Sunday 15 th March 2015 We exist as Jesus’ followers to know, love and serve God in our world. Welcome….to Mill Park Baptist Church this morning for our family time together – of worship, celebration, teaching, and friendship. We hope you really enjoy this time, and we’re trusting and praying it’s deeply meaningful for you. If you are visiting or new with us here this morning, you’re extra welcome! You don’t need to do, say, or be anything to fit in! You’re welcome, just as you are! We'd love our visitors to drop by the Welcome Lounge, located in the foyer just outside the main auditorium door. Look out for our Information Desk where you'll find a welcome pack just for you, and someone to answer your questions. If you'd like to let us know you've visited, please fill out a visitors card (inside our welcome pack) and let us know if you'd like to attend an upcoming Newcomers Lunch. Thanks for spending time with us today ! Of all the pictures and descriptions of the bible I’ve ever heard, one stands out to me. It’s such an awesome idea that I memorised the words years ago. And even now, having recited it countless times and known it for decades, every time I sit and think (or meditate) on this idea, it sits me down and makes me catch my breath. From the Pastor ‘Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.’ Psalm 1:1-3 (NLT) People who seriously weigh into God’s word – so they learn it, study it, internalise it, and meditate on it – are people of true stability, class, power, and meaning. They don’t get knocked over by life and, in the long run, they’re the ones who win the race. When he established monasteries and devised his “say-so’s”, sixth-century St Benedict of Nursia valued the bible so much that he wove it intimately into his “rule”. Every day, his monks and nuns followed then and follow now a daily rhythm rich with meditation on God’s word. In the noisy, over-stimulated, option-plenty, fast-moving world we live in, we’re sorely tempted to – at best – read God’s word quickly, cursorily, and spasmodically, or – at worst – not read it at all. God’s idea, though – and it’s not just for monks and nuns, but absolutely for you and me – is that we’d be people who just soak and bathe in his word, every day, every night. A friend of mine has a tattoo of the words “Psalm 119:105” on his chest. Know what it says? ‘Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.’ See, to the degree that I think I can live without meditating on God’s word day and night (thinking about it, mulling it over, talking about it, shaping it up against my life and values and priorities and decisions), I’ll be making poor life choices and ignoring the uncomfortable fact that I simply don’t have what it takes to navigate my way through life. Not sure about you, but I’d prefer to be like a tree that’s been planted by the river, roots reaching deep into the fertile and luscious soil. I’d choose any day to be bearing fruit in life, and to have leaves that don’t wither, and to prosper in everything I do. What do you think? Ps. Geoff Shepherd Prayer Diary Dates FRIDAY MARCH 20 CARAT COFFEE CLUB Third Place Café 286 Epping Road Wollert @ church 9.30am to carpool Or @ cafe at 10.00am FRIDAY MARCH 20 ZONE KIDS CLUB (Primary Students) “Messy Games” From 7.00 - 8.30pm FRIDAY MARCH 20 RIOT YOUTH (Secondary students) Please pray for Joy, Craig & Abigail Johnson. Joy's brother-in-law passed away recently. Pray that God may comfort Joy's extended family in their time of grief. Please pray for Steph & Kristie Mott this week. Steph has dislocated her knee and Kristie has upcoming doctors appointments also. Pray for God’s hand of healing, strength and peace for the Mott family, including Rachael and Travis. You might have noticed that some of our ladies are attending the Colour Conference in Sydney this weekend. Pray for them as they gather to worship and hear from God. In church recently and at our Annual General Meeting we mentioned the need we have in several areas of service – in particular in Kids’ Church and in RIOT Youth. Many people at the AGM raised their hands in a commitment to pray daily over these needs. We’d love all our church family praying with us on this! “Chalk Chase” 7.00 - 10.00 Church Camp is coming...... SUNDAY MARCH 22 When - 24-26 April 2015 (Anzac Day weekend – Friday evening to after Sunday lunch) WORSHIP & PRAYER GET TOGETHER FOR OUR PROPERTY & FACILITIES @6.00 - 7.30pm WEDNESDAY MARCH 25 KIDS HOPE MENTOR TRAINING Here at MPBC from 9.00am - 3.00pm Where - Upper Plenty Conference Centre (40 mins drive from MPBC) Cost: $85 per adult (Year 7 +), $75 per primary child, $ 0 per pre-schooler (free). NOTE: Family Cap of $320 applies - this would cover Mum & Dad plus any kids still at primary or secondary school. Any young adults at work or uni living at home would pay an additional $85. DIAMONDS VISIT CERES ENVIRONMENT PARK The Whittlesea Council bus took most of the 12 participants to the park in Brunswick where we checked out the organic market, enjoyed coffee checked out the visitor centre, nursery and shop before wandering around. Some of us had a tour of the different areas including the Eco House, gardens and propagation area and even adopted some orphan plants. This was our first event in conjunction with the SOW program on Sustainability. We are choosing activities for the other 3 sessions. Stay tuned and join in. All 55+ ( or thereabouts) folk are welcome. Contact Pauline : 0405 605 011 if you need further information or would like to include your preferences. Do you want some practical training and an Australian Govt recognised qualification in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)? ITA is running a Cert IV in Teaching Conversational English TESOL (30987 QLD) $1970 Wednesdays & Fridays 9 - 5pm 6 May – 19 June plus Saturday 23 May In addition to the face to face hours, 25 hours of teaching prac and assessments is required. The Wednesday class will be at St James Conference Centre (near Flagstaff Station) and the Friday class at Canterbury Presbyterian Church, Canterbury. Both churches run conversational classes which are incorporated into the course. This course may also form the foundations of a Diploma of Language Teaching (10431 NAT) over 12 months $3900 (Fee Help available) For more info see www.itateach.com or call Marg on 0421 134 924 To include something in the Memo for next week, please email [email protected] or phone/SMS Lisa Walton on 0432 726 816 before Wednesday evening. News & Updates PROPERTY & FACILITIES We’re “maxxed out” @ MPBC now, with all our extra people from the last couple of years! Our Leadership Group, in the midst of trying to discern the best way ahead, is mixing around our Cultiv8 Groups now – we’d love to have all our church family praying with us. We don’t want to assume that the only thing we can do is to “build on” – we’re asking God to show us what he wants us to do! We’re inviting our whole church family (from the youngest to the oldest and everywhere in between) to get together next Sunday 22nd March, (please note the date – not 29th March!) from 6.00-7.30pm, here at the church, so we can worship, pray, and seek God’s face together about this question! FAITH PROMISE OFFERINGS Thanks to all those who handed in Faith Promise pledges the last few weeks! So far, we’re at 10 pledges totalling $7,620! We’re planning on the biggest and best ever so we’re hoping for many, many more pledges over the next few weeks! Remember – every cent of this money is passed on directly to missions! If you need a form, contact Leanne in the office (9436 8797 or [email protected]) and we’ll get one to you! PASTORAL TEAM RETREAT Our church staff spent the day together Wednesday this week. They spent key time sharing in depth with and praying for each other and our church. They’ve been working recently on some greater definition and culture ideas for our Sunday services and invested key time in that discussion too. A really useful and fruitful day! BOARD MEETING We’ve welcomed Jono Prout onto our Board! The Board’s due to meet this Wednesday (18th March) @ 7.45pm – pray for our friends as they meet, pray, plan, and serve! During the School holidays the Diamonds plan to visit the Fire Brigade Museum in the city, corner of Gibson Street and Victoria Parade. Keep April 9th free. Please note this is a Thursday when the museum will be open. We will meet at the South Morang station at 9.30 am, alighting at Parliament and heading to East Melbourne for the visit. Bring a picnic or buy lunch before heading home about 2.00pm. Need more details. Contact Pauline 0405 605 011 ATTENTION ALL WHO LOVE BAKING!! This Easter, Prison Fellowship will again provide every Victorian inmate