N A TIO N A L M A G A ZIN E O F THE L U THE RA N C HU RC H O F A U STRA LIA
FEBRUARY 2021
‘As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another’
VOL 55 NO1
Print Post Approved PP100003514
1 PETER 4 :10
Fundraising for the kingdom
LUTHERAN
CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
EDITORIAL
Editor Lisa McIntosh p 08 8267 7300 m 0409 281 703 e lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au Executive Editor Linda Macqueen p 08 8267 7300 e linda.macqueen@lca.org.au
CONNECT WITH US We Love The Lutheran! @welove_TL lutheranchurchaus
SUBSCRIBE www.thelutheran.com.au 08 8360 7270 lutheran.subs@lca.org.au LCA Subscriptions PO Box 731 North Adelaide SA 5006 11 issues per year
Good news in any language The Kope Bible translation team from Papua New Guinea’s Gulf Province says ‘Keito geega-ka’ or ‘a big thank you’ to everyone who has supported building the Oroi’io Madei (Living Word) Training Centre in Ubuo. The building is being used for meetings and translation work. Bible translator Hanna Schulz, says, ‘Thank you for praying, for giving, and for your encouragement’. And she says team members enjoy reading The Lutheran while waiting for meetings to start. LCA International Mission partners with Wycliffe Australia to support Hanna as she serves in linguistics and translation in PNG.
Send us a photograph featuring a recent copy of The Lutheran and it may appear on page 2 of a future issue and on our website at www.thelutheran.com.au
People like YOU bring love to life Rodney Malbunka
Print or print & digital
Bethlehem Lutheran Church Hermannsburg, NT
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LUTHERAN
CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA The Lutheran informs the members of the LCA about the church’s teaching, life, mission and people, helping them to grow in faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The Lutheran also provides a forum for a range of opinions, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or the policies of the Lutheran Church of Australia.
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The Lutheran F E B R UA RY 2 0 21
Most treasured Bible text: 1 Kings 17:7–16 The story of Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath ‘For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord.’
Leonie D’Antoni Mount Cotton Woodridge Tingalpa Parish, Qld Hairdresser Most treasured Bible text: Psalm 91 ‘Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.’
Robert Gubbins-Hicks Nazareth Woolloongabba, Qld Retired Most treasured Bible text: Psalm 23 ‘Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’ Let the light of someone you know shine through their photo being featured in The Lutheran and LCA Facebook. With their permission, send us a good quality photo, their name and details (congregation, occupation, what they enjoy doing, most treasured text in these difficult times) and your contact details.
February Special features EDITOR'S
let ter
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If you’ve ever belonged to an amateur sporting team, cultural society, arts or environment body, service club or charity, or if you’ve been part of a school or church community, you’ll undoubtedly be familiar with fundraising. I know what it’s like, working hard to stage that quiz night, gala dinner, high tea, concert, wine and cheese tasting, movie screening or strawberry fair and pleading with friends and family to attend and buy or sell raffle tickets. And what your club or community makes in return can hardly seem worth the effort. But we contribute physically and financially because we care about the cause. And there are always good causes to support, both within our home churches, our LCA/NZ and our wider communities. In 2020 the COVID-19 lockdowns and changing restrictions on gatherings made fundraising more difficult than ever. But as a result we saw some fresh and inspiring ideas come to life. And members of our Lutheran family gave generously. When, due to COVID, ALWS couldn’t hold large Walk My Way events around the country to support schooling for refugee kids, people walked alone or with family around the yard, the block or the local park, or committed to other challenges.
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God multiplies our gifts
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Get to know our new shepherds
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When Lutheran pastors in the Philippines were left without financial support due to church closures and no government safety net, their brothers in the LCA/NZ (and some Lutheran congregations) sent financial support for several months. As it wasn’t possible to have a room full of trivia buffs ready to take on the toughest questions, the folk at Our Saviour Rochedale in Queensland hosted an online quiz night and raised thousands for a community project in Africa.
Fundraising for the kingdom
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Regulars Heartland
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Dwelling in God’s word
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Go and Grow
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Church@Home
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The inside story
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Sudoku
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Going GREYT!
