Thoughts, news and sermons from our Clergy and Missions
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Palmers' Prayer and Praise Points - February 2012 : 31 January 2012
Praise Points
Give thanks for:- great teaching at CMS Summer School.
- the opportunity to meet with so many friends and supporters.
- Rachel Jordan who generously shared her home with us.
- quality time with our children and extended families.
Prayer Points
Please pray for:
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Australia Day - Epiphany 4 - Sunday 29th January 2012 : 30 January 2012
Our indigenous people, the first Australians, were here for a long time before any of us came along. They are perhaps the oldest group of people still living on our earth. Their stewardship of this country goes back over 40,000 years, whereas we’ve only been here a couple of hundred. They have been here two hundred times two hundred – which is a long time. No wonder when such an ancient people are confronted by Western civilisation – then there is no recipe for an easy convergence of the two, as we have seen recently.
I spent two years in Darwin with the army, and many times I travelled to Kakadu National Park and I loved the area around the township of Jabiru. -
Africa Air Aldom - 17 January 2012 : 21 January 2012
Greetings Friends,
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, celebrating Jesus’ coming into our world, so that we can reconnect with God and have lives of purpose and value. There is much sadness and strife in our world, and at times in our homes. But Jesus gives us inspiration and a loftier vision in it all – praise Him.My jaunting across Australia is over, and I am back in Africa.
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Plunged into the Baptism Life : 08 January 2012
We heard Mark declare with urgency the Good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God. We saw John calling all to a baptism of repentance.
The invitation is for all of us to be baptised into Jesus. We are called to preach that same Good News for others also to glimpse the love of God. Even if all hell breaks loose God is with us. -
Magi - Kings, Wise Men or childlike seekers of God : 01 January 2012
Where are we in this story? What are the implications for us? We are not kings, unless you have an avatar that roams around as a tyrant on some computer game. We need to be on guard not to seek the power of a ruler in our own little worlds. There are temptations for people to seek power and control on committees, in the work place or just in their own family. We are not to be tyrants but to be servants willing to give of ourselves sacrificially.
May be some of us have gained wisdom over the years. We need to be careful not to equate learning with wisdom. We are called to come to Jesus with a childlike simplicity. The truly wise response is to kneel and to bring forward the gifts that recognize who Jesus is.
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Palmers' Prayer and Praise Points - JANUARY 2012 : 30 December 2011
Peter and Joy’s newsletter for January 2012 Our itinerary for the next few weeks is:……. Praise Points…….. Prayer Points…….. -
The God of joy, hope and love has come into our lives. : 25 December 2011
So if that picture of an exhausted couple camped in a smelly stable without family to help deliver the baby is true why do we prefer the Christmas card image? It is soft and gentle. It is beautiful. The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, no crying he makes.
I guess we have enough of the chaos and fear in our lives we don’t want to dwell on the exhausted couple and their fears. We have enough of the smelly and the untidy, or the overwhelming and the confusing. We prefer the warm glow of the Christmas card image. Now there are plenty among us for whom life is pretty good. The family are all well, Our house is comfortable, work‘s good. We don’t have anything to complain about. The good news of Christmas, the real beauty that gives rise to the Christmas card is that God comes to us where ever we are.
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Plamer's Prayer and Praise Points - December 2011 : 22 December 2011
Dear All,
We are slowly getting settled into Adelaide and into a new working routine. We have been very fortunate to see two plays since we moved here – both were excellent in different ways. Now Christmas has crept up on us from nowhere. We have been to 3 Christmas parties (we love the City!!!). -
Here am I, the servant of the Lord : 18 December 2011
Hopefully to day we have heard from the wise Zachariah and Elizabeth of their life changing encounter with the Angel. We have listened to the account of Mary with Gabriel. I trust her readiness to serve inspires us. Then as Mary comes to visit Elizabeth the whole of salvation history is caught up in her song.
But hopefully we will go home today enlivened, emboldened and full of faith because we have heard the angel of God ourselves. We will give birth to the prophet, we will give birth to the son of God. We no longer believe because of what they said but because we have heard for ourselves and know that the Holy Spirit has come upon us with power. We too are caught up in the whole of salvation history, not because of our faithfulness. We are blessed to the very core of our being because of God’s extraordinary love and his faithfulness.
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Christ coming in glory - bringing judgement : 20 November 2011
In all of this then we need to hear judgement against leaders who fail to care for their people. We need to hear judgement against those who elbow their way into positions of power and wealth. We need to hear judgement against those who failed to care for the God’s people when they are in desperate need. We need to hear judgement against all who fail to reach out in love to anyone who is in desperate need.