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

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

One of the temptations we face in life is to blame others for our own problems.  It can be especially tempting to pick on people who are weaker than us, and to make them pay for the dissatisfaction or frustration we may feel in life. In the history of our world this sort of attitude has played itself out on a national scale in cruel persecutions and genocides, but the same reality can be seen on a smaller scale in households, workplaces, and even churches.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that speaks about Jesus as ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’. As we think through this reading, we will consider the way that God deals with our temptation to blame others by providing us with a true sacrificial victim. Jesus does not simply take the blame that we want to pass to others, but transforms us to be people who are able to take responsibility for our own actions.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion. Our Sunday school is in recess over the school holidays.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

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

Just a short note so that you know the service time for this Sunday!

For Sunday the 6th of January - 9:00am

This Sunday we will be meeting to celebrate Epiphany - the Light of God shining to the nations. We will be having the Service Alternative Form. Sunday school is in recess over the holiday break.

God's peace!

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Christmas Day - 10:00am

Our Christmas Day service will be the Service with Holy Communion, and will be at 10:00am.

God's peace,

Fraser Pearce

For Christmas Eve - 7:30pm

This Christmas Eve our Service of Lessons and Carols will be at 7:30pm.

Here's the massage that will appear in this weeks Advertiser from our congregation:

One of the greatest mysteries of Christmas is that Jesus, through whom everything that exists was made, humbled himself to become a human being, born as a tiny baby to the Virgin Mary. This mystery seems so preposterous that, were it not for the fact that it has the miraculous power to change our hearts and lives, we would write it off as foolishness.

 

At our little church in Spring Gully we will, more that two thousand years after first Christmas, celebrate the birth of Jesus. On Christmas Eve we will gather to hear the Christmas story and to sing songs and carols that joyfully proclaim the meaning of Christmas. On Christmas Day we will gather to celebrate Holy Communion, and to receive again God’s gracious presence in our world.

 

Our prayer this Christmas is that God will give all the people of Bendigo his gifts of peace and joy, and that our world will have the healing and rest that comes from trusting God.

 

God’s peace to you!

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 23rd of December -10:00am

This Sunday we will be having a Service with Communion. I'll be preaching on the Gospel reading. In the afternoon will be the baptism of Micah Jay Harrigan at the Seymour congregation.

God's peace,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 16th of December - 9:00am

This Sunday we will be having our children’s Christmas presentation. In this presentation we will hear the Christmas story from the Bible, and we’ll see the children dressed up to take their different roles as they act out the story.

One of the messages from the Christmas story that we will be focusing on is the message of patience. God’s people before Jesus was born were patiently waiting for the birth of one who would bring God’s justice into the world. With Jesus’ birth, God showed his justice by giving all people access to his mercy, forgiveness, and peace. As we receive all that Jesus has to give us, we patiently wait for God to grow his love and joy in our own lives.

This Sunday our special Children’s Christmas presentation service is at 9:00am. It will also be a service with Holy Communion.

God’s peace to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

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

When we live with hope, then we can face even the toughest situations with a measure of peace, and even with a measure of joy. When we have no hope, however, then even the most affluent living conditions can leave us feeling aimless, despondent, and depressed.

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible about hope, and especially about the hope that God gives us of a life of harmony with each other, with creation, and with himself. As we hear this reading, we will consider the way that God gives us faith so that we can experience harmony as we serve each other.

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, to rehearse for the Christmas presentation.

God’s peace to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor