Posts from 2022 (Page 2)
Tuesday 6 December
Thank you for your mercy and your willingness to uphold us when we falter, when we rely just on ourselves
May we take the time to stop, trust, give thanks, be humble to your will, and to do our best
Monday 5 December
Lord, thank you for the path and examples for living you have provided
Please guide our feet and our hearts as we aim to walk openly in your footsteps day by day, especially in this Advent period
Sunday 4 December
Open our eyes Lord
Help us to find your presence in others in our diverse world
May we offer your love and welcome freely with generosity and warmth
2022 Advent Daily Resources
Working along side the Advent Conspiracy resource, follow along this Advent with this daily resource
Saturday 3 December
God, we are ready
We anticipate the advent of your love and example coming to us through Jesus this 2022 Christmas
May we stop, worship, feel your presence, and share that love and that presence with others
Friday 2 December
Lord thank you for loving us
Thank you for being gracious about our mistakes
May we learn to keep your messages, guidance, and the examples of Jesus before us, guiding our actions every day
Thursday 1 December
God, thank you for the example and expectations we find in the life of Jesus
Help us daily to try to walk in his ways and to find your love and his example in unexpected places
May justice and mercy be our daily goal
Wednesday 30 November
Lord, thank you for standing by us, for being our help, despite us being engulfed by the world’s brokenness
Tuesday 29 November
Lord we are blessed by your mercy
Help us to remember your promise and your covenant
May we offer rainbow connections and caring to others
Monday 28 November
Thank you for ‘remembering’ us
Thank you for your compassion and care
May we offer this to others
Sunday 27 November
God, we are ready
Open our hearts to anticipate your coming and your return
May we slow down this Christmas period and wait on you
Introduction
We will start with a thoughtful reflection on the Advent Conspiracy theme from our Church Council Chair, Chris. Thank you Chris. Advent focuses on our preparation for celebrating the birth of Jesus, the gift of God to humankind. The gift has a deep and often life-long personal impact on those who receive and accept it, and who strive to live by the example of Jesus. In our everyday world, the concept of gifts at Christmas is also prominent but with…
Sankofa #21
Structures, Governance, and Polity Last Saturday members of the Church Council met to continue to review our structures, governance, and polity of Manningham Uniting Church. Rev Duncan Macleod facilitated the workshop. Recently General Secretary Mark Lawrence announced that Duncan will take on the role of Executive Officer of eLM in February as the permanent replacement for Jenny Byrnes, who retired earlier this year. I believe Duncan did a good job in facilitating last Saturday. We haven’t reached a consensus yet.…
Sankofa #20
Introduction It is worth noting that in the first century, it was common phenomenon for a spiritual leader to have disciples. John the Baptist had disciples (Matt. 9:14); and Pharisees had disciples (Matt. 22:16). Jesus himself had many disciples other than the renowned twelve (Matt. 10:1; (Lk. 22:11). Jesus called his disciples to a new and different life. The new life called for a paradigm shift in their thinking, affections, actions, reactions, worldview, and perspectives. Disciple, learner, follower– these words…
Sankofa #19
Introduction Came back last Sunday morning. Nearly missed our flights. We mistook our flight to leave on Sunday midnight rather than Saturday midnight. We had dinner on Saturday evening at my second sister’s place. For whatever reason my nephew, Sim decided to check our itinerary and realised that our flight was due to leave at midnight. Thari and I quickly packed, showered and left for the airport. Arriving at the airport we weighed our luggage and realised that we had…
Kindess Month – November
World Kindness Week is celebrated around the World from 7 November to the official World Kindness Day on 13 November. Annually, on 13 November, the world joins hands for World Kindness Day, a day highlighting random good deeds and positivity. The idea behind this started with the 20-nation member World Kindness Movement (WKM) which crystallised at a conference in Tokyo in 1997 when the Small Kindness Movement of Japan brought together like-minded kindness movements from around the world. The WKM…
Sankofa #18
SingaporeYes, I am writing this Musing from Singapore. Came back to celebrate my eldest brother 80th birthday. The last few years he has some heath issues. I told my second sister recently that I don’t know which one of us will go first. I am the second youngest in the family of six. I am a realist. 40 Days of Engagement on Anti-racism Not long after I arrived in MUC, I was told that there are racists in the congregation.…
Sankofa #17
Introduction Last Sunday 51 members and friends came together to enjoy an afternoon of singing and listening of ‘favourite’ hymns. It’s another celebration of the International Day of Senior Adults. We are thinking of having a Christmas Carols Fest sometime in early December. I want to thank Ron Gaudion and Tony Wheeler especially, for helping to make Hymn Fest happen. Advent Conspiracy In 2006, three pastors, Chris Seay, Greg Holder, and Rick McKinley, decided to try something different. They called…
Sankofa #16
Introduction I am confident that if we take a survey on the question of ‘What is Worship?’ we will have a myriad of views. Is there a definitive answer to the question, ‘What is worship’? Let’s be honest, our understandings of worship are probably coloured by the denominations we belong to. I understand the Greek word for ‘worship’ is proskyneō and it is translated as ‘to kiss, to lower oneself in humility or reverence, to adore, to surrender completely to another’. Simply…
Seniors at Playgroup
Some of us may have watched the TV show ‘Old People’s Home for 4 year olds’ and now the one with teenagers, and felt moved by the relationships built between the oldies and the youngies. The same is happening in our Playgroups. The ‘senior’ helpers at our 4 Playgroups make our Playgroups very special and unique and the reason why many mums are still coming with their 2nd child after starting in Playgroup with their tiny first babies. Being a…