Dear Friends,
I am still looking for contributions on ‘joy’!
It was wonderful to hear Elizabeth speak about ‘where she finds joy’ in the service last Sunday. (She says she had stage fright, but it certainly didn’t look like it! 😊) I still have slots for the Blessing of the Animals (22nd Oct), 29th Oct, 12th Nov and 19th Nov to fill!
And it was wonderful to hear Edna read the start of the Canticle of the Sun – and then to sing it together, “Let all things their creator bless, and worship him in humbleness, now praise him, alleluia! …Alleluia!” So please let me know if you have a quote or a reading (even a Bible reading!) or a poem about joy that you would like to read.
There is also lots of space – so far – on our ‘Joy Board’ – so please keep adding your contributions.
Three things coming up this weekend that we ask you to pray about – and participate in!
- Firstly, on Saturday Australians voting in the referendum about an indigenous voice to Parliament.
We know the months leading up to this have been a time of deep, and often heavy conversations, in our families and community, and even more so for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters. Common Grace sent an email this week reminding us that our Aboriginal Christian leaders have called us – again and again – to pray about this referendum. On Saturday 14 October, they invite us to set an alarm (for some point during the day) to stop and pray for polling day in prayer. You can sign up to join other Christians in prayer on Saturday 14 October by adding your details here.
- Secondly, on Saturday, from 10am to 2pm the Clothes Swap is taking place in the hall.
Please come along and find a bargain, have a cuppa and a snack and support the Kingston Babies Group and Nurturing Womanhood at Queanbeyan Baptist Church. You can drop off donations at the office up until Friday 2pm.
- Thirdly, on Sunday, straight after church we will be meeting to endorse the paper on Same-sex Marriage and the NSW/ACT Baptist Association.
The motion we are voting on reads: “That the church adopt the attached paper and agree to publish it on its website in order to: affirm our ongoing commitment to the NSW and ACT Baptist Association, despite recent events, and in the context of the real prospect of Canberra Baptist being disaffiliated; explain why we oppose recent decisions by the Association to require support for a particular view of marriage; and provide some resources so others may consider these issues, in the absence of any being provided by the Association.”
Everyone who is a part of our church is invited to be part of this meeting, but, following Baptist church practice, only members of the church can vote. However, we encourage everyone to be attend and to be part of making this decision together.
So, it is a big weekend ahead. Please, as I said above, keep all these events in your prayers. And stay joyful! As C.S. Lewis wrote, “Joy is the serious business of heaven!”
Belinda