Outlook ST BARNABAS MAGAZINE MARCH 2021
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Outlook ST BARNABAS MAGAZINE
MARCH 2021
Viewpoint
The Practice
of Prayer
1
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but
climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the
shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his
voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all
his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
- John 10: 1-4
I have been preaching over the last couple of weeks about Gods calling. God is calling us Salvation and
discipleship. We are going to start to push into some of the practical things we can do to hear God calling
Are there things (spiritual practices like exercise) we can do to hear God better and more clearly? How do
we get to the point where we can as Jesus said “My sheep know my voice”? Will we listen to his voice?
Prayer is, if you like, a starting point to the spiritual pathways that we can practice, that can help us to
hear from God. But let’s be honest, for most of us, prayer is a weak point in our discipleship to Jesus.
Most of us don’t really enjoy prayer. We feel bad, even guilty, about how little we pray. When we finally
do make time to pray, we often don’t know what to say. Or we’re so distracted we can’t focus for long.
Yet for Jesus, prayer was central to life with God. Most people define prayer as simply, “Talking with
God.” Prayer is a back and forth conversation that comes out of a depth of relationship. That’s why prayer
was such a huge part of Jesus’ life.
We read Jesus “often withdrew into lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16) And for Jesus, prayer wasn’t a
drag or a duty. He seems to genuinely enjoy his Father’s company. I think that’s why the disciples asked
Jesus, “Teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1) Jesus’ answer was the Lord’s prayer, which wasn’t just a liturgy to
recite, as much as a template to follow when you pray.
As I have been saying, faith in Jesus is not just believing something, faith is also worked out, in our lives
through our actions. So this week, month, set up a time and place to pray, and pray through the Lord’s
Prayer. It’s an easy exercise that you can do in two minutes, or over two hours. Put away your phones or
any other distractions, and get comfortable. Invite the Holy Spirit to come. Pray through the Lord’s
Prayer, like this…
“Our Father…”
• Take a moment and think about the idea of God as your Father, with good intentions toward you.
• If you want, imagine God in your mind’s eye. Picture his face.
“In heaven…”
• Take a moment to think about the idea that God is all around you.
• As you breathe in and out, imagine yourself breathing in and out more of the Holy Spirit.
“Hallowed by your name…”
• Spend a few minutes just sitting with the Father in joyful, grateful, worship.
• You might want to sit in silence for a few moments, or sing a chorus, or rattle off a list of things
you’re grateful for.
• Praise God with specific things you love about him.
• Make expressions of praise and gratitude out loud, one at a time. (e.g. “Father, thank you for your
kindness.” “Father, thank you for loving me.”)
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…”
• Spend a few minutes asking for God’s will to be done in your city/church/community/life.
• Think of specific things to pray for.
• Spend time verbally giving to God specific things in your life that you’re wrestling with control over.
A simple prayer of, “Your will be done in ______," is a great place to start.
“Give us each day our daily bread…”
• Spend a few minutes praying for specific needs and wants in your life or that of your community.
• This is also a great time to pray over specific people in the community who need something: a job,
healing, wisdom to make a decision, etc.
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…”
• Spend a few minutes in quiet asking God for forgiveness for specific areas in your life, and releasing
others to forgiveness.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
• Spend a few minutes praying against temptation (the word can also be translated trouble) in your
life.
• Pray against specific sins in your life
Close in a prayer of gratitude to the Father for hearing you.
This practice is a great way to start praying, a great way to give ourselves time and space to, know his
voice.
Yours in Christ
Philip
Philip Greenwood // Vicar
Event Convergence Camp 2021 Kia ora te whanau! It was so fabulous to see so many of you at Convergence 2021, it makes my heart sing to see the family hanging out together and loving it! For me, such events are when we get to experience that feeling of belonging! Belonging to the wider family of God and belonging to a bigger movement. It was so encouraging seeing so many of our young people, over 100, loving being part of this. What better way to encourage their value in this family, than to have an event where we can all have fun together (including gargling eggs and water fights!), all worship together and celebrate being a family. Who doesn’t want to be a part of that?! One of the youth, a visitor in fact, said to me, "Ï’ve never been to a camp where I felt like I fitted in straight away, it felt like one big family.” One of the reasons I love Convergence is because my kids love Convergence … they feel like they BELONG … and that’s such a beautiful thing as a parent. So thank you to all who make Convergence happen– especially so our young people can nurture that feeling of belonging to this God thing!!!!
Greta Greenwood // Diocese CFM Enabler
StB’s Youth
Friday 5 March Friday 12 March
Busch Reserve Hangs Rabbit Island Hangs
Meet at the church at 6.45pm. Bring swimming Meet at the church at 6.45pm. Bring swimming
gear. gear.
