This week the Uniting Church in Queensland meet at Alexandra Headlands to do the business of the church. Jenny C and I are going from the Granite Belt. At Synod, they avoid the term ‘representative’.
We aren’t actually going to represent issues particular to our area, but to be part of a praying, discerning, deciding body to hear and respond to God’s call to the Church at this time. The business is structured with small group sessions as well as the big ones. The small groups allow for everyone’s voice to be heard, proposals are often significantly altered as a result of this feedback.
The voice of God can be heard through anyone, not just those who are ordained, or are educated, or have powerful positions.  We need all the prayers we can get!  Wisdom, discernment, humility to listen to others with respect, and courage to speak up if we are moved to speak because God might be trying to get a message through.

Grace and Peace,
Jenny

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky displays his handiwork. Day after day it speaks out; night after night it reveals his greatness. There is no actual speech or word, nor is its voice literally heard. Yet its voice echoes throughout the earth; its words carry to the distant horizon.” (Psalm 19: 1-4 NET)

One of the beauties of scripture is the language of metaphor that speaks of mysteries beyond human language. Some verses inspire us to see how God is much bigger than we could ever imagine. The witness of creation to the glory of the creator is never-ending. In the 21st century we can look into the night sky and be as amazed by its vastness as ancient people were. May our own voices echo the praise of the heavens.

Grace and Peace,
Jenny

Where is God calling us to go? The Rev. John Flynn saw the needs of the people of the outback, and worked to establish a “mantle of safety” and help them build communities despite the tyranny of distance. His ministry, now known as Frontier Services, still works over 100 years later to support people in remote areas in practical, emotional and spiritual ways.

We can’t call this the work of one man, even if he was foundational in bringing ideas together and visionary for his time. Many people have used their God-given talents to help and inspire. Nursing sisters traveled from hospitals to nursing posts by any mode of transport from a camel up. Padres visited miners, road gangs and people on isolated properties. The Spirit of God speaking new things into being as Christian men and women lived out their calling.

What is our calling in the Granite Belt? Who are our John Flynns? And who are our unnamed men and women who will walk their faith with joy and perseverance, making a difference to one person at a time?

Grace and Peace,

Jenny

‘To err is human, to forgive divine’ (Alexander Pope)

God invites us to be involved in the divine work of forgiveness. This comes at a cost to us. We are called to be a forgiving people, reflecting God’s grace to us unto others. There are times when forgiveness is not our ‘default position’, when it takes us beyond the edge of what we consider ‘reasonable’. By the time we have forgiven someone ‘seventy times seven’ it would be such a habit, such a part of our identity that we would truly be reflecting the forgiveness of God.

Grace and Peace,
Jenny

What do we do when we come to church? Of course, we come to worship God, but part of what we are doing is remembering who God is and what God has done. We remember stories that we were not part of, stories that happened thousands of years ago to other people. We remember stories from our own lives and our parents before us. In our remembering we are thankful for all we have been given, and find comfort in what we have suffered. We also “remember forward”. The events and people we remember influence who we will become and what we will be called to do. In recognizing God’s presence and provision in the past, we become more hopeful of God’s continued presence and provision for our future.

Today is Father’s Day. We remember what influence our fathers have had on us in the past, and how this legacy impacts on our future. Sadly, not everyone is left with the best legacy, but in the time of remembering, we can choose to use all memories (good or bad) to challenge, to inspire, or to turn around our lives. Amen.

Grace and Peace,
Jenny

The Gospel reading this week (Matthew 15: 10-28) challenges us to consider who is in and who is out. On the outset it appears that this woman is out and Jesus came for the Jews, but as the story continues we see that she has enough faith to challenge the norms and with great respect for that faith Jesus heals her daughter. She is moved to the ‘in’ side.

In the Lord’s prayer, we ask for God’s kingdom to come. If we truly believe what we pray then we must expect that God will invite whom God pleases into his kingdom. This means that we will be challenged to accept people as ‘in’ that we would not normally be comfortable with. It means that we need to allow people in so that they can be healed. We cannot expect them to have it all together when they arrive but must provide the safe place where God can feed them.

Take a look around our worship centers’; observe people’s behaviors pretending to be one of the ‘out’. Then ask yourself what do we need to continue doing, stop doing, or start doing to make sure that all God’s people are welcome to God’s kingdom through our doors.

Prayers, Linda

The Orthodox church has a deep understanding of the church universal as being ‘The Church’ and the local congregation is a local expression of ‘The Church’. This recognizes the reality of The Church throughout the world and throughout time. The worshiper is part of a much larger whole, celebrating with the saints in glory and those in different places. Our communion liturgy also recognizes this with the words “And so we praise you with the faithful of every time and place….”

This weekend we have welcomed members of the Presbytery of the Downs. This makes visible to us what we already know. That we are all part of a much larger whole, who love and support each other in the expression of ‘Church’ that we call Uniting.

Grace and Peace, JP

“God’s protection is not just for me in a perfectly weed free environment. God’s desire is for as much wheat as possible to be gathered into the divine packing shed. Amazing Grace”

Prayers, JP