The Lutheran Church has been a significant part of the Aboriginal community through much of Port Lincoln’s history. In Port Lincoln, the population of Aboriginal people is about five percent of the population. Most people have connections back to Ceduna, Koonibba or Yalata. After the mission at Koonibba wound down its operations in the 1950s, and no longer provided employment for people, families spread over Eyre Peninsula, with many settling in Port Lincoln. A numerically …
One of my favourite ‘go to’ books for prayer and meditation is entitled, High Mountains Deep Valleys edited by Rowland Croucher and Grace Tomlinson. I initially was attracted, no doubt by the title, having grown up in North East Victoria in sight of the majestic mountains and deep valleys of the High Country. The author encourages the reader to ‘linger with the Lord in serious reflection … be still … prepared to listen and receive’.
Such words of comfort, solitude and silence from the precious Word of God and other sources such as this book, bring wisdom and comfort to our fears. The fear of change, of isolation, the inability to physically hug and embrace our loved ones, and the sense of a loss of identity to name just a few but experienced living with COVID in our lives.
I’ll be Back! John 14:1–3 (NIV) Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where …
Think of a major event in your past life: perhaps finishing a study course, getting married, having a baby, the trip of a lifetime …
Can you remember how it was for you preparing for that event? Getting ready?
The nights lying awake planning, down to the smallest details.
So many phone calls, conversations, errands – and the lists!
How did you feel? What were your thoughts?
Our June Bible Study, lead by Pauline Simonsen looks into the idea of Getty Ready … study along.
Sunday afternoon 7 April 1929, a group of ladies met in the Nambour Town Park and resolved to form a Ladies’ Mission Guild. The first meeting was held at the manse on 10 May and was attended by 10 members. Pastor FH Schmidt was elected President. Over the years, the ladies have made considerable contributions to many projects and equipment acquisitions for the congregation. In addition, they have supported numerous mission and needy causes overseas …
A true story of an autistic boy and the dog that unlocked his world. This book became a personal journey of reassurance and encouragement as I read through this empowering story.
Every parent waits with anticipation for the birth of their child and especially their first born. But what awaited Nuala and Jamie Gardner was ‘an unknown and harrowing journey’ for them and their cherished son Dale. ‘Every waking minute with him was a maelstrom of conflict as they plunged from one violent tantrum to the next.’
Read Heather Pfieffer’s review of this book filled with inspiration and hope.
After many, many years of being active members of Lutheran congregations my husband Gordon and I sold our farm and retired to the township of Grenfell in central NSW so that our youngest child could finish his schooling before seeking employment in Sydney. Our nearest Lutheran congregations are now 100 kilometres away in all directions, and the nearest Lutheran women’s fellowship is the same distance. I miss the fellowship of Lutheran women’s gatherings very much. …
If nothing else, the recent pandemic has taught us to be adaptable.
At our congregation in Box Hill, Victoria, we’ve had added overlays which have further confronted members and friends and caused pain. Change and disruption to certainties we took for granted have been our close companions for some years now. We have closed our beloved house of worship and relocated our worship home and, sadly, we’ve also experienced congregational conflict on other issues.
Where were you in 1951? I was a little kid then, running off to the local school across the road from our church: St Paul’s. Lunch times I’d sometimes spend at my grandparents’ house. Up the back steps in time to hear my grandmother’s favourite radio serial “Blue Hills” and the smell of some freshly cooked sultana cake. But that wasn’t her only passion. She was a regular church member – a leader in her …
“Time waits for no man” marching on relentlessly; This very moment a part of time that will never happen again. Days and seasons— they and we move on – change. Days and seasons, each in its own time and beauty; God’s wondrous creation – growing, blossoming, fruiting and dying; Beginning and ending; God is always there – the creator of time. Endless time? no, endless God. Everything that happens in this world happens at the …
Receiving “new things” “New” is what is given to us through Christ Jesus, and worked in, and into, us by the Holy Spirit, our God-given Helper. Last month we took time in Isaiah 43, where the Lord says, “See, I am doing a new thing”, using the metaphor or picture of bringing life into dry wasteland, relating that to his people. It’s amazing that every day the Lord is doing new things! He makes everything …
Work is a Gift What do you do for a living? This is often one of the first questions we ask when meeting someone new. When we are in the final years of school (if not before) we start to think about what we want to do next, and plan how best to prepare for our ‘dream job’. I was very fortunate that I decided at the age of eight I was going to be …