Services for the 28TH April, The fifth Sunday of Easter

WARRNAMBOOL 9.00AM SERVICE WITH HOLY COMMUNION

HAWKESDALE 11.00AM SERVICE WITH HOLY COMMUNION

READINGS:

ACTS 11:1-18; REVELATION 21:1-6; JOHN 13:31-35

THE SERMON THIS WEEK IS NOT, UNUSUALLY, BASED ON ONE OF THE THREE READINGS FOR THE DAY, BUT ON THE FAMOUS VERSES OF I CORINTHIANS 13. THE FOLLOWING ARE A FEW THOUGHTS ARISING FROM THIS PASSAGE:

These verses (I Corinthians 13:1-13) can be, and usually are, dreadfully misunderstand.  When Paul speaks here about having love or not having love, he is not talking about a feeling for another person that people might detect within themselves.  He is not talking about taking a shine to another person. He is not talking about doing good works for another person. He is not talking about being nice to another person. What Paul is on about is not the love that Christians have within themselves.  No, Paul is talking about the love that has been given to Christians, by none other than God Himself.  God wrapping Himself around a person with His love is what makes a Christian into a Christian.  And that happens, quite concretely, at Holy Baptism, and also when Christ speaks His loving words of forgiveness, and when Christ lovingly binds Himself to people in the Sacrament. 

Other matters for consideration during the sermon will include:

What is meant by the phrase: “I am a born again Christian?” Does this mean that there are two classes of Christians – those who are born again and those who are not?

Is speaking in tongues the means by which you can tell whether a person is a proper Christian or not?

In order to be a Christian, do you have to be able to name the exact day when you were converted?

You are welcome to come and hear more on Sunday.

After the service at Hawkesdale on the 28^th, the congregation will be conducting its annual Sunday School/Congregational picnic.

Also on Sunday, the Terang study/fellowship group will be meeting at Simpson.

OTHER EVENTS THIS WEEK:

Funeral Service for Sheila John will be on Monday, the 29^th at 2.00pm

Warrnambool Elders are meeting on Monday evening at 7.30.

The Ayrford Guild meets on Tuesday evening at 7.30.

Warrnambool Guild meets at 11am on Wednesday. The meeting will conclude with lunch at the Images restaurant, at which Pastor David will be farewelled.

Confirmation Class meets on Wednesday at 4.15pm.

Lutheran Church of Australia Synod

Pastor David and several members of the parish are presently in Adelaide for this synod, as well as for events taking place beforehand: the general pastors’ conference, the Lutheran Women of Australia Convention, the Lutheran Men of Australia Convention.  The highlight of the events will be the service taking place on Sunday the 21^st, to mark 175 years of Lutheranism in Australian.

During pastor David’s absence, Pastor Ray Schulz has kindly agreed to be on standby in the event of emergency pastoral assistance being required.

Good Shepherd Sunday

Today, it is particularly true that we would be unable to get by in our increasingly confused and unclear world if we had no shepherds.  My accountant, my financial advisor, my personal trainer, my computer assistant, the satellite navigation system on my car – these could all be compared to shepherds, without whom we would be unable to find our way around.  Increasingly, we appear incapable of getting by without shepherds, without people who navigate us through this world, showing us how to go forward, how to avoid dead ends and how to reach our goal. Sometimes, we also follow shepherds who take us along dangerous and false paths and deceive us.

Why do Christians refer to Jesus as the only really Good Shepherd? 

First, because He gives His life for us;

second, because He speaks with us directly;

third, because He brings God Himself into our lives.

You are welcome to come and hear more this Sunday.

Services for Sunday the 21st April, the 4th Sunday of Easter (“Good Shepherd” Sunday)

Our Services this Sunday are

Hawkesdale 9.00am Service of the Word

Warrnambool 9.00am Service of the Word

Ayrford 11.30am Service of the Word

Readings:

Acts 9:36-43

Revelation 7:9-17

John 10:11-16, 27-30.

