For Sunday the 3rd of May - 9:00 am

‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ is one of the most familiar hymns sung in churches and at funerals. The imagery is memorable, especially for rural Australians who are used to seeing sheep grazing (even if they are not so used to seeing Shepherds at work).

This week we will be singing ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’, and we will be hearing a reading from the Bible where Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd. As we think through the imagery and the teaching of the hymn and the reading, we will consider how God leads us in life. We will consider how God is with us even in the dark places of life, so that we do not need to be overcome with fear or anxiety.

This week we will be meeting together for a Lay Reading service at 9:00 am.

God’s peace to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 26th of April - 10:00 am

Because so many of the Christians in Australia come from a European background, it can sometimes be easy to forget that Christianity did not begin in Europe. In fact, of course, Christianity began in Israel, Jesus and the first Christians were Jewish, and more than half of the Bible was first written in Hebrew, the traditional language of the Jews.

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that deals with the Jewish origins of Christianity. As we think through what this means for us in Bendigo now, we will consider how the life, death, and resurrection of the Jesus gives us a ‘key’ to understand the Bible. We will also consider how God calls people from all nations to turn away from sin, and to receive forgiveness in Jesus’ name.

This Sunday we will meet at 10:00am for a service with Holy Communion. The Sunday school will meet at about 10:45 am.

God’s peace to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 19th of April - 9:00 am

One of the great teachings of Christianity is that God loves all people, and that God calls his people to show self-sacrificial love for others. One of the great tragedies of Christianity is that no Christian has been able to live this calling perfectly. Every Christian is to some extent a hypocrite – holding to a high ideal, but failing to live up to it in reality.

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that deals with this situation. As we think through what the Bible says, we will consider how God calls his people to acknowledge both the high ideals of Christian life, and the sad reality of sin. We will consider how God frees his people from despair by giving them the gift of humility: the gift of acknowledging that with Christ there is forgiveness.

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

God’s peace to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

Easter Times

Tuesday the 7th of April 7:30pm Tenebrae – Psalms and Darkness

Thursday the 9th of April 7:30pm Maundy Thursday

Friday the 10th of April 9:00am (Castlemaine 11:00am) Good Friday

Sunday the 12th of April 10:00am (Castlemaine 8:00am) Easter Sunday

Easter Message

It can be easy to get down in life, to give up being thoughtful about other people, and to care only about ourselves. Living this way doesn’t bring much joy, but it can seem unrealistic to hope for any other way.

One of the things we celebrate at Easter is the way that God brings hope out of such situations of despair, and so gives us the gift of joy in life.

On the first ‘Good Friday’ – the day of Jesus’ crucifixion - it seemed as if the forces of despair, and even of death, had won another victory. But on the first Easter Sunday – the day of Jesus’ resurrection – God showed that compassion and love cannot be held down by death. Jesus’ life of hope and love was vindicated in his victory over the grave.

Even today anyone can trust this message, and experience the power of God to bring hope and joy to situations of despair.

As our congregation celebrates the death and the resurrection of Christ, we will pray for all the people of this community – that God will bless all with the gift of hope.

God’s blessings to you!