This week at the Bendigo Lutheran Church we celebrate with a Holy Communion service at 10am at 97 Spring Gully Road, Spring Gully. As this is the fourth Sunday of the month there will be no Lutheran Service in Castlemaine.  With the Christmas holidays almost over, we look forward to the recommencement of our Sunday School on the first Sunday after school returns.

Our meditation this week is on the Gospel reading, Matthew 4:12-23. This text tells us of John the Baptist’s imprisonment. It also tells us of the commencement of Jesus’ Ministry in earnest as he began preaching “Repent, the kingdom of heaven has come near”.

Eaglehawk Presbyterian Church

Last Sunday, Pastor Steven preached from Luke 8:40-48 – “Healed by touching His garment”.

The question here is, “Do I truly believe that I am healed of my sins”? as the woman in this passage did.

When Jesus returned from healing the demon possessed man a multitude welcomed Him. A woman in the crowd, who had spent all her livelihood visiting physicians over twelve years and none could heal her, touched His garment she was immediately healed. Jesus said “Who touched me?” The woman who had heard of Jesus’ healing miracles admitted she had touched him and He said “Daughter, be of good cheer, your faith has made you well, go in peace.” All who come to Jesus in faith He will heal and save. Unfortunately, many will not accept Jesus Christ as their saviour.

Many believers have had different experiences in how they were saved. The believer has gone from mortal to immortal. Man tries to save himself with dire results.

The condition of this woman deemed her ceremonially unclean, she should not have been with the crowd but her faith that Jesus could heal  her brought her there. Have we a faith as strong as hers?

God who is rich in mercy can and will heal anyone who will repent and confess their sins before Him and Him only. In Him we have redemption through His blood, not through anything we have done.

There is much joy in heaven over even one repentant sinner who has been saved, Jesus can and will do the same for you. 

Sunday, January 22: 10am, worship service.

Wednesday, January 18: 9am, weekly prayer meeting followed by Bible Study at 10.30am.

All inquiries to Pastor Steven: 0408 990 903.

St John’s Presbyterian

Last Sunday at St John's, Rev Philip Burns preached from 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. Though persecution from the enemies of the gospel had come against the Thessalonians with little negative effect apart from causing their faith to grow stronger, a greater danger that faced these believers was some false teaching concerning the second coming of Jesus.

This teaching stated that the return of Jesus had already taken place and the Thessalonians had missed it. To allay their fears and to remind these believers of what he had taught them, Paul then reminded his readers of the facts concerning the appearance of the “man of lawlessness” (Antichrist) before the day of the Lord’s return.

Much has been written about the identity of this man, but the Bible is far more concerned with our need to remain faithful to the Lord rather than wasting time speculating on identity.

Services continue through January at 10.30am. Next Sunday, Rev Philip Burns will continue the series on 2 Thessalonians followed by a shared lunch in the hall. For further information or to hear this week's message, visit bendigopc.org.au.

Reforming

How would you describe life? What about these words from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes: “Meaningless, meaningless, says the Preacher, all is meaningless!”

It doesn’t sound like that preacher is a happy-fun kinda guy, but he is, and it’s exactly how he starts teaching about life “under the sun”. The original word he uses for his opening description is literally, “vapour”. Life is vapour, or smoke. That is, once you think you’ve found something of value and meaning to hold onto, it’s then gone. Here today, gone tomorrow, such is life under the sun.

It all sounds pretty bleak, but if you continue to read through the book we feel the same frustrations of life the book describes, and we can only say that this book of collected wisdom on life is true.

So where’s the fun in life? What’s the point? What would be the fruit of reading this book? At Reforming we are preaching through all of Ecclesiastes in our January series, and as we hear the book’s teaching explained, we hear Jesus proclaimed. For we find that when we chase meaning in life in anything that is not God, we will always be chasing the wind. Chasing anything other than God is a meaningless existence in the end.

But here’s the good news, it is God who has chased us to rescue us from meaningless by sending his son Jesus Christ into our world of vanity. It is Jesus who gave was vaporised on the cross, to save us from a life of vapour.

