The importance of quiet (Guest Post from Tim Bennett)

I don’t really like being quiet.  I am not a huge fan of sitting still for long periods of time.  I like to do things…talk to people…read the news…watch movies….listen to LOUD music….check Facebook.  But I am learning that God’s design for us is that we need what the Bible calls a “Sabbath” – time to be quiet and to rest.  This is when God seems to meet us – and in the world we live in, achieving this is really hard.

Last Saturday 18 people attended a workshop with Dr Jane Simon where they learned some of the skills we need to be able to sit quietly, pray and meditate.  Then on Tuesday, the staff from LUC spent a day on Coochimudlo Island on a spiritual retreat where we learned and practiced these disciplines as well. (with our leader “Keechie-mudlo”).

One of the activities I chose to do was to reflect on the passage of Scripture in 1 Kings 19 where Elijah finds God in the still, small voice.  I wrote some things down and finished before the time allotted.  I stood up to walk to the other side of the verandah where I was sitting and this is when God really started to speak to me.  I spotted a Kookaburra sitting on the fence next door waiting for a storm to pass.  He was perfectly still and perfectly quiet.

I realized that the Kookaburra – more than any other creature in Australia – loves to laugh and be noisy.  He has a good noisy laugh with his friends every morning and another one every evening.  However, the Kookaburra relies on total silence and total stillness for his very survival.  If the Kookaburra cannot remain still and quiet, he cannot catch his lunch and he starves.

I heard the still small voice of God challenging me with the same thought…there is nothing wrong with laughter, talk and activity – but - without times of necessary quiet, my busy-ness will make me sick and tired and I will slowly starve.

One of the things that you are going to keep hearing from us as a church is the concept of “living to a different rhythm.”  It’s counter-cultural…it goes against the prevailing wisdom of “always be busy.”  God was serious enough about a Sabbath rest that in the Old Testament that He didn’t just recommend it – He commanded it!  As a community we are slowly rediscovering the necessity of some form of Sabbath where we are quiet and still.

I am not good at this.  I am learning along with you to rest and be quiet and still.  My prayer for you this week is that you find that place of stillness and quiet; that God meets you there and that you find the rest and peace that you need to continue engaging with your day to day responsibilities.

Tim (Bennett)

Ps.  There is another half day prayer and meditation retreat coming up on Saturday Nov 23 from 9:00am to 12:30pm.  Call 3387 5777 or email info@luc.org.au for more information.

Tim and I have just arrived back from our time in Los Angeles. It was an extremely worthwhile experience. We visited 5 different churches and had the privilege of spending time with either one of the Pastors or in the case of the Dream Centre – participating in one of their mission outreaches (they serve 50 000 people per month with food and care). We also attended pre-conference seminars (Tim went to one on Discipleship and I went to one on the Nuts and Bolts of church planting) as well as the Exponential West Conference itself.

The churches we visited and the churches represented at the conference were from a very wide cross section of styles. There were church movements that were based solely on small groups and one on one discipleship, through to churches that were completely focused on the Sunday gathering and their only concern was to get people baptised; and every model and approach in-between.

One of the most helpful churches we visited was NewCity Church, which is now five years old. They are genuinely multi-ethnic and multi-socioeconomic. They are about 1/3 Hispanic, 1/3 Afro-American and 1/3 White, with people from Skid Row to young up and coming “Yuppies” in the congregation. In fact ALL their small groups reflect this cross section of cultures and backgrounds. They are currently about 400 strong with a very similar theology and understanding of God’s purposes to us. In the last 5 years they have been through 2 re-inventions of their small groups. 

They first started their small groups around bible study and care but soon found this became too insular and inward focussed. They then transitioned their groups to call them “grow and serve” groups – they meet weekly and at least once per month are required to engage in some mission/service activity. Just recently they have begun to implement one on one mentoring/discipling within the groups

"The one clear message that came through was that whatever the style of church; if discipleship wasn’t the backbone then we were going nowhere for the Kingdom of God."

