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

Leadership Thankyou

On Monday the 1st November I had the privilege of celebrating with a fantastic bunch of VIVs (Very Important Volunteers). We said thank you to those who exercise leadership across Logan Uniting Church and to their spouses. Below is part of what I shared with those who attended:

The longer I am in leadership and the more I read about leadership the more I find that very few leaders are born leaders. Also not all, in fact not many, great leaders are naturally charismatic, up front, “go getter” type people.
This is how leadership develops:

• You become a leader when you see a need and seek to fill it; see a possibility and seek to help it happen.
• You become a good leader when as you seek to fulfil this possibility God’s heart catches your heart (passion); and you begin to gather others to help fulfil this possibility.
• You become a great leader when God’s passion has taken such a hold of you that you pay the price of leadership. There is always a price to yourself and even those you love (time, energy, tears, burden of responsibility etc). You also discover it is impossible to fulfil God’s purpose (possibility) on your own and so your focus becomes developing team. You no longer seek to fill the need or achieve the possibility on your own but as a team.
• An exceptional leader has all the qualities of a great leader but a further shift has happened. An exceptional leader is no longer worried about success and certainly not their own success. Rather they are focussed on God’s purposes succeeding and the people they serve succeeding.

Exceptional leaders interplay these 2 foci: doing all they can to help the people they serve grow as disciples of Christ, living in God’s purposes; and together in relationship (team) with them working to bring about the miracle of God’s kingdom being built here on earth
As I look out I see great and exceptional leaders. I say this not just to be nice. Many of you are in leadership because you saw a need and chose to fill it; you saw a possibility and chose to have a go at it. As you did, something of God’s passion began to fill you. I watch you pay the price of leadership – time, prayer, tears; not feeling like serving this week or month or year, but rolling up your sleeves and doing it because you believe God is calling you to. I hear your heart to help those you serve grow as disciples of Jesus - your focus is on those you serve, not yourself.

THANKYOU!

Yours in Christ
Graham Keech

Together on the way

photo: Nathan Dean

The Uniting Church in Queensland is currently in a process of seeking to discern God’s direction for the church in Queensland. This began in January 2010 and will culminate at the Synod meeting in October 2011. The process is being called “Together on the way, enriching community”. Hundreds of people across Queensland have already been involved in various workshops. At the Synod meeting in May this year the following “call and values” were affirmed:

The Church’s Call at this Time
In response to God’s call at this time, the Uniting Church in Queensland is committed to:

Uniting in Christ
acting with love
living with hope
witnessing in faith
working for justice

Gospel Values
As the Uniting Church in Queensland sharing in God’s mission in the world, we will be guided by values that derive from and give expression to God’s reconciling action in Jesus Christ.
In response to God’s grace, we are called to live out these values:
Faithfulness
Compassion
Humility
Truthfulness
Justice

These gospel values will inform our lives as individuals and as the community of the Uniting Church in Queensland.

Faithfulness
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16)
We respond to God’s faithfulness to us by living the gospel story by gathering in worship and sharing good news.
Related themes: prayer, renewal, community, belonging, hope

Compassion
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32)
Caring for others and being cared for is at the heart of our Faith. Caring is the ultimate basis for true community. Compassion is the force that drives us to eliminate suffering and encourage new ways of being in the world.
Related themes: love, action, respect, reconciliation, inclusion

Humility
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. (Phil 2:5-8)
We are called to reflect a Christ-like life towards others, through service, sharing the gospel and demonstrating servant leadership.
Related themes: grace, wisdom, insight, service, generosity, forgiveness, wonder

Truthfulness
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14-15)
As Jesus is revealed to us as the light of the world, coming in glory, truth and unfailing love and faithfulness, so we will be known for our integrity, truth telling and honour for all people.
Related themes: integrity, advocacy, reconciliation, honesty, forgiveness, peace

Justice
Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice to the nations … He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory. (Matthew 12:18, 20)
Because God requires that we do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God, so we understand that all we have is to be shared with others and the resources of our planet directed to the benefit of all. We will achieve this in word, deed and action.
Related themes: mercy, hope, risk-taking, commitment, mission, advocacy, action

Current steps
Currently congregations and agencies across Queensland are being invited to reflect on and offer insights into the vision and direction of the Uniting Church in Queensland over the next 10 years. The following helps us do this:

A vision is a picture of the preferred future. Visions need to be developed from time to time by people to ensure the dream, the call can be revitalised and lived out in our time. It calls us beyond the present, it makes us uncomfortable, it challenges us, it demands change, it invites repentance and transformation. What is the vision the Uniting Church of Queensland is being asked to name? What do we want to be doing in 2020? How can we be – Uniting in Christ, acting in love, living with hope, witnessing in faith, working for justice?



Process steps:
• Imagine it is 2020 – let us vision what we can do into the future.

1. In 2020 you have gathered with a group. Who will be there? There are reports from a variety of places. What sort of groups, people etc will be providing these reports?
2. You are pleased with the changes that have happened in the Church and the way you have responded to the Call and Gospel Values created in 2010 and the vision you set at that time.
3. You know the Church has been revitalised and the Church has enriched communities, locally, state-wide, nationally and globally.
4. What has happened? What do you see in the Uniting Church in Queensland?
5. How do you see the Church – Uniting in Christ, acting with love, living with hope, witnessing in faith, working for justice?

• Jot down concrete examples of what is happening in 2020, for example:
1. worshipping in homes
2. ecumenical worship, especially in rural areas
3. strong advocacy on government policy

• Now, as you look at the Vision for 2020:
1. What stands out for you?
2. What excites you? Disturbs you?
3. What insight have you gained into the Uniting Church?
4. What part of the Call and Gospel Values document do you see reflected in this vision?
5. What is not reflected here?

If you would like more information on the “together on the way, enriching community” process please go to http://together.ucaqld.com.au/
Otherwise talk to myself, Glen or Tim Robinson.

Please pray for the Uniting Church in Queensland and perhaps engage in conversation about this in your faith life groups and/or write down your personal reflections and send them to me.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech