Refurbishing our Ministry Centre

As I hope you are aware we are currently seeking to raise money to do some refurbishment of the ministry centre. The two biggest items on our agenda are painting and data projection. We first began talking about painting the auditorium back in 2000 and in earnest from 2005, but there have been other priorities that we had to tackle first. About 3 years ago we identified the need to permanently fix the data projectors and re-run cabling to fix up the signal etc. Again other priorities pushed this to the back burner.

This year church council decided these two things just had to get done. The auditorium is looking really tired and the data projection is in desperate need of an upgrade. To do these alone will cost $25 250 (using by far and away the best quotes we received). Along with some other “tidy” up things (tinting windows, some acoustic work etc) we are looking to raise $30 000. This refurbishment is important because of the amount the auditorium is used, not just by our congregation, but by the College and other community groups.

Of course this is all part of the ongoing maintenance of the ministry centre and property. There are other pressing maintenance needs, but we can only do so much at any given time. Any money donated above the $30 000 will help us fast track some of the other maintenance projects.

There are envelopes available each week which give you all the details on how to give. If you would like to make a direct transfer please use the following details:

Account name: Logan Uniting Church BSB: 704-919 Account No. 100000019. Please include ‘refurb’ as a reference

Please make any cheques payable to ‘Logan Uniting Church’

Thank you for your generosity

Graham Keech

Giving

Last month at church council we received our quarterly financial update. It is important I share it with you as we together are responsible for fulfilling God’s vision through Logan Uniting Church.

For the first four months of 2011 our tithes and weekly offerings were $7000 down on budget. Other income was up by $1000. We are keeping our expenses well down – they were $9800 down on budget. Expenses of course are a bit interesting as some of the savings will be eaten into as resources etc are purchased later in the year.

On the whole we finished the first quarter in a positive position – about $12000 in the positive. It is necessary at this point in the year for us to be in a positive position financially for 2 reasons:

1. We have to replenish our reserves (our reserves were used up at the end of last year with the staff realignment process - redundancy and retirement etc)

2. In June the Synod contribution toward Tim Robinson’s position (youth and new congregation) comes to end.

The main area of need/growth lies in our tithes and offerings. These do need to increase. I certainly don’t want to get to the end of 2011 and face staffing realignment/cuts due to finances (remember our major expense is in resourcing the ministry leadership team). If every adult who is part of Logan Uniting Church increased their giving by $4-00 per week we would meet budget easily.

My request is that, if you have not yet done so, rather than simply increasing your giving by $4-00 per week, you revisit the issue of financial giving as a very important part of your being a disciple of Christ. Remember Jesus talked more about money than anything else, except the Kingdom of God. What we do with our money is a sure test of where our heart really lies (see Luke 12: 34). To fail to treat financial giving as a critical part of being a disciple of Christ is to fall short in God’s call on our life.

If you tithe – fantastic! Have you adjusted your tithe this year in response to your changing income? If you have – awesome! If you don’t tithe, what is the basis for this decision – how have you come to this conclusion from the bible and your understanding of God’s call on your life? If you have explored this thoroughly and choose not to tithe but to give according to some other manner – fantastic! What is important is that each of us decide before God and in the light of scripture, what we will give and how.

I believe tithing (giving 10% of our gross or net income to the work of God through the local church) is a life giving principle that:

Ÿ Says thanks to God and honours God for His saving power (see Gen 14: 8-20)

Ÿ Declares the sovereignty of God and is a means of revering God (see Deut 14: 22-23; 26: 1-11)

Ÿ Leads to blessing (see Mal 3: 10)

Please continue to pray AND act on what you believe God is saying to you in this area

Toward the end of last year Church Council asked for feedback from the congregation reflecting on how the bible speaks into the issue of accessing money from the gambling community benefit fund. The council found the input from members of the congregation very helpful. The responses were pretty evenly mixed in terms of for and against. Similarly within church council itself no clear consensus emerged. Our experience is that when there is no clarity it is not the time for the church council to make a decision. We are therefore putting any further decision regarding accessing the gambling community benefit fund on hold. This means that, at this point, the current decision that Logan Uniting Church and its ministries will not access money from the gambling community benefit fund remains in place. Thank you for your prayer and input around this issue.

As you are aware we have been sharing in a whole of church experience exploring Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. This is proving to be a very powerful journey for many of us. On the whole, the feedback we are getting is that the material is challenging and helpful. Again, on the whole, people are engaging with issues of emotional wellbeing and relationship with God at a deeper level than before. The markers of spiritual maturity are - loving God and others well - and the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality journey is helping us grow in each of these. The other gift that I believe will come out of this is that we will be better equipped to be with our friends and colleagues and family members as they face changes and hit walls and experience grief and loss in their life. For those who don’t know Jesus sometimes the best way we can show God’s love to them is by having the courage not to react or try to correct them, but to listen and accept and point them to a God who listens to them, understands them, loves and accepts them.

Our relationship with God is enriched by “practising the presence of God” throughout the day – taking time out to pay attention to Him AND in all that is happening, seeking to be aware of what God is doing. I also like Peter
Scazzero’s comment that God invites us to “practice the presence of people.” We know Jesus walked through every day very aware of His Father - listening to Him and doing His will. We also know Jesus walked through every day very aware of people – he had the amazing ability in the midst of a crowd to see and respond to the person who most needed the touch of God’s love at that time. May God help us live life more fully in His presence and more open to those He wants to bless through us.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech

Generosity

Image by Alan Belcher

In my daily bible reading and journaling today, I reflected on the following reading from Luke:

³⁴ Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy (the Greek for healthy here implies generous), your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy (the Greek for unhealthy here implies stingy) your body also is full of darkness... ³⁹Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. ⁴² “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. (Luke 11: 34 and 39-42)

I was fascinated by the connection between being clean on the inside and generosity. It seems to me that when God purifies our heart a natural outflow is generosity. At the same time being generous is a mechanism God uses for cleansing our heart. The very act of generosity flushes our system clean from greed and selfishness. The act of generosity is very much connected with serving the poor (those who are disadvantaged and disempowered in whatever way).

I was also interested that Jesus told the Pharisees to continue to tithe AND act with justice (that is serve and empower those who are disadvantaged and disempowered).

It seems to me that part of my responsibility as a disciple of Jesus is to be diligent in giving to the work of God through the local church and to be diligent in being generous beyond that to those who are struggling. I also reflected that being generous in an extravagant way (giving beyond what is comfortable) is very good for my heart.

I am struck by the thought that generosity is a hallmark of a heart that has been cleansed by the Holy Spirit AND the act of generosity itself is something God uses to cleanse our heart and grow us in Christ likeness.

Speaking of matters of the heart; a member of the Ministry Leadership Team was led to reflect deeply on Nehemiah. This is what they sensed God saying to them/us:

“As we begin on the journey together of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality it will be as if we are rebuilding ourselves out of the rubble, the gaps and the cracks that make up our lives. The rubble, the gaps and the cracks are those areas of dysfunction, shattered dreams, lost hope, emotional scarring etc. that hold us bound even if we do not recognise it. Just as Nehemiah and his people had to physically put in effort to rebuild the wall, we too need to put in effort with our being prepared to go deep, to read the Daily office etc. allowing God and His Holy Spirit to dig deep which might be painful and exhausting but what a magnificent result awaits at the end. Just as Nehemiah too had to trust God for provision and also protection against the ploys of the enemy we too need to trust God for strength and faith to allow Him to dig deep and also that He will protect us from the enemy as we are on our guard in prayer for our people and ourselves so that the enemy will not be allowed to rob that which God is seeking to do.”

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech

February....

Merrett, Kayla and I had a fantastic holiday. We spent 10 days in Sydney and the rest of the time poking around parts of New South Wales in our camper trailer.

It was, however, quite a strange experience, enjoying such a wonderful holiday whilst so many in Toowoomba, Brisbane, Murphy’s creek, Grantham etc were suffering so much. As soon as I caught up with the news I contacted Glen to find out what we were doing as a church and then Merrett, Kayla and I joined with you in praying for all who suffered so tragically. On arriving home I was very proud of the generosity of our church as you gave money, goods, prayer, time and practical assistance to those who lost so much. It was wonderful to hear the initiative taken to support people in Chinchilla and an amazing testimony to your and the College’s generosity that so much was given in such a short period of time.

Even as we connect with and support those who are devastated locally, my heart breaks for the tragedies in Brazil and Sri Lanka where the losses are on a scale I cannot get my mind around. I know each of us will continue to pray and help where we can.
There are two things I am looking forward to in particular this year. The first is our whole of church discipleship camp. The theme this year (“On fire for God without burning out”) is relevant for so many of us as I listen to story after story of people who are struggling with significant stress in their life. The whole shape of the weekend has been arranged so that we will find ourselves renewed emotionally and spiritually – with great input, plenty of free time, fun and relaxing activities, and times to support and encourage each other. This is well worth coming to and you need to register within the next two weeks.

The second is our series on Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Faith in Jesus is meant to lead to deep personal change that leads us to a place of peace. For many this is not the case or at least our experience of God’s peace and love can seem superficial. This series will lead all of us on a journey of allowing our lives to be more fully and honestly shaped by the healing love and truth of God. This will lead to a greater capacity to live faithfully as disciples of Jesus. Truly being a disciple of Jesus is about loving God deeply and passionately and people deeply and honestly. I am actually slightly nervous (in a good way – you know when you sense something important and good is going to happen but you are not sure what it will really mean for you) because of the deep and amazing work I believe God will do in us and through us as we engage in this material.

Please be in prayer for these very significant experiences.



Also can you continue to pray for the Staff team and all who are affected by the changes we are going through with Ann and Craig finishing in their roles. Already there are creative things happening as people step up to God’s call...but it is different...and there are some gaps and holes that will require us to be gracious with each other.

Thank you for being committed to growing and serving as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

Yours in Christ
Graham Keech