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This 5-session study - designed for use in the Advent and Christmas seasons - explores in depth the biblical stories of the birth of Jesus. Throughout the study, people are invited to suspend what they think they know about the story and explore more fully the biblical accounts. As you do so, you will find yourself going deeper into the stories to explore some of the deeper meanings the authors may have intended.Rather than simply telling us a wonderful story of a miracle, the gospel writers wanted us to grasp some of the profound realities of who Jesus was and can be for our troubled world. Why does Matthew begin his gospel with a lengthy genealogy - and how does it differ from others in the Bible? What might Luke want us to understand about the roles of Mary and Elizabeth in the birth story? How does the story of the magi invite us into the story? As we free ourselves from tradition and literal interpretation, we can focus more clearly on what the gospel writers want us to see.AuthorDonald Schmidt has had a love affair with the Bible for many years. Rather than something to be worshipped, he sees it as an amazing tool and way to learn more about God and ourselves. He holds MDiv and DMin degrees and an undergraduate degree in Jewish studies. He has been in active ministry in a variety of churches in both Canada and the USA for over 40 years. He lives in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada.

Exploring and Affirming My life is designed to help the reader undertake a personal exploration of his or her own life. Often important life issues get overlooked in the bustle of modern living and a guided encouragement to find issues that need to be reconciled helps as we grow older. Reminiscence can be a natural process of life but on its own it doesn't always bring out those things we need to focus upon. This book encourages the reader to look at spiritual issues particularly, and to find the joy and the forgiveness which comes when our lives are in tune with the wonderful God who loves us so deeply.

In 2015 the Uniting Church in Australia committed itself to work with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) "to establish a memorial for the Rev. Charles Harris." It is not clear what Charles would have thought of having a memorial in his name because the one memorial that he most cherished was a thriving Congress committed to serving the Indigenous people of Australia. However, whatever form remembrance may take, it is important that the life of Charles Harris be remembered, understood and celebrated. This not least, because biography has the power to instruct and inspire the present and, as well, refashion the future. As the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard said "Life must be lived forward, but can only be understood backward." It is my hope that this biography of Charles Harris will signpost, for some decades to come, the possibilities and potential of courageous Indigenous leadership and also shed light on Charles' hard struggle for justice in Australian race relations.Charles Harris had not long died when I first read his stirring address to the 1988 Assembly of the Uniting Church. In his capacity as president of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, he began with words of enthusiasm for the growth and achievements of the Congress. These achievements were worthwhile, he told the Assembly, and he thanked God and the Uniting Church for making them possible. Yet, Charles admitted, the past three years had been "strange ones" for members of Congress, years when word and action seemed to have been dislocated, the end result being a frustrated sense of powerlessness. Aboriginal people, he said, felt this sharply as politicians began to recoil in the face of attacks against land rights from mining and right-wing lobby groups. Aboriginal members of the Uniting Church, he further reminded those present, also felt this sense of powerlessness within the congregations and councils of the Uniting Church.Later in the speech Charles reflected on the debate surrounding the 1988 Bicentenary. "In Adelaide in 1982," he began, "Aboriginal members of the Uniting Church from various parts of Australia felt immensely affirmed and supported." "In the decision on the Bicentennial," he told the Assembly, the Uniting Church committed itself to take part in these celebrations "only if sufficient progress has been made towards the just claims of Aboriginal people for land rights, freedom to rebuild their society and financial compensation." Charles then emphasised what that decision had meant to Aboriginal people:Here was the Uniting Church at its highest level saying that it would not join in the party if this small part of our membership still suffers. The church promised our experience would determine its action. The church placed our needs above its desires and proper expectation of joyful celebration. The church had given us hope, not by promising us money, but by saying the church's task was to act by standing alongside the poor, in this case Aboriginal people.

Growing older is a time for reflecting back on our lives. We find ourselves wondering, 'What did it all mean? What is my life's purpose now?' This guide comprises six chapters:'Memories''Who do you rely on?''Blindsided''Courage''The end of the journey''Gratitude and Generosity'Using a variety of thought-provoking exercises including journaling and reflection, the participant is invited to view their life story through different lenses, leading towards a sense of self-acceptance and meaning. Designed for groups but suitable also for individuals including those in residential aged care.

