For Sunday the 1st of June - 9:00am

We are all familiar with people who speak out against evils in society, but who go on to show very human weaknesses. So we hear that a television evangelist who preaches against pornography has been hiring prostitutes. Or we hear that a campaigner for peace has been charged with assault. Or we hear that an environmental activist has a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption. It’s all very human.

 

This Sunday we will hear Jesus’ teaching about the need to be honest and real when it comes to moral standards. Jesus encourages us to promote what is good and to reject what is evil, but to do so in a spirit of humility. Since we can be tempted to do the very things we speak against, we do well to trust in God’s mercy, and to refrain from condemning people who fall into sin.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion. The Sunday School will meet at about 9:45am.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 25th of May - 10:00am

All of us have some experience of conscience – of having the need to make moral judgments about what we are about to do, or about what we have done. In fact even when we would rather not have to think about being accountable for our actions, conscience can intrude like an unwelcome guest, and keep nagging us to do what is right and avoid what is wrong.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing readings from the Scriptures that help us understand what conscience is, and how God’s word gives us peace when we experience an uneasy conscience. We will especially think through the way that God leads us in humility by freeing us to obey our conscience as it is informed by God’s mercy and love.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00am for a service with communion. The Sunday school will meet at 10:45am.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 18th of May - 9:00am

Whether the universe has any discernable meaning continues to be a controversial question in our society. While scientists describe in great detail the way in which living things grow and change, the question of why there is something rather than nothing remains beyond the reach of human thought.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing the account of the creation from the book of Genesis. In this account God brings creation into being by speaking his word, and considers all that he has made ‘good’. As we think through what this means, we will consider how God continues to speak to us today, and so bring his blessing and peace into our lives.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion. We will also be hosting an ecumenical service at 5:00pm.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 11th of May - 10:00 a.m.

This Sunday our congregation will be holding its church camp at Hall's Gap, but there will still be a service with communion at the normal time of 10:00 a.m.

God's peace to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 4th of May - 9:00 a.m.

Just to let you know that this Sunday we are meeting at 9:00a.m. for the responsive service with communion.

For Thursday the 1st of May - 7:30p.m.

Today many churches are celebrating the festival of the Ascension. This festival celebrates the way that Jesus lives and reigns over all that there is as a human being and yet also as God.

 

The reality of Jesus’ reign as both God and a human being is deeply mysterious, and can seem preposterous until we consider our own experience as human beings in this world. Not only can we human beings comprehend in our minds the vastness of the universe, we can also experience a deep desire for joy that transcends earthly realities- that transcends even death. These sorts of experiences can open us to hearing the teaching that through Jesus we are called to share in the life of God.

 

This evening we will be meeting at 7:30pm to celebrate Jesus’ Ascension. We will also be meeting this Sunday at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 27th of April - 10:00am

One of the gifts that God gives his people is hope. Hope is not simply a wish that things will turn out well. It is the conviction that God calls each one of us into a new way of living that will have no end – that the things we say and do have a meaning that not even death can destroy.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible where Christians are encouraged to be prepared to give the reason for the hope they have. As we receive this encouragement, we will consider some of the reasons for the hope that we have, and we will think through the ways that God gives us hope even in the face of great difficulties.

 

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

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 20th of April - 9:00am

One of the great temptations in life is to become bitter toward those people who have said or done things to hurt us. If we give in to this temptation, we can become trapped in a cycle of anger, and this can leave us depressed, and unable to get on with living life joyfully.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that shows us a different way to deal with the temptation to become bitter. We will hear how, as we pray in Jesus’ name, God frees us to show mercy and forgiveness to those who have hurt us. We will hear how through this God brings us into a heavenly way of life, and leads us to share his blessings with others.

