Blog (Page 15)

Meet Andi

G’day Parents, Our senior minister, Tim Johnson, is about to go on long service leave. I will be acting senior minister while he is away. This if course creates a little bit more work for me so for term 3, I have someone helping me out with youth stuff. Her name is Andi Fidock. She is a current Youth Life Group Leader and former Sunday@6 Core Team member and an excellent addition to our staff team (albeit for only 12…

Still looking for some help on June 29

G’day Parents, Recently I wrote asking if you might be able to help bless some local youth leaders on the night of June 29. If you missed it, or want to help but haven’t let us know, please click here to get the details and fill in the online form. Any help you can offer will help make it a great night for our hard working volunteers. Text messages went out today to those who have registered for this Friday’s…

RSVP needed for Youth Event

G’day Parents Multiplayer Video Game sessions are good times. Movie nights are great. Why not put them together and maximise the fun? Good thought. Read on… This event will run from 6-10pm on Friday the 22nd of June. We’ll confirm the location closer to the date when we have a good idea of numbers. It will be in Diamond Creek or very close to Diamond Creek. We’ll contact you with details once the location is locked in. $10 2 hours…

Our Community

When moving into this area, something which struck me was the strong sense of community: communal vegetable gardens; communal libraries; communal running groups; communal history; communal stories; communal tragedy; and communal triumphs.  It’s a delight to be a part of – thank you Jesus for Nillumbik Shire! God had our community in mind when he made covenant with Abraham!  That his offspring would be a people who knew their God and they would be God’s people.  They would be a…

Long Weekend Kids’ Programs

Dear St John’s Parents, It’s a long weekend! Hopefully that means you all get to sit back and relax a bit at some stage. If you are wondering whether we run our kids’ programs on long weekends, the answer is YES! At both the 9:30am and Sunday@6 services, there is teaching and activities planned. So unless you are away for the weekend, please come and join us as usual.

Sunday@6 timing changes

G’day Parents, We’ve made a few structural changes to our Sunday@6 services that I wanted to let you know about. Previously we aimed to finish at 7:30pm. Starting now and going till at least the end of term 3 (when we’ll review) we’re aiming to finish our services between 7pm and 7:10. Here’s a few quick reasons we’re trying this out: Slightly shorter services may be a bit more accessible for visitors who have limited church experience. Earlier finish makes…

National Volunteer Week

We’ve just celebrated National Volunteer Week 2018 (May 21-27). St John’s literally could not run without the massive support of our volunteers. If you’re one of them; THANK YOU. Your service to others is so greatly appreciated. Paul wrote in Romans: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Serving one another, whether that be through existing…

Volunteer Spotlight | Alison Knuckey

It’s National Volunteer Week, and we love our volunteers. We’ve got some great stories to tell about some of our volunteers, about why they serve, and what they love about volunteering. Today, meet Alison (and Simeon). Alison is pretty busy, so I caught up with her while she was setting up for Mainly Music, where she volunteers. When she isn’t volunteering, Alison works part-time as an Orthotist and a Prosthetist –  she helps fit support devices for people who have lost…

Volunteer Spotlight | Joy and Scotty

It’s National Volunteer Week, and we love our volunteers. We’ve got some great stories to tell about some of our volunteers, about why they serve, and what they love about volunteering. Today, meet Scotty and Joy. Scotty and Joy are married, and love volunteering together, and as individuals. Scotty’s a retired mental health support worker, and Joy a retired Nurse and Educator. Among their many areas of service, they coordinate and liase with an organisation called Houses of Hope, who…

Volunteer Spotlight | Bev Ward

It’s National Volunteer Week, and we love our volunteers. We’ve got some great stories to tell about some of our volunteers, about why they serve, and what they love about volunteering. First up, meet Bev. Bev’s a retired nurse, and if you’ve been around St John’s or St Katherine’s, you’ve probably know her, or have heard her laugh! Bev serves in the Aged Care facility Leith Park, where she lives, leading sing-a-long sessions for (as she puts it) the ‘oldies’.…

Can you help bless a youth leader?

