Seaford Lutheran Church | Community organisation

Seaford Lutheran Church

Phone: +61 8 8392 4534

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24.01.2022 We know you love Faith Stories. Tell us what your favourites have been and we will share them again - for more people to enjoy. Like Janene's story here of taki...ng God's word to heart. My dad got leukaemia and he died when I was 13. We were very close. He used to pick me up from school and take me to after-school events. When he died, it was so hard. I remember about a week or two after he died, my mum and I noticed an old black Bible that had appeared on our bookshelf. We had never seen it before. We looked on the front page and it was my dad’s. His name was there. But it wasn’t his usual Bible. It must have belonged to him when he when was in his twenties, when he first became a Christian. I picked it up and I looked all the way through it, looking for his notes in the margins (that he normally wrote). But I flipped all the way through the Old Testament and the Gospels and there wasn’t anything written there. Then I came to Romans and he had drawn a box around Romans 8:28. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. In that moment, God spoke to me about his goodness. It was so hard to understand, but my dad could see God’s goodness. Even when he was first diagnosed, he would walk around the hospital ward and encourage the other patients. So I started memorising all of Romans 8. I would walk to high school (especially if it was exam time), and I’d repeat Romans 8 over and over. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. "I still get teary now, thinking about my dad, but my tears are more hopeful and thankful. And I like the line in the song, In Christ Alone From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. And also, last year, I got married and we read Romans 8 at our wedding. More Faith Stories @https://www.eternitynews.com.au/section/faith-stories/

22.01.2022 Let's encourage and lift up our fellow LCA/NZ members and faith communities to God every day with 'Daily prayer with The Lutheran'. You can also find our monthly prayer calendar in each edition of The Lutheran. Subscribe today https://www.thelutheran.com.au/subscribe/

19.01.2022 Today we begin our advent journey. What are you doing to prepare for Christmas? Check out the Happyland advent calendar to share with your family: www.happyland.com.au/advent #advent #itsnearlyChristmas #adventpeace #luthmedia

19.01.2022 Jin us for worship on the First Sunday in Advent https://youtu.be/RSP6YDDmBvY

16.01.2022 Are you in shape? by Pastor Mark Gierus ‘Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand’ (Isaiah 64:8).... Read Isaiah 64:19 Do you like to keep in shape? Many of us during the different COVID lockdowns and restrictions had the best intention of keeping in shape so we would dodge the ‘COVID spread’, and some people have succeeded in keeping in shape during this challenging year. But have you ever thought about what shape you are in when it comes to your relationship with God? Would you say you are in good shape? Perhaps you might say that you are doing okay but need to spend a little more time with God? You might, at this point, feel guilty that you are out of shape with God. Yet, our Heavenly Father loves you no matter what shape you are in. He sent his only son, Jesus, to suffer and die for our sins to make us right with him. We are made right because we believe what Jesus has done for us. He died and rose again for us. God forgives us and saves us from sin, eternal death and the power of the devil. He gives us eternal life. All of this is done for you. All you need to do is receive this gift. We are not strangers who are out of shape with God. Instead, by God’s grace through Jesus, we are in the best shape we can be we are children of God. In our reading today, we hear that God is our Father, and if God is our Father, he has made you and me his children. We are the clay, and God is the potter. You and I are the work of his hand. No matter where you find yourself in life, God is shaping you by his hands through his word in Jesus. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God is shaping, changing and renewing your heart to be more and more like Jesus. All you need to do is receive God’s gift the baby Jesus. As Jesus lives in you, by his word, you will continue to be shaped to share God’s love with the world in all you do. Peace be with you. Dear Heavenly Father, shape me daily by your word through your Spirit that I may continue to grow to be more like your son Jesus in whose name I pray. Amen

12.01.2022 #reformationday #MartinLuther #luthmedia

12.01.2022 Preaching the gospel to yourself by Chelsea Pietsch ‘Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God’ (Psalm 43:5).... Read Psalm 43 Do you ever talk to yourself? Perhaps you do this out loud, in a journal, or in your head. It seems to me that this is the very thing the psalmist is doing here in verse 5. He is talking to himself, ‘Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?’ Self-talk can be a helpful thing. It can help us untangle the knots of our thoughts and emotions. It can help us understand why we are feeling the way we are feeling or behaving the way we are behaving. Healthy self-reflection can help us find the proper paths to peace and reconciliation. It can also help us as we grow in the Christian life. Or, as our liturgy says, as we ‘strive daily to lead holy lives, even as Christ has made us holy’. But there is such a thing as too much self-reflection. Too much self-reflection can easily lead to ungodly accusations, which, in turn, can lead to self-loathing or self-pity. ‘I can’t believe you did/said/thought that! If you were a true Christian, you would have been more selfless/patient/generous/gracious/humble/self-controlled ’ ‘I can’t believe he/she/they did that! You poor thing. You’ve been dealt such a hard lot. No one understands your burdens. You have to carry this all alone.’ Do either of these sound familiar? Both, perhaps? Here in verse 5, the psalmist models to us a healthy dose of self-talk. He notices and acknowledges that he is downcast and disturbed. But his reflection is brief. He doesn’t give unnecessary airtime to his thoughts and emotions. He doesn’t indulge them, replaying them over and over in his head. Instead, he notices them and then lets the truth of God’s word penetrate his own heart: ‘Yes, I see you are disturbed and downcast’, ‘Put your hope in God!’, ‘Praise him!’ He is your Saviour. Nothing can be so big that it cannot be forgiven nor restored. Remember what God has done for you what he is doing for you, even now! In doing this, the psalmist’s gaze is redirected. He’s not stuck looking at his sins or the sins of others. Instead, he sees the God who created him and laid down his life for the world. Dear Lord, when we are downcast by our sins or the sins committed against us, help us to turn our gaze to you so that you can shed light and truth into our lives. Amen

12.01.2022 Happy 65th Birthday Pastor Mark. You are a much loved pastor and friend to many. May God bless you today and always.

