The new congregation at Carbrook began its regular gatherings on Sunday the 29^th April. We had 75 people, including children, attend; with a good mixture

of long term Logan Uniting Church people and new people.

Our time together reflected our priority of discipleship through faith life groups and corporate worship gatherings. We met in a large gathering for about 40 min with singing, prayer, some input etc and then broke into small groups for another 40 min. Our prayer and plan is that these small groups will develop into weekly faith life groups. We then finished with lunch.

The focus for the morning was being a church that lives out God’s mission (“Drawing people into life transforming relationship with Jesus Christ”). In the small group time an individual spoke about what an average day and week involved for them; the rest of the group then fed back to them the ways in which they saw the person reflecting Jesus. The person was then “sent” to continue to serve Christ and the group prayed for them. It was a very encouraging time that reflected our focus of living God’s mission incarnationally (embodying God’s love everywhere we are and with everyone we relate with).

It was a fantastic next step into the vision God has for us to reach more people for Christ.

The last 2 Sundays at Springwood were focussed on finances as we begin to tackle the “Big Issues” you have fed back to us. On Sunday the 22^nd April, I spoke about the call of Jesus to sell our possessions and give to the poor if we are to experience the life that is really life (called eternal life – beginning now and continuing for eternity). I encouraged us to:           de-clutter and give the money away; tithe and give regularly/systematically to the poor; and to take every opportunity to give generously. On Sunday the 29^th April, Glen, Alex and Hamish gave practical information on handling money well, particularly through the tough times. They covered things like budgeting; being careful of impulse buying and the “money saving tricks” supermarkets and others offer; managing credit and borrowing; insurance etc.

Both Sundays spoke into a very important topic in being disciples of Jesus who are agents of his transforming power. It was a topic Jesus spoke about frequently - money - “For where your treasure is there your heart will be also” (Lk 12: 34).

In the weeks ahead we will be looking at the media; issues around aging; the challenges facing youth; slavery and people trafficking etc. In all these topics we are exploring what it means to live as Jesus disciples and participate in transforming the world through transforming people’s lives.

On Sunday the 13^th May we will have Pastor Raju from Nepal speaking with us in the evening. This is on our “Igniting Discipleship” night and we will have 1 ½ hours to listen to Pastor Raju, ask questions and pray. Pastor Raju’s personal testimony is amazing and what God is currently doing in Nepal is mindblowing. On the night we will take up an offering to assist in covering the costs of Pastor Raju.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech.

Carbrook and our AGM

“All systems are go” for the new congregation at Carbrook to begin meeting regularly from the 29^th April. We have over 50 adults already connecting with us (some who are already part of Logan Uniting and others who have joined us because of the new congregation). The gathering will begin at 10-00am and finish with lunch.

Because of our commitment to church being about helping each other relationally live out God’s mission of “drawing people into a life transforming relationship with Jesus Christ” we will immediately be connecting people into faith life groups. The first 4 to 6 times the congregation meets we will begin together for approx 20 mins of praise and 10 min of input. We will then break into faith life groups and spend the rest of the time sharing together around living out God’s mission. Over time these groups may decide to continue to meet on Sundays or at another time during the week and the Sunday gatherings will change accordingly.

On Sunday the 22^nd April we will pray for people who will be leaving our Springwood congregation to focus on being part of the Carbrook congregation. If you are interested in the new congregation and haven’t yet spoken to Tim R, please do so in the next couple of weeks. Also please be in prayer for this exciting development in living out God’s mission as a church.

Also on Sunday the 22^nd April we will be holding our Annual General Meeting. This will be an important time together as we reflect on 2011 and explore the way God is shaping us as we move forward. In the Annual Reports you will see a diagram that seeks to represent the life of Logan Uniting Church. This diagram has not been developed to express the accountability structure of LUC but rather to represent organically who we are as a church and where each of us fits in. At the meeting I will speak to this picture and in particular the way we pastorally care for one another and also where the initiative and momentum for living out God’s mission lies. This will be a very valuable conversation in ensuring we move forward together as a church.

At the AGM there will also be an election for Church Council. The one nomination is Russell Pearce. You may remember that Russell was nominated during our process in Oct-Nov last year but because he had not officially taken out membership/partnership we had to wait until the AGM to formally elect him or otherwise.

Everyone is invited to the AGM whether or not you are a member/partner of LUC. In fact I would encourage everyone to attend as the information we share is of vital importance in living out God’s vision for us as church.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech