For Sunday the 1st of February (!) - 9:00 am

Bendigo Lutheran Church

When we love someone, we can find the strength to forego freedoms that may seem very important. When we love someone enough to marry them, we forego the freedom to be with anyone else. When we have children, we love them enough to forego the freedom to sleep undisturbed through the night.  And when God gives us the experience of love for his faithful people, we forego the freedom to say and do things as we want. We experience the fact that a truer and deeper freedom is found in considering the needs of others.

This Sunday we will be hearing from the Bible about how God fills us with love for others so that we can experience the freedom that God gives. As we think through God’s word to us, we will consider the opportunities that God gives us to show love, and to experience the liberation that this brings.

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

God’s peace to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

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

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00 am for a Responsive Service with Holy Communion. The sermon will be based on a reading from Jonah, and we will be thinking through the way God wills all people to receive his gift of life and peace.

God's blessings to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

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

This Sunday we will again be having a simple Service of the Word.

God's blessings to you!

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 11th of January - 10:00am

This Sunday we will be having a simple Service of the Word.

God bless you!

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 4th of January - 9:00am

It’s no secret that people from different cultural backgrounds can have difficulty understanding each other. It’s not just the language barrier that can create problems. Differences in dress, in skin color, in values, and even in diet can create unease and suspicion in the human community.

 

This Sunday we will be listening to readings from the Bible that talk about the cultural divisions in humanity. As we listen to these readings, we will consider how God overcomes the problems inherent in these divisions by bringing unity in Christ. We will also consider how the unity God creates among different human cultures shows us something about the unity in God.

 

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

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

 

For Sunday the 14th of December - 10:00am

When it comes to thinking about how we can live a spiritual life, it comes naturally to think about the things we should be doing: the books we should be reading; the meditation we should be practicing; or the attitudes we should be cultivating. While thinking about these things can be helpful, the most important thing to consider is what God has done and is doing.

 

At church this Sunday we will be hearing from the Bible about God’s action. As we listen to the Bible, especially as Christmas time approaches, we will think about God taking the initiative – we will think about God coming into our world and our lives to bring his gifts of faith, hope, and love.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 10:00am for a service with Communion. A special part of this service will be the kids’ Christmas presentation – a traditional retelling of the Christmas story complete with Mary and Joseph, angels and shepherds, and perhaps sheep and donkeys!

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

 

For Sunday the 7th of December - 9:00am

Doing the right thing doesn’t always win us friends. In fact often doing the right thing can show up the laziness or the corruption of the people that we work with or that we live with, and it can win us enemies. It’s then that we can feel like giving up, and going along with what everyone else is doing.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing passages from the Bible that encourage us to do what is right. We will hear that God is creating a new world where it is ‘at home’ to do what is right. We will also hear that we can prepare for this world by acknowledging our own need for the forgiveness that Jesus brings.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion. The Sunday school will be meeting at about 9:45am, and they will rehearse for the Christmas play.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 30th of November - 9:00am

Living without a thought to the future can feel like freedom, until we experience the consequences. So, eating and drinking as we please can feel like freedom, until we experience what happens to our health; spending what we like when we like can feel like freedom, until we experience what happens to our finances; and living without a care for our spiritual life can feel like freedom, until we experience what happens to our relationships in life – especially our relationship with God.

 This Sunday we will be hearing teaching from Jesus, where he warns us to take account of our future. As we listen to this teaching, we will think about how God keeps us alert so that we do not miss out on receiving the many good things that God gives in Christ.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with communion. Baby Oliver Robins will be welcomed into God’s family through holy baptism at this service.

God’s peace to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

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

Any wise employer wants their workers to be good and trustworthy: they want their workers to be able to be left in charge of business, and to prosper.  Any wise employer also realizes that it is right and fair to promote good and trustworthy workers, and to reprimand or fire workers who are corrupt and lazy.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a parable from Jesus that uses imagery from the world of business, and that contrasts trustworthy and lazy workers. Jesus gets his disciples to consider how they have been put in charge of God’s gifts, and that they will be rewarded for making faithful use of what is in their charge. He also warns his disciples that the lazy and corrupt will face punishment.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am. As we think though Jesus’ parable we will consider how God has given us gifts, including the great gift of forgiveness. We will consider how we make wise use of the gift of God’s forgiveness by investing it in the relationships in our lives.

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

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

Bendigo Lutheran Church

 

Human beings have, throughout history, been tempted to think that religiosity and spirituality are in themselves pleasing to God. In reality there’s a great degree of self-delusion in cultivating spirituality while we treat other people with contempt; or in cultivating religiosity while we act set up institutions that are built on injustice.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that calls God’s people to acknowledge their self-delusion, and to turn from contemptuous and unjust behavior. As we think through this reading, we will consider how God shares his own justice with us, so that we may behave justly towards others.

 

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 26th of October 'Reformation' - 10:00 am

Even a quick overview of the history of the last two thousand years will reveal that the church has never been perfect, and that it has always been in need of reform. Even today, Christian people need to be constantly called back to the central message of the Gospel: the forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus, and the power of this forgiveness to change us into people who love God and others.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing readings from the Bible that deal with the forgiveness that God gives through Jesus. As we reflect on these readings, we will consider how we get to know God’s will intuitively as we receive God’s forgiveness. We will consider how God frees us from the anxiety and self-centeredness of a bad conscience, so that we can serve and love other people.