Friday 19 March Friday 26 March
Centre of NZ Hangs Isel Park Hangs
Meet at the church at 6.45pm. Meet at the church at 7.00pm.
Bring walking shoes and a torch.
Youth News
Our youth had an amazing weekend away at Convergence Camp at Kaiteriteri. It was a great time of
bonding and relaxing for all, with a highlight being the experiences of Saturday night worship. During this
time, many of our youth responded by going forward for prayer and prophecy, and left the evening with
tears of joy, feeling extremely touched by the words that were spoken over them. One particular girl,
who attends our Friday night youth group infrequently, told me the following morning that she now
believes in Jesus! Praise God! Please pray for this girl, that these seeds of faith would continue to grow in
her heart.
St B’s Youth is now fully back in action, with Term 1 boasting many outdoor hangouts for our youth. This
term we will be focussing on ‘Legacy: What Are You Leaving Behind?’ as a way of talking about the
significance of our whenua and how/why we should be caring for God’s creation, rather than using it only
for destruction or monetary gain. This is why every Friday night we will be spending time together
outdoors, enjoying God’s creation and taking notice of the beauty around us.
This term we will also be attending southern Eastercamp (Covid Dependent) on the 1st-5th of April!
Eastercamp is an incredible camp near Christchurch where 2000-3000 teens gather together to eat
toasties, go on rides, dance and sing, hear various talks and sermons on a wide variety of topics and
passages, worship, hang out, play sport/board games and much more. I highly encourage anyone in grade
9-13 to come along. Register at eastercamp.org for $189 until 19th March, $209 until 26th March. Due to
the cost of the camp, we will be fundraising to help pay for the cost of registration for a few of our
members. If you feel you would like to donate, please let me know!
Thank you for your prayers, they make a bigger difference than you or I may ever know.
Blessings, Georgia.
Georgia Allen // Youth Leader
Missions
Missions Giving for 2021
$250.00 $242.40
Mission
$200.00 $185.00
$150.00
Matters
$130.00
$100.00
$50.00
March 2021
$-
$-
AMB
BHW
NZCMS
HANNAH
Missions Giving for 2020…
• Our January total for Overseas Missions was $557.40
• This is 3.8% of our target of 14,400 for 2021.
• Next Month we will have missions fundraiser income from The Banquet in the Garden for Bright Hope
World.
HANNAH Romania
“Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the
yoke, to set the captive free and break every yoke?…then your light will break forth like the dawn…you
will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” - Isaiah 58:6,12
These verses from Isaiah were a focus recently during an OHFI retreat (of which HANNAH is a partner).
What an amazing vision these words inspire… to bring about justice… freedom…dawning light…repairers!
From these verses came the statement “Let us be known as restorers of families” What an incredible
privilege it is to be part of bringing restoration to people’s lives. Bless you all for being part of this vision in
whatever way you do. Below are some stories of the hope HANNAH brings to families who need the
words of Isaiah to be true for them.
Romania
Ilona has been able to
continue to visit the families
associated with HANNAH and
bless them with Christmas
shoe boxes generously
donated by Malta Love Ser-
vice and the Philothea Klub
(CE).
Because the children have
A Present A New Scarf A New Hat A New Jacket
spent most of their lives
together in an institution, they see each other as family. To keep these important connections going
Ilona has brought the children together regularly from their different family situations to cook, learn and
have fun at the CE house. They have all loved these times and eagerly looked forward them.
Ilona writes: “After finishing eating, I let the children outside to play in the snow. They loved it. Time
passed by so fast. The children helped with cleaning up the CE house and then everyone was brought
home. It was around 7 pm when we got back to the CE office with the cars.
A special ‘Thank you’ to Erno and Örs and Ilona’s Dad for volunteering their time to help Ilona to make
these excursions and visits happen. Some places are not safe for Ilona to go to on her own therefore it is
important to have someone to accompany her as well as providing transport. Bless you.