with 10 home-made biscuits, together with a card that explains the meaning of Easter. We need the help of the Christian community in Victoria to do this. Can you and/or your friends help us? Help us show the prisoners of Victoria that God loves them..... Biscuits need to be home-made (Anzac, Choc chip etc). Please NO NUTS (or peanut butter etc) are to be used. Must be in sealed disposable container (ice cream containers are ideal). Ingredients are to be clearly listed on the top of the container. Biscuits need to be delivered to church office by Sunday 22nd March or to the Prison Fellowship Op Shop 252 Broadway Reservoir by Monday 23rd March .....recipes are also available on request. Contact Leanne in our office! “Effective Parenting in a Defective World.” KID'S HOPE MENTOR TRAINING will be held here on Wednesday 25th March 9:00-3:00. Would you like to find out more about being a mentor? Speak to David Dyer, Jo Bishop, Pauline Longley, Margaret Brown, Sheryl Parker or Lauren Grimes. This is a parenting course that is God centred and relevant for parents with children at all ages and stages. The course will begin Sunday May 17th and will run for 11 weeks from 3-5pm. To register, forms will be available at the information desk or you may also register on line at the following link. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/G79MKVW Those who have attended this course will agree that it is well worth the time and effort. Also a reminder …. “It Takes a Village”! If you have any questions see Andrew or Bronwyn Sexton or Kathy Adams. MPBC...“to be a radically prayerful church, overflowing with the Holy Spirit.” Mill Park Baptist Church meets on Sunday at 10am for worship ACTIVE CARE TEAM David Dyer Linda Dyer Kath Huppert Kathryn Jensen Rachael Mott Brent Mudie Debbie Mudie Sonja Schryvers and for prayer 9.45am (front of auditorium) on Wednesday mornings 10am - 12pm for prayer (come when you can, go as needed) 11 Morang Drive, Mill Park, 3082 Ph: 9436 8797 www.millparkbaptistchurch.org.au [email protected] “Like” us on Facebook : www.facebook.com/millparkbaps 9717 2990 0409 240 639 [email protected] Office days – Mon, Wed, Thurs. Off-site preparation day – Tuesdays Day off – Fridays Available otherwise on Sat & Sun ASSOCIATE PASTOR (YOUTH) Ps. Matt Withers Rosters CULTIV8 GROUPS ON DOOR GREETING 22/3/2015: Longley 29/3/2015: Kim 5/4/2015: Parker MORNING TEA Today: D & L Dyer, S Loveday 22/3/2015: K Batten-Ernest, C Grimes, C Parker 29/3/2015: V Mason, D & L Dyer 5/4/2015: M Pozzebon, R Bishop, K Batten 0410 308 799 [email protected] Office days – Wed, Thurs, Fri. Days off – Sat, Mon, Tues. Available otherwise – Sun ASSOCIATE PASTOR (CARE & CONNECT) Ps. Kathryn Jensen 0438 370 363 [email protected] Office days – Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri. Days off – Tue, Sat. Available otherwise – Sun. ASSOCIATE PASTOR (CHILDREN & YOUNG FAMILIES) Ps. Kathy Adams Esther Cathie 9717 8574 Stewart Henderson 9434 7901 Bryan Keef 9712 2759 Pauline Longley 9437 6515 Murray Parker 9404 4589 BOARD MEMBERS Chris Grimes 9401 4223 (Chairman) Leanne Kelso 9431 0569 (Secretary) Today: Romano SENIOR PASTOR Ps. Geoff Shepherd ELDERS birthdays Mar 16 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 19 Mar 20 Jacqui Long Carol Lee Tet Neville Muir Levi Longley Phil Carbis Colene Long Tim Stokes Jaymee Matthews Shaun Creek Ina Leung 9497 1878 Steve Matthews 9408 8029 Taryn Nelson 9009 0463 Jono Prout 0425 754 035 (Treasurer) Andrew Sexton 9717 2290 Bryson Shearwood 0419 880 737 MINISTRY LEADERS 3 Up Jo Bishop Caring Hands (Craft) Helen Skerry Creative Ministries Shaun Creek Cultiv8 Groups Ps Kathryn Jensen Diamonds (55+) Pauline Longley Hospitality Vicki Mason Kids’ Church Tim & Kathryn Stokes Kids Hope David Dyer Little Cherubs Cheryl-Lee Longley Mission Support Group Sheryl Parker Active Care Team David Dyer Playgroup Kathryn Stokes (enrolments) Riot Youth Ps Matt Withers 0437 426 611 Welcome Team Ps Kathryn Jensen [email protected] Office days – Wed & Thurs. Available otherwise – Sun Women's Embrace Linda Romano CHURCH ADMINISTRATOR Leanne Kelso 9436 8797 0431 475 548 [email protected] Office days - Mon to Thurs. 9 am - 4pm Young Adults Ps Matt Withers Zone Steve Nelson MILL PARK COMMUNITY CARE (Professional Counselling) 0405 197 192
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