For Sunday the 31st of December

One recipe for misery is to know God’s rules without knowing God. If we have no relationship with God, but do have some knowledge of God’s laws, then God can seem to be a killjoy – to be someone who has created a world full of fun, but who will not let us enjoy it. Living with this experience can lead us to have a deep resentment toward God – a resentment that is fuelled by fear and guilt.

This Sunday we will be hearing from the Bible about the way God makes us his friends, and so gives us knowledge of who he is. We will be hearing about the way that God gives us joy as he leads us to live with gratitude, and as he frees us to experience his closeness to us in our communal life in the church.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion.

For Sunday the 24th of December

This Sunday we will be hearing from the Bible about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and we will be thinking about what the Bible means when it says that ‘all generations’ will call her ‘blessed’. As we hear about Mary’s trust in God’s word, we will hear how God made her a blessing to the people around her, and how God worked through her to bring his blessing to the whole world.

One of the ways Mary’s story encourages us is that it shows us how God keeps us from temptation, and delivers us from evil. Mary’s story reminds us that by God’s grace we can distinguish between good and evil, that we can be thankful to God for his protection, and that we encourage and support all people in need.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00am for a service with Holy Communion. Our Service of Readings and Carols will be at 7:30pm, and our Christmas Day service will be at 9:00am.

Christmas 2006

This year at Bendigo we will be having a Christmas Eve Service at 7:30pm on Sunday the 24th of December. Our Christmas Day Service will be at 9:00am on the 25th of December.

The Christmas Eve Service will be a traditional Service of Readings and Carols.

The Christmas Day Service will be the Service with Communion.

For Sunday the 17th of December

Most of us have to live with worry. It’s not that we enjoy being anxious, it’s just that worry comes naturally to us, and when we are faced with people or situations that cause us concern, we can become weighed down.

This Sunday we will be hearing from the Bible about how God frees us from worry. One of the readings we will hear comes from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians, where he encourages God’s people to rejoice in the Lord always. St Paul, who had plenty to worry about, spoke from experience when he assured the Christians in Philippi that the Lord is near, and that the Lord will hear the prayers of his faithful people. St Paul had experienced that fact that God gives his peace to those who speak their anxiety to him in prayer; we too can share in this experience as we take our worry to God.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am. We will experience the closeness of God as we listen to God’s word, as we pray together, and as we celebrate Holy Communion.

For Sunday the 10th of December

Bendigo Lutheran Church: Children’s Christmas

This Sunday is a special day for us: the children’s Christmas service. Every year we have a service in which the children dress up as different characters in the Christmas story, and act out their parts as the story is told. This simple and fun retelling of the great story of Christ’s birth not only helps give the children happy and vivid memories of Christmas, it also gives joy to the rest of the congregation as they watch the story unfold, and as they take their part in singing the carols.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00am. Because of the children’s involvement our service will be a little different from the usual: we will only have one Bible reading, and the sermon will be a bit shorter. In the sermon we will be thinking through the way God completes the work of faith that he has started in us. We will be thinking through the way God grows us in knowledge of, and insight into, his love.

This Sunday we will be celebrating Holy Communion.

God’s peace to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor