Opinion

By Dr John Harrison, Senior Lecturer in Journalism & Professional Communication, School of Communication & Arts, The University of Queensland.  The book of Ruth is a series of journeys. Naomi journeys to Moab. Naomi and Ruth journey back to Judah. The more important of the journeys is that of Ruth from her home in Moab to Bethlehem in Judah, which ...

By Fernando Torres, Activate Coordinator – Trinity College.  Jonah’s journey is also my journey. No, I wasn’t called to travel and preach in Nineveh, nor did I arrive in Australia in the belly of a fish – it would have been way cheaper, though! …but the more I “read my own life”, the more I realise that the stories in ...

By Doug Foster, Ministry Agent Coordinator.  Have you ever been lost? I have on a few occasions, but the fact I can write this indicates that this lostness was not permanent. Instead of lost, I call it “temporarily displaced”. Jonah reminds us that we can be temporarily displaced from faithfully following God in one of two ways. Firstly, we can ...

By Steve Webster, Mission Facilitator – Transforming Communities The supermarket has often been the scene of many a toddler communicating their annoyance at their parent or guardian’s refusal to purchase a much-desired item of their choice. The crying, screaming, and yelling on the floor has often brought upon many a red face of embarrassment.  It’s a scene I’m sure many of ...

By Andrew McKaysmith, Office of the Synod Writer and Content Creator As Christians, we know that life is a journey, and every journey has its own set of challenges and obstacles. However, the beauty of the Christian faith is that we are not alone on this journey. We have a God who walks with us, guiding us every step of ...

By Paul Wetzig, Project Officer – Discipleship.  It’s not often you get to carry a cross through the streets of Brisbane on a cool, rainy morning as a family. In fact it’s only once a year for us. For the last few years we’ve made it part of our Good Friday practice to join West End Uniting Church in a ...

By Richard Moor, Children Youth and Families Pastor, Southside Uniting. “Our church is getting older”, or “We don’t have any young people.” We are used to these comments. You have probably been aware for a while that there seems to be a problem with our churches connecting with young people. The book points out that church numbers are declining, and ...

By Dave Wu, Executive Officer – Chaplaincy Commission The Road to Emmaus is a well-known story in the Bible, found in the Gospel of Luke chapter 24. It recounts the story of two disciples walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus after the crucifixion of Jesus. On the road, they meet a stranger who joins them on their journey. The stranger listens ...

By Paul Wetzig, Project Officer – Discipleship.  Over the last couple of months there have been a number of events across the Synod inviting us to consider what discipleship means and how we respond to Jesus commission first given to the original disciples in Matthew 28:16-20 to “go and make disciples”. Reflecting on these events, some consistent ideas have emerged ...

By Rev Rod Fisher, The Gap Uniting Church.  Our gospel lectionary reading for this Sunday is Luke 24: 13-35, often referred to as “The Road to Emmaus.”  It’s an important story near the end of Luke’s gospel.  I’ve often wondered why this particular story was included at this point of the story and what relevance it has for us as ...