願 父 神 所 賜 的 恩 惠 和 平 安 與 你 們 同 在
Grace and peace to you from God
In the Family
Friends – I have been informed of the death of Trevor Wishnowsky, saint and child of God, member of St Johns Lutheran Church Halcombe, who was called to be at home with his Lord yesterday morning. May you all, along with Barbara and her family be encouraged by what Jesus – Lord of life and death says to us:
My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27-28)In asking you to pray for Trevor’s family, I also need to ask you to pray specifically for his son-in-law, Lawrence Satherley who ended up in hospital later in the day. I don’t have details to share of the circumstances surrounding Lawrence’s hospitalisation.
- O God of grace and mercy, we thank you for your loving-kindness show to Trevor who, having finished his course in faith, now rests from his labours. Give to Barbara and her family and to all who mourn comfort in their grief and a sure confidence in your loving care that. casting all their sorrow on You, they may know the consolation of Your love. Bring us at last to our heavenly home that with Trevor we may see You face to face in the joys of paradise; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Friday 7th September
11.00am Funeral Service at St Lukes Lutheran Church, Palmerston North
2.00pm Committal at St Johns Lutheran Church, Halcombe
Kogudus Retreat … Prayer – growing in a relationship; not mastering a technique
You are warmly invited to the Kogudus Retreat on Prayer on 14th – 16th September 2012 at Foxton Bible Camp. The retreat seeks to deepen your walk with the Lord through worship, teaching, discussion and prayer ministry. Kogudus is an Estonian word that means Christian fellowship. The retreat format provides an environment of encouragement in which you can ask and discuss questions, share what you have already learned and just simply grow in exercising your faith. The retreat begins meeting by 6pm on the Friday evening to start with a meal and conclude at 2pm on the Sunday. In between there is a mixture of teaching, prayer, good food, laughter, opportunity for a walk, fun, and fellowship.
- 14th – 16th September 2012
- Foxton Bible Camp
- Register online at http://goo.gl/vkYjP
Yesterday I did two things with respect to the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill which passed its first stage with a conscience vote in Parliament last week:
- I provided all pastors of the LCNZ and the Council of Synod (COS) with a copy of the letter that The President of the Church, Dr Michael Semmler, sent to the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs in the Australian Parliament in March of this year. While this was written for the Australian context, it also has relevance for us here in New Zealand.
You can check this out in more detail from the LCA website at http://www.lca.org.au/lca-says-no-to-same-sex-marriage.html - I also read from Dr Semmler’s letter during a discussion on the Marriage Amendment Bill that we had as part of the National Church Leaders meeting in Wellington yesterday, and these comments were appreciated.
I hope to provide you with some information that might be helpful to you as you consider communicating with your local MPs on the matter.
Mā te Atua koe e tiaki
God be with you.
+Mark
President – Lutheran Church of New Zealand / Te Hāhi Rūtana o Aotearoa
