VOL 22 ISSUE 11, 8 APRIL 2020

A Faithful, Loving God.“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:22-23

Sometimes the world seems hopeless. With the rapid surge of the Coronavirus affecting many facets of our lives, it can be easy to fall into a dark tunnel of anxious thoughts. Where is all the good news? Like no other time before, that I can recall, I am really clinging to the good news stories I come across. Whilst I need to know the facts, the numbers, and the terrible reality of the situation, I truly believe that each day brings new mercies and blessings from a loving and faithful God. We just have to notice them, seek them out, and even be a part of the good news stories ourselves. In this, our Holiest week of the year, we are invited into the most wonderful of Good News stories ever told. God loves us so much He came to live among us, as a man named Jesus, who spent time here on earth sharing God’s love and compassion. He was sent to save us from a world of brokenness and sin. Jesus paid the ultimate price, His death for the sin of the world. For all of us. So great and immense is God’s love, he gave his only son, so that whoever believe in him, will not die, but will have eternal life. I could list quite a few current good news stories and I am sure you could too. God is at work every day. There are wonderful opportunities to see God at work in the world and to express our gratefulness for His protection and provision. As the book of Lamentations says, His mercies “are new every morning.” There are ways to help us cling to that truth: Reading God’s word can take the place of worried, anxious thoughts, seeking out opportunities to share the love and peace of Christ and praying for wisdom and for God’s will to be done. He can be trusted. He is a faithful and loving God.Submitted by Louise Venning, inspired by Billy Graham’s article – ‘Three quotes to help fight Coronavirus fears’.

Upcoming Events

WEEK 11

THU 9 APRIL

• Pupil Free Day

FRI 10 APRIL

• Good Friday

TERM 2, WEEK 1

MON 27 APRIL• Parent Teacher Interviews continue• Online Learning Resumes

INSPIRE photos featured this week:• SPLS Sports Day

• Easter Craft

From the PrincipalCELEBRATION OF TERM ONEThis term certainly has not been what we expected it to be! As we close the final week with pupil free days, we have reflected how much we are already missing the everyday interactions with all of our community members. Next term will begin with most of you continuing to learn from home so please be sure to talk with your families about ways that you can be in touch with friends from school.

For our final Inspire in Term One, we have decided to fill the pages with those who matter the most – the people in our community. Thank you to those of you who have sent photos to us and who have encouraged us and one another. We will continue to send weekly news to you through Inspire next term.

Blessings to you all for a wonderful Easter.

Leila Mattner|Principal

STUDENTS CELEBRATING BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK AND THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS ARE

William Bohmer Alex Fechner

Charlotte Reid Ethan Kirchner

Toby Brown Owen Pham

Brodie Deer Fenn Riglin-Trigg

Laura Reynolds Archie Martin

Sebastian Phillips Jacob Harvey

Matilda Finch Mya Kostiw

Mishka Fedojuk Rachel Ratsch

Campbell Mattner Nathaniel Yearsley

Linh Nguyen Alyssa Hamilton

St Paul Lutheran School 44 Audrey Avenue Blair Athol SA 5084 Phone +61 8 8260 2655admin@stpaulba.sa.edu.au stpaulba.sa.edu.au

OUR VISION:

PROUD MEMBER OF:

OUR VALUES:

God’s Word2 Timothy 3:16-17

AcceptanceRomans 15:7

Excellence1 Corinthians 10:31

RespectLuke 6:31

Compassion1 John 3:18

HopeTitus 3:7

Community2 Corinthians 13:13

Love1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Church NewsLCA - CHURCH AT HOME The Lutheran Church of Australia/New Zealand (LCA/NZ) has put together a range of resources to support people worshipping in their own home. They are calling it Church@Home. It has the following features:

• Printable Service Order for the week• Family Worship Video for the week• Sermons for Lay-Reading• Music Suggestions (links to YouTube clips for both traditional and family services)• Contemplative Prayer Sheet for the Week (intended for personal meditation on the readings)• The Prayer of the Church• Additional Prayer Points To access these features, please visit www.lca.org.au/worship/wpp/churchhome

GROW MINISTRIES VERSE OF THE WEEK Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest Heaven! Matthew 21:9

Grow Ministries has the underlying goal to support and equip congregations to move towards intergenerational ministry. There is a wide range of resources for families, including Growing in Faith Together (GIFT), Faith Trail and Growing Faith at Home. Visit the website www.growministries.org.au for more information.

HOLY WEEK AT HOME RESOURCE This wonderful HOLY WEEK AT HOME resource is available online. Easter Faith Family Trail at Home explore the events of the Easter story through a variety of activity stations. Each station has a theme, Bible passage, questions to chat about, and simple activity and prayer ideas. https://sa.uca.org.au/documents/intergen-docs/resources/Easter-Family-Faith-Trail-Book.pdf

Using locations and items from around the home, we invite your household to choose at least one activity in the lead up to or during Easter. This is a great opportunity to grow faith at home for people of all ages, particularly families with children under 12. Most of the ideas use multiple senses to engage with the Easter story. We hope this resource equips your family to play, talk and pray together so that you may grow in faith, especially as you celebrate what Jesus has done for us this Easter.