Sunday, March 15, 2026
Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature
by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Stay In Touch
Father Ted Starr - Priest-in-Charge - 0451 929 180 - edward.starr@anglicanchurchsq.org.au
Mrs Liz Peters - Rector’s Warden - 0400 844 946
Mrs Gail Symons - People’s Warden - 0409 618 511
Mr Tony Hughes - People’s Warden - 0468 764 009
Zoom Church - 328 492 8300 - 548 747
Readings
for The Fourth Sunday in Lent
1 Samuel 16:1 - 13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8 - 14
John 9:1 - 41
Giving
Offering - 704 901 - 0000 0780
Building Fund - 704 901 - 0001 4767
Want to give in other ways? Cards are on sale at the back of the church.
For Your Prayers
We ask of your goodness, Lord, to comfort and sustain all who in this transitory life are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity, and especially Shirley Kimber, Alex, Ann, Lois, Barbara, Helena, Ian, Maggie, Dave, Uncle Peter, Chris, Bill Tattam, Jeff Byrne, Karne, Greg, Aaron, Joanne, Grace and Faith, Beryl Old, Fr David, Nina, and Gary McKenzie. Please contact Fr Ted to be on this list.
We also give thanks for those whose year’s mind occurs at this time, and in particular Matthew Wisz, Brian Livett and Bill Neville. Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.
Mission and Outreach
BCA (support for the Church in the Bush) are running a donation drive for water during Lent. Also, March is the time to return our BCA boxes. There are spare boxes on the back table – try filling one up with your spare change to support this ministry.
Meals for Woody Point Special School are starting again. Please label your meal with title, ingredients and date cooked, then freeze it, and bring it to church on Sunday. Meal containers are on the back table. Alternatively, give a monetary donation or supermarket gift card. For more information on both of these ministries, contact Elizabeth on 0404 080 861.
Retiring Collection today is to raise money to support literacy efforts in the Solomon Islands.
Barnabas Brekkie is on Saturday, 9 May to raise money for persecuted Christians in Ghana. Your parish needs you! Do you have a CostCo membership? Can you cook eggs and bacon, brew tea and coffee, wash dishes,or move furniture? Contact Florine, Dale or Gail if so.
Ministry During the Week
Mother’s Union meets at a new time: Third Wednesdays at 9am. Please also note AMUA is holding a fundraiser concert of favourite hymns this afternoon at 2pm, at the Deception Bay Anglican Church, $5 entry.
Thursday Fellowship: every first and third Thursday from 9:30am to 11:30am. All welcome for a cuppa and a chat. Bring your craft to work on or just enjoy the company.
Caring and Sharing: every fourth Wednesday from 11am.
Talent Table: every last Sunday after the second service.
Bible Study: Tuesdays at 9am and Thursdays at 7pm. All materials supplied.
The Week Ahead
Mon, 17 Mar
8:00 am - Holy Communion for St Patrick, bishop, missionary to Ireland (d. 461)
9:30 am - Bible Study
Tues, 18 Mar
6:30 pm Parish Council
Wed, 18 Mar
9:00 am - Mother’s Union
10:00 am - Holy Communion for St Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop and teacher (d. 386)
11:00 am - Ladies Guild
Thu, 19 Mar
8:30 am - Sung Matins for St Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
9:30 am - Friendship and Craft Group
7:00 pm - Bible Study
Sun, 22 Mar
7:00 am & 9:00 am - Holy Communion for the Fifth Sunday in Lent.
Article 10
Of Free-will.
The condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith, and calling upon God: Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.
Having established in our previous Article that Original Sin runs through every human being, we now turn to reflecting on the question: how does this then affect our relationship with God? Firstly, it means that no human being can have faith in God “by [their] own natural strength”. Sin has taken everything captive, even our ability to freely will. Note that this means we sit between two extremes. We do not say that humans do not have free will, neither do we say that humans have absolute free will naturally, on their own apart from God. We affirm free will in every human being; but we also affirm that the power of sin is holding it captive. The strength of sin over our capacity for free will means that we need God to set us free – free from sin, to be able to will freely. John 6:34-36 reads: Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. St Paul writes in Romans 8 using similar language about slaves being set free, and becoming children and heirs of God. In the second chapter of his letter to the Ephesians he takes it one step further and describes this captivity to sin as total and as complete as death: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,” highliting the absolute power of sin over us (and our ability to will freely).
There are objections to this, and there have been since Jesus spoke those words in Capernaum we referenced earlier from John 6. In the Gospel according to St Matthew, chapter 19, Jesus speaks on several moral topics: divorce, the role of children in the kingdom of God, and matters of wealth. He finishes with the great line “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” To which his disciples reply with that heartbreaking question “who then can be saved?” (vv 24-25). If there is nothing we can do on our own to turn and place our faith in Christ, not even our best efforts, to the point where we do not even have a will free to choose Christ, what hope do we have? Our Article answers: ...the grace of God by Christ preventing us. “Preventing” here is used in its old sense, that is, to go before us. The grace of God by Christ comes and sets us free from the power of sin, so that our wills are truly free, and we are truly free to “turn… to God” and “do good works pleasant and acceptable to God”. Not only that, God remains with us, “working with us” as we live lives set free by his grace. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)