Based on the RCL for every Sunday of the church year, this complete set of liturgies and prayers (adapted from Words for Worship) makes preparing worship a joy. Absolutely everything you need for every component of worship. These finely crafted liturgies adapted from Words for Worship are perfect for ministers and lay leaders looking to enhance worship. Each week includes the RCL readings and a brief reflection.

Twenty Eight sermons delivered during David Gills's time as interim Minister from October 2018 to November 2019, covering a number of topics.

Things that Jesus Did treats miracles and signs of Jesus in all four Gospels. Jesus performed signs of God's power, revealed the splendour of God, fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament, spoke words of transformation, and called ordinary people to follow Him on an extraordinary venture. This book is designed for personal and group study. In telling and interpreting these miracles and signs readers are given opportunities to experience the coming of God's reign and the gift of God's kind of life.

The origins of the word seek, help us to remember that slowing down across a period, like the 40 days prescribed for this journey together, helps create space, to ignite our senses once again. This study is a reminder that He calls us both the seeker and His friend.The seeking is the conscious effort to surrender in our everyday lives in the natural means to God himself-to constantly set our minds toward God in all our experiences, to direct our minds and hearts toward him. Our friendship with God means that no matter what we do, we cannot make Him love us more or any less, friendship is about being. A relationship with God that is marked with unity, a walk together of surrender, that is very much like the Easter story.

From the author, Ann Siddall: "I have written a book about contemplation because I believe that many of us long to find a gentler, more reflective way of life; a way of being in the world that balances our action and contemplation and which creates space for God, ourselves and others. We want to think that this is a realistic option, even amidst all the pressure and persuasions of our daily lives... Many of us are hearing a similar call and I believe, that in all the different ways we respond to it, a little more peace and stillness is being breathed out into the world around us"

It has been a challenging start to summer here in Australia. Bushfire has ravaged its way through our State, severely affecting Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills. But it hasn't just affected South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria have also been devastated by fire, the loss of loved ones, livelihoods, homes, churches, livestock, animals, businesses and properties.Ex-Uniting Church SA Moderator, Rev Sue Ellis in conjunction with MediaCom Education and a host of other talented Christian writers has created 'We Will Rise' - Rising from the ashes to a new beginning. It is a new 46-day devotional study which focuses on building hope out of loss following the aftermath of the Australian bushfires. The booklet offers daily devotionals and prayers, encouraging people to turn to Jesus for hope, healing, comfort and courage. With the period of Lent so close by, it felt like the perfect time to help those who have suffered, by creating a 46-day, devotional study which we have named 'We Will Rise - Rising from the ashes to a new beginning'. The studies focus on building hope out of loss, offering encouragement and support to people at a time when hope is desperately needed. MediaCom Education and ex Uniting Church SA Moderator, Rev Sue Ellis saw this as an opportunity to help the community through prayer and sharing of stories.New life began with the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus on the first Easter. Let us embrace the grace of this significant event and help us pave the way for Holy Spirit transformation, helping to reignite shattered dreams with fresh hope.

My hope is that whether you are green-fingered or not, you will discover your own inner garden, the Soul, and the God who lies within it. For those who are 'true' gardeners in a way that I am not, may this encourage you to reflect as you work in your garden and discover more deeply your own inner world. For those who aren't able or inclined to physically delve into your garden, I hope you will nevertheless find some time away from the busyness of life to relax with the words and reflections contained here. I hope you find some food for thought in your own circumstances, wherever you may be.The ultimate purpose of spending time like this is to help us see the deeply spiritual nature of our lives, and to recognise that life is a precious gift to be respected, cherished and enjoyed. And as we learn to live life more fully we begin to notice that interwoven into every aspect of the ordinariness of life is something Greater. Working within the garden meditatively has been for me, one such example of how this can be done.The material here is simply food for thought and an opportunity to ponder some of the deeper aspects of life; perhaps things that in our everyday busyness, we don't give ourselves the opportunity to really think about.