G’day Parents, This year our Youth Unite team have planned an extra event just for youth leaders. Leaders volunteer so much of their time and energy to serve our young people and their families, that we wanted to do something special to thank them. We also want to help churches better equip their leaders for ministry and to provide opportunities for them to interact with leaders from other churches. So, on June 29 we will be holding a Leadership Dinner…

Four Free Things This Sunday – May 20

G’day parents, So much free stuff this Sunday arvo/evening! Here’s what’s on offer. 3:30 Free maths tutoring! 5pm Free dinner (well, sort of, donations help us cover costs) 6pm Free Church service (as usual) 7:45pm Free screening of Star Wars: Rogue One Point four is not a regular free thing. The next Star Wars movie is out in just over a week so we’re showing the previous “Star Wars Story” in preparation. It’s mainly a chance just to hang out…

Youth Unite this Friday (May 11)

G’day Parents, I’ve written about Youth Unite already on this blog so this is really just a reminder. We’ve got a number of youth ready to help us out before, during and after the event which is great but there is always room for more. If you can help out in some capacity, please indicate that with the RSVP form below. Kirk  

A big Sunday is coming – May 6

G’day Parents, This coming Sunday (May 6) is chockas with good stuff. Here’s a quick run down: The 9:30 and Sunday@6 services are both Come and See themed. This means they’re excellent for inviting friends to as we’ll focus both services on being friendly to non-church people, especially in our teaching. There is Free Maths Tutoring at 3:30pm in Meeting Room 2. Please do take advantage of this generous offer. It goes till 5pm which is the start time for……

Come and See

There’s a news item from a few years back that has remained in my mind.  A stranger had leapt in front of an oncoming train and onto a child who had just fallen onto the train tracks.  He was willing to put his own life at risk, to save the life of another.  Both survived; thanks to his courage and quick thinking.  He was celebrated as a hero.  Despite his humble protests, the family of the child were understandably insistent…

Homework

The kids had a wonderful time interacting with Tim during his talk on Sunday, and preparing the fish for the congregation. During his talk, Tim suggested some homework for us all, which would be a particularly good activity for parents to do with younger kids and/or encourage older kids to do on their own: Read the last chapter of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark & Luke, the last two chapters of John, and 1 Corinthians 15. Put together a list…

What’s on for Youth in Term 2?

With so many churches struggling to engage young people and with increasing pressure on young people to reject Christianity completely, it’s encouraging to be a part of our church where young people are both present and growing in their relationship with Jesus. As the Youth Minister at our church, I love seeing our young people step up to serve, share their faith with their friends and seek to apply God’s word to every part of their lives. It was a…

Youth Unite – May 11

G’day Parents, Three times a year we meet up with other youth groups in the Northern Suburbs for an all-in event called Youth Unite. They are a great  example of people from all different backgrounds getting together because of Jesus. Here’s the details. Date: Friday 11th May Start time: 7pm drop off at St. John’s (we’re hosting) End time: 9:30pm pick up Food: Supper provided Cost: $5 Grade 6s welcome. It should be a great night, we hope as many St.…

Interactive Services this Sunday!

Dear Parents of St John’s Kids, We hope the change of pace, during the school holidays, has been enjoyable for you all. This week, at both the 9:30am and Sunday@6 services, Tim has planned an interactive talk and activity. So, we would love to encourage as many kids as possible to be present. If you would like to pre-read the story with your kids, head to John 21:1-14. Kylie.

Church News April 8th and 15th

This edition of the Church News includes an update on from our Communications Guy, Andy, on the work happening behind the scenes at St John’s. We’re also excited that a missionary partner family will be visiting soon! Download the Church News here.

Sunday@6 Dinner Dates – Term 2

G’day parents, At Sunday@6 we love to gather for dinner before the service (5pm) for some quality food and socialising. Everyone is welcome to join us. Here are the dates for term 2: April 22nd May 6th and 20th June 3rd and 17th Kirk [mc4wp_form id=”5448″]

Easter Services

G’day Parents, Please click here for details of our Easter Services this coming weekend. Although there will not be separate teaching time for children, the Good Friday and Easter Sunday services have been planned with children in mind. There will be no 5pm dinners during the school holidays including Easter Sunday. Kirk [mc4wp_form id=”5448″]

Trivia Night before Sunday@6 – March 25th

G’day Parents, It’s time for our annual Sunday@6 Trivia Night. It’s short but sweet, fun and informative. Everyone is welcome. You don’t need to organise a team, just turn up. 5pm on March 25th in the St John’s hall. Service follows at 6pm. Click here to see the Facebook event. Kirk