Services for Sunday the 14th April, the 3rd Sunday of Easter

Hawkesdale 9.00 am with Holy Communion

Warrnambool 11.00am with Holy Communion and Baptism

Readings: Acts 9:1-20; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

Sermon, Acts 9:1-20 “How do you become a Christian?”

While Christians will give varied responses to this question, one thing is clear: becoming a Christian is inseparably bound up with Baptism. You are welcome to come and hear more on Sunday.

Events this week:

Sunday: After the 11am service in Warrnambool there will be a fund raising lunch, sponsored by our Sunday School.  For sale will be meat pies and sausage rolls, and fruit salad and ice cream will be provided.  All proceeds will be directed toward the Sunday School project, which is to support, under the auspices of the Australian Lutheran World Service, a village in a third world country.  It is hopes that everyone will come along and encourage our young people in this venture by taking part in the lunch.

Sunday: The Ayrford congregation’s study/fellowship group, will meet this week in Terang at 5.00pm

Tuesday: Pastor David will be away from Tuesday of this week (16^th April), attending the pastors’ conference and synod of the Lutheran Church of Australia in Adelaide. He will be returning on Wednesday the 24^th April.

Parish Delegates

THE CONGREGATION IS ALSO THE CHURCH:

VOTING BY PARISH DELEGATES AT SYNOD

(The following are a few thoughts from Pastor David Borgas)

I am sharing what I consider to be the proper role of delegates to the general synod.

I cannot believe that a congregational/parish delegate can vote on a doctrinal matter at the general synod in a way which is completely at odds with the clear opinion of the parish/congregation which he/she represents. 

I am quite prepared to stand corrected, and shown that I have got it wrong (which is always possible, of course).

Congregations are, of course, to hear and consider the views of others.  Certain views cannot be followed, however, and the congregation cannot permit synod to rule over it, if synod’s views are opposed to the Word of God.

Delegates do not function exclusively as representatives of their congregations.  They are to be conscious of both functions.  They are representatives of their congregations; they are also to listen to other congregations and synod representatives.  Their primary task, however, is to bring their congregation’s position to the synod.  Otherwise a synod (which consists primarily of congregational representatives) would have no purpose.  The individual congregational representative does not represent the entire church.

It is not clever to take the synod as church and the congregation as church, and play the two off against each other.  That, I would suggest, is un-Lutheran.  The congregation is actually far more likely to be the locus of the church than the synod, for it is in congregations where the Word of God is constantly preached and the Sacraments are repeatedly administered.  That is what builds and sustains the church!  That is where Christ reigns!  The Apology, Article XIV, seems to be particularly instructive at this point, where ecclesiastical order is actually the public teaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments.  In relation to a particular issue, it is quite possible for the synod to be on the wrong path, and a congregation to be on the right path.  The congregation cannot, then, follow the false path mapped out by synod.  Of course, it can also be the other way round.

It must be clearly understood that what God’s Word says is decisive.  God’s Word binds equally both synod and congregation.  Where there is disagreement as to whether a matter is opposed to God’s Word or not, the synod cannot make the decision on the basis of its authority.  In such situations, both congregation and synod are to submit to the authority of the Scriptures, and let them decide.  If such endeavours still fail to produce an outcome, then both parties must follow their consciences.

It is impossible to regard delegates exclusively as personal representatives of synod.  It is not true that the Church is represented only by a handful of delegates (“unrepresentative swill?”) and not, above all, by congregations.  Where individual delegates are expected to make their own independent decisions, and the directives of the congregation are to have little or no binding force on the delegate, the temptation at synod to unduly influence those who might represent a different position will be irresistible, especially in situations where just a couple more votes are needed to secure the required majority.  Where uncertainty continues to exist regarding a particular issue on which a decision has to be made, the voices of the individual congregations, clearly and faithfully expressed by congregational delegates, can help establish what congregational members are thinking.