Weekly Bulletin: Staying connected as a church - 8 September 2024

Kia ora St John’s whānau,
 
This Sunday we hear one of the difficult passages in the Gospels. Jesus says ‘No’ to a woman in desperate need. But the exchange doesn’t end there…  
 
Is this an encouragement for us to honestly and courageously express our need?  Might we need to hear a message about there being no ‘second-class’ citizens in the Kingdom of God?

Our children and young people can go straight to their peer groups in the St John’s Centre at 10am, and we will all join together in the Church later for Communion.

---

If you can’t gather in the city, and you want to join the worship service via Zoom, here are the details to access the live-stream:
 
Zoom Meeting ID: 370 260 759
Passcode: worship
 
The link to join the Zoom worship service is below.

If using your phone: dial 04 886 0026 (Meeting ID: 370 260 759#, Passcode: 1560107#)

This is the link to the printable Service Sheet:

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT...

QUIZ NIGHT

On Friday 13th September we are having another fabulous St John’s Quiz Night from 6:30-8:30pm. This is for all ages, and is run by our Guest Quiz Master Chris Darnell – he has categories of quiz questions never heard of before, that will make everyone competitive!
 
The beautiful trophy made by Roger Gyles is at stake…

This is a free event, made possible by the Youth Group opening up their space and time on Friday night.

ST JOHN'S CHURCH CAMP

The Church Camp will run from Fri 20th Sept (evening) to Sun 22nd Sept (late morning) at the Paekakariki Holiday Park. 
You can REGISTER NOW using this link, and follow the prompts:

Any questions please ask Naomi or Allister Lane, or Hannah North.

CROSS CULTURAL ENCOUNTER TRIP TO INDONESIA

A third trip is planned to depart 27th November this year – serving, sharing, growing.
Details of the trip are available here:

Don’t delay – let Ino or Allister know if you’re interested.

BIKE RACKS

As part of our practise of caring for creation, we have had two new bicycle racks installed in the St John’s courtyard.
These are high-quality ‘sculptures’ that witness to our intention of caring for God’s creation, and you are invited to sponsor these. We are seeking contributions to the total cost of $1,564 for both bike racks. They were installed without additional cost by Dave Wood.  Thanks Dave!
Donations can be made to the St John’s bank account:
02 0500 0021908 00       
Particulars: (Your name)
Reference: Bike

SCAFFOLDING

Scaffolding has been erected on the front eastern face of Troup House, as inspection work is undertaken to isolate and fix the leak that is currently allowing rainwater inside the building. This is likely to be in place for several weeks, and doesn’t restrict normal access to the Church Office or anywhere else on site.

PUBLIC LECTURE

The Chaplaincy at Victoria University are hosting a public lecture next week that will be of interest to anyone seeking wisdom and inspiration for Christian social and political action for the common good. 
In this inaugural Ramsey Library Lecture, Dr Roshan Allpress will talk on the origins, motivations and effects of Evangelical social activism. It’s a complex story, which interacted with many of the darker threads of the time: Empire, colonisation, urban poverty and social oppression. In these interactions, for good and ill, Evangelicalism left a long legacy – including in the origins of Te Tiriti o Waitangi – that continues to profoundly shape Aotearoa.
Facebook event here.

‘Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!’ (Ruth 2:20)
  
Ma te wa
Allister