 

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 19th of October - 9:00am

There is a natural interest in discussing the way that religious faith relates to politics. This is because both religion and politics deal with important questions about the way human beings should live. As history shows, however, problems arise when politics is used to suppress the free expression of religious belief, or when religion is used to suppress the free expression of political belief.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing readings from the Bible that deal with the relationship between religion and politics. As we reflect on these readings we will consider how God works in different ways in the world and in the church. We will especially think through how we human beings, made in God’s image, are free to love and serve God and all people in the church and in the world.

 

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

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 12th of October - 10:00am

Whenever human beings get together, conflict will sooner or later arise. We see this reality in families, clubs, political associations, and also within churches. If the conflict is not dealt with, then divisions can form that may, in time, lead to the tearing apart of communities.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that addresses conflict between two women in a Christian congregation. As we listen to this reading, we will consider how this conflict was dealt with, and we will think through how we can deal with the stress and anxiety that conflict can cause in our own lives. We will especially think about the way Christ’s presence with us can bring us peace when we feel anxious.

 

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

After morning tea we will be having our congregational meeting to discuss the renovation of the kitchen.

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 21st of September - 9:00 am

When we work, we get paid. Or at least we should – that’s justice. But when someone decides to be generous to us, then we do not need to worry about what we deserve – we are fee simply to receive. And we truly experience the meaning of generosity when we receive with gratitude, not comparing what we have been given with what others have been given.

This Sunday we will be hearing a parable that Jesus told about God’s generosity.

As we reflect on the parable, we will consider how God is leading us to be thankful for what we have received. We will also consider how useless it is to complain about God’s generosity to others. And we will give thanks to God, and so experience the joy that comes from receiving good gifts from God.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am. The Sunday school is in recess over the holidays.

God’s peace to you,

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 14th of September - 10:00am

Normally if someone close to us hurts us or betrays us, then we feel bitter or angry. We go over in our minds the things they said or did, and can become consumed by resentment. Over time we can even become cynical and despondent – believing that the hope of kind and loving relationships is a fantasy and not a reality. When we fall into this state, we need God to lift us out.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness. He teaches that God does not become cynical towards us, but shows his great hope in freely offering us forgiveness over and over again. As we receive this forgiveness, we are able to forgive the people that hurt us, and we are even able to begin to see how God can draw good things out of the deepest hurts in life.

 

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

 

God’s peace to you,

 

Fraser Pearce, Pastor

For Sunday the 7th of September - 9:00am

Living in fractured relationships is very debilitating, as we witness in relationships around us every day - and often enough also within ourselves.   Fractured relationships result in people getting hurt.  Healing both broken relationships and fractured people is the aim of godly reconciliation, and forgiveness is God's way of restoring relationships and people.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that talks about God’s reconciling love.  We will hear that God regards healthy relationships so highly that he has provided a step-by-step reconciliation process, and he invites all of us to follow it.  This is a delicate restoration process which seeks the wellbeing of individuals and communities by protecting people's reputation through respecting their privacy and confidentiality.  Its aim is nothing less than life-long reconciliation and peace in relationships between people, and between people and God.

 

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion. Pastor Allan Heppner will be visiting from Melbourne, and will be delivering the sermon.

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

Often in life it can be difficult to see our way ahead. Especially when we face crisis points in work or in health or in family relationships, we can experience a deep need to know God’s will for our lives, and to live by this knowledge.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that speaks about knowing God’s will. As we reflect on the reading, we will consider how God gives us freedom to choose different paths. We will also consider how we learn the mind of God as we present ourselves wholly to God’s service – especially as we present ourselves to God as people who need his mercy and forgiveness.

 

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 17th of August - 9:00 am

Sometimes it can feel as if God turns his back on our pleas for help. Especially when things are desperate, then it can seem as if God is refusing even to listen to our heartfelt cries for mercy.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible where a woman makes a heartfelt plea to Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus at first refuses to answer her, but as she physically puts herself in his way, where he cannot avoid her, she gets the hearing that she wants. Jesus honours her trust in him, and her daughter is healed.

 

As we think about what this reading means, we will consider how God is always merciful and compassionate, and how he leads us to be humble before him so that he can lift us up.

 

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 August - 10:00am

It’s not uncommon for Christian people to experience times in their life when they feel abandoned by God.  Especially when things are rough, then it can seem that God is far away, and that there is no hope.

 

This Sunday we will be hearing a reading from the Bible that talks about a time when Jesus disciples were apart from him – when they were stuck in a boat that was being battered on the sea. We will hear that when Jesus did come to them, walking on the sea, they could not believe it – until he called one of them to come to him, across the water.

 

As we reflect on this reading we will consider how Jesus calls each one of us to place our trust in him, to receive his gift of salvation, and to experience the peace that only he can give, even in the midst of rough times.

 

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 August - 9:00am

Last Sunday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church we celebrated the baptism of Daniel Victor Ambrose Pearce. Daniel is the fourth child of Pastor Fraser and his wife Margaret. Keeping with an old Lutheran tradition Daniel’s name wasn’t revealed until the ceremony.  The only people who knew his name beforehand were his parents, the pastor who baptized Daniel, and the people at Country Cakes who made the cake for the celebration!

After the baptism the celebrations continued with a community lunch in the church hall. Although it was a cold day, the many friends, the roasts, the wine, and the thanks to God for the gift of life gave the afternoon warmth and joy.

This Sunday we will be meeting at 9:00am for a service with Holy Communion. We will be hearing from the bible about the love God calls his people to show for all, including for those who reject God and mock his compassion and holiness. Our Sunday school will be meeting at about 9:45am.