We live in challenging times for Christians and the church in Western nations such as Australia which are now secular, multicultural and multi-religious. We are in a globalised world dominated by economic considerations and media reporting. The attitudes people adopt are influenced by postmodern thinking which is sceptical, relativistic and pluralistic. Enlightenment thinking with its emphasis on reason and science continues to be regarded as the way to truth. Religious tradition, Christianity in particular, is viewed with scepticism as to its motives and claims to truth. As someone who does adhere to Christian faith, I wanted to write a book that explores what Jesus' good news really was, what the Christian grand narrative is about especially in the light of the kinds of challenges that we face. My desire was to assist people to know what Jesus' good news was really about and to give people confidence that the Christian metanarrative can stand up to the challenges we face. It provides a true perspective on life that can still be affirmed and recommended. Moreover, it is not just a matter of belief but calls for discipleship, namely living the way of Jesus.

The contributors to Growing Up Uniting were encouraged to be as honest and creative as possible. Most importantly we asked them to write from the heart, to be themselves. With an eye on what helpful knowledge might be gleaned from these reflections, we then offered some non-obligatory suggestions relating to their experience of church as stimuli. Most contributors took up these suggestions but not in a wooden or mechanical manner. Rather, many incorporated them into their reflections with literary flair and lightness of touch that are a joy to read.We believe that Growing Up Uniting shines a light on important aspects of the Uniting Church's life that have rarely been examined before. The book captures thoughtful voices from the first generation to grow up in the Uniting Church. It contains insights that are fresh and authentic. Growing Up Uniting, we believe, is a testimony to the Church's ability to encourage its people to be courageous and honest and unafraid to be themselves.

Australian History and Christianity written in Korean

Explores the integrated relationship between the pulpit, pew and public life and to live in a way the recognises the sovereignty of God in daily life. Alan Demack, retired Supreme Court Judge and Queensland's first Integrity Commissioner reflects personally on the role lay people play in mission and moral formation. This works explores what it means to abandon timidity and embrace Christ-given courage, particularly in public life.

Chris Budden 'challenges the reader and the church to recognise how "the gospel has been misshaped and claimed as a tool of empire". This book provides a fresh way of thinking about the just claims of First Nations Peoples which stem from their sovereignty.' Stuart McMillan

The READY project is in four parts, all based on the meeting of research with practical experience.The first one is the book which lays out the multiple levels of the challenge the church now faces. By looking over the many answers that have arisen, it states that the missional leadership task has not been taken up among most of the denominations and short-cuts and avoidance have dominated.The second part -FRESH WORDS AND DEEDS - unpacks a healthy mission in a healthy congregation for our time. It also asks: Why would you bother to turn the church around?The third part - READY TO TURN AROUND - lists the key leadership principles and processes that grow people into the kind of ministry that can turn the church towards flourishing in this era.The fourth part - readyleadership.org - contains all the research data that lies behind READY, for those who like to get to the research. It also has a list of peer coaching questions, and two learning games that you can order to work through all these ideas with your teams - READY a board game and CHAOS & GRACE a card game. So if you don't read research, you can still play along.

Julie Perrin's first collection of prayers A prayer, a plea, a bird follows her best-selling collection, Tender, stories that lean into kindness (MediaCom Education 2019)These new prayers and stories address climate, pandemic and neighbourhood life. Many are written in this new decade. They touch into racism, grief and erasure whilst also finding joy.A beautiful gift for personal reflection and a ministry resource for pastoral care, worship leadership or spiritual direction.

