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A Contemplative Prayer Gathering for those who wish to meet the
Beloved in their home sacred space.
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Each week on Wednesdays at 6pm we invite you to light a candle, sit in your sacred space, and meditate with us via Facebook.
In this week’s meditation, we are sharing some basic meditation teaching, adapted from Paul Bane’s website, https://mindfulchristianitytoday.com We hope that this teaching will help those who are interested in learning about this spiritual practice.
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To access this week's meditation (and those from previous weeks) please click the link below. You can also find these on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
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.
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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.
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Giving to the work of the church
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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.
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The account details are:
BSB: 034-065
Account Number: 264-563
Account Name: Merthyr Road Uniting Church
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On-line church resources for children
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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.
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Please pray for Amber, Anne W, Claire, Daphne K, Eugenie, Glen, Lisa Neill, Lindsay, Luke, Margaret G, Mervyn Thomas, Richard, Robyn, Rosemary H, Vonda and the Bunting family.
We continue to pray for our parishioners each week. This week we pray for Stewart, Mollie Jean, Kristina, Emma and Sigi.
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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
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To read the Uniting Church Qld Synod newsletter and the Moreton Rivers Presbytery newsletter, click on the buttons below.
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Reading
John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
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14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“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. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Reflection
Why read the exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus on Trinity Sunday? In this layered conversation about things known and unknown, understood and misunderstood, we might struggle to make sense of the conversation. We often look for linear connections between ourselves and God, as they can be easy to understand, but as we learn more of the complexity of nature, we know that things are rarely linear and that there is a multitude of interconnectedness and reliance between all things. This seems to be reflected in the way Jesus speaks of the triune God - God the Father from whom the Son came, God the Spirit that brings new life, and God the Son sent from the Father. Jesus offers Nicodemus, and us, a new, relational, multilayered way of knowing God, the God who does not condemn the world, but loves it and saves it.
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