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Dwelling in God’s word – Angels and demons

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Be on song for Advent and Christmas

by Libby Krahling

Getting ready for Advent and Christmas? Then a copy of LCA Music Resources Volume 4: Songs of the Church for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, may help. Presenting 100 hymns and songs, the collection can be purchased as a spiral-bound hard copy or as individual digital downloads. Chords and three-part settings make the songs accessible for musicians of varying experience. You can buy it through Australian Christian Resources at www.shopacr.com.au

MORE SEASONAL RESOURCES

As well as providing service orders for Christmas, the LCANZ’s Worship Planning Page includes other Advent and Christmas resources to help with congregational preparations for this special time of year. These include a guide to Christmas carol copyright and a wide range of Christmas Eve orders and Christmas plays.

NEW MUSIC PROJECT

The Commission on Worship is calling for songwriters and composers to contribute new songs and liturgical settings for use in worship. These could include lyrics added to existing tunes, new songs or musical settings for parts of the liturgy. For details and submission criteria, contact David Simpfendorfer at simpfy3@gmail.com

Libby Krahling is Commission on Worship Administration Coordinator.

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Order your 2024 calendars now

by Joanne Chamberlain

Thank you to all who entered our Lutheran Media 2024 Calendar Competition. We were blown away by the calibre of entries. Choosing our favourites was a tough call!

Our 2024 calendar is now available to order. Full of inspiring images, it’s a great gift. Featuring Bible verses to reflect on each day and space to enter upcoming events, you may want more than one! Order your 2024 calendar/s at www.lutheranmedia.org.au, email us at luthmedia@lca.org.au or call us in the office on 1800 353 350.

Joanne Chamberlain is Lutheran Media Communications Coordinator.

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Battling to find peace?

In today’s busy world, many of us are experiencing stress and anxiety from the pressures of having to keep up with demands, finances and relationships. Is there a path to peace and a way to cope? Jesus says, ‘Come to me … and you will find rest for your soul’ (Matthew 11:28–30). For a free booklet on finding peace, go to www.messagesofhope.org.au/finding-peace

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What is the way forward?

Learn more about this important LCANZ project by reading stories and accessing resources – including a Q & A – on the Way Forward website at www.lca.org.au/wayforward

Listen to a podcast explaining the background of the project, and how you can be involved at www.lca.org.au/podcasts

Take part in the churchwide day of prayer for unity on 8 October. See the story ‘Bishops call for day of prayer, church unity’ for more details.

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Knowing signs of violence

We hear about domestic and family violence in the news and when politicians are pledging support. But do we see it when it is close by, with people we know, including in our congregations and neighbourhoods? Would you like to learn more about how to recognise the signs of domestic and family violence, so that you can respond appropriately?

You can do so through an online module on the LCANZ Learning Hub, developed for the church as part of its Hidden Hurts Healing Hearts Campaign. The training is designed as a self-paced learning module for pastors, church workers and leaders to help raise awareness of the impact of domestic and family violence and to strengthen the support you may be already giving to people experiencing it. This training is recognised for professional development purposes for LCANZ employees.

Recently updated with links to many relevant resources, module topics include:

  • What is Domestic Violence? Signs and Impact of Domestic Violence
  • Faith and Domestic Violence
  • Responding to those experiencing Domestic Violence
  • Responding to a person who is violent and abusive
  • Self-Care
  • The Church and Healing

HOW TO ACCESS THE TRAINING HUB

Those with LCA email addresses can access the hub using the LCANZ Learning Hub button on the LCA Portal. People who have previously accessed training via ALC iLearn can use those credentials via the ALC iLearn page: https://ilearn.alc.edu.au/

Others will need to contact the LCANZ’s Church Worker Support Department (churchworkersupport@lca.org.au or phone 08 8267 7300) for a single-use enrolment key. This will enable them to enrol and log in via the ALC iLearn page using an email and password that they will then set up.