In our world the short, quick, easily consumed-tweet, text, soundbite, post, clip, pic-dominates our awareness. Designers of social media seem intent on capturing our attention as often as possible in the shortest time available. But what if we are deeper, more mysterious, less easily manipulated than Facebook and Twitter would like us to be? What if there is more to us than this reductive ever-present commodification of ourselves allows? The beautiful stories that follow seem paradoxically to be perfectly tuned to our need for 'short'-most of them are only a page and a half-and yet have the effect of slowing us down, stretching out our inner space for pondering, for meeting the world around us. The word 'tender', the word 'kindness', the gentleness of the word 'lean', are not common in public discourse. These subversive stories show us, without saying so, how desperately we need them. But more than that. They offer us, in a series of brilliantly crafted vignettes, a way of grasping what these words can mean across an extraordinary range of common human situations.Tender means to offer something, usually in the hope of making a positive difference. A builder tenders for the job of constructing a home. An artist tenders a painting for an exhibition. Julie Perrin tenders these stories, each arising from her own immediate experience. In the midst of the ordinary-a swim in the pool, a birthday party, waiting in a bank queue, joining the crowd at an AFLW game. In the presence of what is different, unusual, wounded or broken, we are invited to become 'at-tenders', those who deliberately lean into, that is become part of, what is disclosing itself in a situation. The ordinary is charged with potential radiance. 'Wherever you turn, the world can shine like transfiguration. You don't have to bring a thing to it except a little willingness to see,' says Marilynne Robinson in her novel Gilead (quoted p22). Reading this book is a masterclass in the cultivation of such 'willingness to see'.

This book offers a practical theology of innovation. It provides rich insights mixed with stories of change in establishing young adult formation, nurturing reconciliation, planting community gardens and rural cafes. Built for Change demonstrates that collaborative change is both practical and possible. Innovation is not the mysterious pursuit of what is new and hip by a heroic leader. Rather, innovation grows out of a set of collaborative, practical actions shaped by the Biblical story and Christian traditions of innovation. Innovation requires six strengths: being a servant, gardener, builder, resource manager, fool and parent. This makes innovation a team project, emerging as each discerns their strengths, defines their limits and grows as a differently gifted group. Innovation, therefore offers an invitation to spiritual practices that are deep and wide, inward and outward. It emerges from our followership of Jesus the innovator.

In our fast changing world the traditional church is in decline. Congregational churches across the west continue to report fewer Sunday attendees and decreased engagement across programs and services. In its decline a new kind of church has emerged, that of Fresh Expressions. A Fresh Expression of Church aims to reach those who are not connected to the church. This thesis explores and evaluates how a Fresh Expression: big, small, rural or urban, can become sustainable through diverse approaches to Leadership, Discipleship, Evangelism and Finances. Effective leadership is integral to the health and sustainability of any Fresh Expression. Different styles of leadership are needed in different situations. While there is often a place for a primary leader, teams and collaboration are of great importance for sustainability, and assist in keeping a church's vision alive. Analysis and decision making around different types of leaders and different styles of leadership is important including collaborative, transitional, and successional leadership needs. The wider church also has a role in assisting Fresh Expressions to become sustainable by offering guidance in getting the right person in the right placement and determining the type of placement be that lay, ordained, fully paid by the church, bi-vocational or starting an entrepreneurial activity to generate income. This process also fosters links between a Fresh Expression and the Inherited church. For a church to effectively disciple others there is need for the whole church community to understand that discipleship starts the moment we make first contact with someone. Discipleship and evangelism go hand in hand, complimenting each other. When the church loves people and relates to them in context lives can be transformed. Witness, evangelism and discipleship can then happen in a sustainable and organic way. Authentic living and hospitality promote both discipleship and evangelism creating a model of disciples making disciples. Constant evaluation and listening intently to the community assists in the ability for a Fresh Expression of Church to become sustainable. Reaching sustainability in the area of finances is different for each church community and context. The Inherited Church funding every Fresh Expression is not sustainable. The church must evaluate existing resources: money, people, buildings and explore entrepreneurial enterprise, identifying how to reach financial sustainability. There is also the model where the Fresh Expression of Church and the Inherited Church work side-by-side assisting both forms of church to become more financially sustainable. While there is no one model, or approach, to fit every situation, a Fresh Expression of church can become sustainable through actively listening to the community. Listening enables churches to identify leadership structures that meet the needs of their community, find suitable approaches to discipleship and evangelism accessible to the people they are trying to reach, and better understand what resources already exist and how they could be built upon to create a sustainable future for the church.