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Directory
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Your voice
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Prayer calendar February
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Prayer calendar March
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Lutheran Women of Australia have continued their wonderful support of a wide range of local and international mission and service projects throughout COVID, holding innovative fundraisers such as ‘cakeless stalls’. And there are many more examples. In this issue we share some reflections on fundraising for the kingdom – and come to see that God multiplies our gifts. Watch out for more of these encouraging tales in coming issues, too, as these pages are so full of resources and information we couldn’t fit everything in this time. Another exciting development is that our new digital edition of The Lutheran is now available. All our regular features are online as well as in print, and print subscribers can access the digital version at no extra cost! To subscribe, give the new digital version as a gift, or to register for free digital access, go to www.thelutheran.com.au/subscribe God bless your reading.
Lisa
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Our cover: A children’s project by Nunawading and Waverley Lutheran Church in Melbourne’s east raised money for the work of ALWS supporting schools for refugee children in east Africa. See page 5.
JES U S I S G OD'S LOVE. HE G IVES U S NE W HE ARTS TO L AY AS IDE O UR OL D WAYS, TO B EL IE VE AND FOL LOW HIM, TO L IVE WI T H HIM E VERY DAY.
heartland
RE V JOHN HENDERSON
Bishop Lutheran Church of Australia
STAND FIRM AS GOD’S BAPTISED, REDEEMED FAMILY 2020 was a complex, confusing and sometimes difficult year. Our reactions were equally mixed – fear, frustration, anger, relief, grief, selfishness, pride, joy and disappointment, among others.
quickly became very good at making us do that. Soon, with the help of vaccines, we might just re-establish enough control to return to business as normal – or close to it.
Are we glad that our society has been spared the worst (so far at least) of COVID-19, or do we mourn those who have died, or who live in circumstances far worse than our own?
Human beings are great adaptors. And, at least in Australia and New Zealand, our lifestyles will probably be largely unchanged, except for a few things like travel.
Is self-protection paramount, or should we risk our safety for the welfare of others? You could say that our bubble of invincibility has burst, a perpetual lesson going back to the tower of Babel. In Genesis 11, God scattered people across the earth.
What have we learned from 2020? Once we know the answer to that question, we will know how wise or foolish we have become.
In 2020 we hunkered down. Essentially, we could only deal with the disease by hiding from it, and our governments
WE CAN STI LL STAN D TOG ETH ER CON FI DENTLY TODAY AS GOD’S BAPTISED, REDEEM ED FAM I LY OF SI N N ERS AN D SAI NTS . 4
The Lutheran F E B R UA RY 2 0 21
I pray for wisdom – the wisdom of knowing that we are not our own gods, but there is One, whom we know as Jesus Christ, who is Immanuel, God with us. And knowing him and trusting God’s Son, who was born for us, lived and died for us, conquered death for us is the way to eternal life, whatever ravages of this present life may confront us. Our faith is not reliant on our security in this world. It does not rely on successful systems which meet all our needs. It does not depend on maintaining the comforting, familiar structures of society and church. God would still save us without all these things. When the people of Israel, devastated and fearful, found themselves caught between a pursuing army and the
impassable waters of the Red Sea, Moses said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.’ Then God cut through the waters for them and they walked through on dry land. Our dry land, the bedrock of our faith, is Jesus Christ. The devil and the world have already done their worst to him, and he has overcome it all, even death. To paraphrase Moses, we now need to stand firm in our Saviour and keep still while the Lord fights for us. When distressed, Martin Luther would comfort himself by repeating, ‘I am baptised! I am baptised!’ When the world tries to destroy us, tempting us to abandon Jesus and justify ourselves, we too can reply, ‘I am baptised! God has given me faith in my Saviour Jesus Christ. In his name, I am washed clean.’ We can still stand together confidently today as God’s baptised, redeemed family of sinners and saints. With him there is enough love, and enough power, to save the whole world. Bishop John Henderson is on annual leave. This column has been adapted from his Heartland eNews published 16 December 2020.
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