10.01.2022 Depression and mental health issues are prevalent in today's world, and now we're noticing it in our children - but how do we know when it's depression or norma...l teenage angst? Vicki Rochow, a counsellor and a mum, shares her story of walking alongside her children while dealing with her own struggles. #teenagedepression #refinedcounselling #hope #messagesofhope https://www.messagesofhope.org.au/standing-together-with-d/ See more

10.01.2022 Join us for worship on All Saints Sunday, November 1. https://youtu.be/Y9Ih29_NnFc

06.01.2022 Mike was diagnosed with a brain tumour and initially an operation and treatment reduced the impact of the cancer. But after 3 years there was a sudden and drama...tic change. His wife Jen and their daughter Allie talk about coming to terms with losing Mike. https://www.messagesofhope.org.au/losing-mike-but-keeping-/ See more

05.01.2022 #godiswithyou #godcares #hope #messagesofhope

04.01.2022 Virtual worship by Pastor Jim Strelan ‘We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses’ (Hebrews 12:1).... Read Hebrews 12:12 When the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, and you were unable to worship in your home church, you more than likely went online and accessed a church somewhere else in the country where worship was happening. And, hopefully, you didn’t just observe what they were doing, but you worshipped with them. You weren’t physically there, but you worshipped with them virtually. Today is All Saints’ Day, sometimes known as All Hallows’ Day. In many parts of Europe, on the evening before All Hallows’ Day (All Hallows’ E’en), people go to the local cemetery and light a candle at the grave of their loved one. It’s quite a sight to see the area so full of burning candles. And on this day, you would see hundreds of flowers that people have placed on the graves, remembering and honouring those saints who have gone before. A great cloud of witnesses. Did you know that every time you worship, you are joining with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, who are praising God around the throne day and night, continuously? That includes your loved ones who died in Christ. You are tuning in, connecting to their worship. All the biblical heroes, great church fathers and reformers, modern-day heroes of faith, people who showed you Jesus, parents, grandparents, and close friends are saints in heaven and on earth praising God, worshipping virtually. In fact, they are worshipping actually. You never worship alone. Even a pandemic can’t separate you from this crowd of witnesses. Every now and then, close your eyes and sense all those around you, and thank God for them. Thank you, God, for all those who have gone before me and shown me Jesus. I join them this day in worship. All praise to you. Amen

04.01.2022 #harddaywithkids #hope #messagesofhope #sigh #parentingisfun

04.01.2022 A simple life by Chelsea Pietsch ‘Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you’ (1 Thessalonians 4:11).... Read 1 Thessalonians 4:712 We live in an age of celebrity. What started as glossy magazines and reality TV shows has morphed into social media and the 24/7 news cycle. Many of us now pin our profiles online in numerous forums and cast our opinions far and wide on the web. Sometimes we do this with good intentions and the right motives. Other times it’s an act of self-promotion. Yet the type of life St Paul calls us to in this passage is a simple one. It’s a life that is not grasping, not trying to prove anything, and not striving for wealth, success, or recognition. It’s a life that receives what has been given to us and realises the futility and vanity in anxious self-promotion. This sort of life comes about when we have a grounded sense of identity. It comes about when we know that we were created, not self-made. It comes about when we recognise that our life and breath are given to us by God, and one day will be taken away. There may be times when God calls us to do something extraordinary. But when he does not, we are called to lives that are quiet, selfless, and focused on others; lives that are willing to do the unseen tasks like cleaning the church, photocopying documents, or wiping the baby’s bottom. We may feel that we are ‘above’ such ordinary tasks. This is especially true in our technological age, where we crave constant entertainment and gratification. But St Paul encourages us not to neglect the created world, which involves the slow and patient art of working with our hands. Is there a way you can work with your hands today? Can you plant something in your garden? Offer to mind someone’s child for an hour? Iron your handkerchiefs? Put together a model plane or start a needlework project? And as you do this, pray for peace and a quiet heart. Dear Lord, please put to death all my worldly ambition. Let me be ambitious for one thing, which is to follow your call with quietness, humility, and trust. Amen

03.01.2022 Time to get organised! Only 8 weeks until Christmas!! We have put together a pack of 5 Christmas cards with a Christmas verse and Christian message inside. At ...$5 a pack ($1 per card!) you can give one to all your family and friends. They are on their way and will be available to order from our website https://lutheranmedia.org.au//product-cate/greeting-cards/ or call us on 1800 353 350 See more

02.01.2022 Celebrating #Reformation on October 31st is a great opportunity to treat yourself to a live-recording of the successful concert of Martin Luther's favourite hym...ns organised by Bishop Mark Whitfield of LCANZ and the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide in 2018. The CDs are $15 each and include a sing-a-long event program. Proceeds from the sales go to support your Messages of Hope. To order call 1800 353 350 or go to https://www.lutheranmedia.org.au/our-ministr/martin-luther/ See more