Let the Kids In!

Hi Everyone,
Pastor John speaks in todays message about the meaning of families and the pain of divorce, all evident in the passage of Mark 10:2-16.
Marital breakup should never be taken lightly: it will always leave a scar on both parties. Sometimes it's bitterness or hurt, longing, regret or even an unreal expectation of a new partner, which can cause the break-up of another relationship.
This is not what God had in mind when he brought forth woman from man-it is yet another result of our wilful step into sin.

Click here to download: Let the Kids In!

Illawarra Lutheran Parish
22nd October 2006
20th Sunday after Pentecost

Prayer of the Day

Loving heavenly Father, you have made us your own children, the younger brothers and sisters of your Son, Jesus. Give us faith like a little child, so that we ask you for whatever we need with complete confidence. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Prayer Points

• Give thanks for the institution of marriage and God's blessing upon it.
• Pray for married couples who are struggling to maintain their relationships that they would have the courage to seek help.
• Pray for people who suffer in abusive relationships that they would be safe.
• Give thanks for the way God works through the waters of baptism.
• Give thanks for the blessing on Kyan P. and Toby J. as they enter the kingdom of God this morning.
• Pray for Kyan and Toby's parents and god-parents that they would be able to fulfill the promises they make.
• Pray for those in our community suffering illness or hospitialization: Fritz T., Wolfgang G., Christine F., Harold M., Helga S., Irmgard J., Max C., Hardy B. and Linda F.
• Pray for rain and for farming communities under immense pressure from the drought.
• Pray for our politicians as they prepare to debate the Patterson bill on human cloning.
• Pray for Pastor Mark Welke and the Temora parish.
• Pray for Amanda Spalding as she takes up a new challenge as an apprentice chef in Canberra.
  

Todays Readings.
Genesis 2:18-24
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16

Todays liturgical colour is
GREEN

Minor Festivals and Colours this week:
St Simon and St Jude
28th October
Red

Both preached the Gospel in Mesopotamia and Persia where it is said they had both been sent, but in actual fact we know nothing for certain about them beyond what is told us of their being called as Apostles in the New Testament. St. Jude is the author of a short Epistle which forms part of the New Testament.

St. Simon is represented in art with a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom. St. Jude's square points him out as an architect of the house of God. St. Paul called himself by this name; and St. Jude, by his Epistle, has also a special right to be reckoned among our Lord's principal workmen. But our apostle had another nobility, far surpassing all earthly titles: being nephew, by his father Cleophas or Alpheus, to Joseph, and legal cousin to the Man-God, Jude was one of those called by their compatriots the brethren of the carpenter's Son.

We may gather from St. John's Gospel another precious detail concerning him. In John 14:21-31 (the admirable discourse at the close of the last Supper), our Lord said: "Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. My Father will love those who love me; I too will love them and reveal myself to them." Then Jude (Judas) asked Him: "Lord, how can it be that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?" And he received from Jesus this reply: "Those who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and my Father and I will come to them and live with them. Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching. And the teaching you have heard is not mine, but comes from the Father, who sent me. "

Things to do: try some English Soul Cakes

Thought for the Week.

"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."
Galileo Galilei

Photo credit: 'Take My Hand' by Jeremy Brown