Sunday, April 26, 2026
O God,
whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people:
help us when we hear his voice
to know him who calls us each by name,
and to follow where he leads;
who with you and the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns, one God
for ever and ever. 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 of Easter
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 23
1 Peter 2:1-10
John 10:1-10
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.
Floral Festival Fundraising now begins. Your giving in the brown envelopes now go towards funding this important outreach ministry.
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 and Alan Kimber, Rosina, Alex, Ann, Lois, Barbara, Kevin, Helena, Ian, Uncle Peter, Chris, Bill Tattam, Jeff Byrne, Karne, Greg, Aaron, Joanne, Grace and Faith, Beryl Old, Fr David, and Nina. Please contact Fr Ted to be on this list.
We also give thanks for those whose year’s mind occurs at this time, especially Allan Wells, Edmund Simon, and Bob and Ken Jones. Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.
Mission and Outreach
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.
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.
Working Bee at the rectory on Saturday, 2 May from 8am. We are almost there – please do come and help make this last leg of the race a joyful one.
Ministry During the Week
Mother’s Union meets at a new time: Third Wednesdays at 9am.
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 after Holy Communion.
Talent Table: every last Sunday after each service.
Bible Study: Tuesdays at 9am and Thursdays at 7pm. All welcome; all materials supplied.
The Week Ahead
Tues, 28 Apr
8:00 am - Holy Communion
9:30 am - Bible Study
Wed, 29 Apr
10:00 am - Holy Communion for St Catherine of Siena, spiritual teacher (d. 1380)
Thu, 30 Apr
9:00 am - Growth Committee
7:00 pm - Bible Study
Sat, 02 May
8:00 am - Working Bee to get the rectory rent-ready (almost there!)
Sun, 03 May
8:00 am - Holy Communion for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
Rectory Update
Wardens and Parish Council have been working hard behind the scenes for many months now getting the rectory rent-ready. A special thanks goes to Gail and Liz, for whom this has been the equivalent of working an extra part-time job on top of everything else.
You will notice that we have marked a working bee in the calendar – this is the last stretch, to clear out those last bits of dust and bits and pieces lying around the place, before tenants can move in. Your support in this will make this last job a cheerful one.
As well as this, the parish has gone above and beyond in their financial generosity. The huge investment that has gone into this building is obvious to see – even the real estate agent was impressed at the palatial offering we are putting on the rental market.
As your parish priest, I am thankful to God for you. Your faithful stewardship is to be commended.
Once the rectory goes on the rental market, new opportunities for ministry will become available. Please pray for God’s blessings on our next season of ministry. And God bless you all for getting to where we are.
Article 13: Of Works Before Justification
Works done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School-authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.
Today’s Article is a tough one – tough to try and decode the old language, and then tough to accept once you have! It makes a bit more sense if we remember the last few Articles, which affirmed that we are justified (made right with) God by our faith in Christ, and nothing else, no matter how much good we do in our lives can be sufficient. This Article then comes in to make sure for certain that we are under no illusion: God wants us to love and trust him, and not to try and earn our way into his good graces. There is a way of looking at this as if it were a maths sum. It compares two different ways of looking at salvation:
Faith + Works = Salvation
Faith = Salvation + Works
Today’s Article rejects the first and affirms the second. It is talking about “works done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of his Spirit”. Once we have been saved, once God has opened our eyes to his wonderful love in Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection, we are given new hearts to love and serve God. And so it is at that point we have “the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of his Spirit” and are able to do works that are “pleasant to God”. Without this work of God in our lives, anything we do, even with the best of intentions, “are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done”. Remember the sum: have faith in Christ, receive salvation, and be given good works to do. Without the first step of faith in Christ, there is no obedience to God, and so they are, by definition, works of disobedience against God. And therefore being works of disobedience against God, “we doubt not but they have the nature of sin”. I said this was a tough one. It might not make sense to our eyes – look at all the good things non-Christians do in the world! How could God be upset at that? I suppose if we remember who God is and who we are, it might make more sense. God has the power to do whatever he likes; no amount of good works by non-Christians can even come close to what good he can do. God doesn’t want it. What God does want is our love and trust: to place our faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. Then we can get on with loving one another with our good works, by his grace and in his power.