Andika’s family Andika is currently living with her mother but she has other brothers and a sister in state care. Her mother Katalin would dearly love to have them all home but needs to show that she has a home suitable for all the children. Until recently many Romanians could work in western Europe earning enough money to make changes to their life styles. However, with covid-19 there are less jobs available and these jobs are not so easy to get hold of. Please remember Katalin as she seeks to strengthen her relationship with her children and plans toward providing them with their own home. Changes in work situations Kati Please remember Kati as she prepares to return to work for HANNAH and CE on the 8th of March. Zsolt will take time off his work to care for the children until they turn 2 years old in May, after which they will go to day care, if available and open following the current covid restrictions. This is a trying time for them as they make these adjustments and particularly so, as there is no guarantee that child care centres will be open full-time by then. Ilona Ilona has recently accepted an offer of fulltime employment with the nutrition company she has been working for part-time during the past year, as well as HANNAH. We will be very sad to see her go. She brought wonderful teaching skills and knowledge to the work of HANNAH, establishing the work in the community through the upheavals of the past year due to covid-19. She showed great courage and tenacity in doing so. This is not the final ‘goodbye,’ We will write more in the next newsletter to acknowledge her and the work she has done. If there are any comments or remarks you would like to make then please email me and I will present them to her. Thank you. 2021 In spite of the changing circumstances around the world we hope that you were able to have a blessed Christmas and beginning to the new year 2021. We were very blessed in NZ to be able to travel freely within the country so that many could spend Christmas and New Year with family and friends. Prayer Please pray...For Katalin’s plans for her family // For Kati as she prepares to return to work early March// For Ilona as she leaves HANNAH and moves on to other full time employment. For more information contact: Alice and Ken Winter // Phone: 64 (0)21 029 61 545 // Email: alice.w@hopeandnurture.org // www.hopeandnurture.org Donations: Via Open Home Foundation International: ANZ Wellington // 01 0505 0602787 83 // Reference: HANNAH ROMANIA Via HANNAH – Hope And Nurture Trust: ANZ Wellington // 01 0677 0140312 00
Whareama
Snippets From
Whareama
Prayers have been answered! Whareama is to stay open for the time being which is so reassuring for staff,
residents and their families . Plans for a rebuild are on hold as it seems there is a demand for resthome
rooms such as we have at Whareama. My hope is that we can all move forward with new resolve to
provide the best care in every way for our existing residents and those that come to us for short or longer
stays.
I am looking forward to having a young woman who is studying at Bishopdale College intern alongside me
this year. She will, I am sure be a blessing to us as she spends up to 15 hours a week experiencing Rest
Home chaplaincy. This is very much a ministry of presence where we endeavour to provide for people's
spiritual needs but it also involves practical "hands on" help with activities and outings and looking for
ways to assist staff as much as possible and of course always being a "listening ear".
Friday week ago we celebrated all things wedding related with one lovely resident donning a beautiful
bridal gown after having her hair and makeup done. Some of the staff dressed up as well including yours
truly. My own 45 year old wedding dress has somehow shrunk ! Bridesmaid frocks and lots of
photographs were also on display and we even had a delicious wedding cake.
At our Otumarama Bible Group the theme for that same week was love where we talked about the
different types of love, focussing on God's enduring love for us. Part of Margaret Hackston's message at
our church service last Friday at Otumarama and on Sunday at Whareama was about Valentine's day. She
always manages to come up with interesting stories full of historical facts.
VALENTINE'S DAY: A LITANY OF HEARTS jealous hearts accept what they have
Let us pray this Valentine's Day that lost hearts find their way home
broken hearts be mended loving hearts reach out to others
young hearts stay wonder-filled generous hearts receive in return
old hearts discover their wisdom fearful hearts turn toward trust
embittered hearts let go of hurt empty hearts befriend loneliness
compassionate hearts find strength tepid hearts stretch into action
big hearts know their wealth faithful hearts remain steadfast
betrayed hearts recover trust kind hearted Holy One,
soft hearts not be wounded you gather all these hearts into your one great
hardened hearts begin to soften love.
sensitive hearts be vigilant Thank you for reaching our heart through the
happy hearts announce their joy hearts of others.
courageous hearts keep risking The genuine love of each person reflects your
passionate hearts tend the flames divine affection.
arrogant hearts learn humility Keep us aware, when we hesitate or question our
sympathetic hearts benefit others ability to share our love with another,
determined hearts lessen their grip that you dwell within our hearts. Amen.
Taken from Prayer Seeds: A Gathering of Blessings, Reflections, and Poems for Spiritual Growth© 2017 by Joyce Rupp.
Used by permission of Ave Maria Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
Angela Galbraith // Whareama Chaplain
Seasons
Easter and Home Communions
Lent is a season of reflection and preparation. Just as Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness preparing for
his ministry so we spend 40 days preparing for Easter. Well, it’s actually 46 days from Ash Wednesday if
you include Sundays but that’s so we still get to celebrate on Sundays!
Our Bible readings over Lent call us to repentance. We acknowledge the things in our lives that need to be
changed and we ask our compassionate God to forgive us and restore us. The whole purpose of Jesus’
sacrifice on the cross was to make possible our forgiveness and restoration as God’s people. Lent helps us
to focus on what Jesus did for us so that we may truly rejoice on Easter Sunday.
