Dear Friends and Families,

One of my cousins lives in the northern NSW town of Lismore, and my uncle and aunty live in the small town of Coraki; both are places that have sustained considerable flooding damage in recent days.

I wrote them all a text message to express my sympathy and assure them of my prayers but found myself not certain of what words to precisely say.

In the end, I decided to send them the opening verses from Psalm 40: ‘I waited patiently for the Lord: and he inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up from the pit of roaring waters, and out of the mire and clay. He set my feet upon a rock and made firm my foothold.’ [Psalm 40:1-2].

These words form part of a larger psalm, written by King David, who actually wrote approximately half of the 150 psalms in the Old Testament. David was very familiar with trouble, distress, heartache and danger; indeed, so was David’s greater son and descendent, King Jesus – a man “familiar with grief”, as the prophet Isaiah affirms.

As we continue to grieve the devastating events in Eastern Europe and see the ongoing hardship that tens of thousands of Australians now face with the process of cleaning up and rebuilding after the recent floods, we can indeed ask God to fill all those known – and unknown! – to us with a sense of his comfort, his strength to endure, and to have their feet set firmly upon rock.

Ultimately, that rock is Christ himself.

During this current season of Lent (the forty weekdays leading up to the celebration of Easter), we seek to shift our focus from ourselves and towards the source of all comfort and hope – God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

If you would like to, below is a prayer to pray for all those undergoing distress, due to floods:

All things look to you, O Lord,
to give them their food in due season:
look in mercy on your people,
and hear our prayer for those whose lives and possessions have been destroyed by drought, flood and bushfire.
In your mercy, restore your creation and heal our land.
So guide and bless your people,
that we may enjoy the fruits of the earth and give you thanks with grateful hearts,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

If you would like to speak further, or have questions about the Christian life, then do please contact either me or Reverend Sheela at the respective email addresses below:

Reverend Peter: [email protected]

Reverend Sheela: [email protected]

I also encourage you to pray the prayer for the week written below.

If you would like to explore the certainty of Christ further, the two local Anglican churches listed below lead regular Sunday gatherings.

St Peter’s, Craigieburn (meeting at 10:30am on Sundays in the Chapel at Hume Anglican Grammar: 100 Mt Ridley Road, Mickleham)

Minister: Reverend Sheela Pandhare
Mobile: 0451 973 733/03 9308 2452
Email: [email protected]/[email protected]
http://www.humeparish.melbourneanglican.org.au

Redemption Church Craigieburn (meeting at 4:00pm on Sundays in Building 12 (Year 5/6 Centre) at Hume Anglican Grammar: 100 Mt Ridley Road, Mickleham)

Pastor: Reverend Akhil Gardner
Mobile: 0400 021 381
Email: [email protected]
https://www.rccraigieburn.com.au/online
https://www.facebook.com/rccraigieburn/

Prayer for the week (Second Sunday of Lent)

God of all mercy,
you are full of tenderness and compassion,
slow to anger, rich in mercy,
and always ready to forgive:
grant us grace to renounce all evil and to cling to Christ,
that in every way we may prove to be your loving children;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

Song (My Lighthouse)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSn9HW5P-sA

Reverend Peter Waterhouse - School Chaplain