Why give?

The life and existence of the Uniting Church, who we are and what we do, depend on your contributions to Living is Giving. Contributions to Living is Giving enable Uniting Church congregations to do together what no church, presbytery or Synod meeting can do alone.

Giving is also a vital element of our Christian witness and service — a way of sharing God’s gifts and saying “Thanks be to God”.

The Uniting Church in Australia believes that mission begins with the affirmation “Jesus is alive!” It is Christ who gives vitality to our worship, witness and work.

In the gospel accounts of the resurrection, it is Jesus, the risen Lord, who sends his disciples out on mission. John tells us he said, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:21).

In Mark's gospel, Jesus says, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15) In Luke's, he says to the disciples “... repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in [the Messiah's] name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:47).

To assist them in this task, Jesus gifts the disciples with the Holy Spirit. He says, “I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with the power from on high.” (Luke 24:49) And he breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22).

In the closing words of Matthew's gospel, he says, “Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19) Then he promises his continuing presence to the disciples as encouragement and support for the journey. “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).

In Mark's gospel we actually see the young Church begin to form and move out: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:19-20)

Jesus had said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Now the disciples were discovering that this abundant life flourished in the deliberate actions of missional self-giving.

Abundantly, wonderfully and joyfully alive in Christ, they discovered their purpose and their fulfilment in giving themselves to his mission. The New South Wales Synod has chosen to picture this abundant life in the little phrase “Living is Giving”.