By discipleship we mean helping people know and obey Jesus (head), be transformed by Jesus (heart) and live out Jesus purpose of witnessing and serving (hands). It was also very clear that growing as disciples of Jesus requires “life on life” relationships (in the way Jesus did it) – relationships that are highly honest and encouraging and focused on helping each other grow in Christ and make Christ known. These can take the shape of one on one mentoring, IFFF’s (as we call the groups of 3 men or 3 women) or life groups; but the Sunday gathering or the “classroom” style of teaching alone will not result in genuine discipleship. 

All in all it was a very encouraging time as we found the direction God has been leading us as a church confirmed. Tim and I also found our passion for God’s work renewed and came back with some important questions to help us clarify even further the vision God has for us, who are Logan Uniting Church.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech

Discipleship and revisioning

I am sure you have heard or read that Church Council has made the decision to look for the person who will take over my role as Senior Minister. This is a decision I fully support and this means I will finish my time with Logan Uniting at the end of 2014. If you asked me how I feel about this, the answer is that initially half of me was at peace with a deep sense of God’s leading in this decision; and the other half was deeply sad that my time with you and the incredible work God is doing with and through LUC was going to come to an end. Whilst the sadness will come back again, I find myself at the moment excited by the way in which this decision powerfully leads us into the future as a church.

It is time for us to be re-visioning and developing a new strategic plan that will help us keep growing as a disciple making movement (“Drawing people into a life transforming relationship with Jesus Christ”), but I have not sensed the prompt of God to engage in this. I now see why. I believe God will call the person who will replace me to lead us through this process. My role will be to support them and you in building on the great vision and culture God has built into Logan Uniting Church. This will be a very healthy process that ensures you and the future Senior Minister continue to walk strongly into God’s future together.

For now, Church Council and I are convinced that we have to keep making discipleship (growing in trusting and obeying Jesus AND giving ourselves to help those who don’t know Christ come to faith in Him) the centre of what we are on about as a church. We are also convinced that in this call to discipleship we have to keep learning how to live to a different rhythm than the busy-ness we so easily find ourselves in. We must create space for genuine relationship with God, with other believers and with those who don’t yet know Christ. This life of space and grace and relationship is very counter cultural and requires us to constantly re-evaluate our priorities and ask Jesus what it is he would have us do.

To assist with this we have organised two, half day retreats on the 26^th Oct and the 23^rd Nov at the Springwood Ministry Centre. These will run from 9-00am to 12-30 pm and are designed to give you the opportunity for deliberate space with God and to equip you in enhancing your own practices of time out with the Lord. Please make these a priority.

As you are also aware, Tim R and I are in Los Angeles attending a “discipleshift” conference. This is extremely timely and I believe will encourage us in the direction we are walking in as a church. Whilst we are away, the rest of the Ministry leadership team and Rev Dennis Robinson are available to assist if it is required.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech

Discipleshift

Tim Robinson and I have been privileged to receive a grant from the Alcorn Fellowship Trust to attend a conference in Los Angeles in early October. The conference is entitled “Discipleshift” and includes over 75 speakers from an incredible cross section of churches and experiences – from large Megachurches to medium sized churches to small organic, life group size churches and everything in-between; from Rick Warren (Saddleback Church with over 25000 members) to Australian leaders/speakers such as Mike Frost and Alan Hirsch and so on. The conference will also include the largest gathering of church planters in the world and one of the pre-conference electives will focus on this.

It is this incredible cross section of people - focussing on the central topic of discipleship - that has drawn us to this conference. The topics also reflect the shifts that we have been making as a church and which we are currently “bedding down”. The following extract from the Exponential West website is worth thinking about in the light of what God has been (and is) doing with us:

DiscipleShift, the theme of the 2013 Exponential West Conference, is about moving the church planting conversation beyond missional versus attractional to a deep and passionate discourse around disciple making. At the conference we’ll explore several major shifts:

Shift 1: From Reaching to Making
We need to shift to a clear definition of “disciple,” and then ask if our church is making that kind of person. It’s not enough to reach people if we are not making biblical disciples.

Shift 2: From Leading to Being Led
Discipleship begins with pastors and church leaders shifting their view of discipleship from classes toward a discipleship lifestyle. As leaders, we must intentionally model what it looks like to follow Jesus and lead others to do the same.

