 13th we resume in person Sunday worship … go here for details … but we will be continuing to provide access to worship from St Luke’s online … so if online is your preferred way of receiving ministry do not despair!
This week is the second Sunday in Advent.
Advent is far more than a time of preparation for the celebration of Christmas. The themes of the Bible readings for each of the four weeks of Advent challenge us to live the faith now as we await in hope the coming of Christ.
Today our theme is peace …
The Candle of Peace
This week we light a candle to remind us of the peace we find in Christ. Peace that is far more than an absence of conflict. Peace in our hearts, Peace with God and others, Peace in our relationships, Peace in the world.
Christ our Lord, you are our light, and you fill us with peace.
As we light our Advent candles today, guide us to be peacemakers in all that we do.
Help us to strive to be healers of relationships,
May we see your face in the face of others,
We pray in your name,
Amen
Here is this week’s worship service:
Christmas Bowl
What does peace look like for the Rohingya people? After fleeing violence in Myanmar, they now face the threat of a deadly COVID-19 outbreak in Jamtoli refugee camp in Bangladesh.
Life in the world’s largest refugee camp was already tough. Families live in cramped conditions, in makeshift tents that can get swept away in the monsoon rains. With food, water and soap in short supply, sickness is rife. Now COVID-19 has reached the camp. There is widespread misinformation about the virus that is making it harder for doctors to stop a catastrophic outbreak. Act for Peace’s local partner is working with doctors, community workers and Rohingya religious leaders to dispel myths around the virus and teaching people how to stop it from spreading.
Your gift this Christmas Bowl will help give refugees in different parts of the world the long-term support they need to build safe, peaceful futures.
Lloyd also found a thought provoking video series produced by the Springwood Uniting Church – “The Rona Grinch” – find the episode on peace here:
And to round things off for this week, the Corner Uniting Church published this video made by young people in South Australia:
https://youtu.be/F_5imPbawXs
Friends,
God offers us peace in our hearts and souls … And this has been done through Christ and at great cost. Through the cross of Christ, God deals with the brokenness within us, assures us that sins are forgiven, and makes clear how valued each of us is by God.
And God calls us to the path of peace in our relationships with others … this by the way does not mean allowing others to walk all over us … but it does mean seeking to bring a spirit of concord in our relationship with others and within communities of which we are a part.
I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants— but let them not turn to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