 

This Sunday we will meet at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion. The Sunday school will meet at about 9:45am

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 13th of April - 10:00am

The name that we have is an important part of who we are. We are instinctively tuned in to hear our name when it is spoken, and we rightly want others to associate good things with our name. If people react with disgust or anger when they hear our name, we want to put things right, and to make sure that our name carries with it our good reputation.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing one of the famous prayers from the Bible – Psalm 23. In this prayer the Lord is pictured as a good shepherd, who does good things for his people in order that his name may be honoured. As we reflect on this prayer, we will consider what the Lord’s name means, and why it is important to God that all people understand that he is slow to anger, and that he willingly shows unwavering love for those who honour him.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00am for a service with Holy Communion. We will also be welcoming a new member into our church family through holy baptism.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

Sunday the 30th of March - Fifth Sunday - 9:00am

Just a reminder that this Sunday is a Fifth Sunday, and so the service will be at 9:00am.

Easter Sunday - 10:00am

Over the next few days in Bendigo many churches will be celebrating the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  It can seem peculiar to celebrate events that are in themselves distasteful and even repulsive. This is especially the case with the celebration of Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday. Yet Christian people celebrate even Jesus’ death because they trust that it was not in vain – because they trust that Jesus showed his love in his willingness to suffer death, and that by his death he took away the sin of the world.

 

A simple analogy can make things clearer:  Just as bitter medicine is good because of the healing that it gives, so Jesus’ death is good because of the forgiveness and peace that it brings to the world.

 

The greatest celebration this weekend will be the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. This is a celebration of the fact that Jesus was not simply resuscitated, but that he was the first person to rise to a new and unending life. This truth is at the very centre of the Christian faith, and is the great message of good news and hope that the church proclaims to the world.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00am to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. As part of our celebration we will receive the gift of new life in Holy Communion.

 

God’s peace to you as you celebrate Easter,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

Easter Services

Here are the times for the Easter Services this year.

Palm Sunday (the 16th of March) 9:00am
All children attending are welcome to take part in the procession

Holy Tuesday (the 18th of March) 7:30pm
A simple, short service of darkness, candles, and psalms

Maundy Thursday (the 20th of March) 7:30pm
A communion service, including the stripping of the altar

Good Friday (the 21st of March) 9:00am
Remembering the Lord’s suffering and death

Easter Sunday (the 23rd of March) 10:00am
Celebrating the Resurrection of Christ

God bless you with peace and joy as you celebrate Easter!

For Sunday the 16th of March - 9:00am (Palm Sunday)

Bendigo Lutheran Church

 

Al human beings need to feel welcomed and loved by other people. When we have a place that we belong, we can experience peace and happiness that money cannot buy. At the same time we have a need to feel extraordinary – that we are not just one of the herd, but that we are significant and unique individuals with our own path of life. Fitting these two needs together can be very difficult, and can lead to some rather destructive behavior – such as dominating and abusing people who are weaker than we are.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that shows us how Jesus brought belonging and being extraordinary together. We will hear how Jesus, who, as the Son of God, was utterly unique, acted with great humility, serving those weaker than himself. We will also hear how Jesus shares this attitude with us, by calling us as individuals to share in God’s glory, and so to be free to show humble love.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with communion. It’s Palm Sunday, and the kids will be involved in a special procession during the service.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 9th of March - 10:00am

In life, families work well when parents show their children unconditional love, and when their children receive this love in simple trust. Problems start to develop in families when parents start putting conditions on their love, and when children start to think that they have to earn the love of their parents. When this happens, bitterness, jealousy, and anger start to appear, and families start to break apart under the strain.

 

How families work in everyday life can give us a clue to our life with God. This Sunday we will be hearing readings from the Bible that encourage us to trust that we have God’s unconditional love in Christ. As we hear this encouragement, we will receive God’s love for us, and so experience how God saves us from the bitterness, jealousy, and anger that might otherwise consume us.

