Marsden Road Uniting Newssheet 19 July 2020

Marsden Road Uniting Church

203 Marsden Road Carlingford

Sunday 19^th July 2020

Our mission: to reflect Christ alive in the Community

Greetings to you out there in your homes. As we worship in our homes in the homelands of the Wallumedegal people. We acknowledge their Elders, past and present.

We hope that you will experience the presence of God in and through the Service, privately or as a Family joining with the people of God who continue to gather in Spirit although not physically.

LECTIONARY BIBLE READINGS

Genesis 28:10-19a Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24, Romans 8:12-25, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

PRAYER

Saving God, in Jesus Christ you opened for us a new and

living way into your presence: give us pure hearts and constant wills to worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

CHURCH SERVICES

Worship which is found On-line and Delivered by Hand to people. How you can access these services, Newssheet and Rev John’ weekly Blog:

1. Through Zoom on the Internet on Sunday at 9.30am
2. On Marsden Road Uniting Website:

http://www.marsdenroadunitingchurch.org.au/

3. On Marsden Road Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/MRUCC082016/ 

4. Receiving as a PDF Attachment by Email.
5. Receiving as printed Documents in Mailbox.

Offerings

• Please consider offering via EFT – Direct Credit can be done anonymously and scheduled to occur automatically at whatever frequency you choose - weekly, monthly etc. See details of Church Bank Account below.
• By stewardship envelopes - set aside the money in them & bring to Church at the next service at MRUC
• A/C Name: Marsden Road Uniting Church

BSB: 634 634              A/C: 100049856

Month of Wesley

·         For our mid-year study this year we will be “John Wesley for the 21^st Century. The studies will be held through Zoom. They will start 7.00pm July 29^th and run until August 26^th inclusive.

·         An Email has been sent inviting attendance and those who reply by the 24^th of July will be sent the Zoom address for the study.

·         Those who don’t have the books will be sent copies of each Chapter.

·         Worship – the preaching and services will reflect the theme of each week’s study starting on 2^nd August 2020.

As part of our month we will be sharing our favourite Wesley Hymns. Please Email Rev John your favourites or pass them on to your Elder for them to pass them onto Rev John. 

Reflection Pentecost 7

In the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven, Jesus may be telling his hearers that their idea of infection or danger is different from his. At one level, he engages the more-than-human and talks about respect for the complexity of eco-systems. At another, he is talking about societal inclusion: the people that many consider unclean or sinful or evil possessed are not to be displaced from God’s field or God’s table. On the contrary, they may be the very ones who season the life of the whole. Life is messy after all and God is in the mess. It is worth noting that the leaven parable offers one of the few occasions in the gospel where God is imaged as female. While we know that God is neither male nor female, most of us have been conditioned to use only male images for God. The parable of the woman kneading dough validates the potential of female experience to reflect the life and activity of God in our world.

CONTACTS

Minister of the Word

Rev John Candy 0411 267 639 or 98681658 or whitestarhaven@gmail.com

Church Council Chairperson:         Ruth Henderson 9875 2194

Church Council Secretary:             Susan Halgren 9858 1409

Elders’ Chairperson:                        Alan Craymer 9874 0531

Elders’ Secretary:                            Elaine Forrest 9874 7231

Congregation Meeting Chair:         Warwick Roden 9874 7584

Property bookings/enquiries:         Warwick Roden 9874 7584

Website: www.marsdenroadunitingchurch.org.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MRUCC082016/

Rev Johns’ Weekly Blog: http://whitestarhaven.blogspot.com/

Weekly Blog on the Sunday Service:

                        margaretssundayreflections.blogspot.com

Please send messages & items to share to Rev John by Tuesday night. Phone: 9868 1658 or email: whitestarhaven@gmail.com

EASTWOOD CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AID

Did you notice the dip in the temperature during the week? Your help is very welcome in building stocks of canned, warming foods which will help those less fortunate than ourselves. Also remember that many lonely people depend on their four-footed or bird friends for company and those need feeding too.

Those who would prefer to make a financial donation to Community Aid (amounts of $2.00 or more are tax deductible) can be made using their website https://ccas.org.au/ or the form sent out last week.

Return to Face to Face Worship

To fulfil Government requirements, we need to fulfil the relevant checklists for our activities in the Church and be able to fulfil and develop a COVID-19 Safety Plan. The Government Health Regulations and our Synod agrees, that before we can use the premises, either ourselves or any Hirer then the group or we must have a risk management Safety plan in place.

For any Hirer, the Church Council must agree to their Safety Plan and ensure that it meets all Health Regulation requirements. This the same procedure is used for any business or group that is gathering or opening and it is essential that it is in place before any face to face can take place.

For Marsden Road these means that a Safety Plan must be in place and meet the Synod and Government standards before anyone can enter the premises again.  It will be some time before we can worship face to face again. Your Church Council continues to monitor the situation and work out its future safety plan ready to commence face to face worship when it is deemed safe.  We have been reminded that failure to comply with regulations brings heavy penalties and we can see what happens when our vigilance disappears by what has happened in Victoria.