June Newsletter 2020
Greeting to our family in Christ, who we are all missing greatly.
It is encouraging to see Covid infections reducing in Queensland and a sense of exiting the tunnel. While we are preparing for returning to worship at TUC by considering safety measures, we are not able to host a Sunday worship gathering until stage 3 restrictions are implemented (allowing 100 people at TUC) currently scheduled for 12 July. Until then, please continue to share life together in worship, as we live stream and be community online, and interact through the fantastic contributions that so many have created. There has been significant wider engagement through our youtube channel, and we pray this opportunity to connect with our neighbourhood and city, even internationally, continues to gain momentum.
Our theme this month is “Honest to God”. Yes, it’s sometimes our declaration of absolute truthfulness, because God always knows if we were being unscrupulous, but lets take it a level deeper than that. Certainly, God knows the deepest truth about you and I, and still accepts us because we are God’s created, beloved daughters and sons. Yet are we prepared to be completely honest to God? Are there areas of your life that are “off limits” to God, because it’s just too raw and painful to go there? Do we ever feel that God is an unwelcome intruder in some of the rooms in our heart? To help us dive deeper, we are taking advantage of the series of videos that Dr Paul Jones from Trinity College Queensland has released entitled “When God Asks Questions”. Please gather with us on Sunday mornings to consider four big questions that God asks us, starting this week with “Where Are You Hiding?”.
As we look forward to gathering together in person soon, and experience again the gift of community life, please keep the spiritual heartbeat of our church active through your prayers and intercession for each one of us. Bring before Heaven’s throne your fellow pilgrims and continue to pray for those who you are concerned about. This great gift to offer prayers for our community and to invite Christ to be Lord over us and our church, remains central in our worship together. May you know the peace in Christ that passes all understanding.
Matt Smith
Lead Minister
This Sunday
9.30 am 7 June
Bible Reading:
Genesis 3:8-13
Songs:
Indescribable (in D)
Everlasting God (in G)
The Table (in D)
Blessed Be Your Name (in G)
We will celebrate Communion together this Sunday, so have your bread and juice/wine ready!
Youth Update
Thank you for your prayers for our young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though they are tech savvy and have been quick to connect online, it is not the same as hanging out together at Youth. I thank God for our amazing youth leaders and their trust in Him during this time when we grappled with how to do Youth online. As we embarked on the Youth Alpha Course Online on 17 April with Senior Youth and on 3 May with Junior Youth, we knew we were all embarking on a journey together. What we have seen have been remarkable. It has been a really special time meeting weekly as a whole group on Zoom with our young people committing week after week to be together. We’re now in our 8th week with Senior Youth and about to embark on the Holy Spirit weekend and our 6th week with Junior Youth.
Each week the Youth Alpha videos cover the basics of the Christian faith in a really engaging, factual, fun and authentic way through personal testimonies, Bible passages and interviewing young people on the street in London, Los Angeles and Vancouver. There are breaks for questions and time to discuss and reflect what was presented.
Alpha is a free resource and is used worldwide. Nicky Gumbel, minister at Holy Trinity Brompton, London, who helped put Alpha together said of this time that when the Coronavirus pandemic hit, they were forced online. He has seen so many positive things come from online ministry. He is seeing non-Christian friends actually watch services for the first time in years, because online is easier to show up to than in-person. Alpha, his ministry that has led millions of people to faith in Jesus, is seeing even better results.
How can we ensure our church is a place where people burdened with these questions can come and find people who are serious about answering these vital questions saying, ‘Yeh I have that question too, but here’s what I’ve found…’
“Christianity is not an emotion – it’s not true because I want it to be true. It’s true because the actual tomb is empty. It’s based on an historical event.”
Please pray for the 26 young people doing Alpha and for our leaders especially as we run the Holy Spirit Weekend. We trust that God will bless our young people online as He would do in person even though we are not meeting physically. Pray for the two sessions on Friday and Saturday nights at 7pm that the Holy Spirit would graciously fill our young people and equip them to do His work. Please pray for Junior Youth meeting on Sunday at 4pm and for their Holy Spirit Weekend coming up in a few weeks’ time.
Clare Hankamer
Families Pastor
Love Toowong Fund – Update
Thank you for your generous donations to the LoveToowong fund. If you’d like to help the fund keep going, please consider another donation if you can.
Simply transfer your amount to the TUC bank account with the reference LoveToowong in the description. Any offerings marked with LoveToowong will not be used for the regular running of the church.
The account details are:
Bank: National Australia Bank
A/c Name: Uniting Church Toowong General Parish Fund.
BSB: 084424
A/c No: 508563314
Bev Homel
LoveToowong Probity Group
TUC Manse for Rent
TUC’s manse located at 16 Grove Street Toowong has been occupied by Outback Futures for the last two years. They are soon moving to larger premises and will be vacating the house on 10 July 2020. The manse will therefore be available for an initial 6 month lease from 11 July 2020. Should any member of the congregation wish to rent this property then please contact Matt Smith or Will Stewart before 10 June 2020 after which it will be listed on the open rental market.
Indooroopilly Uniting Church Refugee Support Group
Indooroopilly Uniting Church's Asylum Seeker and Refugee Support Group Form Filling Clinic provides practical support for people in need. The younger volunteers continue to provide critical paralegal support to asylum seekers and refugees with expiring temporary visas. The add-on social welfare support for people coming to the clinic has developed over time, and the clinic has become a recognised hub for other services (legal, counseling, emergency support) funded under the Asylum Seeker and Refugee Assistance program (ASRA) by the Queensland Government. Indooroopilly Uniting Church is seeking financial support to sustain the vulnerable people they care for. If you would like to help, contact iucasylum@gmail.com
Pentecost Recap
Thank you for joining us last Sunday to worship God and celebrate Pentecost! We had so much fun putting the service together, so we hope you were also able to worship whole-heartedly from home. Here’s a couple of the videos from the service:
Make sure you check out the Kid’s Talk remix too…