 

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

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 2nd of March - 9:00am

Sometimes in life it can be tempting to think that people deserve all the suffering that they endure. Whether we think in terms of ‘karma’ or ‘just deserts’, the results can be the same: we can withdraw from people in their suffering, and can congratulate ourselves on being somehow better than most.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible where Jesus’ disciples are tempted to view a man’s suffering as the result of his (or his parent’s) sin. Jesus does not see things this way. Instead, by his words and actions he shows that God can use human suffering to bring about his healing, truth, and life.

 

As we think about Jesus’ teaching and action, we will consider how God is calling us to show compassion to all people in their suffering.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00amfor a service with Holy Communion. The Sunday school will be meeting at about 9:45am.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, pastor

For Sunday the 24th of February - 10:00am

One of the central teachings of the Church is that God is love. This means that God is always patient, kind, and gentle, and that His justice and mercy are freely offered to all.

 

Another central teaching of the Church is that God’s love is not just an idea or a concept, but that it is a reality: that God has proved His love for the world by sending Jesus, who willingly took all the evil in the world upon himself. God has shown this love even to people who hate Him, or who despise and mock the Church.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing about the way that God has shown his love, and we will be considering what this means for all people, and especially for those who are reconciled to God.

 

We will be meeting at 10:00am for a service with Holy Communion. The Sunday school will be meeting at about 10:45am. The AGM of our church will follow the service.

 

God’s peace,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 17th of February - 9:00am

When we go to see a doctor, we want more than a diagnosis of what is wrong. We also want to receive some form of treatment to help with our disease. While we know that sometimes doctors will tell us news that we don’t want to hear, in the end we hope that we can be brought back to health and to the full enjoyment of life.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible in which Jesus assures us that he came not simply to tell us what is wrong with our lives, but to save us. Like a good doctor, Jesus does give a diagnosis of what is wrong, but he also freely gives us the mercy and healing that we need to live at peace with God and each other.  As we trust Jesus’ word to us, we experience the reality of his healing power in our lives.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion. The Sunday school will meet at about 9:45am.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 10th of February - 10:00am

We all have times when we experience the temptation to do things that we know are wrong. During such times we can easily find good reasons to give in to temptation. What’s more, especially if no one is watching us, it can seem that giving in to temptation is no big deal.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing from the Bible stories of temptation. We will be hearing about Adam and Eve fell for the temptation to define for themselves what makes something good or evil. We will also be hearing about how Jesus stood up to the temptation of Satan. As we reflect on what the Bible says, we will consider how God, by showing his mercy to us in Christ Jesus, gives us the freedom to turn away from ugly and harmful behavior. We will experience how God frees us to love each other and all people.

 

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

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

 

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

It’s natural for people to want to be happy, and to aim for the things in life that they think will bring satisfaction and joy. It’s also natural for people to have conflicting ideas about what will bring happiness, and to have fights and arguments when these ideas are worked out in practice.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing teaching from Jesus about the happy life. As we hear this teaching, we will consider that it is not simply good advice from a spiritual genius, but that it shows us God’s face – that it shows us the beauty and the goodness of God. We will also think through the way that God gives peace and unity by leading us in the life of joy.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion, and for the bapstim of Claire Elizabeth McGee.  The Sunday school will also be resuming this week.

 

God’s peace,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 27th of January - 10:00am

Sometimes it can be difficult to see what keeps people going to church Sunday by Sunday. Pastors of churches are, after all, not usually magnetic personalities who draw people into church by force of their own charisma. And most church services would hardly be called entertaining –at least not in the sense that blockbuster movies or professional sports matches can be entertaining. So why are churches still around, and why do people still go to church?

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that talks about God’s wisdom being revealed in the crucifixion of Jesus. As we think through what this means, we’ll consider how God continues to use seemingly weak and unattractive things –even the rather ordinary aspects of church life- to reveal the depths of his love for us.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00am. As we receive Holy Communion, we will experience how God’s love draws us together and frees us to love one another - we will experience how God continues to grow and sustain his church by his compassionate love.

God’s peace,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor