| To get to our online services, click here. You can always find them by going to our website: www.cranbourneanglican.org.au/online-service. If you’d like to join us for a virtual morning tea (video conferencing) 11am Sunday the 9th of August, click here at 11am Sunday. Meeting ID: 291 757 7519 Password: 444240 |
Dear church family,
I pray you are well. I have recently been reading some of the writings of Christians who lived in difficult times and seeking to learn something of how they approached their times. This week I have been reading some of the letters of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). A Christian pastor in Nazi Germany, he was a man of immense faith who strove to encourage his fellow Christians to stand firm in the face of war and the dangers of resisting Nazism (he was ultimately executed for this in a concentration camp). He speaks from Isaiah 35:10 “Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads”:
“This joy, which no one shall take from us, belongs not only to those who have been called home but also to us who are alive. We are one with them in this joy, but never in melancholy. How are we going to be able to help those who have become joyless and discouraged if we ourselves are not borne along by courage and joy? Nothing contrived or forced is intended here, but something bestowed and free.
Joy abides with God, and it comes down from God and embraces spirit, soul, and body; and where this joy has seized a person, there it spreads, there it carries one away, there it bursts open closed doors.
A sort of joy exists that knows nothing at all of the heart’s pain, anguish, and dread; it does not last; it can only numb a person for the moment. The joy of God has gone through the poverty of the manger and the agony of the cross; that is why it is invincible, irrefutable. It does not deny the anguish, when it is there, but finds God in the midst of it, in fact precisely there; it does not deny grave sin but finds forgiveness precisely in this way; it looks death straight in the eye, but it finds life precisely within it.
What matters is this joy that has overcome.”
I pray that you might know this joy in our present struggles.
Sam Bleby
Minister | Parish of Cranbourne
St John’s Cranbourne | Christ Church Tooradin
Stage 4 – Church even more closed!
Now that we are under Stage 4 restrictions, we have been advised by the Archbishop that “nobody is allowed to be in churches, op shops or on church premises… This prohibition also applies to accessing church buildings for any reason“.
In line with this directive I ask you not to come onto the church premises, even if you have a key, until the stage 4 restrictions are lifted. This includes for maintenance or gardening. This also means we will not be opening the church for the dropping off of envelopes on Sunday afternoons during this time.
We are allowed to enter the church for the purposes of recording our online church services, but I will be relocating from the church to my home until advised I can use my office again by the diocese. During stage 4 and so long as schools are closed, I’ll also be moving my day off to Saturday.
Alpha Online
Keep praying for Alpha. We held our first week of Alpha last night, which went well with two couples seeking baptism for their children. It was a great start – please continue to pray for this group, that faith might grow in those who come and that they might come to a deeper knowledge and experience of the grace we have in Christ.
Small Groups
These times can be isolating, and life is better together! We’re looking to start some new small groups – we’ve already got a couple of people looking to start a group, and we’d love to have a few more. If you’d like to be part of a small group, please reply to this email to me letting me know and indicating three times in the week that would be convenient for you. At first you’d be meeting online (it’s easier than you think, and if new to you we can help you get started).
Giving
These times are difficult for churches all over Melbourne, and most are finding things financially challenging. I remain thankful to God for your faithful giving and His good provision. Though we are looking at a considerable deficit in our income against our budgeted income, our expenses are also considerably down, and we continue to receive the Job Keeper, support from the State government.
With the new stage 4 restrictions, we are no longer able to receive your giving by envelope here at the church on Sundays. We encourage you to give electronically using the details below. You can do this either anonymously or put your name as a reference, but please do also reference it as ‘giving’ to help our records.
Of course if you can not do this, you can continue to put aside your envelopes and drop them in once restrictions have been eased.
| St John’s, Cranbourne |
| BSB: 083 214 |
| Account: 596 278 950 |
| Christ Church, Tooradin |
| BSB: 633 000 |
| Account: 138 728 704 |