Shift 3: From Teaching to Modelling
Discipleship cannot simply be a program or a ministry we offer and people attend. We have to shift discipleship back to the centre of our churches, making it the purpose of everything we do and let people know that discipleship is dependent on participating in the endless process of following Christ.

Shift 4: From Assimilating to Creating Community
Beyond just classes and sermons, discipleship must be based on friendship and time together. To cultivate the kind of disciples Jesus did, we have to shift our paradigm from activity and surface connections to deep, accountable relationships.

Shift 5: From Attracting to Deploying
Jesus was much more concerned with the 12 men He invested in than the thousands He taught. Shifting our scorecard from how many people we gather to how many disciples we deploy is essential.

Tim and I will fly out on Monday the 30^th Sept and arrive back in Brisbane on Sunday the 13^th Oct. Whilst we are away the rest of the Ministry Leadership Team and Rev Dennis Robinson will be available to assist with any special issues that arise.

Please pray for Tim and I as we engage in this significant learning. Please also pray that we will be able to take what we are learning at Logan Uniting and also what we learn at the conference and share them well with other churches (which is part of the requirement of the grant from the Alcorn Fellowship Trust).

At its core the church is a disciple-making movement. Tim and my heart is to do everything possible to help us keep growing in this and also where possible to encourage other Uniting Churches in doing so.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech

My God and my money

A personal giving creed called “My God and my money”

In looking through my “Stewardship” file I came across this personal giving creed, which I found helpful to reflect on. I have no record of an author.

God is the creator of all things and he calls me to live in a positive relationship with Him.
He has entrusted us with His creation and my lifestyle must reflect my responsibility for His trust.  He has forgiven my failures and has set me free to enjoy a purposeful life as one of His people.  I must therefore:

·      Exercise wise stewardship of the natural resources of the world.

·      Not knowingly cause another person to lose so that I may gain.

·      Live happily with money as a useful commodity which will never gain mastery over my life.

I am pleased that God calls me to be a giver because generosity reflects God’s nature and honours Him. I therefore believe that:

·      I am accountable to God for the way in which I acquire and use all of my income and assets.

·      I must give regularly and meaningfully to the work of my church and the life of my community.

·      The scriptures teach me the principle of percentage giving and I know my chosen percentage will be dependent on my faith and love for God and my neighbour.

·      I must make a habit of renewing my chosen percentage to ensure that it reflects my growth in faith and is a joyful response to God and His love.

·      I am called to make bequests for God’s work so that my stewardship continues after my death.

·      I should keep myself informed of the financial affairs of my church and community and I hope that I will be challenged regularly with new opportunities for commitment and service. At the same time my motive for giving will always arise out of my faith and will not simply be a response to man-made goals.

May God give me the grace and the strength to do all these things and may my life be a prayer to Him.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech

The Power of Money

Well it is August, which is usually “money month” in this church. For nearly 15 years we have taken 2 to 4 Sundays to explore what it means to be “stewards of God’s resources” and to honour him with our “treasures”. This year we have not deliberately set aside any Sundays to speak on money but rather have chosen to follow the lectionary. It is interesting that in the lectionary this week we read the story from Luke of the man who stored up things for himself and was not rich toward God (Luke 12: 21). Jesus calls such a person A FOOL!!!

I must say “thank God”, the lectionary takes us to the place where we must look honestly at what we give priority in our lives to; and in particular what place money takes. Not to speak about this issue is to be completely “anti-Christian” as Jesus spoke more about money and wealth than any other topic except the kingdom of God! (Richard Foster “Money, Sex and Power, 1985). 

Martin Luther said that three conversions are necessary when a person decides to follow Christ: the conversion of the heart, the conversion of the mind and the conversion of the purse. And John Wesley wryly remarked that the last thing to convert was a person’s wallet. (Alan and Debra Hirsch p 111 “Untamed”).