16 DAYS OF ADVOCACY

From November 25 to December 10 is recognised internationally as 16 days of advocacy and activism to eliminate violence against women and girls.

Churches around the world use this time as one of prayer and commitment to action – actions that promote healthy relationships and bring transformative change to those caught in the cycle of violence. You and your congregation may like to pray and think about how to advocate for or support someone experiencing violence.

We pray for:

  • willingness to learn about domestic and family violence and acknowledge the damage it does within our church family
  • emergency service workers responding to crisis calls
  • doctors, nurses, social workers and counsellors attending to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wounds of those who have been abused
  • our churches, that they may be safe places for the vulnerable
  • eyes and ears that notice when someone is disclosing abuse
  • courage to speak up against disrespectful behaviour
  • children, young people and elderly people, vulnerable to being abused
  • all women, men and children to find lives free from violence
  • pastors, teachers and pastoral leaders, teaching and modelling loving and healthy relationships.

DOMESTIC AND FAMILY VIOLENCE HELP

If you or someone you know is affected by domestic and family violence, visit www.anrows.org.au/get-support or call 1800 RESPECT (24-hour National Sexual Assault Family Domestic Violence Counselling Service), or Lifeline Counselling (24 hours) 131 114. In an emergency, call 000.

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Support in tough times

by Anne Hansen

There is a tree in California’s White Mountains that has been found to be 4,852 years old. Named Methuselah after the oldest man in the Bible, this ancient bristlecone pine was dated by scientists when a hole was bored into its trunk, and they counted the rings in the core sample.

Scientists were also able to determine what years there were droughts, as well as when insects caused damage. Methuselah has been through quite a bit, but it has endured and continued to grow through difficult circumstances and harsh weather.

As James the apostle reminds us in his letter to his fellow Christians, times of trouble can lead to growth: ‘Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow’ James 1:2–4 (NLT).

When your faith is tested, you will find out where your strength lies. Jesus supplies all the strength we will ever need and learning this produces Christian maturity. So, look at the times of drought, abundant rain and pestilence as a chance to learn and grow deeper in your walk with Jesus.

Lutheran Tract Mission (LTM) shares many wide-ranging resources to strengthen and encourage you in times of difficulty. Find a tract to give a friend or family member who may be struggling. Look at our website to find what you need for your personal growth and ministry: www.ltm.org.au

NEW WAYS TO SHARE THE GOSPEL

Lutheran Tract Mission (LTM) has many new resources available to view and order. As well as text cards, leaflets, activity books, postcards, bookmarks and stickers with Advent and Christmas themes, LTM has produced Mission-Edge Tracts designed for 20 to 40-year-olds and others exploring Christianity.
www.ltm.org.au/resources/new-resources 

Anne Hansen is Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer.

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Learn more about prayer

Are you looking for ways to encourage others to get involved in prayer? Looking for ideas on how to pray? Or ways to teach prayer to children? The Grow Ministries GIFT Prayer resource offers resources to help us learn about the importance of prayer in our Christian lives.

Learn about the origins of prayer and practise some fun and simple ways to pray through drama and activities. GIFT stands for Growing in Faith Together; therefore, these resources have been designed as a way of bringing all generations together to learn, discover and build relationships. Congregations that have already used these resources find that bringing generations together provides benefits and blessings for the congregation, families, individuals of all ages, and the wider community.

GIFT Prayer is a great resource for congregations, schools and homes. There are many activities and templates, including worship and event ideas. It is filled with intergenerational activities and take-home sheets for families.

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

Inside the GIFT Prayer resource, you will find:

  • worship ideas
  • dramas
  • worship activities
  • activities
  • take-home sheets for families
  • and so much more.

There are free samples available through the Grow Ministries website, at www.growministries.org.au/product/free-resource-sample-downloadable/

To order your copy for only $10, go to www.growministries.org.au/product/gift-prayer-e-resource-2/

For more information, contact Jodi Brook (jodi.brook@lca.org.au) or Christine Matthias (christine.matthias@lca.org.au).

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Bishops release Voice referendum discussion guide

To assist LCA members as they pray and prepare to vote in the Australian referendum on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament in October, the College of Bishops has overseen the production of a guide on this matter for the communities of the church.

This discussion and information paper has been prepared in collaboration with Nick Schwarz, the Assistant to the Bishop – Public Theology, and with the input of leaders from Australian Lutheran Indigenous communities.

It also includes a ‘Bible and theology’ section as a reference for study groups; a guide for discussion outlining the background to the referendum and summaries of the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ cases; and documentation relating to the referendum.

This paper is intended as a reference guide as members of the church prepare to participate in the 14 October referendum; it is not an official statement of the church. You can download it at www.lca.org.au/voice-referendum-guide

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Forbes Lutherans back ‘home’ after the floods

Nine months after floods devastated the community around the Central West New South Wales town of Forbes last November, including inundating their 90-year-old church building, members of the Lutheran congregation finally returned ‘home’.

On 27 August, St John’s Lutheran Church was reopened, rededicated and blessed during a worship service led by Pastor James Leach, who described the occasion as a homecoming.

‘Homes provide shelter. Safety, warmth. A place to sit and rest. Eat. Talk. Share. A place to work. To play. To make things and to make memories’, Pastor James said in his sermon. ‘And this building that we are gathered in is no exception.

‘But this building has an additional purpose: it is to be the light of Christ to this town. St John’s Lutheran Church, a light to Forbes. This building has the purpose of forming God’s people into bearers of God’s light so that those who witness our light will give glory to God.’

Congregational chairperson Michelle Mahlo said it was ‘such a good feeling’ to be back at St John’s spiritual home after months of worshipping in members’ homes.

‘Looking at our church and hall today we are grateful for the fact that it looks the same as before. However, we can see that it has been refreshed and invigorated’, Michelle said, citing the ‘excellent support’ of the LCANZ and LCA Insurance, as well as the local restoration team.

In November, with ‘some expectation of a flood event occurring’, some items had been removed from the church and the organ was lifted onto pews. But, Michelle said, ‘at the last opportunity available with minutes to spare’, the State Emergency Service was called upon to sandbag the church.

After 200mm of floodwaters came through the building, it was declared unsafe due to contaminants on the walls and floors and from under the floors. Restoration work began in May. This included the sanding and refinishing of floorboards, and the replacement of carpets in the church and the hall’s kitchen, flooring, cupboards, whitegoods, bathroom flooring and fixtures, while church furniture dating from 1934 was sent to Sydney for restoration. The original late 1890s table used for an altar at the site of the first Lutheran services in Forbes was also restored.

LCANZ members supported the Forbes community through prayers and donations to a special flood appeal for the region.

At the same time, during the height of the crisis, Pastor James, his wife Adele and others from the Central West Lutheran Parish listened to and talked with people worst hit by the emergency, and took them home-cooked meals, other food and drinks, gift cards, tracts and other items they needed.

However, living through the floods was also a struggle for the Lutheran family there.

‘In these last months, we faced obstacles’, Pastor James said. ‘The first obstacle was coming into the church on the days after the flooding and seeing all the mud and filth throughout the building, not to mention the smell … and just knowing that this was a bigger job than any of us were going to be able to do on our own.

‘We knew though that the bigger and more important task for the church at this time was to be in the community.

‘Other obstacles arose, and through each of those obstacles God provided what we needed and so much more. God indeed seemed determined to get this restoration done – but for what purpose?

‘There are a few really good reasons, but the one that sticks out the most today is because this is our home. It’s the place God has given us where we can come and receive shelter from the things that get on top of us in our lives. It’s a place where we can come and receive the warmth of God’s forgiveness and love. It’s a place where we can be refreshed to go back into our lives with refocused energy to love the world around us.’

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