Not all of our St Barnabas family are able to get to church. For those who are now house bound, there is
an opportunity to receive communion at home. At the moment Philip, myself and Joy Bradley take
communion to eight parishioners on a regular basis. If this is a ministry that you feel God is calling you to
take up, training can be provided and more people can be visited. If you are no longer able to come to
church and would like communion at home, either regularly or especially at Easter, then please contact
the parish office.
God loves us, chose us and wants to be in relationship with us, both now and in eternity. Always, and
especially during Lent, God helps us to make sure that nothing gets in the way of that relationship.
Yvonne Mclean // Assisting Clergy
Financial Update
Finance
Overview of St Barnabas Parish Accounts to 31 January 2021
Actual YTD Budget YTD Variance
Parish Giving $11,755.00 $14,333 -$2,579.00
Total Income $18,372.00 $22,590.00 -$4,218.00
Total Expenses $15,701.00 $22,233.00
Surplus / Deficit $2,670.00 $357.00
Non Operating Income $308.00 (From Trusts/Bequests)
Final Surplus / Deficit $2,979.00 $2,979.00
Prepared By Kevin Currie // St Barnabas Finance ChairServices Sunday 7 March Celebration Time 8.30am Time with God: Prayer 9.00am Time with Family: Coffee and Food 10.00am Time Together: Worship & Communion Theme: Calling to love our enemies Readings: 1 John 1:1-10, Matthew 5:43 Sunday 14 March 8.30am Healing 10.00am Contemporary Communion Theme: Calling to generosity Readings: James 1:22-27, Matthew 6:1-4 Sunday 21 March 8.30am NZ Prayer Book 10.00am Contemporary Communion Theme: Calling to obey Readings: Philippians 2:1–11, John 12:20-33 Sunday 28 March 8.30am Morning Worship & Communion 10.00am Contemporary Worship Theme: Calling to build Readings: 1 Thessalonians5:1-11, Matthew 7:21-29 Easter Friday 2 April 9.30am Good Friday Service Sunday 4 April Easter Day Celebration 8.30am Time with God: Prayer 9.00am Time with Family: Coffee and Food 10.00am Time Together: Worship & Communion
Tuesday 16 March
What's on in March 10.00am
6.30pm
Melody Makers
Course - The Big Story of the Bible
————————————————————————— Wednesday 17 March
10.30am NZPB Service
Tuesday 2 March
10.00am Melody Makers Friday 19 March
1.30pm Stillpoint - Meditation 6.45pm Youth - Centre of NZ Hangs
6.30pm Course - The Big Story of the Bible Saturday 20 March
Wednesday 3 March 8.00am Walking Group -Wainui Falls
10.30am NZPB Service Sunday 21 March
8.30am NZPB
Friday 5 March 10.00am Contemporary Communion
6.45pm Youth - Busch Reserve Hangs ————————————————————–—————
Sunday 7 March Celebration Tuesday 23 March
8.30am Time with God 10.00am Melody Makers
9.00am Time With Family 6.30pm Course - The Big Story of the Bible
10.00am Time Together Wednesday 24 March
————————————————————————— 10.30am NZPB Service
Tuesday 9 March
10.00am Melody Makers Thursday 25 March
6.30pm Course - The Big Story of the Bible 10.00am The Book Club
Wednesday 10 March Friday 26 March
10.30am NZPB Service 6.45pm Youth - Isel Park Hangs
Friday 12 March Sunday 28 March Palm Sunday
6.45pm Youth - Rabbit Island Hangs 8.30am Morning Worship & Holy Communion
10.00am Contemporary Worship
Sunday 14 March
————————————————————–—————
8.30am Healing
10.00am Contemporary Worship
—————————————————————————
Giving to support the work of St Barnabas
If you choose to give by online banking or direct credit our account details are:
St Barnabas Church // 03 1709 0041226 00 // Westpac Richmond
St Barnabas Walking Group The Book Club
Saturday 20 March
The Book Club will meet
Wainui Falls & Paynes Ford at Elizabeth Olliver's
Wainui Falls - An easy walk through native bush. home at 10.00am
Paynes Ford - An easy walk where they rock climb Thursday 25 March.
The discussion topic is
limestone rock cliffs A Book of your Choice
Leaving St Barnabas Church at 8.00am. Phone Margaret Hackston
Cost $20.00 to the driver please. 547 6643 for more
For information contact Kevin Nilsen 548 0964 information.
PRAYER CHAIN
If you have a prayer request,
the St Barnabas Prayer
Chain will be more than
happy to pray for you.
Please call Pam 547 7978
St Barnabas Anglican Church Office: 8.00am - 12.00pm Monday - Friday
PO Box 2514 Stoke 7041 Phone: 547 5631
523 Main Road Stoke email: office.stbarnabas@xtra.co.nz
Nelson 7011 Website: www.stbarnabas.co.nzYou can also read