Why not find a Bible, find God and find meaning in the good news of Jesus. This coming Sunday we are going to hear from Ecclesiastes 3:16-5:7, on The Problem of Justice. Find us at Bendigo South East College on Sundays, 10.30am in Building B5 on Ellis Street, all are welcome. We're online at reforming.org.au.

Last Sunday, the anointing and glory of the Holy Spirit fell upon the congregation during worship and praise. 

David spoke about “endurance” in his message. While riding his bike one day, he encountered verbal abuse. We can all be grumpy and discouraged when we see people behaving with bad manners and aggression. Do we as followers of Jesus, retaliate?  

God’s standard is not to lose your composure, self control or joy, but to walk in His character of endurance and wisdom. What is our attitude and how do we reflect Jesus when we feel pressured? Ephesians 4:11-12 – we see our oneness in Christ does not destroy our individuality.  

The Holy Spirit has given each believer special gifts for building up the church and it is important to use them. If you know what your gifts are, look for opportunities to serve. If you are not aware of them, ask the Holy Spirit to show you.  As you recognise your special area of service, use your gifts to strengthen and encourage those around you. This involves preaching, teaching, healing, nurturing, giving, administering and many other tasks.

Together, we can serve God more fully than any of us could alone and the church as the body of Christ can do more functioning together than we would dream possible working by ourselves. 

All are warmly welcome at our regular Sunday services where you will find hope, encouragement and encounter God. Sundays at 10am at the Long Gully Community Centre, 27 Havilah Road, Bendigo. Inquiries:  5443 1468 or 0402 087 083.

Our Sunday service had a real peace and presence of Jesus amongst us. There was a sincere hunger of people for God's anointing. Leny and Medy gave us a great time of worship breaking open new songs of praise through Christian Karaoke.

Pastor Peter shared the communion reflection and drew our hearts together by preparing ourselves to be at peace to celebrate the direction of Jesus in all our lives.

Pastor Peter invite us all to be on the Glory train to heaven by ensuring we all had our tickets. Jesus has the greatest roll of tickets and he manages Ticketek so we can all get aboard that train.

There are many challenges to us on our “destination heaven”. Some will take up the banner of the Lord and charge forward into battle. Others may fall over, but other champions will help them to their feet. Some will backslide but Jesus forgives and heals.

He will stand with us against the Judas types who can destroy a church, or a family. He will attend to those who just use church as a social encounter.

Often we reach out to others and they reject our invitation to get aboard the glory train. Shake the dust of your feet and move on to other people. Give those who refuse to the Holy Spirit to chase down.

Come join us at the Y Community Hall at 10am each Sunday. Our scripture groups will resume early January. They include beginners in scripture studies, mature groups and developing Christians.

On February 21, Sondra Baras from Israel will speak to us about her work in Judea and Samaria. On February 5, we will welcome a visiting preacher from CFAN ministry.

For prayer support from Pastor Peter Pritchard, phone 0413 682 999.

ELM Cluster

Eaglehawk: Everyone is welcome to come and try our services this Sunday at 10am for Cornerstone  (young people’s program) and the Service in the Church which will be led by the Rev Cynthia Page.

Holy Communion will be celebrated. Morning tea will follow the service.

The evening service will be at 6.30pm and Rev Cynthia will celebrate Holy Communion.

Donations of cans of baked beans are invited and will be used for the Friday morning Our Shed breakfast. The finance committee will meet on Monday at 7pm. There will be a working bee at the op shop on Tuesday from 10am. Volunteers will be needed over the next week, to help transfer the op shop to it's new location. Reports from organisations connected with the church are due in by the end of January.

Long Gully: The service at 9.30am this Sunday will be led by the Rev Jock McOrist.

Marong: The congregation will participate in the service this Sunday at 9am.

Weeroona Uniting Church

This Sunday, there will be a combined Weeroona service at Neale Street at 10am. The service will be led by Rev Susan Malthouse-Law and will include activities for children.

Our first Faith on Film for 2017 will be held on Friday, February 3 at 7pm at Neale Street. We will be watching The King's Speech.

All are welcome to come along to share popcorn, fellowship and a movie in a safe, friendly space.

Together, we explore the intersecting of our lives in the world with our faith through the issues raised in the film.