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
