|
A Contemplative Prayer Gathering for those who wish to meet the
Beloved in their home sacred space.
|
|
Each week on Wednesdays at 6pm we invite you to light a candle, sit in your sacred space, and meditate with us via Facebook.
Our meditation for this week is based on "The Prayer of Jesus (The Aramaic Lord's Prayer)" a paraphrase based on insights
|
|
|
from the Aramaic version of the Lord's Prayer, included in "Celtic Daily Prayer: Book Two: Farther Up and Farther In" which comes from the Northumbria Community.
To access this week's meditation (and those from previous weeks) please click the link below.
If you would like to be emailed the guided meditation, in advance, to accompany your contemplative practice, email Debbie at office@mruca.org.au Meditations from previous weeks can be viewed on our YouTube channel. Click the button below for access.
|
|
|
If you would like to receive a pastoral visit, please contact with the Debbie in the church office via phone 3358 6945 or email office@mruca.org.au
In cases of an emergency, please get in touch with Murray directly, 0421 234 541.
|
|
|
Giving to the work of the church
|
|
|
|
If you would like to give to the work of the church, you are encouraged to give via a direct credit. This can be set up through your internet banking. If you need any help to set this up, please speak with Anne Copeland.
|
|
The account details are:
BSB: 034-065
Account Number: 264-563
Account Name: Merthyr Road Uniting Church
|
|
On-line church resources for children
|
|
|
|
In our transition to online services there has been one really important thing that has been missing... age appropriate content for our children. Children are just as much a part of our community as any of us. Here are some resources generously offered by Saddleback Church in California called Saddleback Kids. Click on the links below to access these resources.
Each week Saddleback Kids uploads new videos to their youtube channel. There are videos for early childhood and primary aged children. These resources are a tool for the whole family and can be a starting point for some great conversations. We recommend watching them together with your children, encouraging them to ask questions and to talk about what they have learnt. If there are parts of these resources that approach Christianity differently to you and your family take that as an opportunity to discuss with your children why you believe different.
|
|
|
Please pray for Amber, Anne W, Claire, Daphne K, Eugenie, Lisa Neill, Lindsay, Luke, Margaret G, Mervyn Thomas, Richard, Robyn and Rosemary Hillman.
We continue to pray for our parishioners each week. This week we pray for Vonda, Susanna, Mollie Jean, Warren and Sigi.
|
|
|
If you, or anyone you know, would appreciate our prayers or pastoral care, please contact
Murray on 0421 234 541 or Debbie in the church office on 3358 6945 or office@mruca.org.au
|
|
|
To read the Uniting Church Qld Synod newsletter and the Moreton Rivers Presbytery newsletter, click on the buttons below.
|
|
|
Reading
John 10:11-18
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
|
Reflection
Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd. Sweet music, bucolic pictures of a dew-eyed Christ carrying a lamb, and the Australian experience of herding sheep with kelpies and motorbikes, might dull us to the power of this declaration. If we were shepherds in Romania or Nepal raising sheep in hazardous mountain terrain that is still populated by wolves, we’d probably read this text differently. Shepherds are courageous, strong and patient, and as stated in the reading, do not hesitate to step between their sheep and danger. The image we have of God will influence the relationship we build between God and ourselves. As we consider the image of Christ the Good Shepherd, we should not underestimate how humbling, and somewhat fearsome, it is to be under the protection of such a courageous and strong person. In what ways may we have been underestimating and/or misunderstanding the nature of God?
|
|
|
|
