Sunday 1st September - 8.30am

Pease note that we have a change in service times for this week only.

Due to a Sudanese Arabic service in Shepparton on Sunday, our service at Trinity will begin at 8.30am. I hope to see you all there to celebrate the mercy of the One who humbled Himself for you and me!

Here are the readings:

Proverbs 25:6,7 The wisdom of humility

Hebrews 13:1-8,15,16 Obligations in community, home, and church

Luke 14:1,7-14 Humility and hospitality

God bless

Pastor Matt

Sunday 25th August - 8.30am

This Sunday our epistle reading contrasts Mount Sinai - the mountain where the Lord gave Moses the Law - with Mount Zion - the city of the living God. This contrast  is presented to us in the most vivid of language. Sinai is remembered as a place where the people were awestruck by the glory of the Lord and terrified lest they be consumed because of their unworthiness. It was a place where God's good and perfect Law left them despairing of themselves and their inability to fulfill it. It was a place that prepared the way for Mount Zion - the place where there is forgiveness and life, where the blood of the Holy Son of God is sprinkled on us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Mount Sinai reminds us of the Law of God and the terror it must strike in our hearts if we are honest about ourselves. But Mount Zion proclaims the Gospel of our Lord Jesus loudly and abundantly that we may rejoice in His forgiving love.

How good it is to come to the city of the Living God and to stand secure in His presence because of the blood of Christ alone.

Service begins at 8.30am.

Here are the readings:

Isaiah 58:9b-14 The Lord calls on Israel to obey him

Hebrews 12:18-29 Mount Sinai and Mount Zion contrasted

Luke 13:10-17 Jesus heals a crippled woman on the sabbath

God's peace be with you!

Pastor Matt

Sunday 18th August - 11am

Service tomorrow will begin at 11am

Here are the readings:

Jeremiah 23:23-29 The word of the living God is active
Hebrews 11:29 - 12:2 The great cloud of witnesses
Luke 12:49-56 Jesus the cause of division

Pay special attention to the 'great cloud of witnesses' and think about whether they are the examples of faith that the world would expect. I don't see too many 'holy Joes' in there. Just a bunch of sinners who trusted in the Lord for mercy and forgiveness. Heroes not on their merits, but on the merits on the One in whom they trusted.

See you in the morning as we celebrate the Lord's continuing feast of forgiveness.

God's peace be with you,
Pastor Matt

Sunday 11th August - 8.30am

My apologies for the late posting.

Tomorrow's service begins at 8.30am. Pastor  Brett Kennett from the District will be our guest preacher, focusing his attention on the epistle reading from Hebrews 11.

Here are the readings:
Genesis 15:1-6 Abraham justified by faith in God's promise
Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16 Living by faith in God's promise
Luke 12:32-40 Be ready for Christ's return

Every blessing as you prepare for worship tomorrow.

Pastor Matt

Sunday 4th August - 11am

Service begins at 11am this Sunday and will be followed by a shared lunch. ALL WELCOME!

This week our gospel reading jumps forward to Luke's 12th chapter as Jesus responds a man in the crowd who wants Him to solve a family dispute over inheritance. With the Lord of life standing before him, the man in the crowd is preoccupied with getting his fair share of the money! It's like being granted an audience with a king and the best you can do is ask him for a glass of water! 

What a wasted opportunity and what a fatally distracted heart that is so focused on earthly wealth that it misses the eternal treasure sitting in front of him!

The readings for Sunday are below:
Ecclesiastes 1:2,12-14; 2:18-23 Only in God does life have meaning
Colossians 3:1-11 The old life and the new
Luke 12:13-21 The parable of the rich fool

See you on Sunday.
Pastor Matt

Sunday 28th July - 8.30am

It's been a full week that is rapidly drawing to a close and the readings for Sunday almost provide too much great stuff to fit into a couple hundred words for this week's post! Leaving aside the wonderful gospel reminders in the epistle, I'm going to take up Jesus' teaching on prayer from Luke 11 with help from the Old Testament reading retelling Abraham's audacious prayer for the people of Sodom. If only we would all be so bold in prayer!

Service begins at 8.30am.

Here are the readings
Genesis 18:20-32 Abraham pleads for Sodom
Colossians 2:6-15 Not philosophy or legalism, but Christ
Luke 11:1-13 Jesus' teaching on prayer

Every blessing in Christ until Sunday!
Pastor Matt

Sunday 21st July - 11am

Some great texts this week, full of God's promises and full of His grace and mercy. From the promise of a son to the elderly Abraham and Sarah, to the awesome reminder that we have peace with God through the blood of Jesus in the epistle reading, right through to the familiar words of the gospel retelling the story of Jesus' visit to the home of Mary and Martha.

These dear saints both love their Lord and want to 'do' what is fitting and proper as His disciples. Martha, the hostess par excellence, gets busy in the kitchen cooking up a storm. It's interesting that Luke uses the Greek word diakonia to refer to the work she was doing in the kitchen. Interesting because this word is just about always associated with the 'good works' that Christians 'do' in response to the love and mercy that God has 'done' to them in Christ.

Anyway, Martha gets all steamed up because as she goes about her diakonia Mary is 'doing' nothing but sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to His words. Martha is indignant. She is serving the Lord. Doing the right thing. Showing her love for Jesus. And what's Mary doing??? NOTHING but listening to Jesus. And what's worse according to Martha is the fact that Jesus is sitting there letting this inequitable state of affairs continue!

Martha's diakonia, her good works, drives her to judge her sister (my sister has left me to do all the work) and to judge God (don't you care?).

Jesus responds tenderly but firmly, pointing out that Martha's got things messed up. She is putting all the emphasis on her good works and letting them get in the way of her hearing the word of the Lord. One thing is necessary, says Jesus, one thing is needed for salvation. And it isn't hospitality or service of any kind. The only thing that is needed is hearing the word of the Lord which grants faith in the works of Christ and brings the promise of forgiveness, life and salvation.

Good works follow - of course they do - but they do not come first. While Martha is the hostess par excellence, Mary is the disciple par excellence - listening to the word of the Lord and resting in the peace His presence brings.

Come along on Sunday and be a Mary!

Here are the readings:
Genesis 18:1-10a A son promised to old Abraham and Sarah
Colossians 1:15-28 The supremacy of Christ; Paul a servant
Luke 10:38-42 Jesus visits Mary and Martha

God's peace to you all,
Pastor Matt