The new congregation at Carbrook began its regular
gatherings on Sunday the 29th 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
22nd 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 29th 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 13th 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.
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