To truly walk in the way of Jesus, one must be free of the love of money. Once we are rescued from the power of mammon, we can be free to be generous and when we are generous, we are agents of Jesus’ remarkable grace. We cannot overestimate the power of generosity. Not only does it destroy the power of money, but it introduces the one who receives the gift (as well as the one who gives the gift) into the world of grace. (Alan and Debra Hirsch p 114 “Untamed”)

Unfortunately “we’re set up to buy and sell, not to give and receive” (Miroslav Volf). This means we are trained from a young age to calculate before giving money away rather than being truly generous. For example, Bill Gates’s contribution to charity is very significant and laudible, but it does not constitute a “widows mite”. It still leaves him one of the richest men in the world. We are called in Christ to costly, grace-filled generosity. God’s grace calls us to be joyful givers ourselves rather than self-absorbed receivers or consumers. (Alan and Debra Hirsch p 114-115 “Untamed”).

What is amazing is that God uses costly generosity to build His Kingdom on earth even more powerfully than millions given without real cost. (Luke 21: 1-4)

May God set us free from the power of “mammon” into the joy and freedom of His generosity.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech

PS.  Over the next couple of Keech’s Korners I will share other insights from different writers to assist us in living in the freedom and generosity of God with regard to wealth. 

Strucure, Mission and Caring for each other

A big thank you to all who participated in the feedback session regarding our Senior Leadership structure on Sunday night the 14^th July. Your input was very helpful and gave church council some key questions/insights to work with. 

The 2 key questions church council is still resolving are:       

- how do we ensure the new congregation at Carbrook keeps growing in God’s mission?; and
- how do we build flexibility into the Leadership model to enable further expansion in God’s mission?;                                                                                           
...all the while being very realistic about what we can afford.

Along with this the call (identified by you through the feedback process) to develop our prayer life, be radically outward focussed, make disciples, strengthen the faith life group model, support/train leaders, ensure people are equipped to care, ensure new people are relationally connected, continue to develop our youth, young adult and children/families ministry, engage other ethnic groups, connect more strongly with families and students of Calvary Christian College etc means that the role of our Senior Leadership is to be “releasers and amplifiers” of the work of you the people of God.

From the moment we began engaging with this process, Church Council has sensed that God’s timing isn’t ours and the call to pray, wait and listen has been very real. This has also been affirmed by the feedback received from faith life groups and again last Sunday night. God is bringing all the pieces together, so please keep praying. Also please continue to feedback your thoughts. You can do this by emailing Aaron Comollatti at 555combo@gmail.com or me at graham.keech@luc.org.au.

Aaron is now the chairperson of church council. Ben Hutton has chaired the council for the last 2 ½ years, but with his wife Benita expecting their first child he chose to finish in the role of chair (he will continue on church council). Ben is a deep, prayerful thinker who has brought a quiet wisdom to the role and we are grateful for this gift. Please pray for Aaron as he brings leadership to us through chairing the church council.

After 25 years as Pastoral Care Coordinator and Pastoral Care Pastor, Liz Taylor has sensed the call of God to formally finish in this role. Liz has served in both volunteer and paid capacity over that time and has seen MANY changes to our church.

As a Ministry Leadership Team we spent time reflecting with Liz on her ministry. The word that embodies Liz is LOVE. Liz has a deep, deep, deep love for God – this is her driving passion. It is this love of and for God that is shown in her deep, deep love for people. All of us have experienced Liz’s genuine care. She has a capacity to empathize deeply with us and in doing so to hold us before God in an amazing way. We will miss her as part of our team and we will miss her leadership in this area as a whole church.

On Sunday the 28^th July at our 8-30 am service, Springwood, we will take time to pray for and release Liz from this role. We will look at developing a team to help people who are not in faith life groups or IFFF’s be relationally connected with people who care. Also as part of the Senior Leadership discussions we are looking at how we continue to release and equip all of us to care well.

Saying that Liz has formally finished in the role of Pastoral Care Pastor DOES NOT mean she will stop caring and loving. This is part of who Liz is a follower of Jesus and a gift she brings as a member of the body. It is very important to remember that Pastoral Care is not a role or job; nor is it done by a particular person. Pastoral Care is what we all do as we love, serve and care for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ; and also what we do as we love, serve and care for those who don’t know Christ. This is happening across Logan Uniting in the most amazing, beautiful and powerful ways. Please remember that as you care for your neighbour and as they care for you – this is Church (we are church).

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech